So awhile back I talked about purpose and what purpose that I was pursuing. Just recently I've had the pleasure to meet some very cool people who through my church have been able to share how to handle money and finances. I guess that's why I'm sitting here typing away about this topic because they talked about this topic of talent and using the talent that we have been given.
Matthew 25:14-30 Talks about the talent that three men were given. The talent they talk about in this story is gold talents which back then were worth a lot. To give you an idea of what a gold talent is or was worth it is equal to roughly about $1,000 in todays world. So here are these three men who were given a specific amount of gold talents. The first man was given 5 gold talents, the second was given 2, and the third was given 1 by their master to match their ability. As the story goes the first two men when confronted by their master had doubled what they had been given for gold talents. He put both servants in charge of different positions thus giving them leadership over those. Then the master came to the third man, this man had hid the gold talents which is master had given him. When his master found out what he had done, he was appalled by the mans actions. The master took the gold talent which he had given the third man and gave it to the first man.
That's a lot to take in, but let me get to what I'm trying to convey through this blog post. Whether or not you believe in God, he's given each one of us specific gifts and abilities to use. It's our duty to use the abilities which have been given to us and use them correctly. This message hit me pretty hard earlier this week and felt compelled to blog about it and share with all of you what I think some people may need to hear, but in the case read lol ;-)! What my talent looks like is a variety of different skills and chances are you are the same. Not one position is going to allow all your different skills to come out.
For me I help out with children's ministry on Sunday's at my church which I love doing because it allows me to interact with kids, encourage them, play with them, and sometimes teach or be taught by their actions or words. I love what I do and wouldn't give it up for anything. What I really love doing is working and interacting with other fellow veterans. Guys who've been where I've been and have done the hard things that our culture thinks you have to a superhuman to do. Men who've fought for their country and sacrificed so much for us to enjoy the freedoms that we have. I get to do this by interacting with them while I'm at school doing my work study program through the VA. Imagine that!, getting paid for what you love to do!
So here's what I want to end this with. If you're tired and frustrating with what you're doing I would encourage you to take a moment and ask God is there is something else I should be doing. Pray first above all things. Don't do something silly and quit your full time job and drop out of school because of this post. You were given a brain so use it and use it wisely! If you're a college student and you're not sure what you're going to school for then I would suggest you talk to a counselor about taking an assessment test to figure out where your gifted and what your TALENTS are. Don't bury your talents, use what God has given you. I hope you find encouragement here and that you really begin to trust God with what His plan is for your life! Have a blessed day!
© Nathan Fahlin
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
God's Timing & Will
Little did I know that I would be revisiting this topic in a month again, but here I am. As you guessed by the title you know what the blog is going to be about and this is something that's been going on in my life right now. Sometimes it's hard to know when God is talking to you about something specifically, but this is one of those moments where I knew with all my heart. It's refreshing and yet humbling at the same time to have God speak to you.
Well for a while now I really haven't had a direction or career path for school anymore and for the longest time I've prayed that I would do his will in my life. That I would walk out God's will for me in my life daily and well after a crazy summer and which turned into a crazy start to the semester. Well after a while I began to try and figure out what I should be going to school for. As the weeks progressed I began to truly wondering what I am going to do for career and the following weeks were frustrating at times. This slowly got me wondering if I was simply wasting away my time at school. I would journal, pray, and converse with others about what I should be doing for schooling. I will say this during those periods I wasn't sleeping for a darn and I would wake up at odd hours of the night. It sucked...... being up since 3:30am and knowing that my day wouldn't end till 7pm or 8pm that night made for a long day!
Well as the semester progressed more and more this became a real daily thought that I was putting too much time in and just this week God spoke. Saying what I needed to hear which was good, but at the same time very difficult to hear. I say difficult because knowing that there is nothing really for me left to say or do and I'm totally going argue with God on this topic. It's challenging and this is why faith is such an important part of the journey when it comes to walking with God and listening to what he says and when he says it. I know a lot of people struggle with this and I hope that this gives you some hope and peace knowing that God will direct you in the way which He wants you to go.The gist of what was, "My will and my timing for all things." "Am I not your provider ?! Have I not given you everything you have ?!" As a guy this is extremely difficult to hear because I like to know that there is a means to an end, a goal, or some objective. That's where the faith part kicks in!
Saying, " God I want to do your will in my life." and walking it out are two very different things altogether honestly. I have found this to be very true in my life and faith has been a big key to walking it out in my daily life. Honestly in order to do this you really have to surrender your heart to Him, trusting him that He will meet your every need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Faith is not by sight, it's by trusting and believing that God will not lead you astray! He will never leave you nor forsake you! His word is his promises so when you read another promise that God has made I challenge you to take it at face value. Meaning you really believe that this is what he is saying!
I hope you enjoyed reading this post as I truly enjoyed writing it and being able to share with all of you who read my blog! May God continue His good work in you till completion or until Jesus Christ returns to bring us all home! May God bless you and keep you close to him!
© Nathan Fahlin
Well for a while now I really haven't had a direction or career path for school anymore and for the longest time I've prayed that I would do his will in my life. That I would walk out God's will for me in my life daily and well after a crazy summer and which turned into a crazy start to the semester. Well after a while I began to try and figure out what I should be going to school for. As the weeks progressed I began to truly wondering what I am going to do for career and the following weeks were frustrating at times. This slowly got me wondering if I was simply wasting away my time at school. I would journal, pray, and converse with others about what I should be doing for schooling. I will say this during those periods I wasn't sleeping for a darn and I would wake up at odd hours of the night. It sucked...... being up since 3:30am and knowing that my day wouldn't end till 7pm or 8pm that night made for a long day!
Well as the semester progressed more and more this became a real daily thought that I was putting too much time in and just this week God spoke. Saying what I needed to hear which was good, but at the same time very difficult to hear. I say difficult because knowing that there is nothing really for me left to say or do and I'm totally going argue with God on this topic. It's challenging and this is why faith is such an important part of the journey when it comes to walking with God and listening to what he says and when he says it. I know a lot of people struggle with this and I hope that this gives you some hope and peace knowing that God will direct you in the way which He wants you to go.The gist of what was, "My will and my timing for all things." "Am I not your provider ?! Have I not given you everything you have ?!" As a guy this is extremely difficult to hear because I like to know that there is a means to an end, a goal, or some objective. That's where the faith part kicks in!
Saying, " God I want to do your will in my life." and walking it out are two very different things altogether honestly. I have found this to be very true in my life and faith has been a big key to walking it out in my daily life. Honestly in order to do this you really have to surrender your heart to Him, trusting him that He will meet your every need according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Faith is not by sight, it's by trusting and believing that God will not lead you astray! He will never leave you nor forsake you! His word is his promises so when you read another promise that God has made I challenge you to take it at face value. Meaning you really believe that this is what he is saying!
I hope you enjoyed reading this post as I truly enjoyed writing it and being able to share with all of you who read my blog! May God continue His good work in you till completion or until Jesus Christ returns to bring us all home! May God bless you and keep you close to him!
© Nathan Fahlin
Friday, October 12, 2012
Once A Warrior, Always A Warrior
Here I am again sitting in front of my computer getting ready to talk about another topic for my blog and this kind of piggy backs some of my other posts and yet again I'm wrestling with talking about this topic. Knowing fully that I'm opening myself up here more and more. The title is from a book I'm reading and it's very powerful the effect it's having on my life.
I really don't know how to explain this to so many people who haven't been in the military, but the reality is as I read this book I've learned many areas of my life that I've been trained or conditioned to function in combat. So in essence this book talks about how to retrain your mind and your body so you understand how to function in a world where warriors aren't needed. The reality is the knowledge we needed in combat doesn't really transfer over into this world. I find it rather frustrating at times when I'm reading this book simply because there is much realization that is happening for me. This book continues to show me that it's not by my strength that I will change and move forward from here, but that it's by God's strength that I continue to change. To push forward when the times get tough and all you want to do is crawl under a rock to just hide from everyone else.
The books talks very openly about how soldiers; men and women who were trained to fight for their country go through retraining and conditioning on how to function in combat and under stress. It also talks about mTBI and PTSD how both play a part in reintegration with soldiers and society. These are topics that take some time getting used to talk about as a soldier and as a civilian as many people are interested to know what I did when I was in the military or if I have any lasting effects.
I do have last effects from my time in the military and from Iraq as well, but that doesn't bother so much. What bothers me is when people make assumptions about veterans who they don't have a clue about what they are going through. It's difficult to see all the combat skills come to light when you're in a society that doesn't understand the purpose of it's warriors who fight, bleed, burn, and die for there country. Yes, there is a lot of support for our troops right now which is great! I've had flashbacks, memories which are unpleasant, and other effects from my time, but that doesn't change what God is doing in my life.
Many veterans who are doing what they need to do to reintegrate into society are realizing that they may have the warrior mentality for the rest of their life which is true for many combat veterans. We learned a pretty unique skill set while training for combat and some of the skills will be with us for the rest of our lives and that's just the reality. Doesn't mean that we just let them run our lives, but that we do what we can to get a grasp of our combat skills. There maybe be times when our skills that we learned for combat may have some use in our world. I loved what I did when I was in the military and I would never change that nor the experiences which I've been through while in Iraq. I know it sounds crazy, but what is happening in my life right now tells me it's all worth it for what God is doing right now!
I will forever have that warrior mentality and I'm okay with that. I'm learning how to handle the training which was used to keep me alive in combat and how I can use it if necessary in this world which I live in now. I love my God, my country, my military experience, my church, my family, my friends, and my enemies. This is not easy to say especially the end talking about loving my enemies those who tried to take my life when I was in the military. They do not know what they were doing and won't till it's to late for them.
Well this has been a work in progress and I must say that I enjoyed writing it and I hope that you enjoy reading it. Please and I mean please if you have been a long time reader or just recently started reading my blog I would encourage you to post or send me an email @ bigfah@gmail.com or if you're a facebook friend then post a comment on my page or a message. Whichever is comfortable for you! Thank you and God bless you!!
© Nathan Fahlin
The books talks very openly about how soldiers; men and women who were trained to fight for their country go through retraining and conditioning on how to function in combat and under stress. It also talks about mTBI and PTSD how both play a part in reintegration with soldiers and society. These are topics that take some time getting used to talk about as a soldier and as a civilian as many people are interested to know what I did when I was in the military or if I have any lasting effects.
I do have last effects from my time in the military and from Iraq as well, but that doesn't bother so much. What bothers me is when people make assumptions about veterans who they don't have a clue about what they are going through. It's difficult to see all the combat skills come to light when you're in a society that doesn't understand the purpose of it's warriors who fight, bleed, burn, and die for there country. Yes, there is a lot of support for our troops right now which is great! I've had flashbacks, memories which are unpleasant, and other effects from my time, but that doesn't change what God is doing in my life.
Many veterans who are doing what they need to do to reintegrate into society are realizing that they may have the warrior mentality for the rest of their life which is true for many combat veterans. We learned a pretty unique skill set while training for combat and some of the skills will be with us for the rest of our lives and that's just the reality. Doesn't mean that we just let them run our lives, but that we do what we can to get a grasp of our combat skills. There maybe be times when our skills that we learned for combat may have some use in our world. I loved what I did when I was in the military and I would never change that nor the experiences which I've been through while in Iraq. I know it sounds crazy, but what is happening in my life right now tells me it's all worth it for what God is doing right now!
I will forever have that warrior mentality and I'm okay with that. I'm learning how to handle the training which was used to keep me alive in combat and how I can use it if necessary in this world which I live in now. I love my God, my country, my military experience, my church, my family, my friends, and my enemies. This is not easy to say especially the end talking about loving my enemies those who tried to take my life when I was in the military. They do not know what they were doing and won't till it's to late for them.
Well this has been a work in progress and I must say that I enjoyed writing it and I hope that you enjoy reading it. Please and I mean please if you have been a long time reader or just recently started reading my blog I would encourage you to post or send me an email @ bigfah@gmail.com or if you're a facebook friend then post a comment on my page or a message. Whichever is comfortable for you! Thank you and God bless you!!
© Nathan Fahlin
Sunday, October 7, 2012
First Steps
I've been putting this post off because I haven't wanted to write it, yet knowing fully that I need though. I guess there is no better time than now to do what needs to be done and yet I would very much not write this. Nonetheless here I sit typing away at the beginning of this entry. I've always enjoyed blogging, but the topics have been deep and at times very trying.
First steps is something I've always struggled with for as long as I can remember and I'm not sure exactly where it began to be a struggle. I just remember one experience specifically where the first steps were very hard for me. It was the first game of the season, I remember sitting in the living room dressed and ready for school. It was the first game of basketball and I had made the J.V. team at East High School....boy that was a great year for me in the sports realm and academically as well. I averaged my highest G.P.A. that year and continued to do well in sports. Getting back to that first game and the moments leading up to it was indescribable almost. The anxiety and nervousness was through the roof.... I could hardly eat all day until about 3 hours before game time. It sucked! Felt like my stomach was in a knot and I was fit to be tied because thanks to my emotions I began to fart like you wouldn't believe.
Every since that year I've always struggled with taking the first steps into new areas and realms in my life. Just recently I volunteered at Life 97.3 for their fall fundraiser event and I remember the little bit of anxiety that I was feeling in my stomach, but I quickly brushed it aside so I could do what needed to be done. There have been other moments in my life where such feelings I felt and honestly I'm tired of them. Every time I go for an interview or try to talk to someone new, or do something new I deal with these emotions and it sucks. I'm tired and ready for these to end and be able to branch out more with meeting people, doing new things, and enjoying life more.
Gosh..... I feel like all I do on here sometimes is just spill my guts to y'all! I hope that you see more of me and see the work that God is doing in my life as you read my blog entries and if you aren't a believer yet you're reading my blog well here's something I want to share with you then! By now you know that I'm a christian and I believe that Jesus is Lord and he died for all of mankind. I know that Jesus covers your sins as He has and continues to cover mine daily, hourly and by the minute when I'm at my worst. I also know that regardless my God still loves me and he loves you too! I'm not gonna sit here and tell what you should be doing or what you need to because that is not my place. I'm not perfect I screw up constantly and that's why there is grace! Grace is a big part of the Christian faith walk, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon! If you would like to ask God into your life then I pray that you do!
Wow... I hope someday that I will be able to change and not have to deal with all this junk of this world or from my past. Yes, I continue to move forward, mature emotionally, and grow in my walk with the Lord. I think one of the hardest first steps I've ever taken honestly or done is when there is a woman that I like and wanted to ask that person out it's just about been unbearable to a degree....ugh! After all I've been through and yet I still struggle with this. Well no more! Today I put these emotions to death! I do not want to deal with anxiety, the nervousness, the fear anymore! God replace these things which are not of you with Godly things and continue to mold me into the man which you want me to become! I trust you God with all that I am! For you will never leave me nor forsake me! May God bless you and watch over you!
© Nathan Fahlin
First steps is something I've always struggled with for as long as I can remember and I'm not sure exactly where it began to be a struggle. I just remember one experience specifically where the first steps were very hard for me. It was the first game of the season, I remember sitting in the living room dressed and ready for school. It was the first game of basketball and I had made the J.V. team at East High School....boy that was a great year for me in the sports realm and academically as well. I averaged my highest G.P.A. that year and continued to do well in sports. Getting back to that first game and the moments leading up to it was indescribable almost. The anxiety and nervousness was through the roof.... I could hardly eat all day until about 3 hours before game time. It sucked! Felt like my stomach was in a knot and I was fit to be tied because thanks to my emotions I began to fart like you wouldn't believe.
Every since that year I've always struggled with taking the first steps into new areas and realms in my life. Just recently I volunteered at Life 97.3 for their fall fundraiser event and I remember the little bit of anxiety that I was feeling in my stomach, but I quickly brushed it aside so I could do what needed to be done. There have been other moments in my life where such feelings I felt and honestly I'm tired of them. Every time I go for an interview or try to talk to someone new, or do something new I deal with these emotions and it sucks. I'm tired and ready for these to end and be able to branch out more with meeting people, doing new things, and enjoying life more.
Gosh..... I feel like all I do on here sometimes is just spill my guts to y'all! I hope that you see more of me and see the work that God is doing in my life as you read my blog entries and if you aren't a believer yet you're reading my blog well here's something I want to share with you then! By now you know that I'm a christian and I believe that Jesus is Lord and he died for all of mankind. I know that Jesus covers your sins as He has and continues to cover mine daily, hourly and by the minute when I'm at my worst. I also know that regardless my God still loves me and he loves you too! I'm not gonna sit here and tell what you should be doing or what you need to because that is not my place. I'm not perfect I screw up constantly and that's why there is grace! Grace is a big part of the Christian faith walk, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon! If you would like to ask God into your life then I pray that you do!
Wow... I hope someday that I will be able to change and not have to deal with all this junk of this world or from my past. Yes, I continue to move forward, mature emotionally, and grow in my walk with the Lord. I think one of the hardest first steps I've ever taken honestly or done is when there is a woman that I like and wanted to ask that person out it's just about been unbearable to a degree....ugh! After all I've been through and yet I still struggle with this. Well no more! Today I put these emotions to death! I do not want to deal with anxiety, the nervousness, the fear anymore! God replace these things which are not of you with Godly things and continue to mold me into the man which you want me to become! I trust you God with all that I am! For you will never leave me nor forsake me! May God bless you and watch over you!
© Nathan Fahlin
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