Spiritual Joy and Meaning from Selflessly Serving Others

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Usually, I try to give you expert advice from others or lead you to Web-based resources. But when it comes to spiritual subjects, sometimes it just seems right to describe my own experiences. Since the Holy Spirit dwells in each of us, this is one way to use God as an "expert" for today.

When I was a child, my first awareness that others needed help came in the grocery store. An elderly woman had a shopping cart full of canned dog food. I asked my parents why anyone would need so much dog food. My Dad said that many poor people ate dog food because it was cheaper than "human" food. After that, I was always the first one to bring in canned goods with meat in them for food drives. I imagined someone having their first non-dog food meal in years from my can. I always enjoyed spending my own money to buy the can because it made the gift seem more worthwhile.

I compared the warm feeling that I had from such experiences with the temporary pleasure that receiving gifts gave me. There was no comparison. I liked giving better!

But not just any giving seemed to serve the purpose. I found it was often painful to give in public. I was always worried about the reaction I would receive. For example, I worked for months on a plastic pendant for a girl I admired when I was twelve. I enjoyed doing this and thinking about her. But when the time came to give it to her, I wished I had never started the whole process. What if she didn't like it? Fortunately, my friend was a gracious person and she made me feel appreciated . . . but there was a lot of pain in the anticipation.

Gradually, I began to realize that anonymous giving could be wonderful. One of my favorite ways of giving is to put money into a Salvation Army kettle when the bell ringer is looking in a different direction. When that happens, I put in extra money. I later imagine the bell ringer's surprise when she or he finds all that money in the kettle.

My consciousness of others expanded over time, and I began to realize that there are some things we need others to do for us. There was a terrible accident in my junior high school and a teacher was suddenly in jeopardy. Everyone was so shocked by the accident that the teacher's vulnerability grew. I decided to write an anonymous letter to the town newspaper praising the teacher for doing the right thing in the midst of the tragedy. That letter helped turn the tide of emotion, and the teacher continued to inspire and help another generation of students. That experience made me want to help again.

I began to realize that it helps others if someone simply watches out for who needs help. I try to play that role and make the help almost imperceptible. An early example came in a sports contest. Another boy and I had similar results and it was hard to tell who had won. I thought he had won, but most others didn't see it that way. As everyone sat there wondering what to do, I simply congratulated the other boy and said that I was impressed that he had outperformed me. It was no big deal. I felt special joy, though, when later the head of the camp specially recognized the other boy for his win . . . and I could see the happiness on the boy's face. If I hadn't validated his win, his joy would have been lessened. It was a tiny gift . . . but a valuable one.

From that experience, I began to realize that some gifts can help others to be more spiritual themselves. For example, I was very ill when I was 13 and had to be hospitalized for two weeks. My physician was a good Christian and he was worried that I might die without having accepted Jesus. He spent a lot of time talking to me about Jesus, and I came to understand a lot of things that I hadn't learned in Sunday school. I could see that he was happy to see me learn. I continually complimented him for helping me. He began to feel some pride in this, I could see. So one day, he asked me who was the source of the information that I was so grateful for. I said that he was. He told me that I was wrong, that he was only a conduit for the Holy Spirit. I could see the pride release itself from him, and I learned a good lesson for my own spiritual communications: Be a conduit for the Holy Spirit and take no personal credit for doing that. I felt good that I had helped him improve his own spirituality by being such an avid and interested learner.

As a teenager, I learned about the emotional pain that many people feel when I used to visit my girl friends. Almost all of their mothers were lonely for someone who would listen to them. They would talk nonstop for three hours as long as I would sit there and just be with them. I later found out that most had problems in their marriages. I found that I could give my simply validating someone with my interested attention. I began looking out for role models of people who did this well, and I got better at it.

Gradually, I began to realize that most troubled people find a release from some of their pain if another person shows caring for them and points out opportunities to live at their best self. I began to make suggestions of how these troubled people could contribute more to others. When they made those contributions, I could see endless joy come into their lives. It was the same joy I was feeling.

We all seem to have a need to selflessly serve others. When we express that need in ways that encourage others to do the same, the joy and meaning in our lives reaches new heights. It's a great sort of natural high. I can only recommend that you try it today.

Here's a way to do this. Find the most unhappy looking person you can. Ask them if you may sit down and talk to them. Ask them about their life and listen intently. Do this until the person relaxes and begins to have a conversation with you rather than a monologue about what's bothering them. Then ask the person how they find the greatest joy in helping others. Your companion will probably share a beautiful story. Show your joy in their story. Then say something like, "Wouldn't it be great to do that all the time?" Chances are that your companion will realize that she or he can create that experience much more often . . . and will go out to do so after you finish talking. Share your own stories about joy you received from helping others in ways that are different from your companion's example. You will have given your companion the gift of knowing about other ways of creating joy for others and themselves . . . and may well inspire them to try some of these ways.

Have fun creating joy today . . . and every day!

Please do share your own experiences. I look forward to learning from them.

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Spiritual Dimensions of the Success Breakthroughs Seminar

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

On August 13, Jack Canfield held a cocktail party at his Success Breakthroughs seminar where we were invited to return as though five years had passed and we had accomplished all of our goals developed during the seminar.

I was fascinated to listen to how many ways that people had served others. One young man had helped end gang violence. A woman had stopped bullying in schools. Another man had established schools around the world anonymously. Still another person had established schools for the disenfranchised in Africa. And so on.

I could not help but marvel at this seemingly unlimited urge to help.

Where did it come from? It seemed to surge forth from the heart.

Let me explain. One exercise we did set the stage. Each person was given 24 toothpicks and told to put them into a structure that included nine squares. Next, we were asked to remove eight toothpicks to leave two squares that did not touch one another. Some people got the answer right away by inspecting the display. Others struggled. Once you had gotten the answer, you were instructed to look around to see if anyone had raised their hands to ask for help. To help, you were told to clap your hands when the person removed a toothpick that would help them succeed and to be silent when they made a mistake. By trial and error, anyone could solve the puzzle at that point in less than 30 seconds.

Afterwards, people shared their experiences. Many reported enjoying providing the help as the main learning of the exercise. It seemed like they wanted to give and were delighted to have the opportunity.

I was also impressed by many other common impulses. More than half the people wanted to write non-fiction books with helpful messages. The more people who were helped by those messages, the happier the people were. It was very nice to behold.

Many of the people also reported "success" as becoming closer to other people.

From a personal perspective, I found myself feeling like we were all one person at several points during the week. I liked that feeling.

But one of the most moving aspects of Saturday came when a woman I was working with shared her plans for after the seminar. These plans included spending 20 minutes a day to pray. I was impressed because that aspect of self-improvement had not been evoked explicitly during the seminar . . . yet that spiritual dimension was accessed anyway. I had had a similar reaction in deciding to increase my Bible reading from just evenings to include mornings.

A special epiphany came when Jack Canfield showed photographs of crystals grown from water that had been in contact with different human thoughts. Angry thoughts produced crystals that were very ugly and misformed. Loving thoughts produced crystals of great intricacy and beauty. When a large number of people had the same thought on the same day, the same crystal structure showed up in fresh water crystals taken from lakes around the world. This made me realize that our loving thoughts create a physical impact on our world.

Think about that the next time you have to decide how you want to react to something. Do you want to create beauty and harmony . . . or discord and ugliness? It's up to your spirit!

Regardless of how much money you have . . . or don't have . . . you can create beauty and harmony both with your thoughts and your deeds.

May you always walk and think in beauty and harmony!

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because one of them invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Living the Spiritual Life in Las Vegas

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

This post is a reprint of one I originally wrote on August 7, 2005 as I arrived for a seminar in Lake Las Vegas based on Jack Canfield's, The Success Principles.

Yesterday, I arrived in the town that has two nicknames: "Sin City" and "Lost Wages". Yes, it's Las Vegas.

As I stepped off the plane, I was immediately assaulted with cigarette smoke fuming from a slot machine area for smokers and the sound of bells ringing. Aw, yes, slot machines. You may know that slot machines are based on psychological experiments that showed people being fascinated by random payouts of rewards in response to taking some action. People want to figure out what the pattern is. When the pattern is generated by a random number generator (as occurs with slot machines), there's nothing to figure out . . . but the resulting fascination is limited only by the size of the player's wallet.

From there, I headed to baggage claim and passed more than 50 displays of scantily clad women. This must have been what the slave auctions were like in the old days. Men stared openly at the images. As I walked past souvenir stands, each one offered t-shirts and other momentos that indicated that "what happens here, stays here" which is the city's latest advertising slogan. It seemed like a come on to encourage bad behavior. I wondered how many people take home STDs from Las Vegas.

I picked up my rental car and passed dozens of taxis sporting ads for strip clubs. More neon-lit signs offered nude reviews. I remembered a trip two years ago when I had walked from the northern end of the Strip to the southern end with my wife and daughter. Along the way, men and women tried to hand me dozens of handbills for escort services, rent-a-stripper services and strip clubs. I turned them down, but my wife and daughter were amazed by the quantity and aggressiveness of this activity.

Finally, I got to my hotel and the sensual assault ended. I pulled out a copy of the Bible that the Gideons had placed in my room and picked up my daily reading portion in Deuteronomy. I finally felt a little relief from the "Sin City" atmosphere. It felt good to read about how God became angry with the people Israel for not following His ways.

When I awoke, I decided to check out the new art gallery in town at Wynn Las Vegas. The art is from Steve Wynn's personal collection. On the way in, I found the poker rooms full of people with huge piles of chips in front of them . . . and it wasn't 9 a.m. yet.

The gallery wasn't open when I arrived, so I decided to have breakfast. My server had just lost 48 pounds so she was sympathetic to my desire to substitute something with few carbs and little fat for the hash browns and toast that accompany the omelettes. We exchanged notes about the South Beach diet compared to Atkins. I had used the former with good results while she had used the latter for her fine loss. She indicated that she thought she would try South Beach to lose another 20 pounds. She didn't look like she needed to lose any weight to me. I enjoyed meeting her . . . it was the high point of the day in Las Vegas.

Finally, the gallery opened. I was disappointed to find out that they wouldn't honor my American Museum Association membership. But I put down my $15, got a tour wand and went inside. I was astonished to see that there were only 12 paintings . . . and only three of them seemed first rate. Unfortunately, the best one is Picasso's Le Reve from 1932 which features an explicit sexual fantasy about Picasso's young mistress at the time, Marie-Therese Walter. When first shown, most people thought this painting was brilliant pornography. Many would still take that view. It seemed very Las Vegas. Interestingly, there was a fine Impressionist show at the Bellagio which I would normally have gone to see. But all of the paintings are from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and I know them well. It did seem strange that the best new, non-tawdry display I could find in town was from Boston.

At this point, I had run out of non-tawdry things I wanted to do in Las Vegas . . . unless I wanted to wait until night and see the very clean, family-oriented Lance Burton illusions at the Monte Carlo.

I decided instead to flee town to find an outlet mall to check out summer savings. Having arrived, I found that the bargains were much better than in Boston and added three new Polo shirts to my collection. I began to feel better as "Sin City" receded. There wasn't a keno card, slot machine or crap table in sight!

Next, I headed out to Henderson for my seminar, which starts tonight. I found myself in a typical upscale desert resort. I haven't seen a slot machine since I arrived here. It was a relief.

Over the years, I've found a few things that work to fight off all of the sinful atmosphere that can pollute your spiritual self in Las Vegas. Let me list a few.

One, avoid gambling. I find that I can stay centered on my relationship with God if I don't so much as put a nickel into a slot machine or watch anyone else gambling. You might think that's hard to do, but there are areas in even the largest casinos where you can escape the gambling atmosphere. The circus acts area at Circus Circus is a good example, as are the animal gardens outdoors at the Mirage and the Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Many of the hotels have extensive shopping malls now that have no gambling in them. The Four Seasons seems like a real hotel . . . rather than a hotel in a casino. Many inexpensive hotels are not attached to casinos and don't have slot machines in them.

Two, read your Bible every time you sit down to rest. The Lord's comfort soon bathes you in peaceful thoughts.

Three, pursue wholesome entertainment. There are some shows in town that fit that definition. You just have to seek them out. The Knight's Tournament at Excalibur is a good example, in addition to Lance Burton. My daughter reports that Las Vegas is an outstanding town for rollar coasters. Go figure!

Four, get some outdoor exercise. Many of the hotels have nice pool areas and gardens where you are totally isolated from the usual Las Vegas misbehavior.

Five, go to the library. Yes, Las Vegas has a lovely library, and I have often used the computers there to send my e-mails. It's a cool place on a hot summer day, and you can read uplifting books while you're there. When the library closes, there are some good chain bookstores and I often go to those to pick up a new book, to read and to enjoy a fine cup of coffee.

Six, pray for everyone you see to focus on their spiritual values.

Seven, think about how easy it is for us to lose our way when we focus on sinful things . . . rather than on our relationship with God. Some people will argue that gambling isn't sinful. But stricter students of the Bible will point out that anything that draws you away from God is harmful to your spiritual being. The "rush" that gambling brings is not unlike the "rush" some get from illegal drugs. It's clearly of the body and not of the spirit.

Eighth, attend church or temple services. Las Vegas has plenty of believers who are practicing their faith. In fact, one of the delights of the day with all the handbills thrust at me while walking down the strip was when a Christian woman handed me a tract about Jesus. I was very grateful to have it!

Finally, I guess I'd just have to say that you're probably better off not coming to Las Vegas . . . unless you have a spiritual reason for doing so. As I reported in an earlier blog entry on Live Better than a Billionaire on Five Dollars Extra a Day, one of the highlights of my parents' lives was holding their 60th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas. And it was certainly good family fun. You may remember that they were originally married in Las Vegas in 1942 when Las Vegas was just a dusty desert crossroads. Mandalay Bay put them up in a honeymoon suite and gave them the tour of their lives.

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog. If you are visiting today because one of them invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Solace and Peace from Your Special Spiritual Places

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

One of the special joys I've had over the years has been learning about the special spiritual places that members of my family have shared with me. I feel incredibly honored to not only learn about these places . . . but to also accompany a loved one to the places to drink in the atmosphere while hearing about their spiritual practices.

The first time this happened was while I was a small child. My mother awoke me before dawn to attend Easter sunrise services in the mountains near our home. As the sun rose in the east and the word of God was shared, I felt a special sense of Jesus’ promise to each of us. I will carry that moment with me as long as I will live.

After I began to drive as a teenager, I began searching out my own special places. I often took my girl friends to those places and shared my deepest thoughts with them. Sometimes we would read poetry to one another.

As an adult, I began to find more such places. It was about then that I began to realize that spiritual places are not all equal. Each one has a somewhat different effect on me. I began to seek out places that allowed me to flourish in more spiritual dimensions.

For example, I found that some places are better for Bible reading than others. You feel the infinite universe and God's hand better in such places. Later, when I learned to meditate, I discovered that the quality of meditation was affected by my location. I soon found the places where the spiritual peace was the greatest and returned to those places often.

My biggest surprise was to find a spiritual place where my creative mind was totally unleashed. Sit in that spot for a few minutes, and it's like opening the floodgates to a dam that's been storing water all winter. Well-formed, new ideas emerge faster than I can write them down. Elsewhere, nothing similar happens.

From this, I've come to believe that we can have many spiritual places . . . each of which will provide special benefits. Now, I cannot explain why some places work better than others for various purposes . . . but I just know that they do. With trial and error, you can locate your special places.

Here's my advice for you. But you may have a better idea. I hope you will comment and share your better ideas.

First, make a list of what kind of spiritual experiences you would like to have in your special places. Here's my list: forgiving people; increasing my love for people; peace; solace; creativity; learning from the Bible; closeness to God; feeling the Divine Plan; asking for and receiving forgiveness; and achieving inner harmony.

Second, think of when and where you have had the most successful spiritual experiences of each type. Write down why you think that location helped. Ask yourself what was missing from the location to make your spiritual experience more complete.

Third, make a list of places where you think you might find a similar or improved spiritual experience of the sort you've had in the past.

Fourth, visit those places under the circumstances that you regard as optimal and see how you respond.

Fifth, for places that work well plan to visit them as often as possible to energize that aspect of your spirit.

Sixth, encourage others to tell you about their spiritual places and what they feel in each one. This may open you to new dimensions of spiritual development and new spiritual experiences.

Seventh, try out new places to see whether they bring you new spiritual experiences. Be open minded as you do because some very unlikely places may yield surprising benefits. Many people, for instance, think that a spiritual place has to be one where they can be alone. I find that many good spiritual places do offer the chance to be alone, but some of my best spiritual places are buzzing with human activity. What seems to be important is that the place provides a sense of timelessness.

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Toss Out Your Old Emotional Baggage to Enjoy Spiritual Cleansing

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

Today, I want to share the Sedona Method with you.

There's only so much I can do in introducing this subject in a blog entry. If you really want to master the method, I suggest that you start by reading Hale Dwoskin's book, The Sedona Method, and follow that by taking a course on the method.

I wrote a review of The Sedona Method at Hale's request back in 2003 when the book came out. Let me share that review with you now.

"Although I have read dozens of self-help books and attended weeks of self-help seminars, none of those books and seminars helped me in the profound way that The Sedona Method has.

"The book's core observation is that we allow emotions based on old memories to block our minds and bodies from experiencing what is possible now. Many self-help authors make the same point.

"What makes The Sedona Method different from the others is the proposed method for eliminating those emotions. I have learned many other techniques for changing memories (such as the Tony Robbins Swish pattern) and use meditation to withdraw from emotions. I have found that meditation has worked best for me in the past. While meditating, my head is pleasantly vibrating and I feel at mental peace. With The Sedona Method teachings, I find that my whole body shudders pleasantly into relaxation and peace. In other words, this process causes me to enjoy a greater release from old memories and emotions than I had thought possible. It's a wonderful gift.

"So what do you have to do to enjoy this peace? You just need to ask yourself a series of questions (and the book is full of exercises to help you do that). I soon found that I did not need to ask all of the questions. With practice, I could just release negative emotions whenever I wanted to.

"This book came to me at a very stressful time . . . just after my Father died. I find that the grieving process has been greatly eased by the emotional releases I can stimulate any time I want.

"To get the most benefit from this book, you should practice every day to establish new habits. I read the book over two weeks to help make that transition. In retrospect, I would have done better to have read it over more weeks and practiced more each day. I plan to reread the book now to deepen my benefit.

"What was most impressive to me was that I could get so much benefit without going to a class or listening to an audio version. I suspect the teachings would be much more powerful in those forms. But you certainly can experience great things from just reading the book, doing the exercises, practicing and remembering to use the teachings when those emotions well up.

"May your days be filled with tranquility and a greater sense of what is possible!"

Since 2003, I have been making it a habit to employ the Sedona Method techniques several times a week. Last month, I spent an hour listening to Hale Dwoskin describing the method during a teleseminar being conducted by Jack Canfield.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could experience even deeper relaxation and peace now from the Sedona Method than ever before after listening to the seminar.

Here was the simple induction that Hale used during this week's seminar:

He started talking about the benefits of letting our emotions go . . . rather than being permanently attached to them.

He suggested picking up a pen or pencil and dropping it to the floor. I did that easily.

Then, he talked about that experience and suggested that I welcome and embrace whatever emotions I was feeling.

I suddenly felt very heavy and sluggish . . . almost overwhelmingly so. The weight was unbearable.

He then suggested that I ask myself "Could I let it go?" I felt lighter.

He next suggested that I ask myself "Would I let it go?" I felt even lighter.

And finally he suggested that I ask myself "When would it be all right to let it go?" . . . with the thought that now is a good time. I almost felt like I was attached to a helium balloon at that point.

I repeated the induction several times and felt increasingly more delightful and free each time. It was like losing a hundred pounds in a few minutes. Boy, did I need that!

Practice that induction. If you like it, you will find several other good inductions based on self-inquiry in The Sedona Method.

If you want to know more about how the method works and its background, you will find great information at http://www.sedona.com/.

I have found that the Sedona Method does not interfere with my religious beliefs or my meditative practices . . . but seems to enhance both. It's like suddenly having a third leg for a stool. I feel more grounded and more comfortable at the same time.

Good luck with this!

As I finish this topic for now, I cannot help but think that the Sedona Method might help billionaires even more than those of more modest means. Being weighed down by all of the emotional scars of protecting and growing billions of dollars must create a lot of old emotional baggage that's hard to release.

Please feel free to let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Spiritual Experiences During Super Bowl Weeks

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so.

The Super Bowl has come to have a very tawdry connotation . . . I'm sure it will be a long time before anyone forgets the 2004 halftime show where a woman's breast was bared for the whole world to see. And if you want to find tawdry and sinful things to do, the Super Bowl environment will certainly provide lots of opportunities to defy God's will for you.

I've had just the opposite experience though. I've found that God sends His messengers to provide spiritual opportunities at His Super Bowl.

Let me explain.

Think about celebrations in the end zone after a team scores a touchdown. Some players will strut. Others will pound themselves on the chest (it's hard to pound yourself on the back . . . someone else has to do that for you) with pride virtually bursting from them. But others will quietly kneel down and say a prayer. Others will silently look up and point to the sky . . . thanking God for His help. Whenever someone chooses a moment of glory to praise God, I, too, feel full of God's grace. It's a wonderful example that helps me to remember to thank God for all of the great things He does for me every day. I say a little prayer along with them.

Think about the pre and post game interviews. Some players will sport enormous diamonds and other gaudy displays of wealth. Others will be rude. Still others will refuse to speak with anyone. But some will start their comments with giving God thanks for helping them and their team. And some of those who wear signs of their Christian faith, such as a cross around their neck. I always praise God when that happens.

I also find that God sends me messengers during those visits. I keep an eye out for those messengers and do my best to welcome them.

Let me explain. During my first Super Bowl, I found myself with my family in a flea bag of a hotel in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home to the University of Michigan . . . a great university town. In the lobby every day was a neatly dressed man who held himself with pride while offering shoe shines. And no one was asking him to shine their shoes. I decided to ask him for a shoe shine and we started talking. I asked him about his business, and he told me that this was just a stop gap because he was out of work . . . having lost his job making cars. But he had faith in the Lord and knew that something good would come his way. We spoke about God, and I felt like I had found my own pastor to lead me in the right paths while I was in Ann Arbor. We talked every day, and he helped me keep God in my week's celebration. Thank you!

At the next Super Bowl, I decided to entertain a client and to bring my family again. Since the event was in Pasadena near where my parents and sister lived, we arranged to spend some time together near Disneyland. While there, my uncle and his wife joined us for breakfast one morning. Dad and he had once been close, but had not spent much time together for many years. We discussed plans for the game, and my uncle and Dad announced that they would both love to go to the game the next day. This was uncharacteristic of both of them. They both looked at me expectantly.

Now, I didn't have any other tickets. I didn't have any extra cash with me to buy any tickets . . . or any room on a credit card. I did have some checks but I knew a ticket broker wouldn't take a check . . . because I had already tried. I stayed silent and thought about what I could do. I decided that I should send my Dad and uncle to the game. After scrambling around, I found a way to get the cash, managed to buy the last two tickets available from my ticket broker and bought them bus tickets to and from the game. They had a ball. Ever since then until Dad died, he and his brother were just as close as when they were boys. I felt like God had granted me a mighty favor in being able to bond them together again in such a beautiful way. It still brings a smile to my face to remember that happy event.

My third Super Bowl was in Tampa, and I wrote about this one before. I took my two sons down and we went to Disney World . . . except to drive over to the game on Sunday. The weather was horrible while we were there until Super Sunday and we hadn't brought warm enough clothes. My boys were discouraged because the teams they had rooted for had lost each of the last two Super Bowls. But they had high hopes for the Raiders in this Super Bowl. All during the day, they kept telling me that the perfect day for them would be to be able to meet Marcus Allen and to see the Raiders win. Naturally, I was doubtful . . . but we cheerfully went ahead anyway. I secretly planned ways to ease their disappointment. But God was listening and wanted to prove that all things are possible with His will. As we walked into the stadium, the Raiders arrived in a bus and walked across the crowd right next to us (something we had not sought out) and Marcus Allen was right next to us . . . look down at my sons and smiled at them. They were delighted. And, of course, the final score of 38-9 over the Redskins who had defeated their beloved Dolphins the year before was sweet too. I thanked God for allowing me to provide my sons with such a perfect day. I knew that He had blessed us.

My next Super Bowl was held in Northern California at Stanford University. I would have skipped this one, but Joe Montana was due to quarterback again and I had become a big fan after my first Super Bowl. Money was tight for us that year, and we stayed in a Motel 6 in Oakland . . . a great distance from the game. My wife joined me this year. My Mom and Dad drove to the area to spend time with us, but declined going to the game. We saw a masterful game that made us realize how important teamwork is. The great Dan Marino was overmatched because his brilliant arm couldn't overcome the advantage of the 49er team.

Our spiritual epiphany came with regard to drinking. We had both been eager users of alcohol since we got out of graduate school. And there is a lot of drinking at Super Bowl games. But a college stadium doesn't have nearly as many bathrooms as a pro stadium does. Before long, those with bulging bladders were lined up against every wall inside and outside of the stadium relieving themselves. It was like being in a large public, outdoor urinal. And it was pretty disgusting. We both looked at each other and said that we would never again drink enough at a game to require more than one bathroom trip while there. Fortunately, our moderation allowed us to use the Stanford facilities rather than the Stanford walls. It was a lesson that has served me well since then. I now consume an average of one drink every six months and often feel like I should cut down further. And I feel great! Thank you, God!

The next Super Bowl was a special one for me. My beloved New England Patriots made their first appearance. I was so excited. Because I couldn't find a hotel room, I lived with a stock broker who was a friend of a mutual friend for the week. From him, I learned a lot about the New Orleans culture. My favorite new experience was the King cake. Once a week, you buy a cake at a bakery with a little gizmo baked in it. Then you share the cake with your friends. Whoever gets the gizmo brings the next cake. And on it goes.

God still wanted me to learn more about alcohol. Walking down the French Quarter one night, I was astonished by the behavior of the drunken fans. It wasn't pretty. I asked my host how often he came down to party there. He said he hadn't been there in years. Only tourists wanted to get involved with all of that disgusting stuff. I felt like I was walking through Sodom and Gomorrah! My drinking dropped even lower after that week. The Patriots lost, but thanks to God, I won.

The next Super Bowl was in Pasadena again. I invited my Mom and Dad to join my wife and I. All the children stayed home that year. School was on and they couldn't afford to take the time off. We decided to take Mom and Dad to Hawaii afterward. This was an early 45th anniversary present for them. They had never had a honeymoon, so we called it a honeymoon for them. We all had a marvelous time, and I realized that Super Bowls were best when they were family affairs. We had a lovely time with many nature walks together both in California and Hawaii and could feel God all around us.

Let me skip ahead to tell you about one more Super Bowl. Two years later, Mom and my wife had decided they had had enough Super Bowls. They usually brought books along to read during the games. They felt like they would rather spend the money in different ways, and the prices of the tickets were starting to climb rapidly. The game was in Miami. My Dad's other brother lived near Cape Canaveral, and Dad and he had not seen one another very often. Dad's brother with whom he had shared a Super Bowl was also visiting in Florida at the time. I invited both sets of aunts and uncles to join Dad and me in south Florida for the weekend. We stayed at a lovely beach resort and walked several times a day on the beach. The six of us had a perfectly good time together. It was like a family reunion. One of my aunts told me that she and my uncle had not ever stayed in a resort in Florida even though they lived there for many years. She said it was like a second honeymoon for them both. A few months later, my uncle was dead . . . from complications related to having been an alcoholic for decades. My aunt didn't live much longer after that. That golden weekend was our last chance to be a family together. God once again wanted me to think very hard about drinking.

Joe Montana was back. Dad and I were looking forward to a superb game. And that's what we got. With a little time left, the 49ers were behind. But they were driving. We knew that the 49ers would win. And they did! We thanked God and felt blessed as the winning drive was directed towards the end zone where we were sitting. It was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

Let me leave you with two other thoughts. In all the Super Bowls I've attended, few people are handing out religious materials. I think that's a missed opportunity. So perhaps if you cannot go to the game, you can be there to testify about your faith.

Also, I always meet desperately poor people who tell me about their hardships. I always enjoy sharing what I have with them, blessing them in God's name and helping them in any other way I can. I always feel like God has sent them to me as messengers to remember what He wants for us . . . even when we are focused on the Super Bowl!

I could give you more examples, but I think you get the idea. God is not only everywhere. He is everywhere helping us. Thank you, Lord!

May God bless you!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Conciege

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Face Your Overwhelming Challenges with Christ Helping You

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I know that I certainly am.

Bill Keller has written another terrific
devotional that I want to share with you.

Everyone has big problems sometimes.
The problems can easily become too big
to bear.  For billionaires, the scope
of their wealth can increase the size
of their burdens.

But we have a Saviour who is always
there to share our burdens . . . so
that we can carry them.

The devotional begins below:

It is easy to quit, it takes courage to
fight!  As you can imagine, the vast
majority of the 40,000+ emails for
prayer we get every single day here
at Liveprayer are from people fighting
the battles of this life. Relationship
problems, health issues, financial
concerns, some sort of bondage, the
death of someone they loved, legal
cases, employment and school issues,
the entire gamut of battles we all
face during our journey through this
life. Most people are looking to God
for their hope and strength knowing that
He is their answer.  However, many come
ready to give up, to quit.

My friend, let me share a word with you
this morning that I pray will encourage
you as you fight your daily battles.  I
realize guys like Tony Robbins and the
self-help gurus make millions to tell
people what I am about to share with you
for free.  It may seem like a very
simple and basic word, but when you
fully comprehend it, it can be the
difference between you living a
defeated life or living a life of
VICTORY.

*When you face the battles of this life,
it is easy to quit.  It takes no skill
to give up.  The spineless and gutless
run.  Cowards are people who when faced
with life's challenges, let fear
paralyze them into doing nothing.  When
you face the battles of this life, it
takes courage to fight.  It takes guts to
face the battles life brings our way and
not back down. VICTORY ONLY COMES TO
THOSE WHO ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO STAND AND
FIGHT! YOU CAN'T WIN IF YOU DON'T FIGHT!

The key is knowing that our strength to
fight comes from the Lord.  It is our
faith in Christ that gives us the ability
to stand and fight the battles of this
life.  When Goliath was taunting the
armies of Israel, the mighty men of
Israel's army cowered in their tents as
the heathen giant blasphemed God.  They
simply lacked the faith in God to fight
this Philistine warrior.  David, a mere
shepherd boy did not hesitate for a
second to take on Goliath.  He had no
doubt that he would win because the Lord
was with him.  David had FAITH that God
would lead him to victory and armed with
that faith, he went out and slew the
giant!

How many of you today cower in your
homes in the face of great battles that
need to be fought?  Others who are
facing those exact same battles, are
out there living in victory because
they exercised their faith in Christ!
You see, what it boils down to is having
the faith in the Lord that He will help
you fight and get victory over whatever
battles life may throw your way.  Jesus
told His disciples that in this world
they would have trials and tribulations.
He then went on to tell them to "be of
good cheer" because He had already
overcome this world.  What that means is
that as you put your hope and faith in
Christ, He will give you the strenght to
stand and fight the battles of life and
be victorious.

I love you and care about you so much.
I know many of you are facing great
battles in your life.  I am honored that
God has allowed me to be here each day
to stand with you and help encourage you
to not quit, but keep fighting.  My word
for you today is that there is VICTORY
IN JESUS!  He is your hope, He is your
strength, and when you trust the Lord,
He will lead you to victory over whatever
battle you may have to face during this
life. When you have Christ, the ONLY way
to lose is to quit.

I will be praying for you today.
Praying that you will be encouraged to
keep pressing on in fighting the battles
you are facing today and will face
tomorrow.  If you know Christ as your
Savior, He will give you the strength
to not only stand and fight, but to be
victorious.  It is easy to quit, it
takes courage to fight.  "Be on your
guard; stand firm in the faith; be men
of courage; be strong."  (1 Corinthians
16:13 NIV)

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can
contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL
SPEND ETERNITY?  The fact is you will
die one day.  At that moment, you will
either spend eternity with the Lord
or be cast into everlasting darkness
forever separated from God your
creator.  To know for certain you will
be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

***GET YOUR FREE LPeMAIL ACCOUNT!  Never
miss receiving your Daily Devotional
again.  LPeMail is an effective email
SPAM filtering application that most
ISP's charge $10/mo, for FREE!  Get your
LPeMail account now at: www.lpemail.com.

***I am excited to let you know that the
Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now
available via AUDIO each day.  Simply go to
http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html
Also, you can now listen to the Daily
Devotional by phone by calling 727-856-7055,
or access it on your wireless device by
going to:
http://wapdd.com

(C) Copyright 2005, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved

I hope you enjoyed this devotional.

May God bless you!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005, Donald W. Mitchell