When it comes to the economy most everyone right now is looking for a deal. Quality + The Right Price + Excellent Service = a Happy Customer.  One of the purposes of “Building Your Life From the Ground Up” is to help our readers find some excellent resources in order to enable them get more for their dollar. With the advancement of technology in the cellular phone arena and the varied advertisements that are inundating the airwaves sometimes it’s hard to know which company you should give your business. At “Building Your Life From the Ground Up” we are committed to discussing three major topics that are applicable to our success – faith, family and finances. Each of these areas are so important to us living the “optimum” and maximizing the opportunities we are given.

Being financially savvy is one of those things we are most definitely interested in. Recently, I once again went on the “search” for the cell phone service that would fit our budget. As the CEO of a business, a pastor of a church and an avid cell phone user I wanted (1) a great plan, (2) a carrier that had good coverage and (3) a phone that fit our business needs. To be honest, I have been a customer of AT& T, Cingular (before it became a part of AT&T), Nextel (before it became a part of Sprint), Sprint, Metro PCS and Verizon. Frankly, each of those companies have some great qualities.  Like most any other business, they have their drawbacks as well. For the sake of time, I’ll sum it up in the fact, I was ready for a change and wanted to get more “bang for my buck.” I wanted the buffalo on my nickels to feel the pinch as I tried to save money, while at the same time getting quality service and merchandise. Is that even possible? Yes, I think so.

For those of you who are in business and want to be frugal, yet effective, you might want to do as I did. I did some research trying to go above the hype and the media mania to find that plan that best suited our needs. I chose Sprint. Now, I had been with Sprint many years ago and, at the time, though I really liked the phone, the service coverage was not adequate for my travel needs. Nothing worse than being in a place where there is no coverage and you can’t get the signals needed to make your calls. After speaking with Shedrick Clark, a top Sprint Accountants Manager, and after some follow-up research I found that there have been great improvements in that area and feel confident that Sprint will meet both the local, national and global needs that our business and ministry may have. We made the switch and, from the time we accepted their excellent proposal, which included several phones ( Blackberry Tours, HTC Hero, Palm Pre) plus a cost-effective plan we have been more than pleased. An added feature is having a personal account manager that will be available for continued support and service even after the contract is signed. This has been a major selling point for me and my staff.

If you are not really satisfied with your present carrier or you just have some interest in doing some comparative research, (1) email Shedrick Clark at shedrick.d.clark@sprint.com today and (2) go to Sprint.com and check out the various phones they have. I especially like the Blackberry Tour and the Hero. The Hero is a marvelous touchscreen phone for those who want features somewhat similar to the iphone. Mr. Clark will help you walk through the process in a timely yet thorough manner. Make your choices today and you can have your phones by tomorrow. That’s exactly what happened for me and my team. Happy hunting and let me now how it all turns out for you. Looking forward……

It seems but yesterday when I, along with my parents and sister, boarded an Air France jet to head toward our new home of Port-au-prince, Haiti. The flight was filled with such excitement as we talked about this great adventure that was not in a story book. It was our reality. My father and mother were now missionaries and by familial osmosis my sister and I became missionaries as well. Though it was difficult to say “goodbye” to family and friends, we were looking forward to what was ahead for us. We felt a sense of purpose and meaning in what we were going to do – embrace a country and a people with whom we had already fallen in love.

The clouds veiled the majestic mountains as we began our descent to this wonderful country that soon we would call home. The sights and sounds were unfamiliar yet there was an uncanny sense of “belonging” that we felt as we were introduced to this new culture. From the market to the mountain peaks that towered like stalwart giants hovering over the valley’s below, the beauty amidst the poverty and pain seemed to prevail. Though their history had been marked with great adversity there was a resilience that shined through the darkness like the noon-day sun. The sounds of singing and prayer permeated the atmosphere of their churches. Whether it was a brush arbor or a block edifice, the humble worshipers would bring their petitions to the One who had sustained them thus far, knowing He was faithful.

Living among them, worshiping with them and learning from them has made be a better person. Watching the street vendor and observing the children playing cheerfully with whatever “toy invention” they could make, taught me each day can be filled with joy if we choose to make it so. The iguana’s and chickens coming to church under the brush arbor just as the enthusiastic worshipers, taught me you don’t have to be in a cathedral to experience God.

Now once again, the Haitian people are walking through a long-dark night. The 7.0 earthquake recently experienced shook the very foundations of this tiny country in the Caribbean to it’s core. Yet, it did not shake their faith nor their tenacious spirit to survive. In the streets you could hear the sounds of their singing songs of praise to God. Unimaginable but true. Though they may not understand the “why” they still trust in “Who” can and will calm the storm and bring peace in spite of the peril. Humanitarian aid has come. People around the world are praying, giving and offering whatever resources they can. At the end of the day, I can confidently say, based on my knowledge  of the people who live in the Pearl of the Antilles, they know the Pearl of Great Price, namely the One they love and shared their faith about, and He is with them still. He has not abandoned them nor will He ever. Thank you, my dear friends of Haiti, who taught me so much. I will never forget you.

Dreams. Plans. Goals. Strategies. Destiny. Purpose. Progress. Motivation. All of these are words that stir the inner passions of the visionary. That one who knows where they’re going and how they want to get there. I love to be around people like that. They fan the flames of my dreams and my goals. I really don’t know who said this, or I definitely would give them the credit, but, “Never expect a 16×20 idea to be celebrated by a 3×5 mind.” At first read I thought that was a bit harsh. However, after much living and a lot of reflection on the matter it is so true. There are those who are held captive by what might have been, what could have been or what should have been. Their world has become small and their life is limited only by their own designs. If left unchecked they can become toxic and highly infectious. It doesn’t mean they are bad people. It just means they have made choices that keep them locked in a time warp. They have grown more comfortable with their constant state of what they perceive to be a “crisis.” It takes courage to be an agent of change.

There are certain fruits that are produced from the seeds of this kind of thinking. Sometimes they become so miserable they feel their only recourse is to make someone else as miserable as they are. Do you know anyone like that? I think we all do. Now to be sure everyone has a story of some sort. We all gone through difficult days and, for some, years and have the potential of becoming land-locked into negative thinking, shallow living and limited giving. I in no wise minimize the fact that there are those who have certainly faced more than their share of difficulties and losses that are almost unimaginable for any human being to bear. There are those, however, who have made the strategic and intentional decision to move beyond the incidents, the accidents, the tests and the traumas of life and pursue their dreams with everything in them. They absolutely rely on an inner strength that is larger than their lack and can only come from a steadfast faith and complete trust in God.

Now you can rest assured when you make that kind of quality decision to survive and yes, even thrive in spite of,  there will be something or someone who will attach themselves to you (perhaps without even realizing what they’re doing… at least I want to give them the benefit of the doubt) to infect you with their toxic kind of thinking. Recently, one of my staff made a very interesting observation about this type of person. They said, “They want to own your time.” In other words, they will attempt to “steal” your time and slowly but surely drain you of the energy you need to move ever closer toward your goals. Here you are very sincerely and compassionately trying to motivate them and “jump start” them into right thinking. While at the same time, they are perfectly content to remain where they are. Oh, they will tell you unequivocally that they want to change and they are miserable with their lives. Yet after you’ve given them strategies, concepts and ideas to help them get from point A to point B and you’ve given them your time, you only find out they have driven their tent-pegs down securely on the lowlands of the mundane mediocrity of status quo living.

86,400 seconds have been deposited into the account of our lives each day. How we spend  those moments is up to us. It is imperative that we “beware of the thieves – the time stealers.”  Help them, empower them if you can, but don’t enable them. Do not allow them to steal those moments that God has so graciously given you to become a masterpiece for His glory. They must not be allowed to own your time or to monopolize your time, stealing those precious moments that have been entrusted to you. I struggled with this for a long time because I really want to help everyone. But the sad fact is, not everybody wants or is ready to be helped.

I am learning  to tenaciously guard my time and protect it from those “time stealers” that would sap the strength I need to be all that God has created me to be. My future, my family, my ministry, my peace depends on it. Whatever time of day it is in your part of the world … whatever second of those 86,400 you are now living… just beware of the thieves and enjoy your journey. Now that’s what I’m talking about.