Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

My wife, Cindy, is a geek.  Not in the same way I'm a geek.  While I'm a tech geek, she's an architecture geek.  She loves books on architecture and design. She knows lines, styles, and designs.   I'm really impressed with her knowledge, especially when it comes to types of homes - ranch, colonial, Victorian, Cape Cod, bungalow, and craftsman (here favorite).  The only reason I know them is the time and patience she has shown in educating me.  See, an old dog can learn new tricks! If you are a leader you are an architect .  As a leader you are design environments. . .organizational cultures. I first realized this years ago while reading Erwin McManus ' An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind .  In it he shared how he saw himself as the Chief Architect of Mosaic , the church he began several years ago.  As chief architect it was his responsibility to lead Mosaic in creating an environment/culture where God wa...

Let me just say it up front, I LOVE to fly.   Been doing it since I was 3 months old and I love it.  I just think it's the coolest thing.  Whether you like to fly or not, you've probably heard the pilot come over the the intercom to welcome you, share the route you'll be flying, the weather and how it affects your flight, and the altitude you will be cruising.  Like know the altitude of our flight has any real meaning to anyone on board. I mean, it's not like I could tell the difference between 28,000 feet and 30,000 feet, but the pilot seems to have this insatiable need to tell us. I do know at that altitude I can see a whole lot of landscape.  A lot more than let's say at. . .300 feet.  At 300 feet I'm just above the treetops.  I can see the landscape in greater detail, I just can't see as much of it.  There's  a huge difference between  300 feet and 30,000 feet. The same goes for leadership and what I call Leadership Altitude...

Not too long ago Cindy started a new position at Legacy - Good Samaritan Hospital in north Portland.  The position requires her to work three twelve hour shifts a week.  So her Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday is 6:00 am to 6:30 pm.  So far she's killing it! Because she has to be in north Portland by 6:00 am she has to leave the house no later than 5:30. . .and, yes, it's still dark out.  This necessitates that she gets up around 5:00 am.  And if Cindy gets up at 5:00, so does the rest of the house And when I mean the rest of the house I am referring to yours truly. . .no, I'm not bitter or anything. Anyway. . .her (our) necessity for getting up at 5:00 am influences what time we go to bed.  It's usually no later than 9:00 pm and sometimes by 8:00 we're heading that way.  Just depends on the kind of day we've had.  The necessity for her to get up so early also determines what we do in the hour or two between her getting home and going to bed...

A couple of years ago Cindy and I escaped to Gulf Shores, AL to enjoy the sun and the sand (OK, I DON’T enjoy the sand part).  We really enjoyed the time together and spending  some time with old friends.  On the way there I was writing in my journal and realized that I really like to write in my journal.  I love grabbing a pen and my journal and just writing my thoughts.  For me, there’s just something about writing it down on paper. I can’t explain it.  It’s like my internal comfort button gets pushed and held while I write. Yes, I know I’m weird.  I like writing for many reasons.  One of the reasons I like writing in my journal is that I don’t have to follow any particular structure.  I write in first, second, and third person – and it’s quite possible that it’s all in the same sentence.  I admit it’s a bit unconventional, but that’s what I like about it. I’ve never been very good with grammar and sentence structure, s...

At our recent Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) Leadership Huddle I  challenged our leaders to think differently this year.  I challenged them to answer a question I heard Andy Stanley ask in a sermon once.  . . Will we focus on reaching people or keeping people? If we focus on reaching people we will always be fulfilling God's  purpose for the church.  If we focus on keeping people we will focus on what everyone else wants the church to be and we will never be the church God's desires us to be. So how do we do that?  How do we become a place where we are focusing on reaching people?  Years ago as I was transitioning from the corporate world into ministry a friend of mine told me that people come to church for a million different reasons, but they will stay for relationships .  That, my friend is so true.  So I asked our leaders, " Where do people get connected in significant relationships at GGBC? "  The answer? ABFs. If that's true,...