Been A Minute Huh?

I guess you wonder where I've been.

Or maybe not. Welcome to Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. I'm glad you guys are tuned in today. It is Monday, November 29th, and let me take a moment before we jump into a little bit of conversation today to kind of just talk about where we've been. We haven't been on this podcast for months. There's been a lot of changes, a lot of movement in my life that has happened personally, professionally, ecclesiastically, academically. Just so many different things have changed. I think the last time we were together I was defending my dissertation, and now I'm a doctor in the local church. I think the last time we spoke, we had just published Brown Dad, Brown Boy, Bomb Basketball. And now we're looking to publish our second book, my son and I, as well as me personally doing one. So there's a lot of different changes and movements that happen. 2021 became a year that I just really didn't anticipate on a personal level. Had some of my darkest days ever had in my life this year. Had some of the roughest days ever had in my life this year. Days that I really wish I could get back, days that I'm glad I'm still here. 2021 has been a very tumultuous, heavy year for me personally. And so I stopped this because I didn't want.

I never wanted to bleed in this space.

My goal for this podcast was always to be an empowering place of liberation, an EMP place of affirmation, and a.

Place where you always knew that you were valuable, you are loved and you are seen.

And so as we come back together, a couple of things that will be added as we go into 2022. We're going to add a video element to this on my personal YouTube page. There'll be times where my son will join in. My wife and I are starting, not starting, continuing our other podcast, Saved app as well. But I want to use this space because there's a lot of things that we have in the fire right now, and I personally want to use this as a diary of sorts. And that's what I want to talk about today.

Really owning who you are, trusting yourself and leaning into that more than you lean into anything else.

I wanted to start this time off today with a moment just to kind of tell you where we've been, tell you where we are, and prayerfully, we can jump into the future of whatever God has for us. We're going to jump into Made for Mondays.

Remember, you were made for this Nothing can stop you. So let's go see what the Lord and what the world has waiting for us today as we are made for Mondays.

Let's get this. One day I was having a conversation with some students at a high school, and I told them, I said, there's.

A conundrum of the needle in the haystack. How would you get the needle out of the haystack? Students looked at me and they said.

Well, Dr. Lester, we would get some gloves on and reach into the hay and feel around until we felt something that pricked us, meaning there would be.

A little bit of pain, but we'd find the needle.

Another person said, I would get the hay and unravel it as much as I can and comb through it with gloves on to make sure that if anything pricks me, it would be okay. But I could see something shining. Another person said, I'd make sure I'm not facing the sun, let the sun reflect it off to me so I.

Could see exactly where the needle is.

Another person talked about opening the hay up as much as possible and making sure it was dark and putting a microscope or some sort of UV light on top of the hay. And we all started laughing. And then there's this one person in the back of the class who said.

What would happen if we burned up the hay? Because then the metal wouldn't react to the fire.

And everybody looked. We started laughing. All of our faces changed because we.

Realized they had the answer, that maybe the issue is that we're doing so.

Much to find an answer that we don't ask effective, inadequate questions. I said this before, so many different times on here about asking good questions. Envision. And I want to take time today as you go into this week, as.

You conclude the year as you envision your 20, 22. What is the haystack in front of you? What is the needle you're needing to get to? What needs to be burned up now? By no means am I telling you.

To get rid of all your friends.

And am I telling you to run away from where you are. And I'm not telling you to give up on life, give up on your children, give up on relationships and burn everything down and throw the baby out.

With the bath water.

By no means am I telling you to do that.

What I am suggesting is what in.

Your life needs to be looked at differently? What in your life needs to be evaluated differently? What opportunities are in front of you that need you to stop reaching in there with hands on, gloves on, on your hands to give You a little bit of blood, a little bit of pain, but at least you figure it out. What in your life are you giving such a microscopic engagement to that you are unraveling it and searching it? What? What in your life are you making sure that other people are shining bright on it so that you can take care of it, when really all you need to do is light a match.

To it and burn it down?

Vision is given to those individuals who are able to see the future, seize the future and not let the future escape them. What are you doing to ensure that this week you're going to grab the future, to burn up what's in front of you?

It's a notion to me of capacity. And I believe it all comes back to capacity. And it's Are you willing to look at the world, look at your life differently?

Are you willing to engage in where you are differently?

Are you willing to take the risk of not doing the same old thing.

Receiving the same old results, and engaging in the same old thing over and over again? Here's some things I want to give you today. Imagination makes something bigger than really what it is. Because a birth of new knowledge begins with the admission of old ignorance. Because until you own what you do not know, you won't own something new until you disown something that you don't need. So maybe for you, this needle in the haystack idea is a old idea, but your next big idea is an old idea revisited.

So let's pause here. Maybe you're driving.

Maybe you're listening to this as you're.

Getting ready for work. Maybe you're headed on to someplace. Maybe you're walking to class right now.

What is your next big idea?

Well, pause.

What's your last big idea that didn't come to pass? What is the last thing in your life that just did not work out the way he wanted it to work out? Whenever you've exhausted all your possibilities, remember that you haven't. What's your last idea? Maybe that's your next big idea. Winston Churchill put it like this. What do you think about the future? It may well be excuse to sit. It may well be an excuse to.

Some, but I intend to write it.

The future will be what you make the future to become. So let me give you some challenges.

Let me ask you some questions, and let's go on about our days. So here's my challenge to you.

Number one, who are the people around you that are stretching you? Do not allow yourself to think of people who are stretching you to be Intimidating you. Allow the people who are stretching you to motivate you.

A personal issue in my own life is one of the things.

Personally, my own ego would not let.

Me allow other pastors or preachers or.

Leaders to stretch me.

I remember early on in my ministry as a young pastor and young preacher, sorry, in the city of Nashville, I had preachers and pastors who would pour.

Into me that would stretch me, that.

Would challenge my preaching, that would ask me to reread a scripture, ask me.

To do something differently. And I used to get frustrated and to a point where I realized maybe the reason they're giving me their time is because they see something better and bigger in me. Do not allow people who stretch you to intimidate you. Allow individuals who stretch you to motivate you because they see something in you who's around you that's stretching you. Who's around you that's motivating you. Who around you, you know, has a deepened investment in who you are that wants to ensure that you'll be the best person you possibly can be. Stay around them. Stay around them. Because the second challenge I'll give you is you cannot go someplace you haven't been in your imagination. So how is your daydreaming? How is your daydreaming? How is the time you're spending where your mind is just wandering? Here's some things I want to give you today to think about when you daydream today, when you're sitting at your desk in your cubicle, driving in your car, going to another meeting in between zoom meetings. Here's some things I want you to I want to give you to think about today. What development and growth opportunities are not on your radar? What do you need to be? What do you need to do that's.

Not present in your current strategy for your work?

What tools are available to you that you scroll through online, that you need.

To go back and check again?

What words have you heard recently that you need to look up the definition.

To add to your vocabulary?

How can you take your same story and say it in a more memorable way? And what do you need to stop doing?

My last challenge to you today is.

Do not confuse opportunity with purpose.

Opportunity is what you can do.

Purpose is what you're called to do. I'm going to say this again. Do not confuse opportunity with purpose. Opportunity is what you can do. Purpose is what you're called to do.

To every person under the sound of my voice.

You have purpose. You have something to offer into the world. You have something A reason for living today.

There's an old story of a young.

Boy who was told by his teacher to write a note down to take home to his parents. He took the note home down to his parents and he sat there and he couldn't put his words all together. And the teacher kept telling him to do his homework, to take home this letter to his parents.

And he kept taking home this letter to his parents. And he got home and the mom looked at him and said, what is this?

He said, my teacher gave me a reason to live today. And she looked and she said, what? She sent the note back to the.

Teacher and said, you gave my son.

A reason to live today.

And the teacher sat there, looked at the son and said, what did you tell your mother?

And she. He said, I couldn't understand what you were saying.

But I thought it was something powerful.

I thought it was something that you cared about.

And you said there was a reason.

That you needed to give this to my mom. So I said, it must be a reason to keep living. What is your reason to live? What is the thing that you can.

Run home to somebody you know cares.

About you and say, this is my reason to live. Own who you are. Because when you own you, no one else can rent you. Lean into who you are, because when you lean into you, no one else can get you off course.

I pray that today you have a.

Wonderful, amazing day that you lean into the essence of yourself and know there's.

Nothing that is coming your way today.

There's nothing that's coming your way this week that you have not been equipped to handle, to destroy, to dismantle and to dismount.

There is nothing coming down the street.

To you this week that you do not have the authority to completely destroy.

And there is nothing coming around the corner that will stress you out this.

Week that you aren't already equipped with the strength to do it. Go into this week with joy, go into this week healed, and go into this week and set that thing on fire because the needle is there. It just needs you to look at it a little bit differently.

Well, thank you guys for tuning in today to Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Feel free to follow us on Twitter and Instagram rjlester. We'd love to connect with you, love to follow with you, love to engage with you. If this has been a blessing to.

You and to learn more about you.

And to see who our listeners really are.

Thank you to all of you who.

Listen to us all throughout 2020. I'm sure some of you will start seeing this notification and wonder what in the world is going on today. So yes, we will bring back our wind down moments where we will talk about our favorite wines of the week. I will say for Thanksgiving last I had a wonderful, unbelievably underpriced 2016 intercept by Charles Woodson last week for Thanksgiving. It was absolutely phenomenal. It was a 2016 Cabernet from Pastel.

Robles and anyone who knows anything about.

Paso Robles knows that 2015, 2016 and.

The beginning of 2017 were amazing years for Paso Robles.

So to get this bottle for $20 on the bottom shelf of a local place was absolutely phenomenal because that bottle easily could have been priced somewhere in the forties. Great, great bottle.

But we'll do that coming up in.

The next couple of weeks. If there's anything that is really pricking you, a growing edge for you that.

You want to engage in.

Want us to do some work on? Wanted to get a guest speaker on.

I would love to be here and to help you grow to be all that you possibly can be.

That being said, let's say our affirmation today.

Let's go into the week.

Would you repeat with me?

Say I am me, I can be me and no one will stop me from being me. You were made for this. Go win your Monday.

This has been Made for Mondays with Justin Lester. Be sure to follow Justin online at MrJlester and online at www.jlester.com. see you next week. Go win. You were made for this.