If you are a goal setter, you will relate to what I am going to share in this column.

Back in my younger days, I set many goals that I did not reach, and it was very frustrating. That is until I found out that I could set goals, write them down and make them definite, but leave the timetable to the Lord.

In my new book “Your Future Begins Today,” there is a chapter on setting goals. On pages 59 and 60 it says, “after we have taken time to set our own personal goals, and have them written down on paper, the question then becomes ‘how am I going to achieve them?’” It took me many years to learn this, but once I have my goals established, I need help from a higher power. There are two verses of scripture that really helped me. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”

The reason I share this is because of some things that have happened in the past few weeks. As you may know, I am on a mission to get character education taught in schools all across our country. There have been a series of things happen that are almost uncanny, but then I realized that it was simply God at work.

First, when I asked Judge Jim Baker to write the Preface for my book, he did a fantastic job. He has since purchased more than 130 copies and has given a copy and a teaching outline to two school superintendents in our county.

Next, our local 501 Life magazine produced a two-page article and dubbed it “America’s Book.”

Then came Dr. Kathi Sweere, one of the best teachers in Arkansas, who is teaching these character concepts to her students in class on days when the weather is bad and there is no recess.

And then, out of the blue, I got a note from my friend Lori Ross, who wanted me to meet Sen. Mark Johnson, who is running for reelection. After our visit, Mark is going to consider introducing a bill in the legislature to require all Arkansas schools to teach the Life Enrichment Course, using my book as the class textbook. I have a plan where it won’t cost the schools a penny, and every teacher in the elementary grades would have their own personal copy to reinforce the concepts. I believe this will save lives in our nation in the coming years. The day I met Mark, we had lunch at a local restaurant, and after I explained the project I am working on, we all agreed that it was no accident that we were meeting.

There are other things happening that bears this out. I got a call from a freelance writer who works for the Arkansas Press Association wanting to do an article about our bookcase project. When I explained my mission, she got excited and is waiting until the time is right to prepare an article to let every newspaper in the state know about our project to teach character education in our schools.

Then I had a nice visit with the editor of our local newspaper, the Log Cabin Democrat, and shared our long-range plan to change the culture in our nation and again have our citizens know right from wrong.

To me all this seemed uncanny, but then I stopped to realize that it was no accident but simply God at work. Yes, Proverbs 3:5-6 are powerful verses.

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(For a personally signed copy of my new book ‘Your Future Begins Today’ send $20 — includes postage & handling — to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)