Tag Archive - success

Nothing on Purpose: Learning To Be God’s

January 27, 2011 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 14 Comments

I had lunch with Sharen, and heard her story. “I’m not doing anything specific. God asked me to put aside my ministry.”

As a ministry friend I was intrigued and concerned. I wondered how does one go from an active ministry to doing nothing?

Flower in Nothing but Blue Sky

She went on to say that God gave her a peace about turning the ministry loose and that she wasn’t to replace it with other activity. Instead God impressed upon her to just be his. “I’m enjoying focusing on him, just being his and not doing anything.”

My soul longed for that kind of refreshing. The new year brought lots of fresh starts, resolutions and back to school routines that busied my schedule. Why do we feel that we have to be doing something to have value? Sharen’s relaxed and satisfied fashion proved our value isn’t in doing but being. Her face glowed with the peace and contentedness of just being.

No matter how busy our hands or how many irons we have on the fire, we can be content in simply being God’s and following his lead.

“Others may do a greater work,
But you have your part to do;
And no one in all God’s family
Can do it as well as you.” Streams in the Desert p.2

For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. (Phil 4:11. ESV)

Lord, I want to do my part: to dream, to work and to minister for you in the manner you plan for me. Make me 100% yours and useable to further your kingdom as you see fit. Help me to be content being who you want me to be and fulfilled in knowing you are my reward.
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12 Leadership Checks for Making a Kingdom Difference

January 14, 2011 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Leadership with 4 Comments

While praying about multiplying our small group and the possibility of planting a church, I began reading and studying every related resource I could find. Many cite leadership as a key element to starting and/or maintaining a ministry.

Leaders teach Bible studies, organize and administrate offices and households, train children, balance budgets and bills then decide what’s for dinner. Leaders are everywhere, and I’m sure you’re one of them.

Leader.DucksinaRow
Leaders can lead large groups, but they must lead one: themselves. Leadership is pioneer work: heading out where no one goes but God. There are many challenges and it is easy to slip into NOT leading. In Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement by Dave and Jon Ferguson, I found a cool check list for leaders to monitor themselves and make sure they lead well.

Twelve indicators that leadership is lacking
1. I wait for someone to tell me what to do rather than taking the initiative myself.
2. I spend too much time talking about how things should be different.
3. I blame the context, surroundings, or other people for my current situation.
4. I am more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing.
5. I seek consensus rather than casting vision for a preferable future.
6. I am not taking any significant risks.
7. I accept the status quo as the way it’s always been and always will be.
8. I start protecting my reputation instead of opening myself up to opposition.
9. I procrastinate to avoid making a tough call.
10. I talk to others about the problem rather than taking it to the person responsible.
11. I don’t feel like my butt is on the line for anything significant.
12. I ask for way too many opinions before taking action.

The list made me uncomfortable. Yet I’m not called to be comfortable. I am to serve even when it hurts. Fear immobilizes me and I’m guilty of allowing it to keep me from leading. This list inspired me to take a risk, to step up and really lead as God directs.

How about you? Where has God been leading that makes you uncomfortable, or like your neck is stuck out? How do you put fear aside and adventure forward with God? Please answer in the comment section.

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This post is part of the Insights into Ministry & Leadership Series. If you enjoyed it you may also like the Living and Working on Mission Blog Series, the Spiritual Journey’s Gentle Nudges Series or the other Blog Series.
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11 Blessings for New Year 2011

January 1, 2011 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 1 Comment

To you, my valued friends and readers, I wish you an awesome New Year every day of 2011.

New Year

Here are eleven blessings I pray for you.

  1. May your table be filled with good food all year.
  2. May God give you health and vitality with fulfilled desire for proper exercise and food choices.
  3. May your time be productive and well rounded as your efforts are blessed and balanced.
  4. May you influence others for God’s good, make a difference and impact positive change.
  5. May your days be filled with warmth of love and friendship as you open your heart to love others.
  6. May your resources increase as your charity and philanthropy grows.
  7. May others enjoy your presence and desire your expertise and wisdom.
  8. May you have many pleasant family moments and memories in this year.
  9. May you be blessed in your work, contributing value both to yourself and others.
  10. May your social community broaden and deepen as your relationships increase and become more meaningful.
  11. May you grow more in love with God as you spend time listening to him and reading his word.

And a bonus: May this year be your best!

Thank you for making mine great.

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Why Multitasking Reduces Productivity

December 8, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 4 Comments

I felt so defeated. Tasks and to-do lists stacked. The harder I worked, the behind-er I got. I wanted to quit. Doing nothing would produce the same results with much less stress. Why not give up?

That’s when I tweeted, (Twitter: @RobinBryce) “ NOT liking my busy, distracted, get-nothing-accomplished lifestyle. Please, can I have only one thing to do & permission to forget all else?”multitasked to death

The oversimplified spiritual response, “Love Jesus and that’s all you need to do” doesn’t help. It doesn’t get the laundry done, the Holiday efforts accomplished, my ministry tasks finalized or the family’s needs met. I need more than love for Jesus to do all the things calling for my attention.

I saved the world’s chocolate by taking my desperation to God. Sitting with my Bible and journal, I had a little talk. I mentioned my troubles and feelings then listened for God’s response. I asked him to show me one task to start with. Just one (hoping I could do one thing right).

Looking up from my Bible and at the tasks, I took my husband’s advice and organized my time to work on one job for 15 minutes. Amazingly, I got something done. It felt good.

I tweeted again. “Multitasking is overrated. Doing one thing well is better than many things half-hearted. ”

Others share my struggle with productivity. The Google search “Multitasking is overrated” found a study by Stanford University that reveals why doing more than one thing reduces productivity. The study shows a disturbing trend in our culture and defines my problem. They “found multitaskers are more easily distracted and less able to ignore irrelevant information than people who do less multitasking.” For more results read Boston.com article Maybe Multitasking is Overrated.  I’m not the only one living from one distraction to another.

I felt better knowing why I was ineffective and how to correct the problem. I began asking for God’s help to focus on the job at hand and to organize my time, allotting segments for each task. It’s working so far.

How do you deal with the pressure of your busy lifestyle? Comment below.

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One Way to Beat the Busyness

February 24, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 2 Comments

Getting nowhere, but doing it fast?

It’s like I’m on an endless treadmill, battling the bottomless clothes-basket and scrubbing the forever dirty-dish. After that comes the endless next thing—errand, meeting, project, appointment, and, as always, the bills. So much stuff needs attention, must be done. I’m over scheduled, under focused and beside myself. It’s like I’m a hamster running on a mini Ferris wheel, with no way to get off, and no end to this race.

All the striving and running left me empty. Even with some measure of success, like cleaning all the dishes or completing a presentation with applause, I got bombarded by the next task and the sense of a fruitless chase.

Chasing Vapors.

Much of our life is spent “chasing the wind” (Eccl 4:4-6). King David’s son (Eccl 1:1), said, “Nothing under the sun is truly new” (Eccl 1:9, NLT), but we break our necks to make things new. We work hard to make a mark, leave a legacy, or influence others. We act like everything is up to us. We think if we don’t do it, it won’t get done and then, well . . . we’re convinced the sky will fall, our kids won’t turn out right, and we will be the ultimate, epic failure. So we stay busy attempting to catch what can’t be caught.

One Way.

The empty exercise caused me to seek God for his view, his take on what I should do. The scripture writer experienced the same pointless pursuits, and his search for answers ended in a summation of life, the reason for existence, the ONE THING that fulfills our longing. “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty” (Eccl 12:13, NLT) was found to be the underlying meaning of life. And it echoes in other scriptures like “be still and know…God” (Ps 46:10), and the greatest commandment to love God and love people (Matt 22:37-40).

Do you, like me, struggle with this one life-simplifying thing? Does life’s summation to love and obey God seem too spiritual to be relevant? Are you running life’s treadmill, chasing vapors hoping for an end? Have you ever wondered why we work so hard but have no progress?

When we focus on loving God and loving others, we purify our running around. God helps us sift through what we do. He forgives our mistakes and failures while giving us daily direction. Our track becomes focused and the distractions pale in comparison to this satisfying life-purpose.

We beat the busyness.

My renewed focus gives me a clarity, ability and the enlightened truth—it isn’t all up to me. Although I still run, I feel light in my shoes, unburdened, and sort of like a super hero.

I’m going somewhere.

Leaders Do This and Prosper

January 27, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 1 Comment

God: Lean on Me. Don’t trust your own insights, but walk in wisdom.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish,
but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe (Proverbs 28:26, NLT).
Trust in the LORD with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take (Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT).

Leaders do this and prosper.

Woman leader

They lean on God. They do not trust their own instincts, but walk in wisdom, obedience to God.

Simply put, good leaders hear from God and do what He says.

“Leave… and go to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).

Step-by-step, listen and obey.

Simple. Yet difficult.

Are we up for the task? How do you lean on God and not your own skill? How can we know when we’re doing it right?

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The Forever Student

January 11, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 2 Comments

Ken, a forever student, squeezed a four-year degree into about seven years. I met him in college and I was never convinced that he was ready to graduate or quit learning. We made jokes with him about his professional-student status. Yet, he may have been smarter than the rest of us, not in IQ, or studies, or grades, but in the idea of being a forever learner.

God prefers forever students. Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge (Proverbs 18:15, NLT). Even Jesus grew in wisdom (Luke 2:42). God values growth in knowledge, experiments in new things and continual education. It is senseless to pay tuition to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning (Proverbs 17:16, NLT).

old.student

Having a desire for knowledge and education is important for all of us, not only for children. Otherwise we become dusty, archaic, and in need of a child to program the VCR. Which was the last thing I studied when it comes to our video equipment. I have much more to discover, and fast before I become a dinosaur like the VCR.

We need to study, grow and change. The qualities of children, dreaming, creating, and learning includes a childlike faith, a trait God highly esteems. We could take a class in something of interest. An art class, an online course, a business, technology or marketing seminar, or a Julie and Julia cooking class. Let’s foster our own curiosity, ask questions and learn the answers.

Walt_Disney

One of the most successful dreamers and creators of our day was Walt Disney. Mr. Disney said, “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” (Restated in the Disney movie Meet the Robinson’s)

Like Mr. Disney and Ken, let’s escape the dusty, old rut and commit to being a forever student.

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A New Monday

December 28, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

It’s Monday again, but not like all the others. This one is full of hope for life change, a wanting something different, and resolutions. Decisions that resemble those we make on New Years.

After bloating on Christmas goodies that so quickly followed Thanksgiving feasts, I decided to reset my heart, mind and body.

Heart: I will enjoy the presence of my God, walk with him, laugh with him and learn to work under his direction. Not that I haven’t been doing such, but I will intentionally spend more time focusing on him and remaining in his presence. Please join me in this adventure or pray for me as I go.

Mind: Along with reading the Bible, I will read more ministry related books and add some good fiction to spur creativity and enjoy the fact that I can read. Are their any books you suggest? Any recommendations of good fiction?

Body: The most common decision and the one where I struggle the most. Resetting my body will mean my heart and mind must be engaged. Eating healthy and exercising takes determination. I’ll need all the help I can get.

I found help in a cool online tool, thanks to a Twitter post by @mdemuth (Mary DeMuth). The Daily Plate is a free tracker of food intake. No writing down what I eat, or counting calories, or figuring out how many calories I burned washing dishes. The Daily Plate does it all. (iPhone App too.)

How I started:Apple

  • I went to www.livestrong.com, The Daily Plate is compliments of Lance Armstrong. Go, Lance. Go!
  • I typed in how many pounds I wanted to lose per week, my height, weight and age. The Daily Plate showed me how many calories I should eat daily to reach my goal. (Note: I skipped paying for the upgraded version and clicked on the bottom for the free version.)
  • I signed up for a profile and got My Plate.
  • Once the profile was done, I typed in an orange and coffee for breakfast. The Daily Plate tracker calculated the calories and showed how many more I needed for the day. I typed in lunch, snacks, and dinner and My Plate kept a cool personal record (menu) of what I had eaten. The challenge was to keep the calorie counter from topping its limit.
  • I explored the exercise calorie counter. I typed in “folding clothes” and the amount of time it took then it counted the calories I used. I can’t wait to type in my gym workout.
  • It tracks glasses of water I drink as well.

The Daily Plate is way cool and gives a visual of my efforts to obtain body health. Every day the tracker brings up a new page to fill in and provides an export of my data. And it’s free. Thank you, Lance.

Go, Robin. Go!

Go, reader. Go!

See you at the gym.

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Search for Peace in a World of Disturbance

October 28, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Peace.      Still.      Rest.

Peace in a World of Disturbance
Peace in a world of disturbance

The Burden.
Ever push to make things happen? When I do, I become anxious, worried, and stressed. All actions feel like my responsibility. Like it’s my fault when it doesn’t go well. Or when it does, the credit is mine. During these times, everything seems to key off of me, what I do, or don’t do, if I’m good enough, or not. I don’t like the stress of that kind of responsibility.

The Freedom.
When I place myself in the presence of sovereignty, I have peace. Overriding the swirl of troubles, struggles, and circumstances, a peace prevails. My actions become obedience to the sovereign God instead of an ambition to control. I realize the results don’t hinge upon my behavior or ability. God’s responsible for the results. I’m responsible for obeying. By sitting down in submission to him, I find a peaceful freedom.

The Counsel.
“Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act” (Ps 37:7). I should work physically while sitting still in God spiritually. But I forget that God’s in charge, and get busy, working, feeling responsible for the outcome. When things don’t go right, the responsibility turns into temptations to take control, get frustrated, and become angry. Psalms 37:8 states, “Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm.” “Be still,” or “Stop being angry!”

The Choice.
I must choose. “Be still,” or push-through-with-all-I’ve-got. The choice leading to peace is simple, but the “Be still” follow through isn’t easy. The option keeps coming back and needs a fresh resolve. Sometimes I make the right choice, and others…

Anyhow. Do any of you, like me, search for peace in a world of disturbance?

*picture by MJ Photography

The Creative Need in Leadership

August 17, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Leadership, Ministry to Women with 0 Comments

A visionary leader casts the vision, obtains the buy-in of key people, and garners the support of a following, but it’s not until afterwards that the hard work of making creative adjustments begins. To bring the vision into reality and keep the momentum going, constant evaluations and adjustments are necessary. The vision, buy-in, and support are important, but without creativity and change the whole effort might tank or at least become fruitless, like beating a dead horse. Creative leadership is a must for continued progress.

An ordinary man named Nehemiah showed awesome leadership skills. His leadership began with a passion and brokenness over the state of disrepair and neglect of his native land, Jerusalem. A vision of Jerusalem’s repair began forming. When the king asked about his downcast demeanor, Nehemiah took advantage of the opportunity to persuade the king, an obvious key person, with his vision and plan. After gaining the king’s support and upon entering Jerusalem, he obtained the buy-in of its key leaders followed by the support and following of the whole community. For an ordinary person Nehemiah began his leadership well.

Super Creative LeadershipGood leaders make the most of starting out great while remaining open and creative to make necessary changes. Well thought out modifications keep the momentum headed towards success. When things don’t go smoothly, which happens, a good leader has to make adjustments. He must be willing to change methods, be creative and proactive in the face of challenges, and continually inspiring to his followers.

Nehemiah fulfilled this need for creative leadership.

I want to be a creative leader too. So I asked God, “What are the creative adjustments I need to make?”

Still struggling with the “answer” to that question, I wonder if you’re seeking to be a creative leader as well.

Do you feel like you’ve hit a wall, making no progress, or needing a creative improvement? What changes are you willing to make? How has God led you to adjust your approach? What is your experience with the creative need in leadership? Please answer in the comment section.

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This post is part of the Insights into Ministry & Leadership Series. If you enjoyed it you may also like the Living and Working on Mission Blog Series, the Spiritual Journey’s Gentle Nudges Series or the other Blog Series.

 

 

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