Saturday, February 12, 2011

Determination

When you think of the word determination what or who do you think of? We might think of our parents, military leaders, George Washington, graduating from school, athletes/sport teams, teachers, running a race, past accomplishments, and the list could go on and on. From this point forward I will always think of a man named Clay Dyer.

I had the privilege of being invited to attend a Wild Game Dinner hosted by the Bay Community Church (thank you Bryan). As I have said before, I always like including my children whenever possible to invest in their life. This was a perfect opportunity because my oldest son, Slade Mitchell, and I love hunting and anything to do with the outdoors. Slade Mitchell invited a good buddy of his, Jimbo, and we were ready to see some great deer mounts, eat lots of wild game, make some new friends, and most of all hear the guest speaker Clay Dyer (professional bass fisherman). Some of you might start rolling your eyes and saying, "here comes another testosterone story about the biggest buck killed or a story about a bass caught that grew 5 more pounds after re-telling the story to all their buddies at work".

This story will definitely not fall into that camp and hopefully leave you thinking about determination in a new light. I first heard of Clay Dyer when I saw a documentary about him and his career as a professional bass fisherman. What is amazing about him? It's not his accomplishments of fishing with the best in the world, the thousands of bass he has caught, being a professional in a sport, traveling all over our great country, but that he has done all this while not having any legs, no left arm, and only half a right arm with no fingers or a hand.

Clay was born this way at birth and from the moment you talk to him you would think he is just like anyone else who has what he is missing. His attitude is contagious and after listening to him I walked away saying to myself, "this is one man determined to make the most of life with a CAN DO attitude!".

I love meeting peole who strive to live life with the desire that I can accomplish anything the Lord will allow me to do. Clay shared some great stories about his journey and he also let us know how powerful/foundational the word DREAM is in his life. He spelled it out for us letter by letter and I think we can all learn from it personally and share it with others.

D ~ Determination-never give up
R ~ Resources-use what you have to the fullest
E ~ Effort-give it your all
A ~ Attitude-paramount to have a positive one
M ~ Motivation-to be the best you can be

He also encouraged me with his faith and trust in Jesus Christ and how he lives his life to bring Him honor and glory. He didn't have a woe am I or mad at the world attitude because of his condition. Slade Mitchell, Jimbo and myself also talked about the one word Clay hates more than anything else and that is the word CAN'T. It was powerful and I truly believe that night listening to Clay will burn into their heart and memory for life. If you would like to learn more about Clay check out his website at www.claydyerfishing.com.

Life can/will throw us some pretty fast hard balls and we will be knocked right off our saddle. My encouragement to myself and you is to remember what a man named Paul said hundreds of years ago that has passed the litmus test of time, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Phillipians 4:13

Let's live each day we are here on earth with determination and a zeal for life.