week 50: lessons from 7 days off the grid

this was not easy

thank you to over 11,000 of you who read this weekly and share with your friends and family for behind the scenes on building a million dollar business from scratch and beyond. i also include a personal note in the end so i am grateful that you let me do that without judgement.

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most of you know me as someone who writes a lot, post on LinkedIn a lot, has a ton of energy and always positive.

partly true.

but here’s the other side of me.

i can be completely off the grid and live in the moment, for days.

well that is what i just did with my family - off the grid for 7 full days.

here are the 7 lessons from 7 days out:

1. time can be still

2. being there for others is 90% of the effort

3. i am full of pride and need to constantly be humbled

4. nothing we do is insignificant in life for others

5. hugs and smiles are language of love universally

6. no one is in rush but everyone seems to be on purpose

7. every single person who didn’t have much, believed in God without a doubt

each day as we spent time talking about the love of Jesus door to door, we also spent time with kids at the RTS Missions (see if you can spot me and my wife and kiddos)

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on a personal note, this was our second mission trip and we came back feeling so impacted by the love and warmth of people of Dominican Republic that we can’t wait to go and serve again.

but one experience trumps it all.

meet Michael - two years ago, my son, Krish, who was 11 at the time shared the Gospel and love of God.

after that this kid followed Krish and came to local Church with us.

2 years later, as we went to the same Church, my prayer was the this kid shows up and guess what…..

he did!

goose bumps all over.

you can see in the hug and the genuine love for each other when Michael said to Krish that he is his best friend and loves him and gave him a big hug!

i wonder, what if we wouldn’t have been on the first trip and not met Michael?

what if we didn’t listen to God’s voice in our hearts to go again and have the opportunity to serve?

my what if questions go on and on in my head and i wonder how can we all live life on purpose, do the best work of our lives every day and be there for others when they are truly in need.

here’s my observation that i wrote down walking up top of the mountain in this place called Jimani in DR.

please read it slowly the next two sentences.

when you have nothing, God is your only hope.

when you have everything, there is no hope but only despair.

leaderpoint: nothing you do in life is insignificant (thanks to my friend Greg Shepherd - co-founder of RTS Missions who said this over and over and that was very clear to me on this trip)