Turning a Negative into a Positive!

Negative: Expressing denial or disapproval
Positive: very confident; absolutely certain; not negative

Last month I helped out at a golf tournament that my brother hosts once a year to aid the Clearview Golf Course in East Canton, Ohio. I was so impressed with the owner (as well as my brother) at how the owner had turned his negative situation into a beautiful golf course. The owner had a love for golf, but was unable to play because he is a man of color and back in 1946 that was simply not allowed. In high school he was allowed to play because of his skills and his ability to teach other students how to become better golfers, however after a stint in the Army during the war, when he return to his hometown he was not allowed to play on any of the local courses.

His love for the game of golf inspired a desire to plan and develop his own golf course - a course that was built without the aid of any powered equipment. His efforts to acquire bank financing were met with rejections, but that still did not deter his determination to accomplish his dream. He had two friends who were doctors and a brother who gave him the much needed financial support which enabled him to purchase the land he needed and to get started on his dream.

To make a long story short - this gentleman was able to build his own beautiful golf course. Over the course of time, he was able to buy the two doctors and his brother out and maintain and operate a very successful business. My brother, Jessie had the opportunity to met Mr. Powell and was touched by his major accomplishment. At that point, he made a commitment to help by bringing in revenue to help support Clearview. Mr. Powell has since passed on, but his lifelong dream is still going strong.

When I heard of the struggle and how Mr. Powell turned a negative situation into a positive dream, it touched my heart as well and reminded me that we can do the same thing. We are not building a golf course, but we all have some kind of negative situation that we could change our attitude about and with the help of the Lord, turn it into a positive. This is a perfect example of the old saying, "where there's a will, there's a way!"

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!