initiative
Jun 12th, 2009 |
huh, wish my image uploading worked…well, if you want to see my post, go here to my facebook page - leave a comment if you can’t see it, and I will fix it!
Cast Sheep
May 16th, 2009 |
Crud. It’s been too long since I have posted anything. I just read this and loved it.
Check it out.
Relevance
Feb 19th, 2009 |
The art of being heard has a lot to do with having something to say that people want to hear.
As Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath.
They didn’t have agents booking them, they didn’t wish they could get into the public speaking game… People just wanted to hear what they had to say.
When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.
They didn’t have to rally followers or find supporters. People just followed them around.
The next Sabbath almost the whole town gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
The what?! This made me laugh out loud. The whole town.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.
Paul and Barnabas just talked about what God told them. If people wanted to hear it, they did, if they drew a crowd, they did; if they wanted to kick them out of town, they did. The results are up to God. Always.
You 2.0
Jan 21st, 2009 |
Upgrades. My friend says they’re just a way for software companies to get another $50 (or more!) bucks out of you.
Not too optimistic.
I, on the other hand, have the great pleasure of working with software engineers! From time to time I field calls from customers that are looking for added features to their product. They like what they have, but now that they have been working with it for a while, they realize that an upgrade would make their life easier.
What I find so refreshing is when I go to the head of development team and ask for this added feature, he often gets this excited look and says “I have been waiting for someone to ask for that!” You see, he had planned for that when he built the product, but the feature wasn’t requested, desired or needed by the client at the time.
For me, it seems that as in this instance, when we go to our Creator and ask for this You 2.0 upgrade, He smiles with exitement and says “I have been waiting for you to ask for that!”
You Two Point Oh
Jan 10th, 2009 |
If you weren’t at Leadership Community - we missed you! I took notes on Dave’s message that are below. Really good stuff. I have been a ‘leader’ for many years, whether it’s my family, at my church, influencing people at my work or neighborhood…I am 100% sold on what Dave says here.
2.0 Starts with leaders. What leaders do, others will do.
Luke 6:40 A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
1Cor 4:16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
Read the Kinkos story (link) …. 1 investment brings a return of 1.5 Mil
3 Challenges to BECOME:
- BE Visionary
Pr 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
To be visionary you need to see beyond the obvious. It is obvious that we are on hard times in our economy but God owns EVERYTHING. The gold, silver, everything. The upcoming Generosity Conference is important because the rest of the world takes note that people of God act differently because of vision and faith. It is inspiring. We also need to see the best in others. To lead people you must see the best in them as well as seeing the best in your leaders. People can tell what you think by how you act. - Be Disciplined 1 Cor 9:27 “but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (delayed gratification) Plan in advance. Be disciplined in hearing from God every day. The ppl following you need for YOU to hear from God everyday.
- BE Courageous. 2 Tim 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. ”
Be willing to face ur fears. If we aren’t no one will be!
Be with other courageous leaders. No one learns in a vacuum. We need Jesus to speak to us and inspire us.
Proximity- a leadership axiom
Jan 8th, 2009 |
Proximity is one of my leadership axioms. It represents the truth that you have to ’stay close to stay sold.’
The farther away a person gets from another person the more critical they tend to be and the less grace they find for that person. The more time you spend with someone the more you find it within you to love - even those you don’t like.
You know how fired up you are after a misison trip, a great retreat, a good meeting or one on one? That is because you were close enough to be touched - by another, by the mission, by the idea.
But the farther away you get from that point in time, the more you wonder, “What was it I saw in this thing anyway?” …unless you stay connected.
A leader recognizes this and is responsible for keeping themselves connected to the activities of the mission and with others on that mission.
We get lazy. How easily we relinquish our responsibility to stay motivated, to manage and feed our hearts and for our spiritual velocity.
Tolkien fans will recall Gandalfs words to Frodo concerning the Ring, “Keep it secret. Keep it safe.” With the same urgency and reverence for what can be lost and the dangers of losing what is so important to all of mankind, I hear these words, “Stay close. Stay sold.”
Proximity. What are you close to? What are you feeding your heart? Where are you in relation to the mission of hpftwbtG.
Everything is more fun with a friend
Jan 5th, 2009 |
WARNING: if you are looking for an exciting post, please leave this blog immediately…
I hate errands. I hate going here and stopping there and dealing with “stuff.” I hate them so much that I don’t do them. This Sunday, however, I decided to call my friend Kym to see if she could go with me on some errands. She likes photography and is on the phototeam at Yorkville, so I thought she might enjoy herself during one of my errands to the camera store. To my great surprise and joy, she was able to come with me.
After much deliberation I had selected 43 (can you believe it?) of my best pictures for my walls at home (after 3 years of bare walls.) I just needed someone to hang out with me while I figured out what I liked, what sizes to print and if I wanted to afford it! And someone to say “what on earth are you thinking!? don’t print that!” Kym was up for it and we had a good time despite Wolff Camera’s not so-hot-very inconsistent-editing software. (I have to learn Photoshop!)
Then we stopped at Sears to return a gift, waited for ever, teased a lady that Kym thought was gonna be mad (but she wasn’t - we actually got a laugh out of her) grabbed a cup of yummy berry infused chai from Starbucks and off we went back home again.
This was the first time in a long time I actually enjoyed running errands…
Everything is more fun with a friend.
The Christmas Story of Empowerment
Dec 21st, 2008 |
whoa! Crazy title!
Our Advent Series at CCC, Let It Be Christmas and a post by Todd Heistand got me thinking about Christmas a little differently this year. I love new revelation!
I have had this new sense of how anticipated the birth of Christ was for the Hebrews. They had waited so long for someone to lead them out of the crappy (yes, I said it) lifestyle they were leading. How many of their children, husbands, wives died because of the conditions they lived in? What a disgrace to God’s own people to live like that. Where was their God?
This sense of intense waiting has made me rethink the entire episode. How unbelievable it must have been for Mary and Joseph that they would be the ones to raise the new leader of Israel! But even more than that, how crazy that God would entrust himself to the care of us humans.
I’ve been reading the One-Life Solution by Henry Cloud (take the time, it’s good). In one section he talks about empowering people. You provide good guidelines, adequate supervision and let the person run. They fail or succeed on their own. It carries way more responsibility and burden, but also greater reward.
As I watched “Let It Be Christmas” at the Yellow Box tonight (go see it!) I thought what an empowering act to humble yourself to the extent of being born to a teenager, in a nation that was not powerful enough to even protect themselves from being overtaken. He didn’t micromanage Joseph… “Hey Joe, don’t you think you should make reservations in Bethlehem? I don’t want to sleep in a dump.” or “Joseph, get a head start, you know your wife is gonna pop any day now!” He let Joseph be Joseph and Mary be Mary. He gave them guidelines (signs, the law, angels) he supervised them - never letting them our of His sight (”psst Joe, go to Egypt, it’s gonna get bad”)
But still it was their responsibility to be loving parents, to figure out how to raise a kid smarter and kinder than them, how to make ends meet, how to keep their family safe, to hear from God in regards to their child…
That’s empowerment. Thank God.
What makes you happy?
Dec 1st, 2008 |
Every year for the past 3 years I have invited the Martin kids over for Gingerbread house making. This year we had newcomer Matthew with us! …and a house full of BABIES! It was chaotic and I am pretty tired - but really happy. I love breaking out my favorite Finnish recipes. I love making “glue” out of melted sugar - the kids think it is as good as magic, not to mention the excitement and danger! (that stuff is HOT and will burn your skin off!)
I’m energized by the concentration, glee and sense of accomplishment each kid has and the pride on mom and dad’s faces! It’s fascinating to watch as each child’s personality develops from year to year.
So, I am eagerly awaiting next year’s Gingerbread house day!