Tag: thoughts

  • To Eat More, Guess Less

    Kristen and I are completing our first year of transforming our backyard into an organic garden. The first year has been full of fun harvests and humiliating defeats.

    If we’ve learned anything about gardening in the first year it is this principle: To eat more, you need to guess less.

    • We’ve learned that when we planted things is as important as what we want.
    • We’ve learned how to adapt our watering to the weather as opposed to just setting a timer.
    • We’ve learned how a baby weed is just as dangerous as a major one.
    • We’ve learned that is something gets bigger than you wanted, prune it right away or it’ll take over the garden.
    • We’ve learned that if we want to keep our harvest coming, we need to be patient in spreading out when we plant so it doesn’t all come at once.
    • We’ve learned that planting something in the wrong season really doesn’t work.
    • We’ve learned that your yield is directly proportional to the quality of soil where you plant at.

    We didn’t know anything walking into this. So we guessed a lot. And we let our emotions get the best of us a few times.

    But heading into the second year, we’ve learned a lot and documented what we did, we hope to eat a little bit more with less mistakes in 2011.

    Isn’t this the same as with any other endeavor? You might guess and get something right by accident. But experience always yields a better result.

  • Two quick axioms about money

    Photo by Alan Cleaver via Flickr (Creative Commons)

    1. If the average American spends 3-5% more than they make in a month– making more money is not the solution to financial woes. If you made $1 million and spent $1.05 million a year, you’d be the same fool with money you are today.
    2. If the financial institutions of our country were as diligent about collecting information from customers as the average retail clerk, we wouldn’t have had as many bad loans in the housing market. “Do you want to open a credit card and save 5%? Would you like to make a donation? Would you like to buy the extra insurance?“

    Got any observations about money lately? Share them in the comments.

  • How to Be Alone

    This was beautiful. I’m thankful I found it.

    I’m an introvert caught in an extroverts life. Fortunately, I’m married to a fellow introvert. And we dream about simple things… like taking vacations places where we can walk in silence and be alone. Where we are free to explore and discover. And where we take the time to just be.

    I find the Spirit’s voice loudest and my mind most alert when I make the time to be alone.

    Weird, isn’t it?

  • Lead Me

    • To lead is to serve.
    • To lead is to listen.
    • To lead is to suffer.
    • To lead is to give.
    • To lead is to offer yourself.
    • To lead is selfless.
    • To lead others means taking people where they would otherwise not go.

    To lead isn’t to tell others where they need to go or what they need to do in order to be like you.

    To lead is a willingness to go to that place I’m afraid I can’t go on my own, and ask others to go with you. Their action of following is what makes you a leader.

    Until they follow you’re just a dude waving his hands and saying some words.

    Too many people think that they are leaders. They think that because they have a microphone in their hand they are a leader. They think that because they got hired to a leadership position, they are a leader. They think that because they have a great education or once led people somewhere great, they are a leader. They think because they have a skill set or a nice smile, they are a leader.

    The world is full of fake leaders.

    And the world is in desperate need of men and women who are willing to lead.

    The only measurement of a leader which truly matters is whether or not people are following.

    Want to be a leader? Figure out how to get people to follow you somewhere they need to go, but won’t.

  • What a difference a year makes

    A year ago I was packing for NYWC and trying to convince myself that everything was going to be OK. I knew the facts but had to convince myself that they didn’t matter. With the pressure to perform numerically stronger than ever we watched in horror as the economy collapsed. Earlier in the year we’d let go about half of our staff. And preparations for convention just had a heavy, matter-of-fact feel to it. It was anything but fun. I listened to happy music all the time in an attempt to jack myself up.

    I put on a happy face, I did my best to encourage folks, and riding the Amtrak to LA I had a feeling like the week could go either way. If I ignored the black cloud we’d be OK. But if I acknowledged it the whole thing would spin out of control.

    What a stark contrast to the lead-up to NYWC this year!

    First off, we’re not in the same place or under the same pressure as we were a year ago.

    Second, Tic is back. He’s solid gold.

    Third, it feels like we are taking less risk, in some ways, in the big room sessions. Last year, we had no idea what was happening on our stage!

    Third, our creativity was unleashed on the program side… so I’m confident about what we’re delivering.

    Fourth, the folks joining us from YouthWorks are so excited– it’s like they’ve been shot out of a cannon.

    Fifth, we’re at home. It feels so good going into convention knowing that I’m like 10 miles from my house. Kristen and the kids plan on coming down and saying hello.

    Sixth, I love the theme. I love walking into this in full knowledge that people are going to be ripping off our theme for years to come.

    Seventh, I get to have normal conversations with youth ministry friends. The last two cities of 2009 felt a lot like a funeral wake. Phew, all of that is gone.

    The last line of the video above… when I saw it in the script… I knew it was true for people doing ministry. But a little piece of me knew it was a line for me and about YS.

    We’re right where we’re supposed to be. And it’s amazing.