Nugget of Wisdom: The Significance of Scars

I still have a scar under my lip from a childhood accident.  I used to let my facial hair grow over it to hide it, because I didn't want people to see my scar.  As I matured, I realized that the scar that I once wanted to hide was better than the pain of an open wound.  I've been hurt many times, but my life changed when I learned to stop being wounded and accept the scar.

Many of us, due to familiarity, would rather maintain old wounds than receive new scars.  We will stay in situations where we are wounded repeatedly instead of walking away so the scar can form.  A scar may not be attractive but at least it signifies closure.  So, thank God for scars!  They are indicators of your ability to survive and move on.

Scarred,

Byron Jamal

Nugget of Wisdom: Revealed in the Stretch

The traditional rubber band can seem small and unassuming, leaving one to ask, "How can this little thing be of any use?"  It seems like an appropriate question only until it is stretched, applying stress until it is pulled beyond its original dimensions.  What once was small in diameter augments exponentially, exposing more of its purpose and potential.

Much like a rubber band, your worth is discovered when you are stretched, not at rest.  Often, our first inclination is to think of stress as something negative, but when we are stretched our true potential is unveiled.  A life with no stress or "stretch" is one where you continue to operate limited by the familiarity of where you are, hindering your ability to discover how far your purpose was meant to expand.  There are times for rest, but your potential is made known in the stretch.

Being stretched,

Byron Jamal

Nugget of Wisdom: Don't Let Your Title Be Your Total

Throughout time God is called by many names: Creator, Lord, Yahweh, etc.  The reason for so many names is because God is so diverse.  That's why when Moses asked God who he should say sent him, God answered, "I am who I am...Tell the people that I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14).  God just is.  God is so divine there is no title that can fully capture all of God's nature or character.

We are a spiritual beings, connected to the eternal.  Like God, your divinity demands diversity, so don't let your title be your total.  Whether you are a doctor, pastor, artist or parent, never allow a label attached to you (whether positive or negative) to define you.  You are bigger than any one box or title to which you can ascribe.  There is more to you, but you will only limit your potential by settling for the titles that can't contain your total.

Just am,

Byron Jamal, CEO
The Call Path
www.thecallpath.com

Nugget of Wisdom: True Beauty is Sensed Not Seen

An elementary school principal notices that one of his 3rd grade students always brings an egg with a blue ring around it to school.  One day, the girl trips, drops the egg in the hallway and begins to cry.  When the principal finds out he goes to see about her.  He walks up to her and asks, "Why are you crying so hard?  You only dropped an egg?"  Between her sobs she replies, "I’m not crying because I dropped it.  I’m crying because I didn’t know it was rotten inside.”

Many of us are easily smitten by things that are perceived as externally beautiful.  We can end up like this girl, carefully carrying fragile eggs that are rotten inside.  We are enticed by the exterior and pray the interior can live up to the standard.  When it doesn't, we realize we have a beautiful rotten egg.  Be more anxious to take someone who loves than someone lovely, someone who expresses beauty than someone who is solely beautiful.  True beauty cannot be scanned with eyes; it must be sensed with the heart.

Sensing beauty,

Byron Jamal