living the messy life

I envy some who seem to make a plan and see it unfold in their live.  They function in their gifts, they are fulfilled completely by what they do and they are people who accomplish their goals.
Sigh...if only I were one of those...
My life seems much messier somehow.  I make plans, they seem to turn out differently than I'd imaged.  I work partly in my skill set, but not completely...and most of the time the goals I set seem to get off track.

Why is that?  Am I alone in my hopes of a put together, packaged life?
The white picket fence family.

In my life, as I try to follow Jesus, I have come to the conclusion that he is more interested in transformation than goals, more interested in me becoming than being someone.  He is causing me to be the person I want to be but don't have the guts to really ask.  Perhaps real transformation comes through pain and hardship.  I'd like to say that having wisdom and becoming mature is a goal...it is.  Yet I run from pain.  Is is possible that real growth, maturity and wisdom can be attained without hardship and pain and trials?

I don't know.
What do you think?
What have you experienced?


James 1:2-4
2 Cor. 12:10

Listening

Most of us are bombarded each day with all kinds of noise. If you're like me, you might have the radio or TV on as background noise. Perhaps you listen to music when you exercise; maybe you use Pandora to stream music when you're on your computer.
Although we live in a culture of information and noise, it's important to learn to stop and listen.
Some of us do this through regular quiet times we have built in to our days. That may include a routine for making coffee, sitting in our favorite spot, and opening our Bible. Many of us have a journal or a prayer list with which we make our requests known to God. Our quiet time may also include a devotional or Bible study we are working through.
If you notice, most of these are activities, things we actively do. I would suggest that most of the work done in our lives is not what we do, but what God does. To be more focused on what God does, start by cultivating time with God in silence—in listening. For many of us, quietness may be so foreign that five minutes of silence may seem like hours.
I confess this is not natural for me. I am a doer. That means for me quietness, silence, listening for God is something I have to practice. In some traditions, spiritual retreats are carried out in silence. Other people may use a spiritual director or mentor. For some of us, listening to God may just start by turning off the radio in the car to spend time listening for God.
Wherever you start, just start. God has much to share with us if we choose to silence ourselves and listen. Let's journey together.

Hospitality

I recently heard someone talk about the effectiveness of evangelism and what Scripture has to say about the purpose of the "church," meaning all Christians, beginning with the great commission found at the end of Mathew. But the speaker went on to explain exactly what it is that Jesus is calling us to do. He landed on the passage from Luke 4:18-19:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
   because he has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
   and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
This is what we, the people of God, are called to as well.
So how do we do this? How do we unpack this and make connections with people who need to be set free and brought to a life of wholeness with Christ, and in every area of their lives?
What did Jesus do?
He invited.
"When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed." --Luke 14:12
So much of what Jesus did was to reach out beyond what was considered appropriate in His day. Many who observed Him said that He was a friend of sinners. 
Most of us have had some experience with entertaining. But not many of us are really good at hospitality. When you entertain, everything has to be just so. When you practice hospitality you are preparing a table at which God's love can show up. How many of us will do that simple thing? Opening our homes and allowing people in--this simple act of kindness could transform our homes into sacred places where God Himself meets with those He longs to set free.  Will you join me?

Input Output

We are all influencers and we are all influenced.

Two questions come to mind:

1.  Who are we influencing and to what end?

2.  Who is influencing us...what are we listening to?

So much of what we have to give and the influence we have depends on what we allow to influence us.  So what we read and how we spend our time has a massive amount to do with what we have to give.  It can be for good or it can be for evil.  What we read, what we watch, who we spend time with.

When my kids were young they used to sing a song called, "Input, Output, What Comes in Must go Out"...and it's true, we are shaped by what we allow to influence us and it comes out of us whether we know it or not.

Confession---I love home decor.  I used to spend time looking at magazines, watching HGTV and was thrilled when I hit the jackpot with a good find at a store.  I still enjoy those things, but a year ago we moved in to a smaller place. I found I had all I needed, not just in terms of things but the place we moved to had wall colors and decor that fit my style.  So for the last year I've taken a bit of a hiatus.  I have what I need so I let so of that go  I found it had taken too much time--it had become an influence, and although not bad, had become a thing that I spent too much time on.
Whatever we put out time and effort into will grow--how do you spend your time?

"Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."  Matt 7.30 NIV

Idea tab:  Invest in people--be a mentor, influence someone...be a friend, encourage them...be a learner, then let someone influence you and thank them for it.

And above all stay humble.

Two things remain, your relationship with God and your relationships with people...consider how you spend your time.

juxtapostion

I have two groups of friends.  Those who love and move in to brokenness and those who love and move toward action, activity and achieving.

Yes I love to be around those who know their own stuff and function out of humility...and I love to be around people who are people of action.

So I feel torn between two worlds.  I read books like Ruth Haley Barton's book, "nurturing the soul of your leadership"  great read...mostly because it challenges me....this is not what I naturally lean in to.  Then I hear Bill Hybles speak about leadership...and when he was very young, he wanted to stand up on the church pew and yell, "would someone please lead"...now that I get.  Leadership from two different perspectives.

So confession time...I know I need to function from a place of knowing who I am, my faults, and areas of weakness.  Part of that is being willing to be wrong, admit it and say sorry.  Part of that is knowing you need other people around you, those who fill in the blanks of your leadership, of my leadership.

When you lead, lead with humility but lead....I mean find out where you're headed and call the troupes to follow, yes get buy in, yes bring a team around you and ask for thoughts and insight, yes collect all the data, yes do the research...but in the end when it's all said and done someone has to say, this is where where headed...follow me.

What type of leader do you best respond to?

Excellence

Excellence: ek-suk-luhns
1. the state of quality of excelling or being exceptionally good; extreme merit; superiority

2. an action, characteristic, feature, ect., in which a person excels


Most of us would say that excellence is something that we shoot for.  An action...as in doing something really well...being exceptionally good...superiority(?)...humm


I have a love/hate relationship with the word excellence.  Let me unpack this for you a bit.  All of us have experienced times when things are thrown together...it shows.


On the other hand when things are done well and run smoothly, everyone knows...excellence has been achieved.


Most would say they admire Jesus...he is a model, yet his example is one where God uses broken people, people we wouldn't pick.  This is huge...he took 12 unschooled ordinary people and changed the world.  

So back to excellence.  I think the word now denotes a more negative tone, one which carries a sense of veneer or facade, or even fake and inauthentic.  The business world is also taking note of this.  Being real and honest..not putting up props..people appreciate this...people don't want to be "sold"


I highly value being real, honest...that allows for connecting....maybe what I'd say is that I hope for competency in tasks and realness in relationship...


What do you think, where is the line?

Growing/leading

So I did it, blogging...it's not the thing I lean in to, writing that is.  I would rather speak than write,  however I have come to realize that those two things usually go hand in hand.  So the question is, can I get my thoughts out in a manner where they make sense.  The verdict will be out on that for awhile but I'm going to start.  Getting some things down because I do like to influence and because of that I will write.  So here it goes..





This is a picture taken on a family vacation last spring on Jekyll Island, GA  I love this picture  because it's a reminder to me that when I get a chance to spread out, I grow. 


This tree is close to the ocean and yet it stands, through wind and rain storms and hurricanes.  It grows deep and spreads out, tall and open, strong and resilient.  It is not in a safe place, yet it stands. 


 It's a picture of leadership.


 It is the very winds and sun and rain that cause this tree to stand firm.


 It's the same in life as I see it.  I would like to be hidden away, safe and secure..... yet the growing comes as storms often do both in life and in nature.  I want to grow but I don't want to take the hits... it doesn't work that way does it? 


So no, you probably won't find me praying for the storms but you will see me stretching to the sky...knowing that storms and growing go hand in hand.