God is...

While reading some rather dry parts of the Old Testament, a reader’s guide that I am using said to look for the words and phrases that describe the character of God. Suddenly, that dry scripture came to life.  I caught glimpses of God. I saw a God of second chances, who is patient, answers our petitions, gives us victories. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and he wants our full devotion. Being in His presence changes us but he is too great for us to behold all at once. And all this was found in just two chapters of Exodus!  Suddenly my point of view changed from me, me, me, to God the Father, creator and lover of my soul.  

This also applies to my daily life. When my life is dry, mundane, or outright depressing, I need to look for the things in my world that show the character of God. They are all around me. He created it. I see Him in my dog’s brown eyes and freckled nose.  I see Him in comforting words from my husband.  I see Him in the intriguing script of a good book. I see Him in an article I read on Facebook. I see Him in the persistence of a cardinal protecting his nest relentlessly.  God’s fingerprints are everywhere. We only have to pry our eyes off of the hurt of this world and look around expectantly.

7 Surprising Facts about Leadership

If you work for an organization of any kind, you probably know people who are in leadership positions.  And chances are, you don’t agree with all of the choices they make on the behalf of the organization. 

But first, let me define who I am not talking about.  I am not talking about that 1% of people in leadership positions that do it as a power rush.   I am not talking about a takeover-and-dominate-with-a-Hitler-complex attitude that we sometimes find in leadership positions.  Yes, they are out there and yes, they are quite scary.  So please get past these. This is NOT about them. It IS about the people who chose to step up and make the hard choices to what is, in their view, the betterment of an organization or a group. Here is a collection of observations I have made about this leadership.  Some of which, you may find surprising, and some of which you are very aware.  But we all need a reminder.

1. All leaders answer to somebody.  And the higher the position, the more people they must answer to. They are held responsible to not only those who work for them, but for those they serve. When we are looking to a leader, we see them from a selfish point of view; a what-do-they-do-for-me view. We need to widen our point of view to truly assess the effectiveness of a leader.
2. Leaders have access to information that no one else in the organization can ever know.  They know very personal information about interactions of employees.  But most importantly, they do not utter a word of this to anyone because it is privileged information. They know laws that must be followed in which most employees are unaware. Good leaders know who works hard and who does the least they can. They also know the things said to other employees.  They know who is a blowhard, who is a liar for their own gain and who is just difficult. Good leaders take all of this into consideration when making decisions for the betterment of the organization.  
3. Leaders are the ones expected to fix everything with no regard for the resources they lack. Leaders must make the uncomfortable call. They must confront uncomfortable issues when no one else is willing to do so. If a leader shirks this responsibility, he or she is loved, but the company suffers.  A true leader will make the hard call, disregarding his or her acceptance factor.  
4. Leaders are the fall guy for an organization. They are there to protect those under them from losing their paycheck due to company failure.  They must provide those they serve, who do their job well, job security. And they do this by keeping the organization financially sound and at the top of their game. If your company is functioning at the top of their game, thank your leadership. And if you contribute significantly to this endeavor, be thankful that you have job security. 
5. Leadership can be dealt out to an appointed committee or board but in the end, it takes a leader in that group to keep them moving and out of gridlock. Either someone in the leadership group will step up and lead, or they will be forever bogged down in the decision making process, accomplishing zero. The burden of leadership always falls on someone. 
6. Because they confront uncomfortable issues when no one else is willing to do so, leaders are often villainized, cussed and discussed for any and all battles that are being fought.  A leader’s choices are analyzed, criticized and publicized.  Leaders are isolated. No one is willing to hang out with them for fear of brown-nosing. Leadership inherently comes with loneliness. Thus the saying, “It is lonely at the top”. 
7. Leadership is a calling, not a privilege granted to those who deserve it. Leaders are born. However, I think with maturity this ability grows. Can leadership be learned?  Well, I’m not sure. It can be improved and skills can surely be sharpened with experience. People do have varying degrees of leadership. Some will step up and lead in one situation, with one group, but not with another. To me, leadership boils down to a courageous, can-do mindset. There are variables to leadership styles, but each leader must be driven to lead, deep in his or her psyche. And from someone who is NOT a born leader, I believe we should thank a leader for their willingness to take on this position, offering our grace and support for their courage. 
   

Changing Your Mind

There is nothing more frustrating than waiting for people to change their minds. As a former science teacher who has had to teach girls to overcome the lie of “I’m not good at science,” I have battled this and many other stubborn beliefs (lies) that people cling to. In my new career I battle the, I’m not good at technology, mindset. There is nothing more debilitating than the lies that we tell ourselves on a daily basis! I personally battle lies in my own head like, “I’m not a people person,” and “I am bad at dancing, running, catching, throwing and moving in general.”  We all tell ourselves lies on a minute by minute basis.  

How do we change our mindset?  How do we stop the lies? Well, I am pretty sure the answer to that is ‘slowly’.  Today, I was reading the famous story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. As I was reading, I thought, “Why didn’t God just zap the Egyptians and get it done? Why did he draw things out with plagues and failures”? Then it came to me.  He was weaning the Israelites away from dependence on the Egyptians, while he was increasing their dependence on God. It was a change of mindset that required all that time and drama! God was applying time and pressure to the right places. And as we know, there is no slower process than the process of changing stubborn human minds.  

So this led me to wonder about all the times I thought God was moving too slowly in answering my prayers. Maybe he was waiting on me to change my mindset and allowing pressure to be applied in all the right places.  Maybe God was patiently teaching me a new way of thinking before he changed my circumstances. Or maybe the change of mindset was the answer to my prayers.

Lord, please show me the lies I tell myself daily.  Please apply patient pressure to help me change my stinking thinking.  

The Thief

Once upon a time there was a joyful man named Rupert, who lived in the deep forest with his family in a quaint cottage he made with his own hands. Each day he would walk to the nearby village where he made the best shoes in the land.  People from around the entire Provence, ruled by the Great Lion King, came to buy a pair of shoes from Rupert the Cobbler for there was none that fit so well and lasted so long as the shoes he made. Rupert was not rich but he had a beautiful, loving wife and three children that never went without a meal. Rupert was a hard worker, loved his life and was seldom seen without a twinkle in his eye.  

One day on the way to work, whistling a happy tune, he was approached by a tiny little man with his head bent to the ground.  Rupert’s heart went out to this man in his crooked condition so he walked with him all the way to his shop in the village.  Along the way he discovered that this little man, Yaroslav, knew quite a bit about making shoes and Rupert began questioning him about it.  Yaroslav shared many details with Rupert about the art of shoemaking.  He pointed out that the leather that Rupert used for the sole, from the hide of a Chichi dragon, was soon to become impossible to obtain.  Yaroslav heard that the Chichi dragons were steadily moving further away into the mountains where someday, no one could find them again.  

Rupert couldn’t believe his luck to find such a clever man as Yaroslav!  He bid him farewell and as soon as he got to the shop he began making his shoes from the belly of the common warthog.  Rupert knew he would never run out of warthog belly and he was safe from the impending dragon hide shortage. 

The next day on the way to work Rupert watched for the crooked little man.  Sure enough, there he was around the next bend.  Today Yaroslav revealed that he also once lived in the woods with his family just eighteen hectares North of here, until his wife was attacked by a rogue pack of Wolverineans while she was hanging the laundry on the line. Until now, Rupert thought the Wolverineans were an ancient savage species that only lived in legends. In the stories, they only attacked what they could see. He was so shocked by this news that he built a fence around his property tall enough that the Wolverineans could not see his cottage and consequently, Rupert and his family could no longer see the trees.  He was sure that now his family would be safe, for a while...

He never ran into the old man again but often thought about all the dangers surrounding him everyday. He felt his best defense was to think of them before they happened then he would be prepared to fend them off.  He regretted his old haphazard life and spent all his time thinking of problems that might steal his home, family or business away.  Yaroslav had taught him how to be smart and stay one step ahead of potential problems.  Rupert felt smarter than others for staying ahead of heartache and loss by predicting ways that he might be vulnerable. But gradually Rupert began to stoop a little due to the load of thoughts swirling in his head. His steps were slower and more cautious. Gone was his happy whistle and jolly step.  Gone was his lovely unprotected forest home and the summer evenings watching his children swinging from the trees. Gone was his high quality shoes and most of his customers!

In keeping with his cautious lifestyle, Rupert made a regular swing by the post office to check out the pictures of the most wanted criminals.  One day, the 13th of May, I believe, Rupert spotted a familiar face at the top of he most wanted list.  It was Yaroslav!  Under his picture it said “Joy Thief”.  Reading the fine print, it said Yaroslav’s modus operandi was to instill fear in the heart of unsuspecting souls, submitting them to a life of haunting worry.  Rupert knew immediately he had been under Yaroslav’s curse.  Regret filled his heart and he wept over all that had been stolen from him.  

Rupert tried the best he could to rid his mind of the thoughts of impending doom.  But try as he might, he only seemed to obsess even more. When Rupert was at his wit’s end he decided to go see the Great Lion King, known for his wisdom, to see if he could remove the spell and restore his joy. 

Upon arrival, Rupert bowed low before the Mighty Lion King’s thrown asking the kind compassionate King for relief from this curse.  The King quickly asked Rupert if he wanted to be free of this curse.  This seemed like a silly question but Rupert answered saying that more than anything, he wanted it gone. Then the King told Rupert the pathway to freedom.  He said, “It will not be easy. You will need to take the time daily on your way to work to stop by and tell me one new and beautiful thing about your life”.  Rupert was desperate and agreed to this practice. Early the next morning he dutifully got up and started thinking about the previous day to find one small piece of beauty in his miserable cursed existence. He finally thought of one thing to tell the Great Lion King: He now had hope. Each day he had to come up with a new point of gratitude and remember the ones from the previous days. He diligently reported to the Lion King every morning and each morning it became easier to think of a new beautiful thing in his life in which he was grateful. 

Gradually, as winter turned to spring, Rupert’s family noticed the softness returning to his eyes, the skip was restored to Rupert’s step and his back straightened out.  He no longer had difficulty thinking of something to tell the Lion King and looked forward to his visits.  He often sat for an hour just telling of all the beauty in his life.  Rupert, now recognizing the fears and lies of Yaroslav, removed the fences around his forest home and once again began making shoes from the quality Chichi dragon hide. In the summer evenings he could again watch his children playing in the forest, swinging feely from the tree branches. Rupert was blessed in everything he did and he never stopped reporting to the Lion King, living most happily ever after!