Giving Way to the Storm: Life Lessons In Faith, Family, & Business

By Jason Parks

Have you ever felt a sense of failure or find yourself falling short of the success of others? Whether your friends, family, or peers admit it, you are not alone. At times, we compare ourselves with others in so many ways. From the house we own to the car we drive to our career. The challenge for many is that we rarely share our feelings, admit our faults, and discuss our failures with one another. The reason is because we often assume that since no one else is talking about them, we are alone. Yet in life, we all face storms that seem to carry us to places of frustration, fear, and even failure. In fact, these storms of life typically fall into three categories which are faith, family, and business. In this book, I will share some life lessons I've learned in these areas that will help you navigate through the storms of life. In the midst of the storm, sometimes God wants us to simply "give way" to the storm (of life) so that He can take us to a place we have never been before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781304983305

Book preview

Giving Way to the Storm: Life Lessons In Faith, Family, & Business

Thanks

First and foremost, I would like to thank Jesus for the abundant life I have found in a relationship with Him.  Each day I'm learning to love and appreciate Him not as a man, a great teacher, nor a distant God, but as the Son of God who willingly gave His life for me.  Because of Him, my life has found purpose and meaning.

Secondly, I want to thank my amazing wife, Kimberly, my Italian Stallion (see Family: How to Rope an Italian Stallion) who has always been there for me.  Despite my many flaws, failures, shortcomings, and neurotic / OCD tendencies (you will see a number of them in this book), she continues to extend grace and forgiveness when it is often undeserved.  Words cannot express what she means to me.  With God's help and guidance, we have gone through many storms of life and have become a little more like Him each day.  

I want to thank our son, Joshua who has been an inspiration to me even though he doesn't fully understand how at his age. His sweet spirit, fun-loving personality, and growing love for God have brought so much joy to my life.  You are truly our precious gift from God!  Your mother and I love you very much.

I also want to thank my parents who taught me to love God and to put Him first in my life. Thankfully, part of that process involved dragging me to church week after week (sometimes literally!) which later proved to be a good foundation for me to grow in my faith, and positioned me to uncover my purpose, God's plan for my life.  My prayer for you is that God will grant you both long healthy lives that you not just endure, but enjoy.

My older brother has been somewhat of a silent supporter in my life.  He hasn't had to vocally state his support, but I know that when I’ve needed him, he has been there for me.  Growing up, he was a lot of fun and set an example for me on how to persevere through life’s challenges including the often tall order placed on the firstborn.  I love him and pray that he will continue to pursue his passion and dreams and never give up!

Lastly, there are so many in my life that has been a help, inspiration, and encouragement to me over the nearly 40 years of my life.  There is not enough time to acknowledge everyone here that has made a difference in my life.  You know who you are because I've tried to make an effort to tell each of you what you have meant to me.  Perhaps there is an opportunity for another book that captures all of your amazing character, life, and impact each of you has made in my life.  My prayer is that God will continue to bless, prosper, and keep you in good health all of the days of your life. 

Prologue

Have you ever felt a sense of failure or find yourself falling short of the success of others around you? Whether your friends, family, or peers admit it, you are not alone.  At times, all of us compare ourselves with each other in so many ways.  From the house we call home, to the car we drive, to the job or career we have, to even the accomplishments of our children.  The challenge for many of us is that we rarely share our feelings, admit our faults, and discuss our failures with one another because we often assume that since no one else is talking about it, that we are alone.  Sadly, we often justify our perceived failures as God's will for our lives, and therefore rarely experience victories or successes in our lives; so it would seem.  While God can absolutely take our failures and use them to elevate us to new levels, more importantly God wants to teach us how to live life by and through our failures and lessons learned.

First of all, I want to be honest that I am not a writer. (After this statement, some of you are searching for a receipt to take back this book, on your way to a half-priced bookstore, or making plans to re-gift it.)  In fact, I've never written a newsletter, blog, and surely not a book.   Surprisingly, most of my life I haven't enjoyed writing except for an occasional tweet (@Jace_Windu) or a short Facebook post.  Neither do I enjoy reading except the Bible of course, a magazine on video games, and a story about World War II. 

Therefore, you might ask, 'why are you writing now (especially a book) and expecting us as readers to hear what you have to share in this book?'  The answer is simple; the fact that I dislike reading and avoid writing as much as possible, this book was clearly God-inspired that began with a nudge or prompting by the Holy Spirit to start, work through, and complete.  The good news is I can say that this is my best work since this is my first work and I have nothing to compare it to.

Despite my inexperience as a writer, I believe strongly that it will encourage and possibly even greatly inspire you to live your life to the fullest and to share your experiences with others. What I've learned in my short life on earth is that 'Giving Way to the Storms of Life' will help us worry less and trust God more as He uses storms to teach us about Him, His character, His plan for our lives and where we are in need of a new perspective in our present situation.  My hope is that while many of the lessons I've learned in the areas of faith, family, and business will be lessons you've also learned to some degree, you will ultimately see the amazing work He has done and is doing in your life in and through the storms of your life He permits.

So, here we go and give way to the storm...

Introduction

For most of you reading this book, if you were asked to share three life lessons to the upcoming generation and perhaps those around you who are struggling at some level in life, you could easily rattle off a few relatable lessons with little to no effort.  However, if you were asked to share 5 or even 10, it may take some thought to identify each of them and more importantly attempt to capture the essence of each one and the impact it has made in your life.  For me, I've made an effort to outline ten life lessons learned in this book that will demonstrate the importance of Giving Way to the Storms in our life and how God has used them to shape and mold me into the person that He intends me to become.

As you will see, I have narrowed down the lessons learned into three categories which I think you would agree are the most recognizable and relatable areas of our life.  The three categories are: Faith, Family, and Business. Now, you may or may not have faith in God, have a close family or even a job at the moment, that's ok. I believe you will be able to relate in some way to the personal stories I have chosen to share in this book and how these life lessons learned have truly helped set the course of my life and help me maneuver through the storms of life. 

In faith and family, these areas of our lives are often viewed as closely connected.