spunk, purpose, hard work and La La Land

The big presentation requires everyday perspiration.

These regular investments aren't as spectacular, though.

Maybe that's why we're not as likely to do them.

We'd rather show up to the big presentation and "wing it."

If it makes you feel any better, we all feel this way. Even those of us who show up day after day for practice after practice would rather put their feet up on the couch and relax.

There is absolutely a place for that. It's called "Sabbath." Whether you can claim a whole day for one or carve out a hole for one in your day, it is a meaningful investment that invests meaning fully into you.

But rest without work... Sabbath without sweat... is laziness.

Sometimes we get weary in doing good, so we become good at "doing weary."

Years ago when I was an emerging adult, I didn't know why I was going to college... which meant I didn't show up for classes... which led to me fizzling out.

And then I took a trip - two weeks without an agenda among people in one of the busiest cities in the world. Near the end, God broke my heart for people. I embraced my purpose for life through Him.

So I came back and started showing up for class. Soon I was on a pathway toward becoming myself - the "self" I was created to be.

You have spunk in you. 

There is purpose oozing around in parts of your soul you have yet to uncover.

You'll only find it (and find it again, and find it again, and find it again) by owning this before God, receiving a Resurrection from Jesus Christ and living in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And then... you'll soon start showing up in your work clothes do work your work.

Whether it's a matter of doing that inner journey of the soul or giving your best in the trenches...

Plan your work. Work your plan.

Only by being faithful when it isn't glamorous does "blah" and "bland" become La La Land.

"For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies." (2 Thessalonians 3:11)

"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. (Colossians 3:23-24)

how? or why?

You're going to spend an immeasurable amount of time in your life learning how to survive.

We assume this is a good thing - after all, bare bones... we all need to survive.

In the workplace, surviving is called "just clocking in" or "living paycheck to paycheck."

In households, it's felt when we concentrate on the next chore in front of us.

You're not dead... you're just busy.

You're asking the question "How?" on a regular basis.

Tracking so far?

What you may not spend as much time on in your life (at least, comparatively) is asking how to thrive beyond mere survival. 

We assume this is a luxury thing - after all, bare bones... we all need to survive - and maybe "one day" we'll thrive.

In the workplace, thriving is called "being career minded" or "considering the big picture."

In households, it's felt when we concentrate on the next person in front of us.

You're not dead... you're quite alive.

You're asking the question "Why?" on a regular basis.

Ready for the real takeaway?

You may want to write this down.

If you have your "why" to live, you can face down almost any "how."

Unfortunately, the opposite is not true.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

good leaders

Good leaders...

(yes, you ARE one)

are less concerned with what makes people happy and more concerned with what will make them healthy.

You can't teach a man what he thinks he already knows... what she thinks she already knows...

but I'll bet you knew that.

What can you do?

The best compliment you give to those you lead: Demand their God-given best.

The most practical gift you give them: Serve them at your God-given best.

facing an aftermath with new grammar

You’ve read the headlines.

Not just the ones that break our hearts, but the ones that enlarge our hearts.

Our world became fragile again when we heard about the Boston explosion, and we cringed when we learned an 8-year old boy became its third fatality.

There are no words for that.

Yet somehow we were strangely encouraged when we saw how many people ran into the smoking chaos after the blast.

We cheered when Twitter posts shared how runners who crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon kept running to the hospital to donate blood.

The world took note of the District Attorney’s Office Braveheart-esque declaration, “Moments like these, terrible as they are, don’t show our weakness. They show our strength.”

Individual acts, big and small, can overcome fear and reveal Light in times of great darkness.

There is also something about the aftermath of a tragedy that gives us a desire for new grammar.

For a brief moment, virtually everyone online paused. Instead of recycling more pictures of cats waterskiing or posting our self-righteous outrage about the latest thing we didn’t like about someone else, we looked for something deeper.

Apparently, we found it in Mr. Rogers… yes, that Mr. Rogers.

Facebook was flooded with a quote Fred Rogers said years ago:

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world.”

What if we could live like this all the time? What if instead of living with outrage about what we find wrong, we engaged what was right from the get-go?

Most days we’re searching Starbucks cups, organic juice bottles or Chinese buffet fortune cookies for a jaunty manifesto to live our day by. Maybe your desk calendar spouts a daily quote or you regularly check your horoscope for advice from a bull or scorpion.

I wonder if we’re so distracted with all these surface-level options that we forget what it means to be deeply attentive.

Psalm 46:10 challenges, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Our hurdle is we can post a personal thought online that’s immediately met with a global audience. Facebook posts and groups can quickly devolve into a Tazmanian Devil-like mob of ranting. Even local “Letters to the Editor” often become more about stomping our feet at others than dialoguing.

We become people looking to say something versus actually becoming people who have something to say.

The aftermath of a tragedy, be it personal, local, national or global, gives us an excuse to mature in how we think and speak. You realize policemen are “heroes” instead of “someone looking to bust me.” Firemen are finally thanked for their everyday, unnoticed volunteerism because you realize when you need them they’re actually there.

Pardon the interruption, but again… why can’t we live this way more often?

I ask because the opposite observation is also true. We often assume we’re the “rescue workers” of everything from local matters to family tensions, when in reality we’re just causing more explosions.

Life is going to continue to squeeze us. Pain will happen, and what we store up in us will spill out of us. Part of the gap we see in the world tracks back to a gap inside of many of us.

Try this: Write down what you hope would come out of you in a tragic moment, then get around people and ideals that will nurture that. Make sure it’s a legitimate commitment, though - even the strongest anchor can’t serve you if you’re only loosely connected to it.

You can waste your breath complaining about life, or bring life into this world until your dying breath.

P.S. This is 8-year-old Martin Richard who died at he Boston Marathon waiting to greet his father.

I could try to say something profound here, such as Martin Richard was embraced and greeted by his heavenly Father that day instead... but I think I'm just going to weep over this for now.

a behind-the-scenes prayer request to my church

For the past several months (and more), folks within my church have been pulling together to prep for Easter weekend. This is not only an amazing few days in itself every year, but this year represents our relaunch as a church - something we aim to do every five years.

In case you're a part of a church or wonder what some healthy priorities are, I hope you join me/us in praying like this. Here's what I shared with some of our core leaders today:

This is it! "All hands on deck."

Easter weekend. Our relaunch. Replant realized.

The city has been "egged." The building has been prepped. The sign has been made. The sermon has been created (and almost finished).

Counting Good Friday, we have FOUR services this weekend to "love and lead all people into a fully-alive connection with God."

Now... PRAY. Don't just sit there and nod your head like you're going to do it, but actually do it. Jesus prayed so intensely before the cross that the Bible said his sweat was like drops of blood. Can we expect that our prayer life should be any different?

Pray like you've never prayed before:

• Home plate: Pray for your relationship with Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2)

• First base: Pray for your character. Don't go through this weekend confident in your own self. "Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6-7)

• Second base: Pray for your church community. May we be people who speak honor of each other, believe the best in each other and overlap ourselves into one another. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

• Third base: Pray for your calling. God has put you in the lives of other people for a reason. Invite Him to use your abilities, resources, finances and more to further what He's doing. "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Cor 12:27)

• Home plate: Pray to once again give it all to Jesus. Anything we "score" is for Him and for the "team." That we would "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

What are you waiting for? Let's get to praying! Jesus Christ is Lord... and His cross and Resurrection are about to get elevated. Get on your knees, and let's humbly get this party started. SO excited to share this journey with you!

This is only the beginning!

a new year of new living: juggling work, home and everything else

How many jugglers does it take to change a light bulb?

Two: An expert to change the light bulb, and a beginner to ask, "Yeah, but can you change *two* light bulbs?"

Everyone juggles, even if poorly.

A ball enters one hand, is traded off to another, and is tossed into the air in the hope it’ll be caught again.

This isn't a circus act... this is how you spend your time.

Every day you toss one thing up in the air hoping to gain something else. Perhaps it’s legitimate, such as sacrificing your hobby to gain time at home. Maybe it’s illegitimate, such as a student who cheats for a higher grade, a businessman who lies to make a sale, or a taxpayer who fudges on their taxes for their yearly return.

People try to ignore these differences in integrity by reasoning they’re juggling whatever they can to “survive.” Who wants to think that when their motives are pure that their methods might be impure?

So you juggle. You invest in some relationships and ignore others. Somehow the lines blur between telling people what they want to hear versus genuinely conversing. Every responsibility and opportunity competes for your attention, but to give each the time it demands or deserves requires more than you have.

You eventually find out which balls are made of rubber and which ones are made of glass. At times you feel the satisfaction of having made the right choice of what to toss and what to hold, and other times you deal with a cycle of guilt, anger, jealously, and rejection from trying to do more than you can. Some of the people around you feel fulfilled, and others feel so rejected that even the strongest of bonds and loyalties erode.

In his book "Choosing To Cheat," author Andy Stanley clarifies this issue:

• Your problem is not discipline or organization.
• Your problem is not that you have yet to stumble onto the perfect schedule.
• Your problem is not that the folks at home demand too much of your time.
• The problem is there is not enough time to get everything done that you are convinced—or others have convinced you needs to get done.

Someone or something is not going to get what they want or need from you. If you stayed at home all day, you’d lose the job that provides for it; if you worked at the office until everyone was pleased, you'd have no time to ensure there was Life in your life; if you answered every call and text, you’d never have stillness in your life. The list is endless and so are the time requirements.

Your knee-jerk reaction is likely to drop all the other balls to save one:

• The ball that strokes our sense of self-worth, be it a job or hobby that we excel at.
• The ball that slides into our hand most easily because it relaxes us, be it partying on the weekends or sleeping in for more “me time.”
• The ball that squeaks the loudest, be it a boss who threatens to fire us or a loved one who threatens to leave us.

All of this tracks back to Genesis 3 when in our attempt to be our own god we created the consequences of difficult work and relationships. Every job requires more sweat than it should, and even the most intimate of marriages will struggle over matters of desire.

So what's the solution? I have bad news and good news.

• The bad news: There’s no permanent solution on this side of heaven. As you toss one or more balls in the air to grab another, you’ll have to assure whatever you’ve released that being hands-off for a moment doesn't equal being completely abandoned... and only your life (not your words) can affirm that.
  
• The good news: You can align your pace of juggling with the priorities of your season. Life is made up of chapters, and each demands a shift to focus on your heart, soul, mind, body, or relationships more than another. A doctor may tell you that this season of your life needs to shift dramatically to increase your physical health, or a spouse may explain that he/she needs you at home more. Again, if you communicate to the other priorities what is temporarily required of you in another, most will understand.

Colossians 3:17 states: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." I like the visual of concentric circles to apply this:

• God: Am I merely religious, or am I truly surrendered? Do I let God readjust what I'm doing emotionally, intellectually, physically, and relationally so everything has integrity?
• God and my wife: Does the amazing person who knows me best get my best? Are we investing into each other? If we’re in a busy season, how can we not let that define our relationship? Am I doing life with her or near her?
• God, my wife, and my kids: Do my kids know that my wife comes before them so I give them the gift of a healthy home? Do they likewise feel invested into? When they speak to me, do they see my eyes or the side of my head as I do other things?
• God, my wife, my kids, and my job: Can I do my job guilt-free because I've spent quality time at home first? Do the people I serve through my job get a consistent, quality burst from me?
• God, my wife, my kids, my job and everything else: Have I built margin in my life to be available for spontaneous needs and curveballs?

The core priorities in your life are where you are the least expendable - your own life and home, for example. Only you can be you to the people in your life who call you spouse or parent. The latter priorities are where you are most expendable, such as a job that you could change any day.

You'll have to toss different balls in the air during different chapters of life. Just make sure you don't throw someone up so high that they feel abandoned or sent on a trajectory where they won't return to you. You may have to let some "urgent" things drop to ensure the truly important things don't. You can always get another job, but you can’t always get another family. Release and delegate, letting God (and not the squeakiest ball) guide it all.

a new year of new living: yes, no and maybe so - foundational priorities

On the first day of 2012, I spent some time with some of the greatest people I know and we kicked off 2012 together with a focus on one of the tougher questions - what do we say "Yes or No" to in our lives? The answer from the Bible is simple - don't put God first.

Yes, you read that right. To clarify - don't JUST put Him "first."

Often we put the Lord in the "top spot" of our lives, but we don't let Him into the "other spots" of our lives. Jesus said the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.

That means God isn't supposed to just sit at the top of our lives like a cherry, but is the spoon by which we eat the whole sundae of life.

If you aren't sure of the difference, here are a few thoughts:

• Making money: "Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops." (Proverbs 3:9)
• God is your cherry: "Look at this money I made! What do I feel comfortable doing with it?"
• God is your spoon: "Look at the money God blessed me with! Lord, how do you want me to use it, even if it's uncomfortable?"
  
  
• Chores: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:3)
• God is your cherry: "I’m SO sick of doing all this work for everyone else. When will someone serve me? My life is so exhausting. God, give me a break!"
• God is your spoon:  "God, these chores are difficult. I don't want it to get to me, so thanks for giving me these responsibilities and the people who are blessed by what I do. Help me have a better perspective. Use my work to help You let others know they're loved."
  
• Study/school: "The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge;the ears of the wise seek it out." (Proverbs 18:15)
• God is your cherry: "I’ll never use this information in life. It’s worthless to spend any real time on it, so I'll do the bare minimum and that's all. God, get me through this."
  
• God is your spoon: "I have no clue why any of this matters, but... I'll give it my best. Who knows - maybe what seems purposeless to me can be used down the road for something purposeful. Lord, I’ll honor You in this."
  
• Family time: "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
• God is your cherry:  "My family time is our time. We’ll watch what we want to watch, go where we want to go, and do what we want to do. Besides, it's a losing battle to try anything different. Everyone needs time to do whatever they want to do without feeling judged or guilty."
  
• God is your spoon: "I'm going to make sure our family doesn’t turn inward, even if I'm the only one in the home who feels this way. I will lead my household to enjoy and seek God in our time leisure time."
  
  
• Health/Beauty: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• God is your cherry: "My body is my body. It doesn't matter what I put in it or on it. I'm going to show it off - whether it's by how much I can put into it or by how fit I can get."
  
• God is your spoon: "Modesty matters. I don't need to boast or get showy about my health, nor do I need to neglect it. This is the only body I have on this side of heaven. God, how can I honor You with it?"
  
  
• Friendships: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." (Proverbs 27:17, Matthew 59)
• God is your cherry: "My friends are who they are. I'm not going to make things awkward by challenging them because they'll just get angry and bite my head off... especially if it involves two of my friends who aren't at peace with each other.”
  
• God is your spoon: "What's happening in and to my friends is my concern. I'll be a peacemaker who makes sure people I care about grow and work out anything awkward between them and others."
  
  
• Fun/hobbies: "Then Jesus said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.'" (Mark 2:27)
• God is your cherry: "I'll work hard, and then maybe I’ll rest. Or maybe I'll make life all about rest and not about work. Either way, it's my decision - and nobody better criticize for me for how I spend time and money on my favorite hobbies, sport/team or how I decorate."
  
• God is your spoon:  "God, thanks for loving me and commanding me to take a day every week for Sabbath. I don't want to just rest - I want to be restored to You. So I'm kneeling my life to you on that day and every day, including how I use the hobbies that bring me life. Help me to find fun things that don't distract me from You or others, but build those relationships."
  
  
• Faith: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)
• God is your cherry: "God, bless me."
  
• God is your spoon: "God, how can I bless You?"

Of course, we're not perfect in how these tensions play out. The question is if we’ll use that as an excuse or as grace to make things right.

Keeping God more than “first” but “first in everything” opens up a new kind of freedom, for we better know what to say yes and no to beyond our moods. You will begin to do more than what you feel like doing, including the things that need to happen.

Take a look again at the list above - which ones are you most able to take a step of growth in today by surrendering to him in the areas you've been holding back?

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength... Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)