But for those of you who don't know her, I'd like to tell you a little about her...
I was not always so blessed.
Some of you who know me or have heard me speak know that I grew up a failure - I grew up skinny, scrawny, scared, extremely shy, poor, and afraid of everything - I was afraid of the dark, water, spiders, snakes, heights, doctors, needles, and especially speaking to people. I suffered from social anxiety disorder, an inferiority complex and low self-esteem from being the kid the bullies beat up on and nobody wanted on their sports team, which later created a huge fear of rejection and failure.
In short, I was a "Loser" with a capital "L".
Today, I am so blessed. Over the years, God has been blessing me and healing me. He has shown me that if I give everything over to Him - my fears, my talents, my dreams, my pride - that He can be glorified in my weaknesses. When I am weak, then is HE strong. When I give Him these things, crucify them and lay them down at His feet, THEN He can use them - When I give Him my fear, He gives me faith. When I give him my talents, He gives me tools. When I give Him my pride, He teaches me humility. When I give Him my dreams, he gives me His vision. When I give Him my work, He shows me His will. When I give Him my passions, he gives me purpose. When I give him everything in submission, He then gives me my mission. When I give him my weaknesses, He turns them around and uses them as strengths.
In April of 2007, on my 50th birthday, I was struggling to make ends meet at the Honda dealership I was working at, had burned through all my savings, and was facing bankruptcy and losing my house in Nashville. I spent many sleepless nights in prayers and tears, did lots of deep thinking and soul searching, and finally decided I was willing to give everything up to God. I gave Him my fears, my job, my finances, my house, my dreams, my future, my sword swallowing, my pride, my passions - I finally got to the point where I gave up on my dream of making it in the music business, and decided I give EVERYTHING up, the sword swallowing, the whole works, and got down on my knees and asked God what He wanted me to do. He quietly said, "Thank you, my child. This is what I've been waiting for - Now I can use your dreams and talents and desires for MY glory. Now I can bless you..."
So in May 2007, my wife Lisa and I prayed about it and turned it over to God. For years, I had been fighting against going into "ministry". Guess what God did? He called me into full-time ministry. Lisa and I prayed about it, and on May 3, 2007, I quit my job at the car dealership, and stepped out in faith to do ministry full-time. God immediately started blessing me with opportunities and financial blessings where I was making 5x more money that I had been selling cars. And as I continue to give Him my fears, my dreams, my talents, and my passions, He continues to open more and more doors, and blesses me with more and more opportunities. He's turned my fears to faith, my talent to tools, my dreams to vision, my submission to my mission in life far beyond any job I could ever imagine - helping others to do the impossible in their lives by giving THEIR lives, their fears, talents, and dreams to God. If I boast, I boast in God and what He has done in my weakness.
Now I am so blessed in so many ways. I am blessed to be healthy; I am so blessed to live in the most beautiful paradise on our farm working with amazing Arabian horses in Hartselle, AL. I am so blessed to be able to follow God's calling for my life, and travel around the world and meet so many wonderful people. I gave God my dreams, and He has blessed me by given me my calling; Now He blesses me by touching lives through me.
But my biggest blessing from God is my beautiful wife, Lisa Littrell. If you've heard me speak, you know how blessed I am to be married to Lisa. Lisa is the love of my life. Lisa is AMAZING! She is as intelligent as she is beautiful. She is the complete opposite of me - She is smart, fearless, extremely strong, proud, very independent, a tireless worker and the hardest working human being I have ever met... She can do ANYTHING!
In Lisa, God has blessed me with a true Proverbs 31 woman - She burns the midnight oil everynight, and I call her my "Superwoman", because she works tirelessly on whatever she puts her mind to do. She can ride almost any horse and get a blue ribbon almost every time.
Lisa can drive a trailer of horses straight through to Arizona, all night long on little to no sleep. She can design and build subdivisions and shopping malls. Lisa inspires me to work harder, to not be afraid, to never give up, and through her character and integriy, she gives me inspiration to go on and be the best that I can be - through watching her, I'm gaining confidence in doing things that were impossible for me, things I had never ever done before - working with horses, farm work, stepping out in faith in my ministry, trying to live out God's calling in my life, and striving to be a godly husband for her. Lisa is my inspiration, and I am so blessed to be married to her. If it wasn't for my wife Lisa, I wouldn't have made it through those tough times. If she loves me half as much as I love her, then I am blessed twice as much as she is!
If God is working in your life, if you have fears, and dreams, and don't know what to do with them, GIVE THEM TO GOD, and ask Him to use them. He will bless you and turn your submission into your mission. He will turn your dreams into His calling, your talents into His tools, your passion into His purpose. He will turn your submission into your mission. And he will bless you for your submission.
And if you've been blessed with a beautiful wife like I have Lisa, then I can only suggest you be a godly husband, treat her special, do secret things for her that she may never know, wash her car, change her oil, bring her flowers with her coffee... and most importantly, pray for her... If you are blessed, be blessed by being a blessing to her.
God has brought me a long way from being a scared, shy, skinny kid in Indiana.
I used to be a Loser with a capital "L".
Now I'm so Blessed with a capital "B".
If a scared, shy, skinny kid from Indiana can do the impossible and be so blessed, then you can too.
May you be so blessed too, so you can say "I am SO Blessed!"
Blessings,
Dan
Read more about Lisa and our horses at ANSA Arabians
www.ansa-arabians.com
Upcoming dates Fall 2009:
Sept 16 - The Ark, Maize, KS
Sept 19 - Hartselle Depot Days, Hartselle, AL
Sept 21-23 - See You the Pole, Union City, TN
Sept 26 - World Harvest Outreach, Hartselle, AL
Oct 1 - Ig Nobel Awards Ceremony, Harvard Univ, Cambridge, MA
Oct 2-4 - Distinguished Alumni Award, Waldorf College, Forest City, IA
Oct 8-11 - Harvest Festival, Cadiz, KY
Oct 20-21 - The Assembly, Tulsa, OK
Oct 23-27 - Festival Della Scienza, Genoa, Italy
Nov 9 - Upward, Chico, CA
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