Time Keeps on Slippin' Into the Future

Time...just 24 hours in one day and only 7 days in a week. No matter how you chart it, graph it, or dissect it that is an unchangeable truth.

I don't think much about retirement. Yes, I am trying to financially prepare for its eventuality but other than that I don't think much about it. No strategies (yet!) for a motor home or a golf community or a fishing boat.

What I do think about, probably more than I should, is how much TIME I have to complete my life's mission before my body and mind will force me to back off. There's only so much time and our callings are so deep.

I was sweeping the snow off of everyone's cars this morning (If I lived in Florida this would not be a problem) and I broke the antennae off of Kelly's car (now I know she will find out about it on Facebook before I have a chance to tell her...sorry Kel, I will fix it). It was below freezing and the metal in the base just snapped.

When it broke off it was one of those oh c#@p moments. Not because of what it would cost to replace it, that's pretty much a non-issue, but because of the time it will take. That's the only thing that started rushing through my mind was how much time it was going to take to order one and then the time it would take to figure out how to replace it. That's how insane I am and how precious time has become.

Our days are like a vapor. They come and go pretty fast. The thing I keep trying to remind myself of is that life is made up of antennaes (or is it antenni) and hubcaps (did I mention that Joyce lost a hubcap off of the van?). Could it be that these things are not distractions that keep us from all the important things that we do? Could it be that these things are just the fabric of life and they provide a very needed distraction from the press and grind and intensity.

I've never watched LOST (the television series) before a few weeks ago when some friends brought season one to our house...three weeks later and we're in the middle of season 3...how's that for wasting TIME. Here's the thing, the episodes are so intense I find myself wishing there were commercials at the segues to give my mind time to wrap itself around the intensity.

So, as it relates to life, I'm going to try to learn to enjoy the breaks from the intensity, even if it is looking for a hubcap or replacing an antennae. Somehow I think those things will help me fulfill the MISSION rather than wreck my time management plan.

The Perfect Storm

My blogging has temporarily slowed a bit. I'm working to find my life rhythm again, and I will find it.

I just started a Masters Degree Program with Regent University. I'm working toward a Masters in Organizational Leadership (MOL). It is challenging, to say the least, and it is stretching me in places that I did not know could stretch.

I think I've created the perfect storm...job transition...starting a major academic pursuit...and everything else that is floating around in my head that I want and need to do. I'm very, very good at creating perfect storms. Sometimes I ask myself why I don't just find a lawn chair and sit on the sidelines for a while...you know, just watch the game for a quarter or two.

I just can't -- don't want to.

Reminds me of the story that you've probably heard of the guy named Larry who was sitting around his yard without much to do (this story is true, check out the details at snopes) and he got this wild idea to tie a bunch of weather balloons to his lawn chair, strap himself in, and see if he could get airborne.

Larry anchored the chair to the ground, attached way too many helium filled weather balloons, and armed himself with a BB gun so that when he wanted to come back to the ground he would shoot the balloons out one at a time until he drifted back to earth.

When he was ready he strapped in, pulled the cord on his anchors, and to his surprise he shot up like a bullet to more than 10,000 feet. He was so startled that he did not have the presence of mind to take any action and once he was so high up he was afraid to shoot any of the balloons. He was even spotted and reported by a commercial airliner when he drifted into the flight path of L.A. International Airport. (I'm sure that was an interesting radio conversation!)

Eventually he gained the courage to shoot out some of the balloons and he made it back to earth unharmed.

Of all of the things that a guy could do, why would you do something so stupid. When asked that question his reply was simply:

Hey, a guy can't just sit around.

I hope that I've thought things out a little better than Larry did but I've got to echo his insight...a guy can't just sit around.

If you stop learning you stop leading.

For God's Sake, Play with Passion

I found this story about Ben Zander in Masterful Coaching, by Robert Hargrove, p. 29-30.

Ben Zander was the conductor for the Boston Philharmonic. He was a relentless coach that pulled the best from his students. He once interrupted a Cello player named Carl who was playing Bach in front of the class.

Zander said, "Carl, I am now going to make a comment to you.... You could get a job with a symphony orchestra making $50,000 a year, and have a nice little wife and a nice little house, and 2.7 kids. The only thing is that Bach didn't write this music for someone who wanted to make $50,000 a year and have a nice little wife, and a nice little house, and 2.7 kids. He wrote it for the glory of God. Play with more passion, Carl!"

I've known a few too many leaders who were called by God to a marvelous task but reduced it to a means to temporal survival. Actually, I think most of us sometimes forget the grand and glorious things that we've been called to and start to see them as a way to gain security for ourselves.

May God help us to remember that when we "play" with passion the score that God has written for us to perform, bringing glory to God and fulfilling his most profound desires, that all of the "other things" (Matthew 6:33) will be added to our lives as well.

Its time to play with passion for the sake of God and His Kingdom. Its time to play with passion or risk falling into the mundane, day in and day out, existance that we loathed when we started our journeys.

If your object of leadership is to simply grasp security and safety then forget about it...please... it's time to let someone else play the instrument. If the object of your leadership is to fulfill a passion that God placed in your heart then passionately pursue it.

God didn't write the score of your life and your calling just so it would be nice and tidy. It was given as a gift to you and to those you are called to lead...for the sake of His glory.

Play passionately!

Southeastern University @ the Movies

Don't get me wrong ...I think its great! ... But... We went to see National Treasure 2 @ the movies the other night while visiting family in Lakeland, Florida. Years ago I attended what was then called Southeastern College in Lakeland. You see, going to a movie theater to see a movie when I was a student was forbidden.

I thought it was amusing when an advertisement for the University popped up in the pre-movie advertisements... I suppose that its permissible now. Its interesting how rules change over time. It made me smile. If President Homer could see us now.

Makes me think that before we complete our lists of "right and wrong" and "do's and don'ts" we should think twice. I understood the rule and had no problem abiding by it or any other rule that I willingly agreed to at SEC but as I grow older and maybe a little wiser I recognize the need to have good reasons for the rules we establish.

Actually I am extremely selective in my entertainment choices. I believe it is important to honor God in everything we do. It is also important to distinguish between "sin" and "house rules "-- very often there is a definite difference.

What is God Doing?

As a missional leader I am challenged to lead and live according to the activity of God around me. I must discern what God is doing and seek to be a part of that rather than rely entirely on the 'dry erase board' and strategic planning sessions.

I am a strategically focused leader, I know that and I embrace that, but it is more important for me to allow God's plan to rise up in me through what God is doing in me, what I observe Him doing in people around me, and what He is doing in the world.

I was further challenged in this today when I read Matthew 6:33 in the Message...

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."

I need to focus entirely on what God is doing right now because following that activity is going to lead me to what God wants to do tomorrow.