REPOST: Leadership Lesson of the Week

Ok, I don't really follow sport, so I don't really know who this guy is...
But I can connect with his perspective on "it's the failures that stick out in your head" concept.
This original post is by my dear friend from college who was then and continues to be an encouragement and compass.

Leadership Lesson of the week

from thoughts and things by theodude

Check out these thoughts from former NFL quarterback Steve Young on accountability. It does make you think.

Chaos' Map

This is a re-post from Diary of Avid Readers blog.


Not able to see the forest through the trees? Maybe you can't even identify that those things you're bumping into are trees? Well, an airlift out of this life you're living/this ministry you're doing isn't really an option... But how about a map?

Now a map doesn't tell you where you're going. YOU pick the destination. A map doesn't even tell you where you are or where you've been. It only gives a wide-angle view of all the landscape, which enables the reader to identify localities, destinations, and the paths between them.

This is what Scott Wilson's Steering Through Chaos is. His map of ministry & vision helps the reader recognize landmarks of church (or other ministry) growth and transition.

I have to confess that I'm not moving through this book with my typical speed and voracity, not because it's a slow read, but because I keep recognizing landmarks. I find myself stopping and unpacking some point (current and past) in a ministry I've been a part of with the perspective of Scott's "map."

You can change without growth,
but you can't grow without change. -Scott Wilson

(from chapter 2: Vision)

F.O.C.U.S.

F--First things first.
O--Other things second.
C--Cut out the unimportant.
U--Unify behind vision.
S--Stick with it.

Simple. Yet life changing, if we can do it.

I'll be honest, I'd practically be rewriting the book here to pull out all the gems. As I read, at each new idea or example I think of pastors and leaders in my life that I think could benefit from hearing the message I'm hearing in that passage. By chapter 2 alone, I had a list of a dozen people I want to give copies of the book. I don't mean that in a "...you've been doing things wrong, so read this and get it right" kind of way, rather a "Be encouraged. Here's an outside look at what you're neck deep in. Know that others have been where you are--mired in the chaos of ministry, growth, and transition. You're not alone."

Wilson reminds us that it's God's calling on the lives of pastors and leaders. And, truthfully, He does allow us to experience failure in our lives and ministries but to His glory and our growth.

I really could camp out on every third page or so and affect great change in my life and ministry, but even in that, I must FOCUS on the changes He is making. Knowledge and insight are WONDERFUL things, but without the application of God's Wisdom they are in vain.

I am encouraged. I can't wait to see what God is doing in my life and ministry the fifth time I read this book!

--
Blog Tour "Map" for this book

Purpose

Flailing. Floundering.

Sometimes life seems to have more purpose than others. I don't generally ask the big "why" questions, but I do ask God "what now?" Seriously. What now?

Which direction?

A dear friend introduced me to an author of Business Management books, Patrick Lencioni. To my surprise, one of my favorite of his books so far is The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family. I know, you're thinking, "that doesn't seem like a business management book."

Well, it takes some simplifying of business management principles and applies them organizing and structuring home and family.

And, again, I know what you're thinking "Um, don't you live by yourself?" Yeah, imagine how sad it is to be frantic managing the life of one.

We'll see if applying these principles to a life of one puts me on a manageable track for incorporating others into my life...

All for Naught?

Is it all for nothing?
OR
Does EVERYTHING matter?

Can it simply be one or the other? In the midst of life's MANY everyday choices, how do you know which ones TRULY matter in the GRAND scheme of things?

Do we typically only figure out what matters after-the-fact?

What if THIS is THE moment?

Every once in a while I hear people ponder "Is THIS what life is all about? Really?"

Do you ever feel like we're living for the what's to come in lieu of the what is?

As children, we can't wait to grow up.
As young adolescents, we can't wait to be in High School.
In high school, we can't wait to get to college.
In college, we can't wait for the real world.
In the "real world," we can't wait to get married.
We can't wait for the Right job.
We can't wait for that great promotion.
When we're married, we can't wait to have kids.
When we have kids, we can't wait for them...
...well maybe THEY grow up too fast.
When the kids grow up,
we can't wait for THEM to get married
(I hear ya, Mom)
or for them to have kids
(that one's on you, Scott & Sacha!).

Anyway, you see what I'm saying.

When do we get to just LIVE our lives?
When, in that LONG stream of things to wait for, do we get to BE who God created us to be?

What if NOW is that moment? The ONE we've been waiting for? As it is?

Married/Unmarried
in-school/out-of-school
kids/no kids
right job/wrong job
good pay/not enough pay/no pay

Life "not-quite-done-but-no-longer-waiting-for-the-finish-to-get-started-REALLY-living."

More questions about "The One"

Relationships are a common topic among... well... people.

A friend recently blogged about "The One" posing questions that one should ask while in relationship:

• Does this person make me a better person?
• Am I a better person when they are in my life or worse?
• Does this person make me want to be a better person?
• What would my friends say?
  
• When I am with this person, do I draw nearer to God, or move further away?

As part of a conversation, another friend recently posed some more questions to help weigh finding the right "One" for each of us, which led to questions of my own as well:

• Do I believe in a sovereign God to guide my life and the life of my future mate?
  
• What are my standards for someone in a relationship with me?
• What does it look like for me to be cherished? And how do I truly cherish someone else?
  
• What is "good enough?"
• Is "good enough" enough for better or for worse?
  
• What if what I think is good turns out to be not-so-good later?

What questions do you ask yourself, whether you're married or not yet (even once were)?

Are there questions we need to answer about OURSELVES before we can begin to expect to be in a healthy relationship?

• Am I looking for someone to "complete me" or am I whole on my own?
• What do I "bring to the table" in terms of the good, the bad, and the ugly?
  
• With MY FAULTS, can I measure up to be worth someone else's love?
• Will I spend the rest of my life apologizing for who I am (or who I'm not)?
• Am I lovable?

Just a few thoughts to ponder (and COMMENT upon)!

One more:

• Even once I've found whom I believe to be "that person," what if I'm not the BEST fit for them?

Why, God?

"Why does God let bad things happen to good people?"
"Why am I even here?"
"What difference do I make?"

Have you ever heard these questions? Or maybe you've asked them yourself?
In a conversation yesterday, I got a glimpse into some possible answers.

Maybe bad things are simply an opportunity to be shown the blessings God surrounds us with everyday.

(Names are changed.)

Shelli's brother-in-law, Charles, has been diagnosed with a cancer that's causing site loss. He is a husband and a father of two adorable little girls. In a few weeks, he'll undergo surgery to treat the cancer. Bad things happen to good people.

In the days since his diagnosis, people have come out of the woodwork to offer anything and everything in ways of helping. As one example, he made the comment that he would never need to cut another blade of grass for the rest of his life for all the people who have said they'd mow his lawn. It's a humbling experience to have people poor themselves out for you. Charles is a humble guy that spends all his energy pouring into others. Now is a time for him to receive the return blessing in the midst of his awful circumstances. Good things happen in bad circumstances.

So that's great. He's one of "those guys," but I'm not "that" guy.
What difference do I make?
Well, here's the kicker.

Charles and his family go to my church.

They go to this church because Shelli invited them to come to the place that has had an impact on her life.

Shelli comes to the church because she was invited by one of her dental patients, Liz.

My sweet friend, Liz.
What if she had just sat there quietly in the dental chair and not gotten to know Shelli?
Never mentioned her church?
What if Shelli had kept it to herself?
Where would Charles and his family be now?

IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Reconcilling your "old" self...

Scripture tells us that as Christians in our lives post-acceptance of God's Greatest Gift, we "lay aside [our] old self" (Eph. 4:22) or "take off [our] old self" (Col. 3:9) or even that "our old self was crucified with Him" (Rom. 6:6). This concept is a great relief to many new Christians... To shed the skin of old habits and vices. [Note: C.S. Lewis has an amazing story picture of this in his Chronicles of Narnia book, Voyage of the Dawn Treader when Eustace is a dragon.]

Have you ever considered that at some point in our lives we might have to reconcile our "new self" with the old? Can we truly understand what stands in the way of being Christlike until we account for, accept, and apply the lessons of why we were the way we were?

It has to be deeper than "that was just my sinful nature" because those selfish and self-serving tendencies still creep into the new.


Just enough deep thoughts to get you going. More to come...

Life CYCLES!

So, here I go... almost a year after laying the roots of my blog....

I'm not sure I completely agree with the age-old adage that 'Life Sucks' but it sure does cycle.

I found an expansion of this adage that reads, "Life sucks and happiness eludes us, and what few moments of pleasure we get only show us how empty and meaningless the rest of our existance truly is."

If this was the truth, why would we even try?

The idea that life does indeed cycle--that we experience the same or similar ideas, thoughts, or revelations throughout life--raises more questions than answers for me...

Do we ever get it right?
I often find myself thinking "Haven't I been here before? Philosophically, at least? Haven't I felt this feeling? One of disorientation? Or the one of desperation? Or the one that begs the question, "Seriously?!" I often find myself in conversation with God asking, "Come on, Lord, haven't we dealt with this one already?"

But then, what do I know?
I'm one of those people in their early thirties who thought life would look different by now and that still can't begin to answer the questions "What do you want to BE when you grow up?" or "What is this life 'thing' all about?"

There was no fruition of the 'college --> career --> marriage --> six children' idea.

So now what?

Maybe one day that title will change...

It's a funny thing. I'm not really a writer, but I sure do talk a lot. Years ago during one of my spouting sessions, a friend said "You should really write a book!" I think that may have been a kind way for her to say, "Shut up already. I know you have a lot of ideas, but do I have to hear them all personally and in one sitting? Give a girl a break." But I took that mention and started journaling some of the random ideas that came to my head. As I was reading through the entries later the book title "Ramblings of an Unmarried Woman" just seemed to fit.

Book idea notwithstanding, I figure I could use another hobby!

• Photography isn't as much fun when your GOOD camera requires that you actually get film developed (and no personal darkroom to further that hobby).
• Knitting was pretty short-lived--apparently I have the attention span of a flea with three partially done scarves for proof!
• Shopping isn't as much fun with no backer!
• We won't even go into the 'shoe' issue...
• And, well, while fun for me, that whole impromptu 'pop-psychology on strangers' idea never really took off.

So blogging it is! While I do hope that one day, the 'unmarried' part will no longer be the case, here's to beginning to share those rambling thoughts!
Here goes nothing...