Sixteen Beautiful Children by Joe Michael – Nashville Tennessee

Down that long and winding road as a struggling singer, songwriter, and performer I must have asked the question a thousand times.  God, why do I have a teaching degree? What was THAT six years of my life all about? Why had I persevered through those years in school while working full-time, raising a son, and going through a divorce right in the middle of it all, only to have a teaching degree that I didn’t use?

In fact, for the last 12 years since graduation from the University of Southern Indiana, I really didn’t have a desire to teach. I had experienced enough success and encouragement along the way as a singer, songwriter and speaker to believe that it was still possible to eventually earn a decent living speaking, singing and writing songs. 

We had always “survived” in spite of the fact that my side business as a landscape contractor went down in flames with the housing market. I continued to do side work, perform concerts large or small, as well as substitute teach in the winter months to make up financially for the ebb and flow of my concert schedule and small royalty checks. Shana was earning a decent salary as an English teacher with her master’s degree and that gave us some sense of bill paying consistency while we continued to hope for that big break in my music career.

In 2011 a big “break” came. But not the break anyone with big dreams who has just moved to a new city hopes for. It was a break in our consistent paycheck-Shana’s. Our big break made us broke! When the school just outside of Nashville informed her after just one year that they could not bring her back , my questions of what those six years of school were all about were answered with a harsh dose of reality: so I could now get my teaching license in Tennessee and get a teaching job, like it or not.

Mr. Feldpausch’s Opus?

A few moments after I accepted a position at an elementary school in Nashville recently, the line from Mr. Holland in the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus played in my head.  “I never thought I’d be here, I only got a teaching certificate to have something to fall back on.”

The day after accepting the position, my new principal asked me if I was excited. She mentioned that I had a “glazed” look on my face! Of course I had a glazed look on my face. I was stunned that less than two years ago, I was rolling down the interstate in a Prevost tour bus with my band, a new single, and my picture in Country Weekly Magazine. Being in a classroom wasn’t even on my radar. I was making a life out of singing and songwriting.

Now I’m responsible for educating the children of sixteen families? Not only that, but I had to be there to do it by 7:30 in the morning? Who in the world gets up that early? Apparently teachers do! 

Maestro!

Queue the orchestra now. Add a minor chord at just the right place and you’ll feel it too.

I took my guitar in on the first day, the second, and every day since. There it was –The Answer. It was probably about the third day in class when I heard the voices of those sixteen beautiful children, my sixteen children, singing back to me with confidence, a song I had written just for them the weekend before I met them for the first time. They were singing it to me and to each other.  They had learned the song amazingly fast and their voices sounded wonderful singing it. It was priceless.

At that moment, I knew what those six years were all about. I knew without question what my childhood, raising my son through divorce, six trying years of college, years of persevering as an artist, and years of sharpening my songwriting skills were about.

Sixteen beautiful children.

Sixteen beautiful children I get to teach life skills and academics to.

Sixteen beautiful children I can teach to dream.

Sixteen beautiful children who will learn that there is such a thing as unconditional love.

Sixteen beautiful children who, when the year is over will believe that they were somebody’s passion.

Sixteen beautiful children who will learn that they were made for something amazing.

Sixteen beautiful children.

Proverbs 22:6 Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

God saw me singing to those sixteen beautiful children sixteen tumultuous years ago, while in the middle of school, work, divorced, and caring for my son. That amazes me! It makes me excited at what else might be in store. How about you?

Imagine what he might have store for your dream. It may not be going as planned right now. “I can see the glazed look on your face!” If you’re dreaming His dream for your life, your dream will turn into something beautiful. Count on it!

As always, your feedback is welcome. Thanks for subscribing and sharing.

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true! – Joe

Dreamkillers by Joe Michael – Nashville, Tennessee

Happy New Year Friends!

I hope this finds you filled with hope for the new year.

We made it through another year with a lot of love, another celebration of the birth of a Savior and dreams in our hearts! I’m excitedly anticipating what God has in store for the upcoming year. 2011 was one of our more challenging years as a family. However, I’ve always believed that when we face adversity, we are being prepared for something greater!

The challenges we faced in 2011 make it so much easier to leave the past behind, look straight ahead, and kick the door down on 2012. I don’t know about you but I’m ready to get the party started on overcoming some of the dream killers in our lives. Here’s the first. Enjoy!

Dream-killers: Worry

When dreams and worry intersect (and they will), some might respond that dreamers don’t worry; they just dream! Nothing could be farther from the truth. During the process of dreaming, it can sometimes feel like you’re on a winding, black-iced road, lightly dusted with snow, with treacherously steep embankments on each side, and an icy river down below. Fear of failure or WORRY and a struggle to survive, if we allow it to, can kill our dreams!

I don’t know about you, but I have a family. They have needs. We have needs. I never want my family to be “at-risk” because I’ve lost touch with reality while pursuing the dream I believe God has given me. When the cold and bitter winds of reality (life, food, clothing, shelter, and etc.) blow across the plains of our lives and we’re caught outside unprepared, life and the reality of our lives can be scary. Continuing to dream in the midst of it all can seem downright crazy!

A Relentless Foe

Worry will be relentless if we give it a foothold in our lives. However, with our confidence appropriately placed in the Giver of dreams, we can overcome such an enemy.

So how do we persevere with confidence while dreaming God’s dream for our lives AND do our part in taking care of our loved ones in a way that God sees fit?

It isn’t easy. However, with the right balance, perspective, and ultimately with His help, I believe we can live full and exciting lives while keeping our families safe, well-fed, and warm, all the while keeping the fire of our dreams burning hot!

Here are just a few important points that keep me steady on the sometimes treacherous and worrisome road of loving my family and living out my dreams.

• First things first – Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Pray. Go ahead and give it to Him. Otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before you’re back and realizing that you should have started there in the first place! 

• Stop worrying – Matthew 6:25- Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…27-Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? It’s okay to be concerned to the point of self-examination. However, worrying takes the focus off of your purpose and is a waste of precious energy that could be useful to the needs of your family and your dream. 

•  Be Confident in your commitment to God - Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land. Have confidence that you are fully committed and obedient to God’s dream for your life. Isaiah 32:17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; it’s effect will be quietness and confidence forever. 

Don’t let worry be a dream killer. Let’s face it and put it where it belongs-out of our lives!

Together, let’s find confidence in 2012 for the dream God has placed our hearts and not leave room for worry as we stay the course!

As always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true! – Joe

Hard Candy Christmas a special Christmas message from Joe Michael-Nashville,TN.

Merry Christmas!

As I walked through Target to pick up a few items the other day, I couldn’t believe that I was allowing myself to tear up while surrounded by hundreds of shoppers scavenging for last-minute gifts. In the middle of the chaos I suddenly went into a trance-like state. My ears and heart were were captured by a familiar melody playing over the store’s PA system. Numbed with nostalgia, I quickly looked for an area of the store where I could collect myself as Dolly Parton’s tender and timeless voice finished singing one of my favorite Christmas songs, Hard Candy Christmas. I took a few deep breaths, dabbed the tears that had managed to escape my eyes, and moved to the checkout.

I felt surprised at my unexpected vulnerability to the moment. I had allowed myself to nearly lose composure as I was transported back in time with the words and melody of a familiar Christmas song. I was lured back more than 35 years.

A Look Back in Time

I pressed my nose to the frosty window of that little farm-house on state road 144 in Patesville, Kentucky, peering into that little living room.

There are my uncles, scattered about the room drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, having once again traipsed into the woods to cut down a plump, fragrant pine tree to be brought in for Mamaw, Aunt Charlotte, Aunt Joyce, Gary and me to decorate. Ah, there are the large multi-colored bulbs, silver ice-cycles, strands of popcorn, a random assortment of ornaments, and candy canes. The gifts under the tree look as though they are wrapped in newspaper and aluminum foil.

 I can hear that old black and white television humming with the Andy Williams Christmas special on it. It looks like The Osmond’s are singing again. I’ll bet A Charlie Brown Christmas is coming up next. And if I stand here long enough I’m sure I’ll see those relentless commercials from Ronco, trying to convince the world that we can’t live without the Ginsu knives, Pocket Fisherman, cheesy, take-anywhere microphones and a parade of other “necessities”!

As I step back from the window, I realize it’s time for me to place my items on the belt at the register.

A Widow’s Mite

I’ll always hold dear, those hard-candy Christmases I spent as a child in Kentucky. Until I was nine years old, I lived with Ida Marie Conkrite Feldpausch, my grandmother. We called her Mamaw. I have no idea how she took care of me, my late cousin, Gary Wayne and my Aunt Charlotte, while her only source of income was a social security check. Miraculously, at Christmas she managed a gift for every child (eleven of her own!), grandchild, and great-grandchild, even if it was just a pair of socks! She gave all she had. She always expressed her great love for family at Christmastime by using every resource available to make cakes, gingerbread houses, cookies and of course, there was always the fruit cake and lots of inexpensive hard candy.

I suppose the greatest gifts Mamaw gave were the lessons in faith and perseverance.  We lived in the country about 30 minutes outside Owensboro, Kentucky. Mamaw would heat well-drawn water on an electric stove and put it in a huge wash tub to give me my bath in the evenings. We used an outhouse and heated the old small, drafty farm-house during those frigid winters, with coal in the fireplace. In her mid-60’s then, she would use a Red Flyer wagon to transport coal from the pile outside and then carry it into the house in buckets to keep us warm.

I can never remember a time when Mamaw complained about having to take care of her kid’s kids or about the abuse she suffered at the hands of my grandfather who died at 55 of a massive heart attack. After Granddad died, Mamaw spent the rest of her life serving family and others relentlessly, grateful to God for Salvation and the love He had given her for others. She won civic and community awards for her service in Owensboro but it was never about anything else other than showing God’s love to those around her.

A Great Legacy

In her last days at 84 years old, lying in her hospital bed, Mamaw refused to let go until she could say goodbye to every one of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren (more than 70 in all). As I held her hand on her dying day, I could hear her praying, “Not yet, Lord”. God, in his grace allowed her to see each of her family members before she passed into eternity-what a legacy she left us!

I find it intriguing that the Christmases that are most special in my heart were the Hard-Candy Christmases!

For some of you, Christmas will be especially difficult this year for a variety of reasons. We’re with you. Shana lost her teaching job this year after 11 years. It wasn’t easy. Some of you have lost loved ones. Jesus wants to comfort you and our hearts go out to you.

We are blessed to have God’s love, eternal peace and hearts overflowing with dreams for what He has in store! Whether this is a hard-candy Christmas or a Christmas with plenty, I hope you’ll find peace through the one who came to bring peace and the gift of eternal life, through a humble baby in a manger!

Phillipians 4:12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Merry Christmas!

Joe, Shana and Nolan

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true! – Joe

Don’t Believe The Lie! – Joe Michael

Senior Bulldog!

When the college coach from North Texas came down and spent some time with me the summer before this senior picture was taken, I just knew that I’d play college and eventually, professional basketball. You could not have convinced me otherwise! That coach had no idea how he would contribute to The Lie when he handed me a scholarship application. I’m certain he wanted to encourage this dreamy-eyed kid to never give up by giving me that application.

It was my dream to play professionally-he knew that. And my goodness, I had watched the best of my day, George Gervin, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, and Calvin Murphy. They taught me everything I needed to know about being a general on the court. I never missed an NBA playoff on television between the Lakers and Celtics! I watched every college basketball game that I could watch. I had subscriptions to The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. I knew all the stats of my favorite players. Of course I was going to be a pro!

There were many nights from my sophomore to my senior year when I scored as many as 36 points. I recorded the most steals in nearly every game I played. I sincerely expected to someday steal the ball from Danny Ainge or Larry Bird and run down the floor on a fast break; dunking over the player I despised the most, Kevin Mchale of the Boston Celtics (totally disregarding the reality that I couldn’t even touch the rim, much less, dunk the ball over McHale). But I had dreamed about it, I was pretty darn good and doggone it, it was gonna happen!

 But being pretty darn good while standing all of 5’10″ (and a half!) aren’t exactly attributes coaches desire when it comes to handing out athletic scholarships and NBA contracts. My small high school teams didn’t win a lot of games while I was there. I didn’t lead my team to championships. I didn’t go to AAU camps. But I really loved the game of basketball and had some pretty impressive games. Besides, everyone around me said I was great-I could do it. Nevertheless, like the thud of a ball on the back of the rim on a last second jump shot with time running out, my dream was a brick shot-going unfulfilled! Not one offer…college or NBA. And of course not. It just wasn’t a reasonable dream.

Now that I’ve grown and matured, I could give you a detailed list of all the reasons why I never played college or professional basketball including, too short, too slow, can’t jump and can’t fly!  In short, it’s simple. My dream was unreasonable for my abilities. I was unqualified and unrealistic. 

Be Reasonable .

We’re all probably guilty of believing The Lie. We’re told as children that if we want to achieve it, all we have to do is believe it. That is a lie. I know a lady whose daughter believes she will sing for millions some day. The mother has told her the lie since she was young. It’s obvious to everyone else but the mother, daughter and grandmother, that she would be better served in a pig calling contest at the annual 4-H fair! Like my dream of playing in the NBA, some dreams are just not reasonable. We are not equipped or qualified to realize some of our “dreams”.

No matter what our desires might be, we must ask ourselves a reasonable question: What am I good at? Had I led my basketball team to a state championship and gone on to lead my college team to the NCAA tournament a time or two, then it might have been more reasonable to allow myself to dream of someday playing in the NBA.  

Is there a chance that you are spending precious time and even resources assuming that if you just believe enough about something then it will come true? Don’t believe the lie. It will only prolong your arrival to the start of living God’s dream for your life.

Allow me to share a scripture with you that I believe will help you decide whether or not you’ve believed a lie in regard to your dream.

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

In essence, be reasonable about your abilities.

God has given each of us of abilities to be used for his purposes while on earth. Abilities that will bring great enjoyment and satisfaction to your life and the lives of those you will come in contact with. 

What are your talents and abilities? Are they connected to your dreams? Do you feel at your best when you’re using those talents and abilities? I believe that when you combine the two that you will begin to run like a well-oiled machine for God and His dream for your life!

I never tire of this quote from the movie, Chariots of Fire.

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure. – Eric Liddell

 Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true! – Joe

As always, your feedback is welcome!

One Thing – Joe Michael

If you’ve ever seen the movie, City Slickers, then you’ll remember Curley telling Billy Crystal’s character that there was One Thing in life he had to figure out-a secret in life that we each must discover for ourselves.

I believe that if we are to carry out the dream God has given us for our lives then we must also find One Thing. Don’t get too excited just yet! It’s probably not the One Thing you’d think. And no, I didn’t end up with the bigger part of the wishbone that my wife pulled from the turkey over Thanksgiving discovering the secret to everyone’s dream!

However, it occurred to me recently that we all probably do have at least One Thing that we must discover in pursuit of our dream. That One Thing or things I’m referring to may actually prevent us from seeing our dreams become reality.

Whatever happened to…

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with one of my dearest friends about dreams we’ve seen come true and ones that were still unfulfilled in our lives and in the lives of some of our long-time friends and acquaintances. It was one of those conversations where at some point in the middle one of us asked, “Whatever happened to so and so…?”

As we continued, I noticed a thread that ran through the lives of many we remembered. Each one had started young, with so much promise and lots of dreams. We all just knew they were going to be something great. However, in each of those lives another thread had become intertwined in many of those enormously talented friends. For one, it was addiction to cocaine and jail time as a result. For another, it was his unwillingness to give up excessive drinking. His family and finances have suffered greatly as a result. Still another, as a result of his One Thing now lives a lonely and unfulfilled life, still wondering, “What if?” 

It seemed that each of those we recalled had that One Thing they would not give up in the early stages of their dream. Now, they don’t have the strength to give it up and the season for their dream has passed.  It made me wonder, “What is my One Thing?”

 One thing can be handed down?

I come from a family where addictions have not only kept family members from achieving their dreams and destroyed relationships, but also taken lives. I’ve always known that if I were to ever accomplish the dreams God placed in my heart that I would have to raise the bar that earlier generations had set and not have a One Thing in my life.

My personal struggles have included lack of self-control in many areas and gluttony when it comes to food and drink. As I have discovered through the Bible what God has to say about the lack of self-control and gluttony, it has become clear that my dream has more potential when I eliminate destructive obstacles from my life. Allow me to share a scripture that I keep on my side of the sink to read each morning as I brush my teeth.

2 Peter 1:5-9 tells us to…make every effort to add to your faith, self-control…for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now it’s your turn

Do you feel as though you’ve done everything possible and still, you can’t seem to reach the potential that you know you have?

Do you have a One Thing in your life that, in the deepest part of your heart you know is holding back the progress of your dream from reaching full potential?  

I believe that as long as we allow a One Thing to have even a little control in our lives, our dreams are in jeopardy. Maybe up until now you haven’t even connected the stalled status of your dream with a One Thing in your life. Maybe it’s never occurred to you that your One Thing is a One Thing.

Possibly, as I’m sharing my personal experiences about my One Thing, God is revealing yours to you. I am 100% positive that God has given you a dream for your life, His incredible dream for you. In the process of seeing that dream become reality, He wants to change you and help you eliminate that One Thing, one thing at a time so that your God-tailored dream will reach its greatest potential.

I want to leave you with a scripture that I’ve returned to time and again when I’ve struggled with my One Thing. I live by it. I hope you will do the same.

I Corinthians 6:12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say-but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”-but I will not be mastered by anything.

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true!

– Joe

He ain’t Mozart! – Joe Michael

I’d love to have the the talent of Mozart’s right pinky finger! I don’t. But I am always learning a new chord, progression or technique that might inspire me in my process of songwriting.

It had probably been about a year of focused, hard work on the piano when I realized an interesting irony. Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned on the piano have been learned by making mistakes. Yes, I learned scales and various exercises from my young, classical virtuoso/teacher from Indiana University. I’d even stolen a few licks from Youtube like all the other “kids”. But my best lessons on the piano so far, have been the ones’ learned by mistake.

Dreamers must be okay with “mistakes”.

My ambitious “cliff jumping” approach to life as a risk taker and dreamer has lent itself to many mistakes. I am not proud of many of those mistakes. It reminds me of when I’m pounding out a riff on the piano while my wife and son are in the other room and just as I’m getting my “groove”, I hit the worst possible chord or note possible! Those mistakes are as startling and awkward for me when it’s just a few family or friends around as they are when there are hundreds or even thousands present. Believe me I’ve experienced all those scenarios more than a few times!

Change the way you view your mistakes

Mistakes are just downright painful and many times embarrassing. However, in my experience, a couple of very critical things happen when mistakes are made. First, I do everything I can to avoid hitting those inelegant “notes” again. Something about the trauma that occurs as a result of the mistake (especially in the presence of others), helps the process of learning by branding the experience into my psyche. Many times it prohibits me from repeating the same mistake over and over. In turn, I get to experience the growth and maturity I need to complete the process of God’s dream for my life.

Secondly, many times during the process of making mistakes, like on the piano, I’m fortunate enough to discover a new “chord” or note and sometimes it leads to a whole new song, all because I made a mistake. Yes, making mistakes while pursuing your dream will be painful. Push the emarrassment aside and it can be an exciting opportunity to find a hidden treasure.

Go ahead and accept it!

If you are a dreamer, then you are a risk taker-a gambler of sorts. You live life with reckless abandon. If in the deepest part of your heart you know that God put you on this earth to pursue your dream for His purpose, then you must accept mistakes as part of the process.

Go ahead, pound away on the keyboard of your dreams. I can promise you, it will be ugly at times. But hopefully you can discover the beautiful “notes” as you stay the course and see your dream become the reality that God has planned!

Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true! – Joe

Anything But A Dream-a NASCAR driver’s story of perseverance – by Joe Michael

Michael gearing up for a top five finish in 2011

Allow me to introduce you to friend and NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide series driver, Michael McDowell. Michael and I have shared the stage many times over the last several years at NASCAR related events around the country and I have found him to be mature beyond his 27 years.

If you keep up with auto racing at all, then you’ve heard the name Michael McDowell. Michael is one of only 43 drivers in the world who gets to race on Sundays in the biggest spectator sport on the planet, NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.  During the pre-race festivities each week you’ll find Michael giving interviews, signing autographs and taking pictures with multitudes of incredibly devoted fans that fill racetrack stadiums that seat as many as 160,000 people.

Anything but a dream

Sounds like a dream-life, right? Who wouldn’t want to drive 200 mph (without getting a ticket!), rub shoulders with drivers with last names like Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt and have thousands of adoring fans, television cameras and celebrities everywhere? That IS Michael’s life-every week of the NASCAR season. In fact, it is a dream fulfilled every time Michael pulls the visor down on his helmet and throttles up his 700 horsepower motor to race on Sunday afternoons. However, Michael’s journey to becoming a NASCAR driver has been anything but a dream.

It’s no secret that NASCAR is a multi-billion dollar, sponsor-driven sport. Simply put, if you want to play this game, you’ll want to bring your pants with the deepest pockets or have your family turn over the checkbook with permission to add as many zeroes as possible.

About the time many of today’s most popular young drivers were gaining momentum with a growing cast of sponsors, friends and families who financially footed the bill for their development as up and coming racecar drivers, Michael’s family was breaking the difficult news that, although they believed in him and supported him emotionally, they could no longer financially afford to support his dream of becoming a racecar driver.

A Crossroads

As a young teenager in Phoenix, Arizona, Michael found himself at a crossroads. He could give up on his dream of becoming a racecar driver and find another passion or stand toe to toe against adversity and begin trading blows in the fight to do what he believed he was put on earth to do! Michael, determined to see his dreams fulfilled, would not give up on becoming a racecar driver. And although he didn’t realize it then as a wildly ambitious adrenaline junkie, he had the ultimate Dreamer in his corner.

For the next five years, Michael refused to give up on finding ways to support his dream. He cleaned go-karts at a local go-kart track, trained others on racing techniques and even sold long-distance phone service to make money and earn sponsorship to support his dream of racing. Anytime an opportunity to display his incredible talent for driving a racecar came along, Michael made the most of it-many times by winning!

When it seemed that his friends were getting all the breaks and sponsorship dollars needed to live their dreams and go to the next level of racing, Michael, only 18 years old, deep in debt, and still no steady job in racing, worked even harder and refused to give up.  

Life Changing Moments

As a result of his dogged determination to race and a fierce work ethic, Michael gained the admiration and respect of two very important men in his life who not only supported and encouraged him in racing, but introduced him to the greatest Dreamer, Jesus Christ.

In fact, it was at the funeral of one of those two men who died an untimely death at a racetrack, that Michael was confronted for the first time, with eternity. Suddenly, racing wasn’t the most important thing in his life. It was time for Michael to learn how to dream God’s dream for his life. Thankfully, it still involved driving fast!

Over the next several years, Michael’s desire to be a great racecar driver didn’t diminish. In fact, finding out that it was God who put him on earth to race only made the fire burn hotter. However, now he began driving with a different purpose: to touch lives along the way.

Gaining Perspective

Michael admits that finding sponsorship and staying relevant in the world’s biggest spectator sport of NASCAR racing is a daily challenge with today’s economy. But his faith and the lessons he’s learned on his journey have all been worth the hardships. The perseverance has brought a great deal of maturity to Michael’s life. Still young by most standards, God is using Michael in the lives of other drivers to mentor and encourage them in their faith and racing career.

Along with his weekly racing commitments, Michael shares his story of perseverance and faith publicly at a variety of events each year. In the off-season, he takes his wife and son on mission trips with other NASCAR drivers and friends of faith with a message of hope in Jesus Christ.

Over the last seven years Michael has won many races in the Star Mazda Series, Rolex Daytona Prototype series, Champ Cars and the ARCA RE/MAX series. Since 2007, he’s gained enormous respect in NASCAR’s top two series’, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup, with several top 10 and top five finishes in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

James 1: 2 Dear brothers and sisters,* when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. 

For more on Michael’s career or to follow on Facebook and Twitter you can check out his website here:

http://www.mmcdowell.com

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of those dreams come true! – Joe

Are You Still Here? – Joe Michael

If you don’t give up, no one can call your dream a failure! If I had a dollar for every time I thought of giving up on a dream, I could fund the next five years worth of dreams! It’s okay to (think about) giving up on your dream.  But if you truly believe God has given you a dream for your life, it’d be a real “bummer” to turn the lights out on it!

The question for you and “the dream” begs to be asked: Are you still here? Are you still in some fruitful way, obstacles and all, doing something regularly to see your dream through?

In pursuit of finding success as a performing singer/songwriter I have certainly had my share of ups and downs. But I have a dogged determination and belief that as long as I stick with it, regularly taking steps to achieve it, then those around me will see me living my dream for years to come.

What are you doing to keep your dream relevant and “HERE” for the long haul? I believe these are crucial keys:

• Continually give it up to the Ultimate Dreamer. Is it His dream for my life or just MY dream for my life?
• Education. Learn everything you can about your dream-become an expert at it-knowledge is key.
• Find ways to benefit others with your dream. It’s not just about you anymore.
• Tell others about your dream. Those who know about your dream will encourage you through the hard times and keep you accountable to stick with it.
• Leave room for your dream to be customized. Our dreams will probably never turn out like the original plan-they’ll be much better!
• Determine what success is, relevant to your life. If you’ve stuck with it-you’re a success already!
• Always know that MOST will give up on a dream. Years down the road, if you’ve stuck with it, you will have experienced some of life’s greatest joy and God’s reason for putting you on earth.
• Enjoy the Ride!

 If you are going through a particularly difficult time this week, it might be hard to even think about a dream. Maybe your dream is the only thing keeping you moving forward!!!

It’s possible that some of you are seeing your dreams reach a level of fulfillment like never before.

Can you say, “I’m Still Here”? Don’t give up!

I’m still here personally. It isn’t easy right now! Shana and I are facing some of the greatest challenges we’ve ever faced. But our faith, hope and relationship has never been stronger! We still believe in the “dream” God has given us.

I Thessalonians 3:3 (MSG)-Not that troubles should come as any surprise to you. You’ve always known that we’re in for this kind of thing. It’s part of our calling.

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of your dreams come true! – Joe

Refuse to Give Up! – by Joe Michael

Dell, with his grandson and son

Facing adversity while pursuing a dream can do one of two things: it can build the necessary resilience to persevere and achieve our dream or cause us to abandon it altogether! Achieving the dream involves accepting adversity that comes as part of the “package” and using it to build the strength and character we need to see our dreams through. If we don’t accept the setbacks, failures, and even humiliation as part of the experience, more than likely we will never see our dreams become reality.

 

Meet Dell Hamilton

The first time I met Dell Hamilton was in the lounge of a NASCAR car hauler in New Hampshire before a race. Dell had arranged a meeting to discuss a partnership with a NASCAR racing organization we both now work with, Finish A Winner. Since then, I have come to respect Dell as a man of character, a man of his word and a successful business owner.

Dell is founder and CEO of Crusader Staffing Associates based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with businesses in 17 states. He is also a minority team owner in NASCAR and owns a clothing apparel company. Since the mid 1990’s Dell has led his companies in sales in the tens of millions of dollars. In addition to having a knack for earning money, Dell has the ability to unite talent with opportunity, the gift inspiring others to get involved in worthy causes and a tenacity to overcome obstacles.  

Now in his mid-50’s, Dell has faced his share of adversity on the path to becoming a successful business owner. However, there was one adversary that could’ve kept him from his dream of becoming a community leader and successful businessmen.

Dell had always struggled with reading growing up, but he was in college before anyone realized he had dyslexia. He had just become a youth pastor with a young wife and new baby when dyslexia became a major obstacle-it cost him his job. Dell was fired from his only source of income when his supervising pastor informed him that he wouldn’t pass his required coursework based on his grades. Dell was forced to surrender his youth pastor position. With no education or income, Dell was incredibly discouraged but he was not willing to give up. Using his father’s contacts, he moved his family to Ohio from Tennessee and landed a job working in sales for a tire company. However, the company soon folded, but not before firing Dell!

Dell would be “fired” several more times and many of the businesses he began or took over would fail over the next several years before his dream would gain traction. Dyslexia continued to be a “thorn in his side”. But as he faced one setback after another including bankruptcy and a huge debt to the IRS, Dell was realizing each time he failed that he could survive adversity and failures. That made him even more determined to stay with his dreams.

His First Million

Within ten years of bankruptcy, IRS debt and a lot of perseverance Dell had made his first Million dollars. He continues to thrive as a respected business owner and sits on the board of many organizations as a successful and respected leader. Dyslexia is still a part of Dell’s life but he refuses to let it hold him back.

Over the years Dell has become a dear friend of mine. I can tell you based on our relationship, that he would not trade the adversity that produced strength, maturity and character in his life.

The following scripture is the essence of Dell’s story and I believe that it is the essence of all who dream the dream God has for their life.

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.    

Even as I write this, Shana and I are facing a lot of adversity. I’ll bet that you or someone you know is facing adversity as well. Be encouraged and embrace adversity. It’s here to stay but it will make you better.

Thanks for sharing with others!

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of those dreams come true! – Joe

Frame ‘em Up! -Joe Michael

I don’t know why I do it. It probably seems a bit morbid by some standards…maybe crazy. It has the potential of becoming a boarding pass for a one-way flight to the Bermuda Triangle of depression. But still, I do it: I save rejection letters. I keep a record in my journals of “losses” or “rejections” I’ve been handed over the years. I’d love to report that losses and rejections have not affected my “dream morale”. But the truth is, they have had a profound effect on my life. Some negative, but mostly positive.  

Being told that what we’ve worked so hard at is below the standard of whoever the critical pen on the other end belongs to can really cause us to flounder in pursuit of our dreams and goals. Sometimes it can give our faith a kick in the gut!

As an educator and singer/songwriter I’ve received rejection letters from school corporations, record companies and radio stations informing me that I’m not the one or that I just don’t have what they’re looking for or fit their format. It’s always been a similar reaction on my end: disappointment, hurt, anger, chased by a shot of feeling sorry for myself, more anger, defensiveness and finally, the realization that I can either allow rejection to extinguish the flame of my dream or use it as a motivator to kick it into high gear.

The Other Side of The Coin

There’s another side of my coin though. And this is really important. I also make it a practice of keeping track of the victories great or small, along the way. Keeping track of those “wins” reminds me that I have had successes along the road to pursuing goals and dreams. I have saved letters and emails from people who have told me what my music has meant to them over the years. It reminds me that although I may not have achieved my goal of commercial success as a singer songwriter yet, I have achieved one of my dreams of touching the lives of people along the way with music.

If you walk into my home office you will see a number of mementos that are very important in reminding me of the successes along the way in addition to my very important family photos. One memento in particular is a frame with my college diploma. I’m proud of the hard work that went in to that accomplishment. During that six-year span I went through a divorce, worked full-time during the years while in school and raised a son on the way to receiving that diploma.

But the most important part of that diploma is a small photograph tucked into the corner of the frame from my childhood.  It’s a black and white photo of me when I was about three years old- one reminder of where I’ve been on the perseverance road. Growing up in a poor family, living in an apartment in one of the worst parts of the city with a mom and dad who lived violent and wild lives, it was unlikely that I would ever see many of my dreams come true, much less get a college degree, have a positive impact on others and get songs played on radio and television around the world.

Dreams Need Failures

When you’re in pursuit of a dream, hoping and praying that you will get your chance to shine and impact others, you WILL have setbacks, rejections and yes, failures. But you will have victories, successes, great and small along the way. By displaying and keeping reminders of some of the wins you’ve had, you’ll be reminded that you’ve come a long way on the journey of where your dreams began. Likewise, when you glance back at a few of those forgettable moments of your life, you can be reminded and inspired that you survived some losses, inspired others with your perseverance and gained some character along the way while chasing your dreams. And by the way, it sure feels good once in a while to look at an old rejection letter and say, “What did they know?”

Finally, when I’m feeling down about my dreams, I read this scripture from Psalm 77:11-12. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.

God cares about the things that concern us, including our dreams. He doesn’t forget about us. Remembering God’s faithfulness and what He’s accomplished in our lives can bolster our dreams. If our dreams are the dreams God placed in our hearts, we can be sure that He will eventually bring many of them to completion.

Get the Hammer and nails out this week. I hope you’ll frame and hang up a few of the victories you’ve had on your journey of dreams!

Stay the course – dream your dreams. With faith in the Creator and a lot of perseverance, there is always hope to see many of those dreams come true! – Joe

Next week I’ll introduce you to a man who has made a career out of getting fired on his journey to carry out his dreams!