Three Steps to Success

I don't know who hasn't wished there were a sure fired plan to follow to success, myself included. I have read all kinds of articles, blogs, ebooks. magazine articles etc. None of them really spoke to until I read a simple email from one of the people of the world I admire. I do not think there is anyone who has not heard of Tyler Perry, at this point in time. I have followed his career closely since I saw his first play at Constitution Hall. I am a subscriber to his email blog. I love the style of it, just like having a conversation with a good friend. I get encouragement from all of them I read, but the one I received today struck such a cord in me. It was just the perfect reminder. I'd like to share some of it with you. "I don't think I told you about this. When I was on the stand for that trial last month my lawyer, Veronica Lewis of Dallas, asked me a question that I had never thought about. She asked me, "Where do my Christian messages come from in my work?" I sat on the stand and I thought about that and it hit me. I have spoken many times about the kind of man that my father was, and don't get me wrong I don't want to beat a dead horse, but I can't tell you how I got to my answer without explaining this to you. When I was very young, about 5 or 6 years old, Monday through Thursday was pretty uneventful in my house most of the time. But on Friday and Saturday he would go out and get drunk and come home and all hell would break loose. And as a little boy I would feel so helpless watching this man beat my mother. I would sit in the corner covering my ears wanting the madness to stop. Most times, after it was over, I would lay next to her trying to comfort her as we would both cry ourselves to sleep.... that's still hard to think about. Anyway, early Sunday morning she would wake me up and take me to church. Most of the time it would just be the two of us. We'd get there and my uncle, Rev. D. J. Campbell, would be up preaching. I would look over the pews and see my mother smiling. Then she would sing in the choir and she would be happy. When she smiled I smiled wider, when she laughed I laughed harder, when she sang I sang louder. So, when my lawyer asked me that question all I could say was, "I wanted to know the God that made my mother smile.” I wanted to know this Jesus that my uncle preached about. I get a chill even thinking about it now. My uncle would preach and say things like, "Pray, and if you have faith and believe, God will do it for you. Just believe." Now, while most of the kids my age were playing or asleep, I was listening. You would be surprised what a 6-year-old will listen to. Even though I was very young, I heard that. Not only did I hear it, I wanted to see for myself. So, I put this "pray, believe, and have faith" thing to the test. Now at that age, I had a vivid imagination and I thought that the people on the TV were little people trapped inside the TV, and that if I could get inside of it, I could take them out and have my own little family that would talk to me and that I could love and take care of. I wouldn't dare go behind that old floor model color Zenith and unscrew something--I would have been murdered for sure...LOL. But, I remembered my uncle's words and I prayed and asked God to send me some little people to take care of. Now this sounds like an impossible prayer for God to answer, but one day while I was at school, a lady who lived across the street was moving away and she had asked my mother if she could leave something for me. My mother said yes and when I got home there it was, a three-story bamboo house with two living creatures that spoke to me! They said, "Hello!" There were two parakeets. I thought God had answered my prayer. Listen to me when I tell you, something got born in me that day. I had prayed, believed, and had faith and it had come to pass. From that day to this one it is that process that I have used to see all my dreams come true. Pray, believe, and have faith. It started with something as simple and small as two parakeets for me. If you start believing for little things, it will allow you to grow into believing for all things. That's the way to see all your dreams come true. If you've been trying the same thing over and over and aren't getting any results then how about in 2009 trying something else? It doesn't matter if a million people tell you what you can't do, or if ten million tell you no. If you get one yes from God that's all you need. This year PRAY, BELIEVE,and have FAITH for your one YES! God bless you today. Tyler P." Is this not a powerful re-enforcer of what we already know? These steps have worked for me all my life, Obviously they work for Brother Perry. I don't know about you, but I am using these three steps this year and beyond..