What’s your Plan?

Whether you are a leader leading others in a joint journey, or you are a follower and joining with someone else to assist them in their journey, you have to have a plan.  You do not have to have all of the details, but there are certain things you need to know.

Do you have a plan?  Do you know where you are going?  Do you know how you will get there?

Sometimes God’s direction is not too clear.  Just ask Abraham, when God told him to “leave and go to the place I will show you”.  God was not specific, but he was clear with his instructions.  Abraham needed to leave where he was.  God would show him more later.  If you are in a place that you do not have specific direction, go with what you know.  God will lead you one step at a time.  If you take the wrong step, God will show you, and if you take the correct step God will bless you.  It is true living by faith.  Hebrews 11:8  “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
If you are in this situation, make sure you convey that to those around you, especially if you are a leader.  It is easier to follow a leader when there is a clear laid out plan.  Remember, even if you don’t know all the details, it is very difficult to follow someone who does not communicate.  At the very least, communicate your situation to those around you.  Who knows….maybe God is speaking direction to someone around you!

Leading like Jesus

And Jesus said unto them, “Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.” (Mark 1:17, 18 KJV)

Such a simple statement, but such profound results.  This was how Jesus built his inner core leadership team.  This is how the disciples came together.

Jesus said ‘come follow me’.  With just a few words Jesus let his disciples know two things: he was leading, and that he wanted them to follow.  It is not often that people will randomly start following you.  We need to be intentional when we lead to let others know that we are in fact leading, where we are headed (your vision) and also that we want them to follow (or we want and need them to join us.)

Yelling at Kids

Respect. It is something that we as people deserve. It is something that is not often given to a child though. How do you feel when you are not respected? It is not a good feeling. Now process that feeling through the perspective of a child.

I have been substitute teaching the last few months. I come home day after day with the same surprised reaction. I have been told multiple times, in multiple grades, in multiple schools that I am a nice teacher. That may not surprise you, because I am a pretty nice guy. The reason they tell me that is what surprises me though. “You are a nice teacher because you don’t yell at us.” One boy said I was nice because I didn’t even raise my voice when talking to him.

Parable of the Talents: It’s not about you

Parable of the Talents: It’s not about you

Most of us are familiar with the parable of the talents. If not, you can check it out here. I did a study on the parable a while back. Here are a few things that jump off the page at me.

A talent was a unit of measure for weight and money. It was about 75 pounds. Assuming the talents were gold, which was recently valued at $1882/ounce. That would make one talent of gold worth about $2.2 million. This parable is also the origin of the definition we know today, meaning ability. No matter what definition you use, keep in mind that talents are valuable.

Coffee Creativity

Do you enjoy a hot cup of coffee? Maybe a caramel latte or peppermint mocha is more your style. And if you are one of the few people that don’t drink coffee you at least know someone who does. But have you ever thought about where coffee comes from? I’m sure you are familiar with coffee beans, but have you ever considered the journey from plant to cup?

Somewhere in the mountains of South America there is a little coffee plant. On that plant grow handfuls of little red beans. Those beans are picked by a local coffee farmer. He takes the beans and soaks them in buckets of water to clean them, as well as soften them so the outer hull will come off easily. Once the beans are clean and dehulled, they are spread out in the warm sunlight to dry. After they dry the little beans, now green in color, the beans get bagged up and prepared to sell.