People who know me know that I have a passion for helping people to overcome obstacles in their lives so that they can live life to the fullest.

This past October, I cleared the hurdles of pessimism and skepticism in relation to my physical well-being. After trying all kinds of diets and exercise routines I got involved in an incredible health program and, over the span of 10 weeks, was able to lose 45 lbs. and drop my cholesterol level over 100 points!

I was so blown away by the results that I've chosen to pay it forward and offer health coaching to others who, like me, maybe believing that it could never happen to them.

If you're interested in a free health assessment to determine how you might have similar success, shoot me a private message or send me an email at dan@dankuiper.com. If I can do it, you can!

God wants us to enjoy life. He longs for us to be joyful. But joyfulness and happiness are not the same thing.

God doesn’t want us going through life saying tomorrow is the day. He doesn’t want us thinking that yesterday was the day. He wants us to say, this is the day the Lord has made so therefore I will choose to rejoice. I will choose to be glad in it no matter what comes my way.

No matter what kind of abuse we may have endured in our lives, we have a God who seeks to restore our dignity. To restore our self-worth.

It is when we trust Him enough to place ourselves in His loving arms that we will find the healing we’re looking for. ​

We need to surround ourselves with people who are going to help us not only to heal but to grow. That being said, this process of building our support network also involves identifying and keeping our distance from those who will NOT help us to heal and grow.
People who will walk beside us on our journey, who will pick us up when we fall down, who will point us in the right direction. We were not meant to go it alone.

In October of 1995, there was a bit of a problem between a U.S. naval ship and Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland. I came across this actual transcript of a radio conversation:
 
U.S. ship—“Please divert your course .5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.”
 
Canadian reply—“Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.”
 
U. S. ship—“This is the captain of a U.S. Navy ship. I say again, divert your course.”
 
Canadian reply--“No.  I say again, you divert your course.”
 
U.S. ship—“This is the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea. We are a large warship of the U.S. navy.  Divert your course now!”
 
Canadian reply--“This is a lighthouse. Your call.”
 
When we are going through difficult times and send out distress signals to God, it’s important to know who we’re really talking to. Because the truth is, our perception of God will determine our direction—it will either draw us closer to Him or keep us drifting aimlessly.
 
Some of us, based on spoken and unspoken messages we received at home and possibly even in church, grew up believing that God is a God of wrath, ready to inflict judgment on us the second we do anything wrong. Rather than picturing a loving God with arms wide open to us, we see an angry God with a finger of shame pointing in our faces.
 
Some view God as being distant, preoccupied. It’s not that He doesn’t care about us it’s just that He’s got more important things to do than listen to what’s going on in our lives.
 
Some of us have come to believe that God is continually disappointed in us; that we could never possibly do enough to earn His love—that is reserved for those who have their spiritual act together.
 
And, perhaps most devastating to our hopes of actually having a relationship with God, some of us see Him as being indifferent. We want to experience intimacy with Him but, deep in our soul, we’re quite sure that we don’t really matter to Him.
 
For us to find hope and healing, peace and purpose in our lives we need to know who God is—who He REALLY is.
 
The Bible paints a picture of a God who is a loving Father, a Wonderful Counselor, a Healer of the broken-hearted. The book of Proverbs tells us that He is not only our friend He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Did you ever stop to consider the significance of that statement?
 
Most every one of us has come to realization that our “friends” do not always remain our friends. Those neighborhood kids we grew up with we may have completely lost track of. Our closest friends in high school often become only casual acquaintances in our adult lives. Our friends today may not be our friends tomorrow. But our brother is always our brother. Not even geographical distance can change that biological fact.
 
God is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother. In other words, He is Friend who will always be our friend. He will always love us; He will always pursue closeness with us; He will always long to spend time with us. In fact, nothing can separate us from Him.
 
When we see God for who He really is we can’t help but be drawn to Him. He is God of second chances. A Father who is never too busy for His kids. A Provider who makes His strength available in our weakness. A Daddy who longs for us to share with Him our dreams and desires, our fears and our failures. If it matters to us, it matters to Him. Because we matter to Him.