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Problems! Problems! I am tired of all of these Problems!

Do you feel like you have a ton of problems? Problems, problems, problems and you just want them to go away? If so, I think you
will enjoy this post. Read on my friend……………….
It was late in the afternoon and I was in a huge hurry. It was a quick trip to the store. Emphasis quick!. My two pugs needed food
and I needed dishwasher soap. My hair was a hot mess and I was dressed as if I just rolled out of bed. I whispered quietly to myself,
“Please, please Lord let me just get out of here before I see someone I know.”
That is when I heard it. “Julie! How are you? I haven’t seen you in forever, girl!” Suddenly, I was the center of attention and everyone
in the checkout line turned to look at me.
I looked up to the heavens and said under my breath, “Really? You do have a sense of humor God.”
I turned to greet my friend with a half-hearted smile and a hug. Wishing I could just leave already.
“How are you?” I forced a smiled as I asked.
“Oh girl! I tell you what, I am stressed out to the max. Every time I turn around I got some problem to deal with. I am just tired of
it. Sick and tired of it!” She moaned.
My first reaction was to simply agree with her. Not just agree but to “one up” her. The words came to my head, “Girl. You think you
got problems. Let me tell you……..”
Fortunately, the word vomit stayed in my head rather than sprawling out over her, me and everyone in the checkout line. Instead, I
stopped. Checked myself and rerouted my thoughts.
Smiling I responded back, “I know a place where not one person has a problem. Not one. All their problems are gone. Vanished. Va-
mooshed!”
“Where is that?” She asked with laser like curiosity.
“The cemetery.” I grinned. “Not one person there has any more problems. Everything they ever worried or stressed about is all
gone. And so is their life here on earth.”
Her mouth dropped open and she just stared at me. For a long, long time. As did everyone in the checkout line that heard me.
I continued on, “You see, your so called problems are a sign of life. A sign that you still have work to do while you are here. Your prob-
lems are simply a lesson in creativity. An opportunity for you to get stronger. Grow bolder. To think of solutions rather than waste your
energy with moaning and groaning.”
An uneasy giggle erupted from her throat as she gathered her things and said, “Yea. I guess. It was nice seeing you. I gotta go.” And
with that she left.
Suddenly, my wrinkled sweats and hot mess of a hair do didn’t seem so relevant anymore. I just witnessed a person turning down an
opportunity to choose life rather than death over a temporary circumstance. Friend, God is not so much concerned about what you are
facing, He is concerned with HOW you face it and what you do with what you have been given.
Deuteronomy 30:19 says,
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.
Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (NIV)
Every obstacle that you and I face is an opportunity to step more confidently into the life we have been commissioned to live. A life of
victory. A life of a champion.
How do you approach your problems? Do you whine and complain that life just isn’t fair? Why does this always happen to you?
My challenge for you this week is to begin to see your obstacles as opportunities. Opportunities to become all that you have been cre-
ated to be. When you and I take steps towards our destiny it requires courage and mental strength. This can only be gained by being
tested. Just like an athlete that trains for competition. Don’t give up and don’t give in. I promise you if you do not grow weary in the
good fight there is a reward waiting for you in the end.
Julie Carr
Trainer | Facilitaor | Speaker | Author
M (989)325-0636 E julie@coachjuliecarr.com W www.coachju-
liecarr.com

32 • Sports Finest Magazine Oct 2017 sportsfinestMagzine.com 989 672 0799 kelly@sportsfinestmagazine.com