Moolala – It’s All About Love

I love trying new things.

I’m the guy who likes to try new restaurants, try new menu items, try new beers, try whatever. It drives my wife crazy but it sure makes for an interesting life.

So when a friend of mine started a company called Moolala that provides great deals (similar to Groupon) AND provides an opportunity to make a ‘bit-o-money” in the process, I jumped on it. I like saving money and I like making it.

I also love music.

So when Moolala offered a half-off discount for concert tickets ($40 discount for $20), I jumped on that too.

Now the fine print.

The coupon I purchased said I couldn’t apply it to more than one ticket. I thought to myself, if I buy two tickets, then I can apply a coupon to each one. So I purchased two discount coupons (essentially discount codes I could apply at check out when I purchased my tickets).

The disconnect.

I headed over to Monentum-Tickets.com to purchase a set of concert tickets to see Keith Urban in concert this summer (I wanted to surprise my wife for our anniversary; last year we saw Michael Buble in concert, which was fabulous). After I selected my seats, I entered the discount code provided by Moolala on the check out page.

And therein I encountered my problem. I could only apply one discount code because all tickets are sold in pairs, not individually. Bummer #1.

I jumped on the phone and spoke with a helpful representative from Momentum who confirmed that I could only enter one discount code. In the process of helping me, she told me that she had never seen a discount code of this value, which made me feel good about my purchase (but not great since I couldn’t use both). I thanked her for helping me and hung up the phone.

At this point I was a wee bit frustrated. I was really looking forward to saving $80 on this purchase, which would have allowed me to get some really good seats at a great price. Not that $40 off is bad, but I expected $80. I headed back over to Moolala to see if they even offer support.

What happened next is what sets this company apart from others.

I clicked on the Support link. The first thing I read blew me away. Check this out:

First, we love you! I know it seems early in the relationship for us to be using the “L” word. But we really do.

Seriously? You love me? A company actually “loves” me? What does that mean?

I saw they list a phone number for support. I tell you what, I am done with sending emails asking for support. Does it ever really see the light of day? Does a real human actually read it? Give me a phone number. And let me talk with a human.

I called their toll-free number and heard Jon Dale’s friendly voice (he’s my friend who started the company). It was a recording. Bummer #2. But Jon said to leave a message and someone would help me. I wasn’t holding my breath, but I was certainly hoping for good things. I figured if I didn’t hear from someone within 24 hours, I would call Jon’s personal mobile (the benefit of knowing the guy who started the thing.)

Within a few hours, I received a very nice response from a real human being (not some auto response; I hate those) who said they were not only sorry for the misinformation, but they would be happy to either refund my $20 or provide me with a $20 Amazon gift voucher. Cool. Not only that, I could actually log into my account at Moolala and see the dialogue of my support request. And there was a picture of Pam, my “real” support person. Very cool.

So within 3 hours of my call to Moolala, they not only made things right with my purchase, they actually made me feel loved. How many online companies nowadays not only have this as their goal, but actually deliver on the promise? Not many, I can assure you.

If you’re looking for some great deals, you need to check out Moolala. And you need to sign up and get your friends to sign up, because…

Great Deals + Great Support + Feeling the Love = Very, Very Cool

With Moolala, it really is all about the love.

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If you were inspired by my ‘real world’ experience with Moolala and want to sign up, would it be asking too much if you would please use my referral code? Thanks a bunch and share the love: http://matthewhexter.moolala.com

 

Living a Better Story

A young boy sat gazing under a tree on the palace grounds of the Kaiser of Germany. Taking in the ornate buildings and beautiful gardens, his attention turned to a group of soldiers being instructed by the Captain of the Imperial Palace Guard. As the Captain barked orders, the soldiers followed willingly and obediently. It was their job to ensure the safety of the Kaiser and his family within the confines of the Palace. They took their job seriously.

The boy smiled. His dad wasn’t always this gruff. Yet he worked them hard none-the-less.

The young boy could have been playing elsewhere that day. But his life had already been determined for him, his mission and calling clear. Someday he might become the Captain and lead the guard. It was tradition; a noble legacy. The first born son of his family held the honor of serving the Kaiser. This was an honor of the highest order and he had every intention of making his Father proud of him.

But this never came to pass. Civil unrest forced his family to flee the country, leaving behind other relatives whose fate met with less fortune. They packed their things, concealed their identity, and found safe passage on a ship headed for America. While they would have to begin again, their family was together. They would start again in a new land, writing the next chapter in their story.

With the dream of his original calling now gone, the boy could have easily given up hope for a meaningful story. Instead, he worked hard at his studies, attended a prestigious university and graduated in medicine. He set up an office in a small town a few miles west of Cleveland, where he practiced until he passed away in 1972. I was told by many that he was a good doctor and a good man, respected and loved by many in the community.

I had the opportunity to meet this man at a young age. In fact, he delivered me. And he was so excited to be there. You see, I was his first grandson. And yes, my dad was his first-born son.

Had the world not changed, my calling and mission would have been clear. But the events surrounding my grandfather’s death sent my dad into a spiral of depression and by age 12, I was on my own to figure out this thing called life. Family unrest forced my mom to flee the marriage. She packed her things, and with my younger brother, found safe passage to a town a few miles away where together they would begin a new life – a new adventure – in a new land.

Without me.

Directionless and alone, I chased after anything that offered the appearance of life. Like my dad, my life began to spiral out of control, until one day a boy in school told me about another Father that offered a better life, a better story. I was skeptical but I was thirsty.

It would have been easy for me to give up hope. But like my grandfather, I embraced this Life that is truly life, and ever so slowly my soul recovered. I started to live a better story, which included attending college, marrying my college sweetheart and starting a family. I was able to land a steady job, buy a few cars and carry a mortgage. For those on the outside, we were living the American dream.

But a good story is always bigger than you are. And it usually takes an “inciting incident” – a disruption – to wake you up to the realization that life just might offer more than you are currently experiencing.

For me, that disruption came last year in the form of unemployment and the loss of nearly everything we had ever worked for: Savings? Gone. Retirement? Gone. Vehicles? Sold them to put food on the table. Home? One month away from foreclosure. In fact, I was so broke I borrowed money from my 15 year old daughter just to pay the mortgage. Talk about role reversal.

Thankfully I was able to find a job that pays the bills. But this experience woke me up. It lit a fire in my belly. So 20 years of marriage and six children later, my wife and I have determined to set out on a different road. While we don’t yet have clarity as to what this looks like, the key is that our family is together. Together we are excited to write the next chapter in our story.

To this end, my wife and I will be headed to Portland, Oregon in September to attend a seminar entitled “Living a Better Story.” Facilitated by Don Miller, author of “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years,” our hope is to learn just that; how to personally “live” a better story, how to leave a legacy – an incredible story – for our children, their children, and future generations.

To learn more about this seminar, visit http://www.donmilleris.com/conference or check out the cool video below.

 

A Hallmark Moment

My oldest son Luke turned 13 this past Sunday (7/12). In the morning he opened a special gift that only a father can give: a Marlin semi-automatic .22 rifle with a 4×32 scope. He then enjoyed a fun day at the beach with family and friends.

After the festivities were over and my wife and I we were just about to turn in, Luke came into our bedroom and sat on our bed. He then jumped next to me to snuggle. I asked him if anything was wrong. He said no. Then he asked if I could pray for him. Now typically this is something we do together on his bed as he is going to sleep. But he had a specific request.

“Now that I’m 13, would please pray that I can get to know God better and that I can make faith in God my own and that I would live out my faith.”

Wow. I couldn’t have scripted this any better. Next to me was my oldest son, whom at 3 months of age was hospitalized for 30 days and almost died. I believed then that God spared his life for a purpose. And my prayer ever since has been that he would become a mighty warrior for Christ. In his own way, he expressed the desire of my heart.

Words fail in the ability to express my emotions then and right now as I type this to you. Humbled? Grateful? Sober? Amazed? Overwhelmed? So joyful that I just want to run outside and scream and dance and sing?

I share this to encourage your heart. Our faith is living and active and the investment we make into our children and others will reap huge dividends for the Kingdom. We do not serve an impotent God. We serve a ‘right here with me now’ Father who is actively engaged in advancing His Kingdom in our hearts and lives. This is what it’s all about.

Now, just be sure to remind me of this ‘Hallmark moment’ when he’s driving me so nuts that I want to pull out all of my grey hair. That will bring me back to reality real quick!

 

Dirty Windshields

So I’m sitting in the airport at Chicago Midway waiting for my ‘on time departure’ to take me back to my loved ones and I notice this sign up on a wall that gets my attention. It reads:

Simplicity trumps complexity.

The banner is promoting the latest and greatest in internet connectivity. But for me this morning, it has everything to do with my life. As I ponder these words, some thoughts bubble to the surface.

God does not make it difficult for me to find him.

He does not make it difficult for me to follow him.

And yet the good majority of the time, I feel like I look through the windshield of my life and it’s covered with mud and grime. I can’t see a darn thing. I attempt to turn on the wipers in an effort to clean the glass, but all it does is make things worse.

What if the answer was as simple as getting out of the car?

What if ‘freedom in christ’ means less, not more?

In a complicated world, I believe the answer is less, not more.

Which leads to some questions:

What things do I need to shed?

What cars do I need to get out of so that I can see Him (and my life!) with more clarity?

How about you?

 

Live Loved by Father

The other night I woke up around 2am when two cats tried to jump through our open bedroom window. Seriously! Fortunately I had a big fan in the window and the goofy cats hit that first and fell back onto the hot tub. I pulled out my military grade flashlight and “blasted” them. It was one of those moments that I wished I kept a loaded 12 gauge by the bed.

We would be eating cat burgers for dinner tonight. I can just imagine the conversation:

“How do you like yours? Medium rare… and would you kindly remove the hairballs please?”

So I get back in bed, heart pounding, and the enemy starts showing me all the ways I have “failed” since college, how I haven’t lived out of my heart and have just resigned myself to living in the daily grind.

And then I woke up and read an email from a dear friend who was sharing his heart and journey. He wrote:

“…stay in Him and know that you are loved. Don’t fall back into the small story, don’t feel the need to “make life work,” don’t try to get for yourself. Live in the fact that He loves you enough to look out for your best interests and remember the truth contained in Matthew 6 and Luke 12… the whole don’t worry about tomorrow thing.”

Ahhh, so good.

So I took a walk before work and found myself asking Father why I have lived my last 20 years out of fear. I certainly don’t want to live the next 20 that way.

And then Father spoke a new paradigm.

For the next 20 years or so (or however long I’m on this planet in this tent), I can live loved by Father… everyday, all the time.

Wow. I wonder what it would be like to live my life knowing that I am loved by Father. No hoops to jump through. No deadlines to meet.

Living loved by the Father. Period.

As I considered this, I realized that this new paradigm would change everything. EVERYTHING!

Maybe that’s what John meant when he wrote that “perfect love casts out ALL fear.”

Fear = Death

Love = Life

I’ve heard it said that the most dangerous man on the battle field is the one who has reconciled his own death. He is finally free to live without fear.

So if I live loved, then I will finally be FREE to LIVE!

That’s what I want.

How about you?

 

 

Disappointment

How do you handle it?

What do you do when you try to step out into something that makes your heart come alive only to have it fall short?

What does this expose in your heart? What bubbles up from your wellspring? What does this reveal about your true beliefs about who God is and what He is doing in your life? Do you still believe that His heart for you is good?

Recently I took a risk to move into something that makes my heart come alive, something I gave up years ago and resigned myself would never happen. I became alive with anticipation dreaming about the “what ifs.”

What if I actually do well? What if this actually sticks? What if this is even better than I think it is? What is my potential and the possibilities? What if God actually allows my dreams to come true… on this side of heaven?

My expectation was that the Father would reward my efforts… make my dreams come true… and make life easier by allowing me to do what I actually enjoy instead of working at my current insanely boring and heartless day job.

While my efforts were valiant and noble, my end result didn’t make the cut.

In the midst of all this, I heard the Father say, “I’m proud of you.” And yet I was sullen… and angry. Angry that God would give me the chance to walk in my glory, experience the joy of a heart fully alive, and yet not let me taste the sweet victory of success. Honestly, I was pissed; really pissed.

The Father spoke again, this time asking a question. He said, “When I say I’m proud of you, why isn’t that enough?”

Wow. Good question. No, great question. The real question.

God set me up.

He set me up because He loves me.

He gave me the joy of walking in something that made my heart come alive and yet he used it to expose how I still seek man’s approval and validation. I want – perhaps am addicted to? – man’s applause… whether in victory or defeat. God exposed this because, as a good father who is fathering and initiating me, he is so much more concerned about the character of my heart and life then about my perceived success on this earth. He is rooting out all that is not Him, that I may become an “oak of righteousness, for the glory and display of His [not my] splendor.”

So the last few weeks have been hard. But they have been good. And God continues to prove to me once again that His heart towards me really is good.

I guess this is what it means to walk with God in the stuff of life…

 

The Dream… of horses and American Idol

Resigned.

At age 13.

My daughter is giving up on her dreams. She loves horses and would love to own one (or two or three or…).

“But we don’t have property for a horse and our housing association won’t allow us to have horses and they cost too much and …”

The excuses come easy, as do the agreements. The enemy whispers of despair and disappointment.

The result?

Resignation.

—

My children and I have really enjoyed watching American Idol this seaon. Especially my 13 year old daughter. A few weeks ago she found out about the songwriting competition, where you can enter a song and if it is selected, the winning contestant will sing and record it. She was giddy with excitement when she recommended that I write a song and submit it.

“Who, me? There’s no way. How could I possibly write a song, a good song – no, a great song – that could win the American Idol songwriting competition? Sure, I’ve written some decent songs in my life, even placed well in some songwriting competitions, but who am I to write a song that can win it all?”

And then it hits me.

Resignation.

I fall on my knees and cry out to the Father. I’ve been living under resignation for far too long.

I break the agreement. I receive healing, mercy, grace and love. The Father’s kindness pours over my soul like a healing balm.

And then He does it. He gives me a song. I worked on it this past weekend and submitted it in the competition.

It is called “The Dream.” It speaks of never giving up on your dreams.

It is dedicated to my beautiful 13 year old daughter.

“With God, all things are possible.”

Looking forward to what God will do… with both the horses and the song!

 

Past, Present, Future

In the book, “The Shack” by William Young, the main character Mack has a conversation with God (called Papa). As Mack is talking about his future, Papa asks, “Why is it when you talk about the future – and dream about it – you do so without me? Why is it that you don’t include me in your future?”

Ouch.

That’s my story.

I dream about my future alone. I plan and scheme and dream and it’s all about me accomplishing some goal, whether professionally, monetarily, personally, spiritually.

And where is Papa?

Why do I leave Papa out of my future?

Perhaps I believe that I’m in a better position to watch out for “my interests?” Perhaps I really don’t trust His heart and believe that His heart towards me is good, that he really does want the best for me?

Come to think about it, I live most of my “present” in “me-mode.” It’s all about self-preservation. As much as I have tasted the life that is truly life, experienced the freedom, love and joy of Papa, I still live most of my days conducting my own orchestra.

To complete the circle, what of my past?

There are many times that I meditate on the past – mostly on the ways I have been wronged or how I didn’t accomplish this or that – and again, I do so without Papa. Very rarely have I actually invited him into my past. When I have, the understanding and healing He has brought has been incredible. Chains have been broken and the captive has been set free.

And yet I still do it. I still try to figure out, fix, manipulate, and control my past, present and future on my own. On my terms.

Maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about when he said “you must be born again.” Maybe I really can be born again of water and the Spirit. Maybe Papa, who is outside of time – the Boundless One – can take me back to May 13, 1966, and “re-birth” me, not as the Matthew who lives life on his own terms, but rather receives a new life, one that lives all of his life with Papa… on His terms, under His umbrella of love, mercy and grace.

Oh Papa, may it be that I live my past, present and future, not without you, but with you at the center.

Is Papa your center?

 

I See You…

Those were the words I heard from the Father.

No kidding.

He says things like this to me on a pretty regular basis.

I happened to be in Sandusky this past weekend celebrating a nieces’ birthday. As customary, whenever I am around relatives who really don’t give a lick about me and my changed life in Christ, I usually get pulled down into their funk and the next thing I know I begin to doubt myself and who I am. I am “alert and oriented times zero.” All the power of my life in Christ that I walked in with has disappeared. I like the way John Eldredge explains it: he says that relatives are like krypotonite. The superman (or woman) in all of us is rendered impotent and incapable of walking in the freedom and strength of Christ, incapable of offering the weight and glory of our lives to others.

And so as guests were arriving, chatting and catching up, I quietly (and unnoticed) moved into a sunroom and found an empty chair facing a window that framed a beautiful sunset.

And that’s when it happened.

As the sun said goodnight and the warm rays enveloped me, I looked up and heard my Father say, “I see you.” Ah, you see me. “Yes, I see you. While others may not, I do. And I love you.”

Wow.

It wasn’t a loud proclamation. Nobody else heard these words. But I did. As Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

My Father sees me. He delights in me. And he took the time to speak those words to me, to frame a beautiful sunset that both he and I could enjoy… together.

I love to be seen.

How about you?