Daniel Skognes

(Lessons from Nick Foles)

Before the Superbowl, you may not have known who Nick Foles was…especially if you don’t follow football. He is an amazing example of someone who went on a roller coaster ride for a career, and then fate literally handed him the ball.

Sometimes life comes full circle. He first played for Philly back in 2012 and started when Michael Vick got injured. He was eventually cut and went to play for the Rams and the Chiefs. Finally, as his road to destiny unfolded, he returned to Philly as the backup quarterback for Carson Wentz. Wentz got injured during the 2017 season and Nick’s number got called again.

When Nick started with Philly this time, there was a sense of destiny about him. I watched him play the final games to the playoffs and knew that Philly was going to be a contender. He was not just a QB. He was a leader. He went on to lead Philly to their first Superbowl and beat one of the greatest QBs on the planet…Tom Brady. Tom already had 5 Superbowl rings and this game was going to be just another ring on his finger. That is…until he met Nick Foles and the Eagles.

The coaching was brilliant. The calls were executed with flare, and the team moved up and down the field like a well-oiled machine. It was a thing of beauty to watch. None of the odds-makers gave Philly a chance. Most said it would not be a contest and had as much as a 7 point spread. The odds-makers underestimated Nick Foles and what he brought to the game.

Lessons from Nick:

• Do what you love and do it with passion.
• Don’t give up on your dreams despite the setbacks you have had.
• Listen to people who believe in you. Ignore the nay-sayers.
• Even if your role is to warm the bench, always be prepared to get in the game.
• Don’t let the size of the giant facing you fill you with fear.
• When you believe in yourself, others are more likely to follow you.
• When you do get your chance, give it all you’ve got.

Congrats to Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles. I am a die-hard Cowboy fan, but I now have a great respect for a team that has always been one of our greatest rivals. Great game! Thanks for making this one of the greatest victories in Superbowl history.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you find…you get what you need.” Mick Jagger

Do you ever wonder about God and why He takes so long to answer some of our prayers? It is easy to get impatient with God if we don’t see things from His perspective.

Our real problem is: we don’t trust God when we try to rush Him.

Here is what I know about trusting God and His timing:

• He knows what is best for me including the timing.
• God is teaching me patience. Patience builds character, and character gives hope. We all need hope to face the trials of life.
• God’s ways are not our ways. We have to trust that He knows what He is doing.
• It is not all about me. There are always other people affected when God moves. He is putting all the pieces together at the right time.
• God wants me to be thankful for what I have already. He sometimes delays blessings because of ingratitude.
• God wants my praise. After all, He is worthy of it.
• God does not wear a watch. That is man’s way of counting time, not God’s.
• He wants us to be careful what we ask for. He knows that many times we ask for something without really understanding the consequences.
• God is faithful to His promises. If He said it, He will do it at the right time.
• God won’t hear my prayers if I don’t forgive people who have wronged me.
• Not waiting on God can have life-long repercussions. Look at the mess we still are dealing with because Abraham and Sarah did not wait on God to give them a child. The unrest we have today in the middle east was birthed out of that mistake.

If you are at a point in life where you are getting impatient with God, take a deep breath and rest in Him. He has everything you need…in His time. Start praising Him for all He has done, is doing, and is going to do in you, through you, and for you. Stand on His Word. Trust and obey…there is no other way.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

(True Story)

I had never heard of this until the story aired on 20/20. In 2014 there were three 12-year-old girls in Wisconsin who had a sleepover. The girls had become enamored with a creepy fictional internet character called Slender Man.

Two of the friends became convinced that unless they killed their other friend, Slender Man would kill them and their families. At the sleepover the three girls walked out into some nearby woods. The two friends attacked the third girl and stabbed her 19 times! They then left her for dead and decided to run away.

Miraculously, the friend survived the attack. A man was riding his bike on a path that had been chained off. He came across the girl who was covered in blood and dragging herself to the path. Immediately he got his cell phone out and called 911. The bloody body was rushed to the emergency room. The Doctor who treated her said had one of the stab wounds been one millimeter over it would have killed her instantly. It took two nurses to count all the stab wounds.

The two perpetrators had become followers of the gruesome character on a website called Creepypasta.com. Apparently, people go on the site to get creeped out. This time it proved nearly fatal for a 12-year-old girl. When the police interrogated the girls, there was no remorse. One of the girls had been good friends with the victim since the 4^th grade. The kids were tried as adults and determined to be mentally unstable. The girl who did the stabbing got up to a 40-year sentence in a mental ward. The accomplice got up to a 25-year sentence.

What is the moral of the story? Know what your kids are doing online and behind closed doors. Monitor who they are hanging out with. There was no mention by the parents of faith or spiritual grounding. Had they been grounded in their faith, this could have been avoided. If they don’t get the grounding at home, where are they going to get it?

The mother of the girl who got the lengthy sentence was aware of the Slender Man saga, but did nothing. Her comment was, “I was reading Stephen King at her age, so I did not think anything about it.” The young girl’s father had been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and now the daughter had been diagnosed with the same issue. How was this missed previously? You know there had to be signs. When they searched her room they found mutilated Barbie dolls and numerous notes and drawings that were disturbing to say the least. In one note she said she wanted to die.

This is a tragedy on every level. It is a wake-up call. I wonder how many kids like these are walking the halls of our schools?

P.S. The girl who survived is now 16 years old. She has readjusted and is doing well despite the circumstances.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes

“Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson

In boxing, the most dangerous punch is the one you don’t see coming. The same is true in life. Punches come at us from places we never expect: The Doctor’s report telling us we have something terminal, the spouse telling you that they don’t love you anymore, the company you thought you had a career with says they are downsizing and you are being let go. The list is endless.

There are two questions that come to mind:

• How do you prepare for the unexpected punches of life?
• How are you going to respond?

Preparing for things that you never see coming is pretty difficult because none of us can see into the future and know for sure what is going to happen. Of course, we can do common sense things like save money for emergencies, live below our means, take care of our health, and nurture our relationships. Those simple things may be the very things that help us weather the storms that are coming.

How we respond to life’s difficulties is crucial.

• Don’t quit.
• Learn the lesson.
• Fall seven times, stand up eight.

Nobody likes tough times, and yet it is those times that reveal our true character. How we respond when we get punched in the face matters. We can let it defeat us, or we can let it catapult us to another level. It can demoralize us, or it can make us more resolute that we will win next time.

Don’t let the trials and tribulations you are facing suck the joy out of your life. They will if you let them. Understand that this is a season and it will pass. Even if the season is a lifetime, it can be more than just endured if you learn to thrive, not just survive.  You thrive when you put your heart totally into it. You face your fears. You prepare for the battle. You take one step forward at a time. It may just be a baby step…but if you move forward in life, that in itself is a victory.

Shalom!

Dan Skognes