Lasting Impression Teams - We exist to create a welcoming experience thru serving with excellence

2010-05-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

I have been on my offical ministry vacation for a little over a week now. I would like to say that I feel completed rested, but that's not going to happen since I still have a full time job, a husband, house and two "kids" to look after! I am however, feeling refreshed. I have been enjoying reading again. I just finished Christain Reflections on the Leadership Challenge. I took several pages of notes and began to get excited about possible changes I could bring to LIT. However, I am not moving forward with any of these ideas until after my vacation as I wish to pray over these ideas. One of the chapters in the reflectiions book mentioned how two friends from college hatched a business idea and although they were both extrememly excited to begin they both thought it more important to prayerful consider their intentions. They spent the next month praying about it. They later went on to start up a very successful business.
I shared some of my ideas with Rod and was given confirmation that this rest/vacation will be the catalist to some awesome changes in LIT. "Why not take this opportuinity to shake things up a bit" was how Rod put it.
I am looking forward to the books that have been recommended to me. I have just started Holy Invitations and was loaned Heart Whispers. These are helping to confirm this is a time for me to sit, listen and learn.

My first Sunday off

2010-05-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of my ministry vacation. I got to sleep in since I didn't have to be at church 30 to 45 minutes before the start of service. It was nice to walk in just as worship started. I was greeted at the door by Harry - one of the lead ushers -as he handed me a program, his heartfelt "enjoy the service" was touching. I sat with friends whom I haven't seen in a while and enjoyed worship, especially the new song. As I sat there observing things from a different perspective, I got to witness an act of kindness. A family had sat down in front of me, but there were only two open seats on the end, so one family member sat in another row. Without being asked to, the others already in the row made room. Now the family of three could sit together on Mother's Day. During offering another usher -Bob -shook my hand and wished me Happy Mother's Day. Not only did I get to hear the entire message, I got to write my own fill-ins rather than use the cheat sheet! One brief stop in the office to pick up a book and I was off campus. Nice start to my vacation.
These brief encounters may seem insignificant, and had I been serving, they would have been because I would have missed them. I look forward to meeting God in the little things over the next few weeks.

Why I am "on vacation" from ministry

2010-05-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

I have been serving at Journey Community Church in some aspect for the past ten years. Except for the occasional vacation or illness, I have been there for at least one of our three weekend services, every weekend. This might be considered normal for someone in full time ministry, however, I am a volunteer. Up until about 6 months ago, I used to say this was the best part time job I ever had, with the greatest benefits.
Since I am an introvert, I enjoy serving behind the scenes. One roll I have is to help coordinate our Lasting Impression Teams. This "first touch" ministry consists of ushers, greeters, decorators, daily journey and guest services. Another roll I have is that of Onsite Event Manager for The Global Leadership Summit. Journey has been a host location for the past seven years. Although both rolls can be physically challenging, I gain great strength and pleasure from doing my very best to ensure our guests have a distraction free environment, so that God may meet them just where they are in their journey. It takes a great deal of coordination, planning and timing to pull this off. Because of the behind the scenes nature of my roll, I tend to miss most of the messages.
I would "fill my bucket" by listening to the messages on my ipod later on in the week, or read books on leadership, or on rare occasions go out of town for a conference. This seemed to do the trick, until about six months ago. I can't quite put my finger on the one thing that changed. It was probably little things building up over time.
Dealing with a team of volunteers has its own challenges, at times it can be quite chaotic. I kept tripping over the same stumbling blocks - leaders not showing up, or not following through. I tried to remind myself that they were volunteers, but it got tougher and tougher not to get angry. After all, I am a volunteer. I have a full time job, a husband and a house to take care of. I am there almost every week. I would spend lunch breaks or evenings preparing things for the upcoming weekend, or for an upcoming leadership meeting. I even take vacation time to fulfill some of my volunteer duties. How tough could it be for them to show up on time to a meeting, or follow through with the one thing I asked them to do??? I started to not gain as much pleasure and joy out of serving. I was loosing passion.
The last straw was something that happened in preparation for our Easter weekend services. As a volunteer who was working on Good Friday, I was having trouble getting other volunteers to commit to serving for the same reason - they were working. When I saw that I would not be able to support a portion of our service due to the lack of volunteers. I asked for help. I got met with resistance. And excuses. What ran through my head - I don't need this crap. I am a volunteer. You get paid to do this.
Journey has a ministry called New Format. This is our service for college aged people. They have weekly services and have ministries similar to our main worship service. They have a tech team and a production team and a people team. The people team is New Format's version of what I oversee - The Lasting Impression Teams.
About a year and a half ago, I was asked to mentor the people team. This would consist of meeting with them at least twice a year and share insights, encourage, inspire and be supportive. I loved these meetings. Truth be told, I get more encouragement and inspiration out of our meetings than I think I give them!
In March I was asked to again join them for their meeting in April. Just like in the past, I began to pray about what God would have me share with them. I got nothing.....
I had not been consistently reading anything dealing with leadership. I had not been excited about serving with my own team. I was still reeling from Easter. I had no idea what I was going to do. It crossed my mind to make something up and fake my way through the meeting. But I didn't. I realized that wouldn't be fair and maybe God wanted me to share that ministry isn't always roses and sunshine.
The night of the meeting we broke into small prayer circles for a few minutes before we met in teams. I thought what was prayed in prayer circles stayed in prayer circles. Wrong! I had asked God for strength and the words to share because I felt so empty and had nothing of myself to give.
I should be mad at Ja (our worship pastor) for saying something to Rod (the pastor I report to) about "my being a bit off" (I think that's how he put it) but I am not. It opened a conversation I had been avoiding.
As I opened up to Rod about ministry feeling more like a job than a passion. That I felt empty and dry. He mentioned three things that he felt could be the root of this. Sin, the need for a rebirth, or faith. I didn't tell him then, but they all struck a nerve. I am very angry with some of the team. (sin) I need to see my ministry through fresh eyes. (rebirth) I need to trust that God will bring me through this season. (faith)
Last Monday, I sent the entire LIT group an email briefly explaining my vacation. I felt so free and less stressed than I have felt in a long time. I am encouraged by the support I am getting from my fellow Journey-ites for my decision to take a step back and reconnect with my first love. I am going to continue to post my "travels" during this vacation. Hope you enjoy the ride!

Leadership Thank You!

2010-01-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

On January 16th, the majority of the LIT leaders came over for dinner. After a fabulous dinner (if I say so myself since I cooked), the team gathered in the living room since it wouldn't be an LIT function without a "meeting".
This is what I shared with the team:
A few months ago I met with Ann on a Saturday morning to begin to craft my personal purpose statement - something I encourage everyone to do. My key words were "empowering value". Since then I have been playing with words and phrases to apply this term to myself, people and with God. Some of the alternate words were - commission, invest, entrust, hold in high regard, appreciate and significance. Terms that I can easily use to describe the leadership I serve with. One of the statements I came up with was "empowering value in people by entrusting them to serve with purpose". I hold each of you (my leaders) in high regard and value your contribution to the purpose of LIT. I gave each of the leaders something that they could invest in themselves, their team and their leadership. I also wrote out comments to share with them. Besides wanting to empower the leadership of LIT; I wanted LIT to empower others.
KIVA is an organization that uses micro-loans to empower entrepreneurs around the globe, start or expand their business. After reading many stories on the website I settled on 4 that really struck me because they were highly regarded in their communities. I have their names listed in the poll portion of the blog. Please read their stories and vote for your favorite. LIT will make a starting donation of $25 to the entrepreneur that is the favorite among LIT.

The kindness of strangers

2009-06-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I flew from San Diego to Chicago. I was attending a conference in South Bend Indiana at Granger Community Church. I was looking forward to a few days on my own to read, and wander around this small town. The flight was uneventful, uncomfortably full, but uneventful. I was renting a car to drive to Granger. When I got to the rental counter I realized my current driver's license was no where to be found. Rental car company policy - can't rent without a license. All kinds of things are running through my head.....what do I do now? How do I get to the conference? Where in the world is my license? I am shaking and very frightened. The guy at the counter had no idea what to do with me. God did.....

Standing at the very next counter was a young lady who was also on her way to Granger. I asked her if she would mind giving me a ride. She graciously agreed. What an answer to prayer! Okay God, my plans have just gone out the window, what do you intend to teach me?

Over the next 2 hours I got to know Laura. Amazing person - works for Bethal Bible church in Tyler; is on Twitter, Facebook and has a blog. She dropped me off at my hotel and told me to call her if I needed a ride in the AM.

Checked into the hotel. No shuttle, but the church is only a mile away. I can walk or take a cab. Only one last hurdle to overcome - how to get home? Laura was only staying until Saturday. I am staying until Sunday.
Needless to say, my first night here was rough. I slept terrible for several reasons - time change being one of them, another being the fact that my best laid plans are now completely out of my control - I HATE feeling dependant on others, and stressing out on how to get back to Ohare. Somewhere around 4 AM I remember that in Granger's welcome packet there was information on transportation. I thought I recalled something about bus service from the regional hotel to Ohare.

In my quiet time this morning, God revealed to me that I need to hold His hand and trust. Oh boy, must be some lesson I need to learn!

This morning I went to the Guest Services counter and asked for a copy of the welcome packet. As I waited for a volunteer to obtain a copy for me I was explaining to another volunteer,Lisa, my situation. She commented that the bus from the regional airport to Ohare was very nice, ran every day, throughout the day, and was reasonably priced.

Just before the start of the first session, another volunteer, Lori, from Guest Services found me. She had been told by the Lisa about my situation. Lori handed me a copy of the bus schedule and ticket prices. She even offered to find me someone staying at my hotel to give me rides to/from the conference.

I am wowed, all this help from complete strangers, and they are so sincere about it, I don't feel like a burden. This group of volunteers removed what was distracting me and I was able to thoroughly enjoy the conference. I was also able to learn a bit more about myself today.

When I travel to conferences without Ken, I look forward to the alone time. As an introvert, I LOVE and NEED this to recharge. Having to rely on others for the past few days, caused me to step WAY out of my comfort zone. But in doing so, I realized how much I needed to be ministered to. Although I thought I needed to be alone, God realized I needed others to recharge me by giving and by me receiving.
I also wonder what is happening to me.....In years past, when I would attend a conference, alone, I would never talk to anyone, would not engage in conversation if we had to sit at tables, would find a way to eat alone because it was too uncomfortable. During the past two days, I have asked a total stranger for a ride, engaged in conversation at the table, struck up conversations during lunch, asked questions on a tour of the facility and found a way to "serve" with the guest services team Saturday night. Who am I?
Now I will still have to deal with the dreaded DMV when I return, but the loss of my license has been such a wonderful learning experience. It was very cool to see God take a terrible, scary situation and grow me.

Nascar and Leadership

2008-11-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was in Phoenix for a long weekend of Nascar racing. Thursday night featured the Midget Series. This is grassroots racing; a place for future Nascar drivers to get experience. As I was listening to the driver's being announced, I noticed that several of these up-and-comers were owned and/or sponsored by several major players in Nascar. (Tony Stewart owns a two-car USAC team. )
Ummm, looks alot like a leadership concept I just finished reading about.....
A seasoned Nascar driver taking interest in young drivers. Giving them opportunities to gain experience, to be encouraged and supported, to possibly fail, and to use that failure to improve, knowing that there is always another race. Then the "young" driver moves up to the next level and continues the cycle by sponsoring and encouraging another new driver.
Nancy Beach writes in Unleashing the Power of Rubberbands that " the reason we are leaders is because we had people in our lives take the time to develop us". Humm looks alot like Nascar.....

Gifted to Lead Session 2

2008-10-20T18:41:00.000-07:00

Session 2 was titled "Navigating Your Leadership World". It covered self awareness, communication and managing power. My notes are all over the place from this session - almost every bit of free space had something written on it.
Self awareness - I need to be clear on who God made me to be; know how I have been gifted and use these gifts wherever I am; embrace my uniqueness; become comfortable with my brokenness; understand who I am and who I am not which will make saying yes to the right things and no to the wrong things easier; carve out my own path.
Communication/Managing Power - Find my "voice" which is my style and it comes from my core beliefs - something Bill Hybel calls "Holy Discontent"; speak up and be heard; give myself permission to make mistakes (tough for a perfectionist) so that I don't hold myself back; know my conflict style (avoid at all costs) * need to work on this*; own and collaborate power to energize teams; my team needs my voice; be prepared, be spiritual but be real; . Nancy O. sums it up from her book this way - " a women leader must develop the muscle of talking back from an inner core of strongly held values and beliefs, and a willingness to face her fears and even harness her anger in order to communicate with clarity, logic and passion."
In this session Nancy O mentioned that we each needed to find a word that would motivate and inspire us, to keep us going when things got tough. Her word was "flourish", she posted this in her office next to the team's mission statement. I am still looking for my word.
Some phrases that I need to incorporate into my life in order to become a better leader - "I am sorry", "I made a mistake", "I dropped the ball", "I need your help", and "I don't know, what do you think".
Things I will be working on - I will fight hard to be the leader God called me to be and remember that the heart of my leadership is God's vision and my gifts are from Him. I will try to better understand my brokenness, and I want to find "my word".

Gifted to Lead Session 1

2008-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

On Monday, I had the opportunity to attend a conference at Willowcreek Community Church. This conference was "Gifted to Lead" featuring Nancy Beach and Nancy Ortberg. This was an interactive forum for women in leadership. (for us introverts interactive meant I had to talk to other people!) Session One was called "Growing up a Leader". Nancy B talked about her defining moments as a leader and obstacles she has had to overcome.

Some of my take-a-way notes:

* girls are labeled as "bossy" where boys are labeled as "assertive"

* I need to allow room for my gifts to be used

* I need to be better at receiving criticism in order to allow growth

* more than 50% of church attendees are women and we can't afford not to let them use their gifts.

The interactive part of this session I was to journal about and then share 2 of my defining moments and an obstacle I needed to overcome. One defining moment was to come from my childhood, and one from later in life.

My first defining moment was listening to my mom complain that growing up she only had two choices for a career - either become a teacher or a nurse. (she became a nurse) I thought this was odd, I didn't see or understand the reasoning behind why a woman couldn't be anything she wanted to be. I took this moment to decide I wasn't going to let gender decide what I was when I grew up. ( ironically I became a nurse too but I am in management) In my journalling I wondered if the reason my mom was so angry and critical of me was that she saw something in me that she wished she had??

My second defining moment occurred on a Friday evening after service was over. I had been serving as an usher for several months at the Friday Night service. (back when a crowded night had more than 65 attendees!) Rod asked to talk to me for a few minutes. Unfortunately, I can't recall his exact words, but he mentioned that although some churches felt women didn't belong in certain leadership positions, he felt that I had leadership potential, and would I consider leading the ushers. He went onto mention that he asked another to lead who was still thinking about it, and Rod felt that I might be better suited.

I left that night thinking why can't women lead? Women should be able to do anything they were gifted to do. I was also stunned that someone saw leadership qualities in me. I didn't consider myself a leader (although I was bossy as a child). I didn't jump at that opportunity to lead, but eventually I stepped up and have never looked back with regret.

At the end of session one I had the following insight- I need to bring out the leadership gifts of those I lead by finding tools to use during my meetings to learn about the gifts my direct reports have.

Stay tuned for insights from the other sessions!

Chicago

2008-10-07T19:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I will be traveling to Chicago to attend a conference at Willowcreek. Although I have been to Willow/Chicago before, I have not had the opportunity to enjoy the city. My Google search has given me some info on the city - largest city by population Illinois; its a center of finance, industry and culture. I will have an afternoon to be a tourist and have been asking friends, family and coworkers what they suggest I go see/do.
Most common answers:
1. Retail Therapy on Michigan Ave.
2. Museums
3. Navy Pier
4. Exhibition Park
Suggestions are welcome!

Being a Woman in Leadership

2008-10-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading Gifted to Lead by Nancy Beach. I wanted to read this before attending her conference on Monday in Chicago. Normally I like to finish the book, then blog about it; however I was struck by the chapter on finding your leadership style and voice, and needed to mull it over. Since the Summit I have been wrestling with the direction LIT should be going. The points Nancy made about leadership style and voice got me thinking that I need to work on defining my style. Nancy mentioned that during an interview it was pointed out to her that she had different communication styles based on the audience. Thinking about my voice and style I realized that I have different styles depending upon whether I am at work or church.

It was much easier to define my leadership style and voice in my paying leadership job, then my volunteer leadership job. In my paying job, I have a job description, as do my direct reports. Expectations are very clear and there is daily feedback as well as an annual review. My direct reports know that I would never ask them to do something I am not willing to do myself (Bill Hybels refers to this concept as "Speed of the Leader, Speed of the Team) ; they know that I will stand by their decisions and support them if they acted with the best intentions for the patient; I know just enough about their personal lives so they know I care, but not so much involved that I can't council them on an area that needs improvement; I never eat lunch with them in order to give them a space to be themselves with their coworkers/friends; I allow them flexibility with their schedules and they in turn give extra when necessary; we have affectionate nicknames for each other and an environment that is fun despite the serious nature of medicine; they know very well that if expectations are not met, there are consequences.

I have been able to develop this style by trial and error, as well as great mentoring from an awesome manager. Nancy puts it this way - I learned what it meant to be myself and be willing to express myself authentically.

Although I have been volunteering for about the same amount of time as I have been in my paying job, I feel my volunteer style/voice is not quite as defined. I see now, after reading some of Nancy's book, that I followed what my predecessors did, rather than forge my own path as the leader of LIT. Nancy suggests listening to my life and listening to God and blending those to create my style.
I am sure my fellow leaders will be gracious enough over the next few months as I "trial and error" some new ways of doing things!

Significance Through Difference - Being Salt

2008-08-25T06:21:00.001-07:00

This weekend, our Ministry and Discipleship pastor - Todd Tolson - gave the message on being significant through difference. He used packets of salt to make his point that making a difference in my world is what Jesus called "being salt".

What impacted me the most were Todd's comments about difference makers pour themselves into what matters most; salt does not exist for itself, what do you do if salt looses its flavor and live life a little scared.

If I existed just for myself, I would be wasting the life God created me to have. I enjoy pouring myself into my areas of passion - The Leadership Summit and The Lasting Impression Teams. Knowing the impact that a team member can make on a guest, or how the Summit can impact a life is a scary responsibility. That responsibility keeps me on my toes! However, pouring myself into something, even something that I am very passionate about can have consequences. Pouring myself into ministry without taking time to refresh and minister to my needs I could actually loose my "salt", my flavor. Todd asked "how can you refresh salt if it looses it's flavor?" I guess you can't actually re-salt, salt. However, I would say for me, when I start to feel burned out or unsalty, I find things that refresh me, or fill my bucket. Once refreshed, I can pour myself back into what matters most and make a difference - a Lasting Impression!

Connections

2008-08-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

I have always been jealous of people who have connections - they are friends with someone in the travel industry so they get hotels cheap and great travel offers; or they know someone in the entertainment industry so they get movie premier passes or tickets to shows and concerts.
Yesterday, I realized I was blessed to have connections in the medical field! I have worked for a large health care organization in the San Diego area for the past 10 years. I didn't realize how many "friends" I have until I needed to navigate through the system quicker than normal.
I broke my foot a few months ago and I re aggravated it a few weeks ago at the Summit. I have been limping for about 3 weeks now and I have reached my limit. I needed to have this looked at. I would have waited about 5 weeks to see the foot specialist, but thanks to connections, I only waited a week. I would have waited another 2-3 weeks for the special bone scan I need, but thanks to connects, I have my scan this morning!
It sure pays to make a positive, lasting impression upon the people I encounter every day. I am very grateful for the help they have provided me. I will remember this and "connect" them if they need anything from my area of specialty.

More Summit Feedback

2008-08-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is from Rachelle Kimberling, who serves on the Daily Journey Ministry.

Fire Up The Salsa: revised for LIT

In a day, I devoured “Just Courage” by Gary Haugen of IJM and listened to his CD twice; in obedience to a riskier ministry God had fired up my heart almost 2 years ago. Thank you, Laurie for your obedience to SWAT retreats……God shook me there. I didn’t know exactly what, whom, or where this adventure would be…………….so I waited, prayed, researched, sought counsel, and waited. I didn’t want to be impulsive, and jump into something ridiculously risky, unsuccessful, and look like a fool. Yes, pride speaking.

According to Gary Haugen, significance is found in transforming peoples’ lives through love. Amen, he must have been reading my mind. Worship is deed, not merely singing about it. I enjoy using my God given gifts in community and I do my imperfect best in love: creating a decorative haven for meditation retreats, or vocal worship for women’s ministry, facilitating a small group, cooking a hopefully delicious potluck meal. It is all unto the Lord………..but it’s safely dull. God wants to transform me through a steeper climb or by firing up the salsa. I’m a Puerto Rican that prefers medium salsa, thank you very much. I’m petrified of heights (God made me height challenged), but I have no choice except to look up and get involved.

Prayer welcomed,

Rachelle Kimberling

Summit take aways

2008-08-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

I enlisted the help of several LIT leaders who attended the Leadership Summit 2008 to send me their "take aways" - things that moved them and they were willing to share. This is from David Youngblood - Leader of the 10:45 Greeters.

Kingdom Matters Matter Enough To put your ALL IN in.Personal vision for the Kingdom is powerful and essential as a leader. In order to get the most out of what God is doing in us, we need to put everything we have into doing what God is doing. Good works, nice ministries, even socially necessary service is ‘good,’ but they are not always what God wants to see done in the world – right now! “What does the LORD require, but that we seek/do justice, love loving (Mercy), and walk humbly with our God.”Most of the summit called on leaders to take it not to a higher level, but the highest level. For team leadership within/under the larger Kingdom mission, I was most moved to find my pastoral gifts again, specifically in the arena of helping those with whom I serve by encourage them to be creative and contributors to the ministry we are leading.
Team Goal: invest in the lives of our greeters and challenge them to come up with more ways to make the ‘howdy’ welcoming and unique.
Personal Goal: connect with Daily Journey, the Worship Band, or the prayer team to add on what is missing in my heart’s desire to serve – I’ve used the excuse that, ‘while we were greeter leaders, there was no time.’ Now I sense that there will never be enough time to serve where my passion is, I must find the way and pray with the Lord to make it so, not neglecting the gifts or ministries to which I (we) have been called, but giving the very best of what I have.

In Memory

2008-07-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

Memories of Willie:

Willie Massie was an angel in more ways than he’d ever claim or probably know. He joined the greeter’s ministry on the very same day in July `07 when three of the four regular greeters went on vacation. Together with John Goldthwaite, he faithfully greeted folks on the Paint Store corner every week that he wasn’t singing in the choir. The deep sense of joy that Willie brought to the greeters and choir was from the new found well of his new relationship in Christ. Despite the grace of his gentle demeanor and great love Willie had for the greeters, choir, and men’s fellowship, Willie’s past was not one of graceful blessing. Meeting Willie’s mom at the LIT Christmas gathering was more than testimony to this grace of his redemption and freedom in the Lord, she could not stop talking about what a change had come about in her son. That his contagious smile & “hello brother/sister” came from a life redeemed from habits and fates worse than many of us will ever know, is one of the deepest graces we will miss when we gather to pray and bless the ministries of Journey Community Church. Thank you Lord Jesus for the time we were given to know you through this saint of yours, our friend and fellow greeter.
Written by Kim and David Youngblood Leaders of the Second Service Greeters

Life in the Slow Lane

2008-07-25T14:13:00.001-07:00

If I believed in putting bumper stickers on my car, they would probably say things like "I'm not tailgating, I'm drafting" or "I'm not speeding, I'm qualifying". For you non-Nascar types - it means I like to drive 80 in the fast lane.
That was until I spent over $65 filling up my 13 gallon tank
I was going to try an experiment. "Experts" say that driving 55 will net you at least 10 -20 more miles per tank. I started driving in the slow lane-at 60 miles per hr - there was no way I could drop from 80 to 55. My first week, I got an extra 15 miles out of the tank. The next week was closer to 20. Now it's a game to me. How far can I stretch that tank of gas?! I started doing other things - more right hand turns, and no putting the pedal down when the light changes to green. My goal is 350 miles per tank. I'm at 305 with a quarter of a tank to go!
See you in the slow lane and not at the pump!

Early Morning Walks with God and Megan

2008-07-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, one of our pugs became aggressive towards the other female in the group. A trainer indicated that we would have to give up one of the pugs since it is not possible to have two dogs of the same age, sex and breed living together. We were devastated!

Knowing that people will sometimes act aggressive when they have undiagnosed health issues, we opted to take Megan to the vet for an eval. After all, these two dogs have lived together for 3 years before this aggression surfaced. We opted for a new vet - one that was highly recommended from some friends.

What a pleasant surprise! Megan wasn't ill, but the vet recommended an alternate treatment - something I read about in Cesar Milan's book - The Dog Whisper - exercise! Megan wasn't getting enough of her energy spent during the day in the yard, so she would take it out on the closest thing - Sedona.

The vet insisted that Megan be walked early in the AM because of heat issues pugs can have. Oh no - I was already getting up at O-dark 5:30, now I would have to get up at 5! It took some adjusting, but now I actually wake up before my alarm and Megan gets wildly excited when she sees the leash.

I now use this early morning time to reflect on life issues and talk to God about things. It has been a great addition to my prayer life. It is indescribable, how peaceful the mornings are watching the sun peak over the hills, chatting with God about things. One morning I was so into my thoughts that I almost lost Megan.

A coyote emerged from a parked RV and started to come towards Megan. (She was busy doing her business) I was staring at the sun streaming thru the clouds - something caused Megan to look up, tugging on the leash(she's deaf, so she must have smelled the coyote). My heart was pounding as I was about to scoop her up and run, when the coyote sat down and just watched for a few minutes before wandering behind another house. Since then I am a little more aware of my surroundings.

This morning, I was especially prayerful. Family issues - My younger sister is in alot of trouble with the law and today is her preliminary hearing. Although this is a tense and terrible situation, I was so at peace as I prayed, walked and watch the sun come up. I thought I would share how much I am starting to enjoy getting up at 5AM (yes, that's right I said enjoy) and walking with God and Megan. She is much happier at home and I even lost a few pounds!

2008-06-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

I love to read. One summer (I was probably 14) my mom challenged my bother, sister and I to a reading contest. I loved that summer and I blew the competition away! I devoured about 2 books a week over the 6 weeks or so of vacation. I think my mom was sorry she gave such a challenge having to take me to the library at least once a week.
As I have gotten older, my reading tastes have changed. I used to read things like Judy Bloom, and Nancy Drew books, as well as The Little House on the Prairie series. Moved up to Sidney Sheldon, David Eddings and even Danielle Steele. After I got into management, I primarily read books to further those skills - leadership, teamwork, ect. (some may say BORING) Not so! Since my time is limited, I do enjoy settling in and reading those types of books and learning new tools. However, due to my limited reading time, it takes me what feels like forever to finish a book. I received "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" by Marshall Goldsmith for my birthday. My birthday was in March and I just finished this book last night. Sad, but true.
The entire book is about stopping things you are doing that are hindering you from even greater success. The author included a list of 20 transactional flaws. As I got to about half way in the book I began to put one of the tools suggested into practice. One flaw listed was "not listening". Marshall had some great examples of improving listening skills. Since I feel I am a pretty good listener, I decided to put these suggestions to use at work as practice before I got into my real flaws. (according to the book)
I work in the medical field as many of you know. In this field you need to be able to multi-task. It is very common for us to be looking down at a chart taking notes, while the patient continues to talk. (a good listener faces the person speaking) Fellow coworkers are not bothered by the fact that they are talking to me and I am busy entering labs or such into the computer.
After reading some suggestions from the book, I made a few changes. I face my patient and let them explain their problems or concerns; then I ask them to give me a moment to write a few notes, then I ask a few clarifying questions to make sure I remembered correctly all they had explained. As for my coworkers, I began to stop what I was going, actually put down my pen and face them when they talked to me.
I have no idea if I am making a difference with how the patients perceive me as a good listener or not. What really surprised me was the response from my coworkers. I got comments such as, "are you okay?", "what's wrong?", and my favorite was "why are you looking at me?"
I am not quite sure what to make of that!
As for my real flaws (again according to this book) are 1. Adding too much value, which is the overwhelming desire to add my two cents to every discussion, and 2. Passing judgement, which is the need to rate others and impose my standards on them. How I am going to work on these will be the subject of another post!

Innovations

2008-05-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended a leadership development session put on by my employer. Sharp holds these sessions 3 times per year for supervisors and above. At every session we have a guest speaker to motivate and/or reinforce one of the principles that Sharp stands for. Charles "Chic" Thompson was the guest speaker.
Chic spoke on innovation - finding ways to creatively turn a negative into a positive, and to tap into our creative side to problem solve. We always receive "homework" after these sessions. We have to complete a project to help "hardwire" the new ideas presented into our day to day work. I should have been taking notes for that, however, I found myself jotting down ideas to apply to LIT and also to the upcoming Leadership Summit.

These were my take aways that got me thinking about Journey:
1. Things to engage the left or creative side of my brain - wear my watch on the other wrist, use my computer mouse with the other hand (I already do this for carpal tunnel reasons), listen to a new radio station, flip through a magazine you would never subscribe to - backwards, and drive to work a completely different way.
2. If you need to write a vision statement - engage the creative side by putting together a collage of pictures from magazines, then write the statement after studying the pictures. Could this help LIT create their statements?
3. If you need to "sell" and idea - always have your "elevator talk" ready. This is essentially a commercial about yourself and your passions - you never know who you may encounter in an elevator! Use the 4 word Hollywood pitch - Minute Clinic's slogan is "Your sick, we're quick". Or if I said what movie do you think of if I said "Flashdance with a guy"? (Dirty Dancing) By just using 4 words you get a point across quickly and efficiently. But to do so takes creativity.
4. Think in opposites - the great reversal. Ask yourself "what would I never do?" then flip that "never" into a really cool idea.

It was this last point that really got me thinking about the Summit and LIT. Chic was talking about things you should start doing and things you should stop doing. His slide was an example of a room with 4 large post-its (one on each wall) you or your team was to brainstorm things to do, things to stop doing, things you would never do, and things you are doing right now. I thought this would be an interesting way to set up our conference rooms for those teams who gather together after the sessions to talk about what they got out of the sessions. It might also be useful in brainstorming new ways to take our teams to a higher level.

Another example he used was of an entrepreneur that started a company called Cereality, "Where it's Saturday morning every day". This is a cereal bar where for about $3.99 you can have any type of cereal you want for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Here is someone thinking out of the (cereal) box, because someone told him it would "never" work. It's now franchising across the country.

My favorite exercise yesterday was when everyone was asked to brainstorm with the people at your table to create a new road-side experience by combining AAA and Nascar. We were told that when you brainstorm do not think about how much it's going to cost to make the idea work - restrictions like that stifle creativity. Ideas that were tossed around were: paint the tow trucks like Nascars; besides repairing the problem you were called for (flat tie) do a few extras just like a pit crew - add gas, clean the windshield; stay in constant communication with the stranded motorist similar to the way the crewchief talks to the driver.

Our all day session ended with something I "never" thought my employer would do - we enjoyed a cocktail reception! It was Sharp's thank you and congratulations for receiving the Baldridge Award.
Basically, being innovative is all about the experience you create.
Yes, besides working on this post, I did start on my "homework" and used some of these ideas to brainstorm ways to improve our patients' experience at the doctor's office.

Changes

2008-05-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

WARNING - This is a rambling post!
I am sure it isn't hard to guess that with my personality type I like things neat, orderly and predictable. I forgot to read the fine print when I joined God's team that life becomes messy, disorganized and very unpredictable. After receiving an email earlier today, announcing a change that I have been well aware of I began to reflect on how much things have changed since I started serving in 1999.
I went from hiding in the back row on Friday night service (this was tough to do when our attendance back then was about 45 people) to helping usher on Friday nights, to leading Friday nights, to leading 8:30 to now leading the Lasting Impression Teams.
Since assuming the roll of LIT coordinator I have dealt with my share of messes, disorganization and unpredictable events. I wouldn't change it for the world! God has taught me some valuable lessons. (flexibility, grace, passion, friendships) I have also learned some lessons from the person who replaced me.
I met Evonn when she joined the ushers after we held a Ministry Fair to recruit new team members. (I've since forgiven her for mistaking the ushers for greeters) I found her to be an amazing woman. She was juggling family, work and ministry; as well as bravely handing her mom's terminal illness. It was no surprise to me when I told the team that I was moving to a new ministry that within a few weeks Evonn mentioned she was interested in assuming my previous leadership roll with the 8:30 team. Since assuming the 8:30 roll, Evonn has taken the ushers to a new level of excellence!
Our bonding time happened over a true Journey meeting place - Starbucks. As I supported her in her new roll, she was a huge support to me in mine. She continues to remind me that life is chaotic and working with volunteers can be challenging at times. She has always there to pray with and for me and offer encouragement and remind me that change happens.
I am sure she will blog about all she has gone through to come her decision. I tried many things to keep Evonn as part of LIT. (my need to keep things orderly and organized) It wasn't until she asked me to advise her as her friend and not her "boss" that I realized I was selfishly trying to hold her back from what she believes God has planned for her. I am in total support of her next move; I will miss serving with her. (she doesn't know it yet, but I have her signed up to usher at Christmas)
Evonn, thank you for showing me changes are good things. Can't wait to see what changes God does next.

Celebrating our "elders"

2008-05-14T21:32:00.001-07:00

Tonight most of the LIT leadership gathered at my house to honor and celebrate Rod's birthday. Speaking for myself (it is my blog after all) Rod has inspired and encouraged me and guided my leadership development over the years. I am sure everyone in our group would say similar things about how he has touched our lives. It was a pleasure to honor him tonight.
The team pitched in and purchased an autographed mini-helmet of Danica Patrick. I also included "Nascar for Dummies" since Rod had such a wonderful time the other night watching Nascar with friends.
I know Rod was blessed and had a wonderful time because as he left the house loaded up with left-over Pick Up Stix and lemon cake, he reminded me that I am still older than he is!
Happy Birthday Rod!

On the right path

2008-05-12T18:58:00.001-07:00

Some people say when you have a deja vu moment, it means you are traveling the correct path. I have occasionally had a feeling of deja vu, but I really know that I am on the right path when I hear the same "message" from a variety of sources.
This year there have been two very specific times that I have gotten that positive feeling of heading in the right direction. The first occurred during our series on Moses. Ed made several references to the fact that every 40 years was a turning point in Moses' life. During this series, I was reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. There were several references in the book to turning points in Moses' life.
Since I had been working through my own issues with this year's birthday (can anyone guess which one this was?) I knew God was using these references to let me know that I should be ready for a shift in my life.
The second reminder came after I finished reading books called Fusion and Chazown. These books got me fired up about putting together a class to teach once or twice a year to all new LIT members what making a lasting impression is all about. I took this as God's way of letting me know what the 40 year shift might be in my life. The reason this would be a HUGE shift in my life is that I am extremely introverted and to stand up in front of people and speak/teach would be a great stretch of my comfort zone.
It's good to know that I am traveling the right path as I continue to processing the info from the books, as well as journaling and putting together a vision/mission/purpose statement of what this class might look like.

"Stuck" at church

2008-05-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to be at Journey attending all three services. Some may have considered me "stuck" there as I was overseeing registration for the upcoming Leadership Summit. I found it to be an opportunity to learn people's stories. Ed had mentioned this as a point in that week's message - Lead Where You Are, part 2.
I had the chance to learn stories from David - a fellow leader who recently had a major (and shocking) change in his employment; Angelica - a guest services volunteer who is training for the upcoming Rock 'n Roll marathon; and Gail - a volunteer who keeps our cafe running so smooth, also had a major employment change.
I was also blessed with the opportunity to interact with many guests, answering questions and directing them to where they needed to go.
In the coming weeks, there will be a few more opportunities to be "stuck" at church overseeing registrations - I look forward to learning more stories.

Just Words?

2008-04-30T12:50:00.001-07:00

Welcoming, overseeing, people, accepting, acknowledging, promoting, celebration, affecting, attitudes, opportunity, grace, appreciating, anticipating, greeting, encouragement, aiding, anchoring, love, significance, recognition, differences.

You may think this is just a random list of words, unless you were there when the list was created. The LIT gang was brainstorming words and phrases to create mission statements. The words above were part of that session.

The Greeters actually formulated a vision and purpose statement - "The Greeter's Ministry welcomes the opportunity to extend grace to every person that comes to Journey", and "The Greeter's Ministry exists to serve God by acknowledging people for His Glory.

Can't wait to see the rest of the team's finished product!

LIT's "Secret Admirer"

2008-04-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I was reminded that LIT touches lives and how many times we don't realize that we do. I had walked over to the church office to leave something in Brian's office. However, it was locked. A few doors down, a friendly voiced called out asking if I needed help. I walked down to an office that was painted in team colors - I want to say the Bears, but I am not totally sure. I explained that I was trying to leave something for Brian that a family dropped off to help with the Uganda mission trip. This person said he would take it and make sure Brian got it. I was a few feet down the hall when the voice called out again - "You're Alex, right"? I backed up and stuck my head back in and said yes; he went on to say how great he thought LIT was. I agreed that I do work with a wonderful group of people, thanked him and went on my way.
Later, I made a point to ask Rod who it was that I had encountered and to pass along the positive feedback about the team.
Sunday night as I was working on some Summit stuff, I got to thinking about my earlier interaction and how LIT touches lives and we may never know that we did. I like to tell my receptionists where I work that they are "always on stage". Meaning that they are being watched by the patients sitting in our lobby and should always maintain a positive and professional demeanor. That also applies to myself, and how I represent LIT, as well as all of LIT. Whether we are serving or not, we represent the team at all times and should conduct ourselves as such no matter what.
Turns out, I was interacting with Todd Tolson who about 8 years ago oversaw our middle school ministry. He had been working in different states and different churches, but has now moved back to San Diego. His current duties cover college and other pastoral care directly connected to Mike Burns.
Thank you Todd for the positive feedback about the great bunch of people I have the privilege of serving with, but more so - thank you for the reminder that I am always serving an audience - even if it's only an audience of One!

Brainstorming our Purpose

2008-04-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

LIT leaders gave up their Saturday morning yesterday to brainstorm on team purpose, mission and vision statements. We started with breakfast - how else do you think I could get everyone together so early on a Saturday morning?!?

After a better understanding of the differences between a mission, vision and purpose statement, we got to spend some time working through an exercise to come up with a few key phrases that stood out to us.

Each leader was then given the opportunity to share his or her key words and phrases with the team. The team then talked through the phrase seeking the best way to say what the team's vision was. It was amazing to see each team's indivduality shine through while still maintaining a common theme since we are all parts of a larger unit.
Individual Team leaders will now meet with key team members over the next few weeks to do some more brainstorming, working together towards a collaborative end project. The teams intend to use the future purpose, mission and vision statements in brochures as a recruiting tool for future team members.

Nascar love

2008-04-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, I can recall asking my brother what was so exciting about watching a bunch of cars drive around in a circle for hours. He said he couldn't explain it, you had to experience it in order to understand.
About 2 years ago, my husband and I started watching Nascar on TV. Good friends of ours went to Phoenix twice a year for the races and had been encouraging us to check it out. What can you say about a sport on national TV that prays before each race, and doesn't race on Mother's Day or Easter? There was even a driver involved in Pug Rescue, so he became "my driver".
Last year we started talking about renting a motor home and joining our friends in the April '08 race in Phoenix. I do have to admit that I have never seen a complete race on TV, I watch the beginning, check back about half way and watch the last 20 laps or so. (The hockey fan in me likes to watch the wrecks!) So, an entire weekend of racing was a HUGE step for me. We bought tickets, but missed out on the RV spots. As an alternative we were going to stay with family and drive home from the race each night.
Last week, Ken was able to find an RV spot on eBay. We were in! I was so excited about staying at the event and taking in the whole event without wearing myself out, I started making a list of what I needed to pack on the back of one of the inserts during Ed's message last Friday. (sorry Ed - God was in the details of the camping/Nascar experience!)
The day before we left, Ken called at work with bad news. Remember the pug driver? Well, he lost his ride. I missed the chance to meet him by one race. Now I had just days to find a new favorite driver. Do I choose based on stats? Popularity? No, I have a much more scientific method - my anniversary date is 9/29, so I checked out those 2 drivers, but settled on #99 - Carl Edwards. Whenever he wins a race, he does a back flip off of the car.
Now I need to back up. In January I went to Napa for a girls weekend. One of the wineries that we toured sponsors a car in the Nascar West series (sort of like AAA ball) I asked if I could have my picture next to the car and the tour guide said I could climb in. I dropped my purse and my jacket and gave my girlfriend my glass to hold and I was in!

We arrived Thursday afternoon after an uneventful ride from San Diego and a slightly less than pleasant rental experience from the RV place. (They need some work on their customer service) After settling into our spot and meeting our neighbors we went to walk around. Walking around the merchandise trailers, I have never seen so many tattoo covered, beer drinking, chain smoking group of people - who were the nicest, friendliest group I have ever been around at a sporting event!
That night, I find out that instead of the trucks racing, the Nascar West series would be. I was so excited and surprised - I actually "knew" one of the drivers - after all I got to sit in his car.
Ken has been like a kid in a candy store all weekend - collecting autographs and free give-a-ways.
I have no idea what any of this blog has to do with leadership, but I had such a wonderful time, I wanted to share it. The noise and the adrenaline is indescribable. We are making plans to return again - maybe for November, but definitely April '09.
PS - I still haven't been able to sit through the entire race - even live.
PSS - Check out my Flickr account in the next few days. I'll have downloaded all the photos from the weekend.

Pruning

2008-04-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend Ed talked about how God prune's our lives to encourage/increase growth and to eliminate the not so good stuff in our lives. I don't know about you, but when I am being pruned I never see it until I am thru that season in my life. Only then, can I look back and see what God was doing. I find it much easier to recognize it in other peoples lives than in my own.
I have a new coworker who is in something like a pruning season. In the 4 weeks she's been here, she's been involved in a car accident, been late to work 3 times and gotten 2 parking tickets. She believes this isn't the place for her because she has had such a string of bad luck. I have been trying to tell her that when stuff like this happens, it's a lesson not a punishment. After hearing Ed's message, I can better explain this season in her life. I hope she decides to stick it out, because I know she can make such a positive difference here.

I saw God today

2008-04-04T12:57:00.000-07:00

George Strait has a new album out - Troubadour. The hit single off of it is called "I Saw God Today". This is the chorus - I've been to church, I've read the book, I know he's here, I just don't look near as often as I should. His fingerprints are everywhere, I just slowed down to stop and stare, open my eyes and man I swear, I saw God today.
Here is where I saw God today -

My husband let me take his car to work because it had a full tank of gas and mine didn't
The face of a 3 day old baby
The excited/relieved voice of a coworker when she called to say her mom made it thru 4+ hours of brain surgery
A coworker surprised me with a Starbuck's late in the afternoon - a great pick me up!

Where did you see God today????

Expanding my social newtwork?

2008-03-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

As everyone is aware of, I'm sure, that Rod is no techno-phobe. At one point in time, I believe he possessed 3 cell phones, a PDA and a laptop. He has been after me, as well as others at Journey, to join a variety of organizational networks such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Flickr. I am no techno-guru, so these all sounded like a foreign language to me. I wondered, with email, why did I need all this other stuff?
I was excited to see a watered down definition of these networks in a recent article in Fortune magazine (the March 31st issue) The article is called Web 2.0 Gets Over Its Goofing-Off Phase, by David Kirkpatrick. It talked about companies that offer services that create a constant stream of inter linked data. This data can be about your organization, business contacts, or about yourself. The article mentions a bit about Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Dopplr. David Kirkpatrick has a column for additional info on Web 2.0 tips.
I am still not as tech-savvy as others around me, but I have joined Facebook (I have one friend - Rod - so far) and I joined Flickr to share my photos with my family. I will have to wait and see about Twitter - I just can't image my friends and family need to know that I washed dishes 6 hours ago, or just finished a book 1 hour ago.

Rambling Easter Serving Thoughts

2008-03-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I was gossipping with one of my dear friends, who was confessing (among other things) that she fed her children chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. Somewhere in our conversation, she mentioned that I haven't posted to the LIT blog in sometime. I told her I was working on one about a book that I just finished, but I was still trying to put my thoughts in order. I was accused of being to analytical - so in honor of my dearest friend- here is a post that rambles!
Yesterday was Easter. This year, in planning for this large event, I took a step back and allowed the leaders of each individual team to plan their coverage. I purposely didn't volunteer to greet or serve as an usher. I wanted to just attend a holiday service for a change. In the past, it was not unusual for me to serve at every service we held during a holiday weekend. I made sure all the team leaders had the necessary info and passed along those who were interested in being a "First Serve". These amazing leaders ran with it! Each team recruited from among their regular team members, and promptly contacted First Serves. Every service - including a 5:30 Good Friday service had plenty of help. Team members stepped up and filled in when a leader had a daycare challenge. Sunday greeters volunteered to "lead" at Good Friday where we can sometimes be "greeter challenged". It was humbling and moving to see everyone work together to serve our Lord.
I was able to attend the second service with my in-laws. (yeah I got them to come back - they were last here for Christmas - baby steps!) Although it was really nice to sit and enjoy the worship and the message - I felt totally disconnected and out of sorts! I realized, although I have some leadership gifting, I am really wired to serve! I felt left out and really missed that "serving high" I get after helping with big events, such as Christmas, Easter and the Summit.
I have exactly 135 days until I get my Summit service high and 276 until Christmas. I hope my leaders don't mind that I am going to stick my nose back in and serve right along side of them!

Built to Serve

2008-03-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Dan Sanders is the CEO of the award winning service oriented United Supermarkets. His book Built to Serve
talks about how to put people first and how by doing that it increases the bottom line. Some insights I gained -

There is something special about being called to serve
Team members remember leaders who make the time to take the time
The vision is everything!
Above all Have Fun

LIT is preparing to gather to create purpose statements. I found this book very insightful. It mentioned that an effective vision statement has less to do with success and more to do with significance. It compared organizations to a team, and a team has fans and players. Players represent a team every day. Regardless of whether they are playing or not, they are still part of the team; players rely on one another. Fans on the other hand are fickle (fair weather) If a team recruits "warm bodies" rather than hiring for the vision, fans tend to infiltrate the team. The larger the team, the more difficult to spot the impostor(s). Team players are the first to spot the impostor, and the leader(s) tends to be the last. Fans don't contribute much to the team. In fact they may cause more damage than if the team had played a man down for a while until the right person could be found to fill the vacancy. Once a fan has infiltrated the team, it can be painful to remove them from the organization. Scouting for "players" is time well spent. It's important to remain faithful to the values and make decisions based on your beliefs and/or principles not on what is popular. Time should be taken to fully explain what our team(s) represents and make sure the commitment/vision is understood and embraced whole heartedly before a long term contract is entered into. I am going to keep these lessons in mind as I work on team descriptions for our church website. I now see the importance of recruiting with the team vision foremost in my mind, not just to bring people on-board because we are short handed somewhere.

You never know when you touch someone's life

2008-03-02T06:37:00.000-08:00

I work for a large heath care organization. I can come in contact with around 100 patients per week. If you have ever seen The Doctor with William Hurt , you can understand that I try to treat each patient as an individual and connect in some way. On Thursday a coworker came into my office and said she had a patient asking for me. This gentleman had not been in to see us in over a year. At our last encounter we talked about his music, collage football and about how ill his wife was. He specifically asked for me to let me know that his wife had passed away. He said he wanted me to know because I had taken such an interest in them the last time he was in the office. It made me realize you never know how you are going to impact people, and how precious each encounter is. I have a daily opportunity to leave a lasting impression (positive or negative) with each and every interaction I have with people.

National Strategy Event

2008-02-25T20:40:00.001-08:00

I was recently in Orlando for the NSE - this is a training session for the upcoming Leadership Summit.
I traveled with four other team leaders and had a wonderful time getting to know them better. We spent time brainstorming, training and just unwinding. It was quite an adventure but that's another post!
The training was great. I was in a group with other OEM's (on-site event managers) who are in their 1st or 2nd year in this role. I made a few connections with other managers that I am looking forward to keeping in touch with up until and even after the event.
We were privileged to see brief promos of all the guest speakers. There is going to be an awesome line-up this year. (to see a complete list click here) I am most looking forward to Ephrem Smith. He was so full of energy and excitement. He is really going to engage the audience. He uses stories and humor to help make his points and relate to people.
One of the ideas that we brainstormed, was how to increase the attendance from Journey-ites. One thought was to engage the various ministries in a contest to see who could sign up the most people. No rules were discussed, so I am starting my campaign right now! I challenge all members (not just the team leaders) that are part of the LIT - Daily Journey, Decorators, Friday Nights, Greeters, Guest Services and Ushers to make plans and sign up for the 2008 Leadership Summit hosted at Journey. The investment is well with it. You'll be rewarded with all kinds of tools, insight and connections with other attendees that you just can't put a price on! I expect to see all of you there August 7th and 8th!

Flying Pigs and Thank you notes

2008-02-25T20:33:00.000-08:00

I collect pig figurines. I have no idea why or how I got started. I do have 3 pugs, maybe someone thought I said pigs??? Any way, I received a new addition to the collection last week. This one is a flying pig! It's actually a really cute bird feeder! I received it as a "thank you" for covering the ushers at church the week before. A few minutes after the gift giver left my house, the phone rang. It was the gift giver calling to say I had better not write a thank you note for the thank you present! (my grandmother taught me to write thank you notes for gifts received) So I ask you - when is it proper to stop thanking someone for thanking you?? Emily Post where are you when I need you???? (I wrote the gift giver a thank you note any way!)

Fasting (not)

2008-02-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Today was very challenging. This is my third Tuesday in a row to pray and fast. During the past two weeks, at lunch I would take a walk. Getting out of the office decreased my desire to eat lunch, plus I got to enjoy the sunshine. The first week that I fasted, I walked around the neighborhood that I work in. It's halfway between Downtown and Hillcrest. I was thinking about how I could best put my dollar to use. Rod had given some great ideas....candy bars, extra tip money, kids tossing coins in the fountain.... Guess what lines the streets around the area that I work in?? Parking meters!!!! I knew what I wanted to do - before the next Tuesday, I got dimes and nickles and was prepared to feed parking meters as I walked.
Week two was fun. Although I didn't get caught, I understand the parking enforcement people really give you a hard time for feeding other people's meters.
Now, today was a different. Today was the day the office chose to do a potluck to celebrate all the February birthdays in our office. My contribution was a chocolate cake that I baked last night. All morning long, I kept thinking of ways to leave the office without insulting the birthday people. As lunchtime approached, I knew there would be no leaving - especially since my doctor was one of the birthdays. I was okay until the pizza and fried chicken got delivered.
I had to retreat to my office to escape all those wonderful smells. I grabbed my bible because there was a scripture reference that had come to mind that morning that I wanted to research. You will never believe what I found as I turned towards 2 Corinthians - one of Ed's message notes on Moses! (I have been working thru something and am getting many Moses references.) Ed's message notes dealt with Moses increasing intimacy with God. Exodus 33:13 says "teach me your ways". My study bible then referenced Exodus 34:6-7 "and He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming "the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished...."
Gaining deeper intimacy with God seems to be at least part of what God has been trying to get me to work on. These past few weeks I have been relying on God more and more and he keeps meeting me right where and when I need him most. The passage about compassion, faithfulness, forgiveness and justice also speak to a situation that God saw me thru with an amazing outcome.
While I was reading and re-reading these few passages, as well as Ed's notes an entire half an hour went by! I'd like to say I was strong and the next 30 minutes went by uneventfully, but I can't - I caved when I heard someone made homemade mac n cheese.
I treasure the 30 minutes I spent reading and journaling, and I am really glad God forgives us when we slip up! Since I didn't make it outside to feed the meters, I'll be fasting again on Thursday and walking around the neighborhood armed with nickles.

Book Review

2008-02-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. John is the pastor of Gateway Church in Austin Texas. He will also be a speaker at the Leadership Summit 2008. The book is about Gateway's attempt to meet people right were they are; show them God's love and grace and thru God's love and grace help them move in a positive direction. Gateway's motto is "Come as you are, but don't stay that way".

One point in the book that really stood out for me was "God could heal us immediately, but more often he takes us along a difficult path that forces us to continually depend on him". In 2 Co. 12:8, Paul pleads with God to remove a thorn from his side. But God did not remove the thorn. God said His grace would be enough. Human weakness provides the ideal opportunity for the display of divine power.

Happy Dance

2008-02-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

Praise God! I was informed by HR today that they are completely dropping their investigation. Nothing is being written in my employee file and I don't have to remove anything from my office. I got to voice my opinion that I thought this was nothing more than a vindictive witch hunt. I left the office feeling a tremendous peace about the situation. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this very stressful time for me.

Persecution is alive and well in 2008

2008-01-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had the feeling that something was going on behind your back? I've had that feeling at work for the past 3-4 weeks. I thought it had something to do with one of my staff considering transferring to another location. That was just a very small piece of the puzzle.
While I was on vacation last week, there were at least 2 managers in my department asking questions about me. This was confirmed, separately, by two sources. (neither of which was interviewed) I made an appointment with HR to ask what was going on - this was my life and my career someone was messing with!
Turns out, someone in my department, filed a complaint with HR that my "religious behavior" was offensive and they felt threatened by it/me. I am not a "bible thumper" by any means. I have been at this same office for 9 years. During that time, I have invited coworkers to our Christmas Tea, as well as our Family Fall Festival or other special occasions. I do not post anything in the common areas of our facility; I keep all of my "religious material" in my private office.
Since HR can not break the confidence of who filed the complaint, I can only speculate what is going on. As I mentioned before, I have been in this office for 9 years. I am no different in the way I act today, then I was when I was hired. Because of that, I still feel it stems from the employee transferring. The doctor that she supports is very "high maintenance" and is quite upset that she is loosing her nurse. The doctor first tried to get 3-4 other doctors together to file a complaint that I treat employees poorly and force them to transfer. In my nine years, I have had 2 employees transfer to other locations (both were in corrective action due to poor job performance) When the other doctors wanted nothing to do with this scheme I believe she (the doctor) either filed the complaint herself, or coached another nurse to do so.
I have been seeking the wise council of several friends, and am still seeking how God wants to me proceed in this matter. I am not sure there can be a pleasant ending no matter what I decide to do. I could be forced to remove all "religious material" from my office and still keep my job - an option I am not happy with; and because this complaint will always be in my file, if I ever try to proceed with corrective action on any future staff member, they could bring this issue up. I could quit, but then I wouldn't feel vindicated, especially since I feel this stems from a personal vendetta.

First Serves

2008-01-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

I first heard this term at a Willow Creek conference. They used it to describe their church members trying out ministries to see what fits the best. It gave everyone the opportunity to try different things (ministries) without a long-term commitment, and without any negative feelings when the member moved on to try something else. It gives people the freedom to explore their gifting.

JCC utilizes "first serves" for special occasions - such as Christmas, Easter and large events like our Family Fall Festival. First Serves are a vital part of these events. With multiple services offered and a larger attendance at these events, our regular teams need the supplemental help gained from these individuals. We couldn't do it without them!

We love it when a first serve makes a connection and finds a ministry that fits and joins the team as a "regular". Last night I received a call from the leader of our 8:30 Greeter Team. He informed me that he followed up with several of the first serves from Christmas and wanted me to know that four of them have decided to serve regularly! Not only is that exciting, what was even better news was that these new additions want to serve as greeters at our 10:30 service - an area that has really needed some new faces!!

Resolution Update

2008-01-24T14:55:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying my daily devotional - "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I've actually only missed the weekends. "Lazy Mode" kicks in - since I am not obligated to get up (like I do on a work day) at 5:30AM - I sleep thru my morning quiet time!
I bought a DVD - Yoga for Beginners - well, what can I say? I can't even be classified as a beginner! I couldn't complete the first pose - sitting cross-legged on the floor! I am facing the sad, sad reality that I am really out of shape. I am now hunting for a DVD to help me stretch and increase my flexibility.
Unfortunately, the walking hasn't started at all. I have nothing but lame excuses. Since the walking hasn't started, neither has the weight loss. I am considering a little extra help in this area - can anyone say pre-packaged diet food????
So far, the cruise is still on - although my deposit got re-directed to an unexpected repair bill on my rental unit in TN. I'm not sure how long I will be able to keep it a secret though. One of the port stops in Alaska had a note that vaccines are required. I am familiar with vaccines for port stops in foreign countries, so I found this a bit surprising. Something for Nancy Drew to investigate.

Daily Journey Ministry

2008-01-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Daily Journey Ministry was started over 10 years ago. It was Butch and Ann Whitely's vision to equip the church members with the resources and tools needed to have meaningful communication with God daily.
Butch, Ann and their team have spend hundreds of hours together and in prayer to shape this ministry. Through this time, the team has put together several workshops and classes.
One of their workshops - Quiet Time - will be held on January 26th with a follow up session on February 3rd. This is a great class for not only new Christians to establish a quiet time, but for "older" Christians to be exposed to additional tools to improve and refresh their quiet time.
Our Senior Pastor - Mike Burns - has told the DJM team that "Every single decision, every important major decision I have ever made, I have made in my quiet time when I have been alone with God."
Recently, Ann shared with me the DJM brochure that she has been working on for some time. I can tell how much thought and prayer went into this project. The brochure highlights the DJM purpose, vision and mission statements. Also listed are the teams' core values. It is easy to see that the team takes these core values to heart. They are dedicated to what God is doing at Journey, within their team and within themselves.
I am especially encouraged by the value of "Ministry Support". It states "We commit our time, energy and resources to enhance the service opportunities God has given us at Journey, including providing classes, materials and working at the DJM counter. Butch, Ann and team - you exemplify this core value! I am privileged to serve along side of you!

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of 2007. I am getting some end of the year chores done and planning some things for 2008. I got all of my Christmas present thank you's out in the mail today. I thank my grandmother for instilling the importance of thank you notes. I got the oil changed in my car, as much as I want a new car, it's not in the budget, so I need to take very good care of this one! I also went to Barnes and Noble
to spend a gift certificate I received from my Mother-in-law as a Christmas present. I purchased a few books from my reading list to get me started off, as well as a new journal and a new devotional.
I want to thank David and Kim for their kind words and assistance/suggestions for a new devotional. David had given me a few samples to look over. I was all set to purchase my own copy of "Streams in the Desert" when just one shelf a way a brown leather book caught my eye. It was "My utmost for His Highest". I flipped thru it and liked the way the entries were setup and a few titles caught my eye. Understand, David had suggested a book by Oswald Chambers, and I was dead set against it - I had tried to read his book "The Call" and I was COMPLETELY lost. Funny - I am really looking forward to my first entry tomorrow.
I will be celebrating New Year's Eve, New York style - in bed by 9:30! Tomorrow is a big day - Rose Parade, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl (need to be able to converse sports with Rod) and the second annual outdoor hockey game.
Happy New Year to everyone! Be safe and I pray you will have a very blessed 2008.

New Year's Resolutions

2007-12-25T08:43:00.001-08:00

Every year, as many of us do, I make resolutions of things I want to change or accomplish in the coming year. I am sure many can relate, after a few weeks, many of these well-intentioned ideas, are forgotten. Maybe this year will be different! I am sharing my resolutions here on my blog, in hopes that I can better stay on track. These are in no particular order....
1. Loose 20 pounds
2. Get on a walking program - this should help with resolution #1. I read somehwere that if your dog is overweight, you're not getting enough exercise. Well, I have 4 overweight dogs - I wonder what that says about me!???
3. Find a daily devotional for 2008. I have gone thru the One Year Bible a few times, and for the past 2 years have used a book called Sacred Spaces. I am looking for something new - any suggestions???
4. To find a healthier way to deal with the stress in my life. Stress isn't healthy for any of us, in my case it makes my disease flare up - usually at the worst possible time(s). The walking should help, but maybe a yoga class???
5. To budget, as a surprise to Ken, a cruise to Alaska in the Spring of 2009.
6. To continue to improve leadership and grow the LIT team. My 2008 reading list should help with this.
7. To make my mark as I serve as the OEM for the 2008 Leadership Summit.

Christmas Eve "Service"

2007-12-24T19:15:00.001-08:00

It's about 7Pm and I have been home from church for about 30 minutes. I have gotten out of my "dress to impress" clothes and am coming down from my "serving high". Journey Community Church hosted 3 Christmas Eve Services. It was amazing to see how well each team worked not only as a team, but also as part of the larger picture. The Decorators created a beautiful, welcoming environment. The Greeters wished all guests "Merry Christmas" and made sure they were directed to where they needed to go. Guest Services handed out information to our first time guests. The Ushers made sure all guests had a seat and worked efficiently after each service to cleanup and reset everything in about 15 minutes. Facilities (behind the scene hero's) helped with a lighting challenge, as well as helped to keep the worship center at a comfortable temperature. All of these teams and their leaders communicated clearly with each other, creating an awesome experience for our guests. It was easy to see how each one is passionate about God and about serving Him. I am proud to serve with such a dedicated and faithful group of people. Thank you for all you do; Merry Christmas!

DVD

2007-12-09T19:47:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, I heard a song on the radio and automatically thought about the Lasting Impression Teams. As I listened to the words, I could picture certain team members and knew this was a perfect way to honor them. This was a way for me to let them know how much I enjoy serving with them and how much I appreciate their servant hearts. The song is "These are my People" by Rodney Atkins.
I started bugging the team for photos and I kept bringing the camera to church to capture everyone doing what they do best. After several weeks, I had enough pictures and turned the project over to Daniel.
He emailed the final project a few days ago, and I cried when I saw it. He brought my vision to life! I am so moved by this piece, and am touched at what all the team represents each and every weekend. I am privileged to serve with each and every one of you!
This is the link to the video. LIT_Test .mp4 (video/mpeg Object)

Fasting Part 2

2007-12-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

Although my day still has about 3 more hours in it, I wanted to write about how my day of fasting went. (so far) On my way home Wednesday afternoon, I was contemplating my "plan of attack" for my day of fasting on Thursday. I resisted the urge to eat a huge dinner - I think that turned out to be a good idea! I was also considering what I would fast from and what I would be praying and reflecting on during the day. The upcoming series is about interruptions - so I decided that I would need interruptions at specific times to keep me from eating. I also would be praying about the upcoming LIT party on Saturday. I decided, other than breakfast, I would have nothing but liquid the rest of the day. (due to a small pharmacy of meds in the AM, I must always eat something first thing) So, although I did eat breakfast, it was not what I normally prepare.
So here's how my day went - 9:30 AM - not hungry, 10:30 AM - still not hungry; I am thinking WOW this is easy! Eleven AM and now I am thinking about what I won't be having for lunch. Guess what? God sent the coolest interruption! A previous manager was in the building for a meeting and stopped by right then to see how I was doing. No more thoughts about food! Thanks God for a great visit from an old friend.
Lunch time! I did something that I NEVER do - I left the building and went for a walk. What a beautiful day it was outside. I spent the time enjoying the weather and praying about the LIT party. I have never put on an event of this size and I am worried - will there be enough food, enough drink? Will everyone have a good time? Will it run smoothly? When I returned from my walk I had two urgent issues to deal with as well as a coworker was going home ill. Yeah God! More interruptions to keep me focused. Having to cover for this coworker will keep me busy until 4:30 - quitting time!
I bought myself a treat for the ride home - a small carton of low fat chocolate milk. I thought this would tide me over for the rest of the night, plus I had several last minute errands to run for the party. I got in the car, and opened the milk - yuck! It tasted awful!!! Okay God, I am relying on you to sustain me for the rest of the night. Traffic stinks and I am grumpy. Again, I prayed about the party and all the guests, and reflected on the awesome "interruptions" I've had during the day. Ran my errands and am now unwinding before CSI comes on.
This has been a really neat experience. This was the first time I have ever fasted. I had always thought that fasting meant zero food/water/ect, which is impossible due to my health. Once it was explained to me that there aren't any "rules" about fasting - it's about time with God - that I got on-board!
I am looking forward to an awesome breakfast, but even more so I am looking forward to planning more days like this to learn to rely on God.

Fasting

2007-12-04T12:28:00.000-08:00

This week Journey leaders are participating in a one day fast to reflect and prepare for the upcoming series - Interuptions. The first part of the series is Interupting Grumpiness. I can't think of a better topic during a fast, as I certianly get grumpy if I don't eat!! I am setting aside this Thursday to participate. I encourage all of LIT to chose a day this week to fast, then post to the blog aby comments you have about your experience.

Logos

2007-11-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who submitted an idea. It's been narrowed down to the final three! Which logo should represent the Lasting Impressions Team? Please vote for your favorite Logo.

LIT Christmas Party Invite

2007-11-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

T'was a few weeks before Christmas
And for very good reason,
LIT was gathering in the Cafe
To celebrate the season.

Now Ushers, Now Greeters
Now Guest Services and Decorators,
On Daily Journey, On Friday Night Teams
On Counters , On Leaders

There'll be dinner, music, fellowship and fun
Saturday December 8th
Beginning at 6PM
And going until we're done.

A Five Dollar gift to JCC
Is all that we ask,
Give this to Kirk by December 1st
He's overseeing this task.

The children will be nestled
In Promiseland 102
Check with Evonn before December 1st
She'll let you know what to do!

I'll be making a list
and checking it twice,
To see who's been naughty or nice.

RSVP to Alex by November 30th
LIT@cox.net

Leadership Summit Passion

2007-11-05T06:33:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to "re-live" the Leadership Summit. Rod hosted a DVD party for the volunteers, so they could see the speakers that they missed while serving our guests. At first, I was disappointed by the "cozy" turnout. But now, being able to go over my notes, I realize if there had been a large turn-out, I would have missed most of it again, since I would have fallen into the roll of serving our guests. (I'm a Martha in case anyone wasn't sure)
Several months ago, in the LIT leadership meeting, I was talking about the Summit and Tom asked me why I enjoyed it so much. Sadly, I don't remember my exact words - but I know I spoke from the heart. Afterwards, and many times since, I have wondered why I do enjoy the Summit so much - after all I serve in a roll that virtually guarantees I see little to none of the speakers!
At first, I thought I was passionate about the Summit because I love to learn and find ways to improve my leadership skills. But again, I go back to the fact that I rarely get to see the speakers - so that can't be why I love the Summit so much.
My answer came today, when I had the opportunity to enjoy Marcus Buckingham. Marcus said "a strength is not what I am good at, but what makes me feel strong".
One of Rod's posts mentioned how impressed he was at the volunteers who helped at the Summit all day, then stayed and helped with Friday night service. (this made for a 15+ hour day for those) I was one of them - and yes I was physically exhausted, but hearing how everyone was enjoying their Summit experience gave me great energy! Another thing Buckingham said was you can recognize your strengths when you get that "yeah feeling". He compared it to hearing your favorite song on the radio - that good feeling you get.
That's how I feel about serving at the Leadership Summit!

Journey's Balloon School

2007-11-03T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder, "How did they do that?" Well, recently several Journey-ites got to find out some balloon secrets. Tom, the Leader of our Decorators Team, hosted a balloon school of sorts. Attendees were treated to Tom's 10 years of experience with balloon decorating. Everyone who attended had the opportunity to create their own display.
Tom is passionate about teaching design; he enjoys helping the students "get" the concept.
Every Sunday, he and his team arrive early to put their talents to work and create a fun and welcoming environment for all who attend Journey.

Jesus Bring the Rain

2007-10-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

I was listening to "Jesus Bring the Rain" by MercyMe the other day while driving in the rain. I came across this song several weeks ago. It appealed to me because of the encouragement to seek God even in the storms of my life. Hearing it while it was raining made me think about things a bit differently. All living things need water (rain) to survive and grow. I need the rain (storms) in my life to live and to grow; to become who God intends me to be.

The Ask

2007-10-15T19:35:00.001-07:00

I have been involved in ministry at Journey Community Church for about 7 years now. I've gone from ushering on Friday nights, to Friday night Lead Usher, to overall leader of the ushers, to now overseeing and coordinating LIT - our Lasting Impressions Teams - consisting of ushers, greeters, decorators, daily journey and guest services. How did this all start? I was asked! It makes a huge difference (in my mind) that someone went out of their way and noticed me and thought I could help out somewhere. I truly enjoy serving. (I'll save the reasons for another post)
I asked several of our greeters and ushers how they got involved in their current roles and all reported that someone asked them. Many have been faithfully serving in their current positions for years.
In prep for our Easter service, Evonn, the current lead usher, had to recruit additional ushers for our multiple services. She was challenged to step out of her comfort zone and had to actively recruit by word of mouth. (In the past we would recruit via sign-ups from our program) Not only did Evonn staff her services, she learned she had a gift for recruiting! Many of the people that she asked to "help with Easter" had so enjoyed the opportunity to serve, that they now serve routinely.
It's amazing what a difference it makes if you just take the time to ask! I challenge all our team leaders to find one person this week and ask them to serve with you - even if it's just for one weekend service. I think you'll be amazed at the result!

LIT Christmas Party

2007-10-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

LIT Christmas Party - December 8th from 6PM-9PM in the cafe.

Childcare needs - please let me know by November 4th
Photos - I am collecting photos for a display at the party. I am looking for team photos, as well as individual photos - the individual photos need to be when you were a toddler, teen or college age. Need photos by November 15th.
Please submit your best volunteer stories by November 30th. These are stories about LIT members who did something to WOW our guests. Stories will be shared at the Christmas party.

Calling all creative people!

2007-09-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

LIT logo contest. Entries must be submitted to Alex no later than November 4th. Rod will choose the top 3 entries. LIT members will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite via the LIT blog - www.lastingimpressionsteam.blogspot.com during the month of November. The winner will be announced at the LIT Christmas party on December 8th. Rules: the logo should demonstrate what LIT represents - Lasting Impressions - Daily Journey, Decorators, Greeters, Guest Services and Ushers.