Sunday Rockin Chair Thoughts Pt5

Everything we need to succeed is on the inside of us; in our spirit, soul and body. A dream “sees” the invisible, our heart believes the invisible, our mind forms a plan to make the invisible possible and our body carries out the necessary action to make our dreams reality. When we make dreams come true, when we reach for something “beyond ourselves” it leads us to places and situations that build the character we need to keep and maintain the blessing that comes from making dreams come true. It also affects everyone around us. It even affects people we’ll never meet because our success has a ripple effect that causes others to succeed. Our actions network around the planet because we’re all connected at the heart. We’re all created in the image of God.

Michelangelo walked into the Sistine chapel and looked up at the ceiling. He “saw” (with the eyes of his spirit) a painting; a work of art. He “saw” a place to use his talent and ability; his gift. He “saw” the finished painting on the ceiling, and then he set out to do it. He made his dream come true. Maybe he considered the fact that he would spend forty years on his back, maybe he didn’t, and that’s beside the point because he followed his dream & vision, counted the cost and made it happen.

Follow me on this; as a songwriter, I sit in a room or studio (wherever) with a guitar, a piece of paper and a pen and I write a song. I take the song into the studio with other musicians and record it. I make necessary contacts to have the song distributed and played on radio stations in today’s world. People like what they hear and they purchase the song. The process from “my pen” to “your ear” then creates a family of people around the world who appreciate my work. But, as I sat in my room, before I wrote one word or one chord, I “saw” the whole process before it ever happened and I believed that it actually could happen. I “saw” myself turning on the radio and hearing my song - I “saw” people enjoying my music - I “saw” myself onstage performing my song for them - I “saw” myself doing radio interviews - I “saw” lives being touched by my music. In my heart and soul, I “saw” my success before it ever happened. Now, that’s faith in action! On the other hand, I could have given in to doubt fear and unbelief. I could’ve talked myself right out of my dream before it ever started! I could have said, “ohhh, this will never happen for me, no one will ever wanna’ hear my little ol’ song, it’s too much work … what if they don’t like my music … what if they laugh at me … there’s too much competition … how can I believe that my song will ever be heard around the world?” Well, I chose to believe that I could and would … and I did! I was fully persuaded that God would bring His plan and purpose for my life to pass … and He did.

Are there challenges? You bet! Are there heartaches and disappointments? Absolutely! Did I ever doubt myself and give up … yes! But the joy that comes from crossing the finish line overpowers any memory of the trials and situations we encounter along the way. I’ve witnessed childbirth firsthand. I’ve watched a woman bring a baby into the world; I’ve seen the pain on her face during labor and then after the baby is born the pain is overshadowed by the joy of holding her baby - she’s ready to have another one! Amazing! You have to “see” yourself crossing the finish line before you ever enter the race; if you don’t … you’ll never even put on your running shoes and you’ll miss out on the good life that God has already set aside for you. We already have it – we just have to go and get it! Make it happen!

what is LOVE to an 5 year old?

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'
Karl - age 5

Sunday Rockin Chair Thoughts Pt 4

We’re born knowing how to dream. We’re born with all the resources we need to make dreams come true but as we grow into adulthood it’s easy to learn how to give up, give in, compromise and settle for whatever life we can squeak by with. The easiest thing in the world to do is … nothing. As we grow up we find out what we’re really made of and how we measure up to the calling on our life. Even though we’re all created in the image of God, we may not like the person we become because we’re all at different levels of spiritual maturity. We may not like who we are because of how we’ve been trained to succeed and fail, and if we can’t accomplish our purpose where we are, and if we can’t make dreams come true because of who we are, then it’s decision time. Our life either moves forward or backward, there’s no standing still so we constantly have to deal with the “C” word … change!

Our purpose for life is a hunger and thirst that only destiny fulfilled can satisfy. Some of us settle for what we can get because it’s easier than doing what it takes to create our hearts desire. It’s easier to let our surroundings tell us who we are & why we’re here than to find out for ourselves. We know what we want but we don’t wanna’ do what it takes to make it happen.

As we grow older we learn faith, or we learn fear, but success only comes when we are oblivious to the impossible. In order to “do the impossible” we have to “see the invisible.” With eyes wide open or with eyes closed shut, we have to “see” dreams come true through the eyes of faith. You’ve been given a gift. Don’t be afraid to give it away! Don’t be afraid of the good success it will bring to you and so many others! If ya’ do what ya’ fear, the fear disappears and as it does, we make dreams come true by acting as though all things are possible.
We are born with dreams in our heart and we’re born with all the equipment, resources, talent & ability to make those dreams come true in our lives.

think good thoughts

Character is much easier kept than recovered.


…in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:12 NAS

what is Love to an 8 year old?

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'
Emily - age 8

think good thoughts

The only people you should try to get even with are those who have helped you.

my music

My parents were musicians and songwriters - my Granparents were musicians and songwriters - all my kinfolk are musically inclined to some degree! When I was a kid I thought that's what a person was supposed to do when they grew up!
I was influenced my a lotta different styles of music. As a songwriter; I don't wake up and say,"hmmm, I think I'll right a Country song today" or "I feel like writing a Southern Rock song today". All I have to do is pick up an instrument; any instrument - and before I finish tuning it; a song will begin to take shape - all I do is follow where it leads me! Sometimes I write a song in my head while I'm driving-or even while I'm talking to someone. I'm writing all the time. Writing music is not a problem for me!
Every CHARIOT album will contain music from several different genres; it's just the way I write. As I recall; it was the same way with the Beatles! You never knew WHAT was gonna be on the album - there wasn't any certain style - it was a scatter shot of great songs "by the Beatles"!
My songs are pages from my diary. The life I've lived-the way I've lived it and what I've learned from my experience. Nothing new or unique about that! Check out "No Regrets" at www.chariotband.com - I like what it says. We all need to walk away from drama-we all need to make changes for the better; everyday. Is it possible to live a life with "no regrets"? I believe so.
"No Regrets" was born outta those Southern Rock roots in my soul! Lemme know what you think!
Barry Lee

Sunday Rockin Chair Thoughts (from 9.13.09)

As we grow into adulthood though, our aspirations and goals can become “just hard work” which becomes a “home to work” routine that digs us into a rut til eventually our dreams are replaced with whatever we talked ourselves into “settling for” instead of what we truly desired to achieve. It becomes much easier to just “go with the flow” than to discover the joy of making dreams come true. The only way we can truly fail is to give up and quit; compromise is the beginning of failure.
Like a kid walking into a store and seeing a brand new shiny bicycle. Dad & Mom say, “We can’t afford the bike” and you say, “I’ll settle for a skateboard.” Dreams are slowly replaced by apathetic notions and the fear of not being able to afford the necessities of life. The fear of failure makes the wall seem much higher than it really is. So we settle for sub-standard material and the life we build won’t be able to stand against the inevitable storms that come. Don’t go with the flow because the flow is going to hell!
The dream is there to drive us, to inspire us, to provide a reason for us to move forward every day but, somewhere along the way, we sometimes compromise our standards and destiny becomes just whatever happens to us instead of what we make happen for us. We slowly begin to allow circumstances to become our reality and destiny instead of using our God given talent and ability to control the circumstances and overcome the challenges.
The reason that dreams are in our heart in the first place is for the benefit of those around us. Here’s an example from my own life: I’m a musician/songwriter. God created music, did He not? He created music and He gave me the talent and ability to create music. It is my gift. It’s God’s gift to me … not for me. God gave the gift to me to give to others and when I do, it blesses other people.

think good thoughts

The past should be a springboard not a hammock.


…"but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."
Philippians 3:13

Noah Webster

Noah Webster Quote
The moral principles and precepts contained in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. All the miseries and evils which men suffer from; vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.
Noah Webster

Sunday Rockin Chair thoughts

Dreams ... ya' gotta' have a dream. Dreams can be anything from a beautiful person to a hallucination ... from hope to imagination. When we were kids dreams were the desires of our heart. When we were kids dreaming was the natural thing to do. Don't we remember lying on our back in the grass on a warm sunny day staring up at the clouds and thinking about what we would do, who we would become and where we would go when we grew up? Thinking about all the things we wanted to have, wanted to do ... dreaming of places we wanted to go and people we wanted to go there with. We gave little thought as to "how" these dreams would come true, we just believed they would because when we were kids .... dreamin' was easy. As kids, we hadn't yet experienced the challenges that we would eventually face as we grew older but that was an advantage because we were oblivious to impossibilities so dreaming dreams was "our mission" in life!