Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Where am I? by Raquel R. Robinson, author

One sunny afternoon my children and I were driving down a familiar road on our way home. Much to my children’s alarm, I slammed on the brakes. Startled they both said, “Mom, what are you doing?” Before I could respond, they along with the other drivers on this four lane road could clearly see why I stopped so abruptly. There was a huge swan stomping and flapping in a frenzy back and forth across the road.

We are accustomed to seeing swans in the lake near our home. There are several man made ponds that they frequent as well. However, I had never seen a swan in the middle of a busy street. I watched this swan feverishly flutter around and disrupt the flow of traffic I imagined he was saying to himself, “Where am I?”

Like that beautiful swan, we often find ourselves out of place and on the wrong path. Sometimes we don’t know that we are out of place. But those around us can clearly see that we have missed our moment of transition, change or even promotion. Usually a swan seems so elegant, graceful and beautiful. However that day, the swan was awkward, a nuisance and in danger. When we remain out of place and on the wrong path we jeopardize all the things we have worked so hard to create in our lives.

It’s Awkward

You know when you have overstayed your time in relationships, partnerships and employment. Something just doesn’t seem to flow the way that it should. During these times, even a very self confident person may begin to second guess their abilities and competence. This may be an opportunity to inventory your skills. If you find them intact, the awkwardness may be a gentle nudge to consider moving to the next level in this area.

You become a nuisance!

When you are out of place, you become a nuisance to other people. People around you try to patiently wait for you to “get it”. But, in the meantime your complacency, apathy, confusion, depression and procrastination (how ever it manifests) becomes annoying. Like a house guest that stays one night too many, people are ready for you to move on with your plans, dreams and vision. It’s frustrating to associate with people who are settling for good enough when living their destiny would improve life for them and the people around them.

It’s Dangerous

When you stay in a place of apathy, complacency and fear, it becomes dangerous. When you fail to get into position you risk missing opportunities. When you stay in a failing relationship, you jeopardize meeting the right person. Being paralyzed by fear will cause you to lose your focus and when you come to your senses, like that swan, you may find yourself out of place and staring into four lanes of oncoming traffic. Sometimes the life and death of your dream all depend on you being where you are supposed to be at the right time.

As I watched the wayward swan and waited for it to cross the road, I noticed how enormous it was. I was shocked to see its’ wing span. Although we were annoyed and frustrated with the jaywalker, everyone stopped to let the bird regroup and pass by. While the swan was out of place, we all slowed to avoid it because of how big and powerful it was. Hitting this bird would have destroyed the front end of most cars. Even out of place, the bird maintained its’ power strength and even beauty. So do you. Ask yourself, “Where am I?” Based on your vision, goals and abilities are you in the right job, relationship, church, business partnerships, organizations, school, etc. If the answer is no, work to regain your focus and develop a strategy to get back on track. We all wander in the wrong direction from time to time. The key is to recognize the wrong turn and quickly make the adjustment. Stop holding up traffic, get out of the road and get headed in the right direction! Your destiny is waiting!


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Raquel R. Robinson is CEO, Life Strategist and Coach with Making a Change LLC. She is an inspirational speaker and author of Renew, Refocus and Recover! A Road Trip to the Life You Deserve. You can reach her at www.makingachangellc.com.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Building Kingdom Millionaires by Shekini Jennings for MMS Newswire

Catherine Eagan Dedicates Her Life to
Leading Christians to “The Wealthy Place”

Many people in the country are wringing their hands trying to figure out how to survive in the current struggling economy. But, Catherine Eagan is trying to help people become part of God’s thriving supernatural economy.

It’s a revelation that Eagan received in God’s perfect timing as retiring baby boomers are trying to figure out how to manage their wealth, younger people are just beginning to learn about finances, and others are discovering for the first time that retirement is no longer an option.

“In this time, people are going through a lot of different challenges,” said Eagan, a member of Word of Faith Christian Center. “It’s important to have a kingdom objective. We’re getting more in debt. The message of building wealth challenges all of us to build wealth so we can have financial the wherewithal and establish the Kingdom of God whether you’re young or old.”

Eagan is an entrepreneur, ordained minister and a former Vice President and Private Banking Officer, with a 25-year financial background.

She said the foundation for tapping into God’s economy includes giving and receiving, purpose, seedtime and harvest, tithes and offerings, and God’s principles. This opens the door for budgeting, debt elimination, credit repair, insurance planning, investment planning, and estate planning to affectively fall in line with proper instruction that can be found in Eagan’s book, “Dominating Money: Tapping Into God’s Supernatural Economy.”

“From a Biblical standpoint God wants us to provide for our family, our children, and our children’s children,” Eagan said. “There’s a difference between riches and wealth. Riches can come overnight through the lottery, but that doesn’t mean you know how to sustain it. Wealth is for the kingdom of God and … the greater good of humanity and society. Henry Ford wanted to provide a vehicle for people to ride in and came up with the process of mass production. When people meet the needs of others on a mass scale it lends itself to wealth.”

Eagan has been doing this in her own life through a balanced combination of informational clubs, books, and other merchandise and services that she sells, in addition to a 40-city Wealthy Women Seminar Tour and weekly teleseminars that she has offered for free. The tour has blessed more than 3,000 women across the country and the teleseminars draw 100 to 200 participants each week as far away as Canada and the Caribbean. She wants to make sure there is no excuse for Christians to not reach the “wealthy place” where they have successfully learned to dominate in the areas of business and finance.

Other books she has authored with her husband, Dr. J. Victor Eagan, include “How to Discover Your Purpose in 10 Days,” “How to Determine Your Motivational Gift,” and “The Character of Success.”

Eagan’s reason for doing everything she does is so that God’s people realize that wealth is for them, despite their current or past financial situation. Even someone who doesn’t have any money can go from 0 to wealth.

“John Johnson asked his mother to sell her furniture,” Eagan said. “She sold it for $500 and he started Ebony Magazine. John Rockefeller was a high school dropout, but he pursued business. Oprah Winfrey had nothing, but … now she owns Harpo production. God’s raising people who are going to be world changers.”

More life-changing, kingdom-building principles will be disclosed at the Kingdom Millionaire Intensive and Vision Gala in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information, or to register, call (561) 338-0009 or log onto www.catherineeagan.com.

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