116 Is the best part of your life behind you? (with guest Wes Yoder)

Is the best part of your life behind you? In this episode, we talk with someone who works with a lot of people who ask themselves that question: Wes Yoder.

This week’s Inspire Me quote is from George MacDonald:

“Where a man would make a machine, or a picture, or a book, God makes the man that makes the book, or the picture, or the machine. Would God give us a drama? He makes a Shakespeare.“

In this episode, Leary and Armin talk with Wes Yoder, about his life and the challenges his clients—speakers and authors—often face. Wes is the CEO and Founder of Ambassador Agency Inc., a Christian-based literary agency and speakers bureau, and the author of the book, Bond of Brothers. They talk about life, successes, and what we should remember about the present moment and the future.

Quotes from the show:

• “I started waking up to the reality that what God was choosing for me was far better than anything I ever chose for myself.” —Wes Yoder
• “We’re afraid of discomfort, afraid of pain, afraid of suffering, afraid of losing.” —Wes Yoder
• “There’s a slow life transformation that happens every time you go through a testing time or a suffering time. Something in you changes, either for better or for worse.” —Wes Yoder
• “Or you can learn to forgive those who have hurt you. You can learn to say, ‘In my suffering and in my sorrow, I met the Man of Sorrow who is acquainted with my grief, who—oh by the way—promises to make my joy complete.’ I can live in that space or I can live in a place of bitterness.” —Wes Yoder
• “As long as my life is not over here, there’s still more to come, […] the best part of life is ahead of me.” —Wes Yoder
• “I don’t care where you are in life, as long as you are alive, […] this is the spring time of [y]our life—not only because there is eternity ahead, but because the years we have left are meant to be important because we still have them being given to us year after year as gifts from God.” —Wes Yoder
• “Tomorrow can be incredible.” —Wes Yoder
• “The question I have for myself literally on a day-[to]-day basis—and for anyone who will actually listen—[… is], ‘God, put into my hands whatever you want there. And take out of my hands anything that is not good for me, isn’t pleasing to you, is just getting in the way. And I don’t care what the results are.'” —Wes Yoder
• “Ultimately, contentment is connected somehow to knowing that you’ve not missed the purpose of your life.” —Wes Yoder
• “When you’re really alive, you can look, with a cheshire grin on your face, and say, ‘The best part of my life is this moment here with you.'” —Wes Yoder

This week’s Challenge Me:

Get a 3×5 card and write down the greatest sorrow of your life and your greatest fear right now. What are three things you would do if you had no fear? Look at what you write down and talk with God about it. 

Comments or questions for Wes Yoder, Leary, or Armin? Be sure to share them in the comments section below.

Resources mentioned in or related to this podcast episode:

• Wes Yoder’s book, Bond of Brothers.
• Wes Yoder’s website.