The competition against your significance does not have to hinder you.  It can strengthen your focus when you intentionally decide what voice and/or message to listen to.  You cannot overestimate the importance of who you listen to.

Here is a testimonial of a young man who chose to listen to the message that Darrel spoke into his life–“Your life matters.”  It made all the difference for him.  We hope and pray it will be the difference-maker throughout his entire life.  And your life too.  I wrote Welcome to the Big Leagues so a you would hear God speak his love to you and you would hear, “YOUR life matters!”

Dear Mr. Chaney,

I wanted to Thank you for coming to speak to the students at M.E .Charter High School this spring. Thank you for your time and your words of encouragement to the students and staff.

They were a tough audience, but I wanted you to know the impact your words had on a student. I’m not at liberty to share his name, so I’ll call him Joe. Joe lives with his mom, a single parent, and has several siblings. His mom is in and out of relationships. He helps to care for his younger siblings. His home life is filled with uncertainty. There were times this year that he did not know if he would have a place to stay or if his family would be together.  Joe is extremely gifted intellectually and artistically. Since the beginning of the school year he has been on again and off again academically. He was there the night you spoke. I watched as he listened to every word you said. I even saw him speaking with you afterwards.

As you were winding up that night, you said something about Jesus and that “you matter.” Joe and I had several conversations  about how he matters and that there might be a purpose for him, and if there was, if that was true, then he did not want to miss it,

Joe did not think that he would be finished in time to graduate, but after the night you spoke, he kicked it into high gear. He will be receiving his diploma on June 1. He is applying to college and has a bright out look regarding his future.

He has not come to Christ….yet..but I know that the Lord allowed a seed to take root that night in this young man’s heart. I have seen a difference in him since you came. He knows now that he has value and is important to someone. I trust that the Lord will bring this young man to know his son Jesus. 

Thank you for sharing your time and who you are in Christ,

D.S.

Read these scriptures this way.

“For God so loved (insert your name here) that he gave His only begotten Son, so that if (insert your name here) believes, (insert your name here) will not perish but  (insert your name here) will have everlasting life.:  John 3:16

“For (insert your name here) is God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for (insert your name here) to do.” Ephesians 2:10