2012 Budget discussion

You may not be interested in the politics of budgets for America, but I want to suggest that you should become engaged in the conversation. I watched this interview with Chris Wallace and Rep. Paul Ryan. It's a good discussion about the direction we are headed in our American spending.

I, for one, am glad that the future is being discussed BEFORE it can become reality. Perhaps we can all agree to ask Washington to payoff the debt, just like we have to do in our homes, counties and states.

Watch the interview here.

Reading George W. Bush Book

I am a few chapters into the book Decision Points by George W. Bush.

It's a interesting look into the beginning's of Bush's life and it's fascinating. One thing stuck out to me, a few days after his father lost the White House to Clinton, "W" ran a marathon in 3:44. That's 28 minutes faster than I ran a marathon. That is a remarkable accomplishment.

You will enjoy his direct nature and honest assessment of his decisions. I have tons of respect for someone who has a standard and sticks by it, plus if they make a mistake, they admit it, apologize and move on!

Capable of much more

Last night I attended my 6 year-old's school program. He attends Washington School and it's a cool old brick school dating back over 100 years! This program was a patriotic celebration of our country. These kindergarten children learned the many famous songs and documents about our freedom as Americans. One little girl named all 50 states, another boy recited the preamble of the Declaration of Independence and my son spoke the preamble of the Constitution.

When he was assigned this difficult task, I didn't know what to think. "Domestic Tranquility" is not an easy phrase to pronounce or remember. I was amazed. All these children learned a tremendous amount, but why is that so amazing. CLEARLY THEY WERE CAPABLE OF MORE THAN I THOUGHT!

What about you and me? Has someone told us that "it can't be done" so we believe them? Do we just not try because we don't think it's possible? Perhaps we need to examine the messages we believe. Can a 40 year old run a marathon? Yes!!! It's hard work, but it can be done.

Be encouraged and rethink what you believe! Blessings today on you!

I work here because...

I have spent my entire adult life working with young people. 12 years I worked as a Youth Pastor and the last 9+ have been working at a youth camp. Why? That's a great question. Can you answer that for yourself?

Why do you work where you work? Sometimes, we work because we have commitments to keep and ANY job will do to meet those demands. This is a tough place because we sacrifice our passion at work to attain something we value more.

For me, I have chosen a long time ago to work in ministries with kids. This is not lucrative, but that's not the point. I want to see kids benefit as I did from my youth pastor, Don Kluttz. Currently I work at this amazing camp BECAUSE kids and adults make life-altering decisions at this camp and many like it across our world.

Today, I hope you take a few moments and consider the purpose of your work. Perhaps you reaffirm your commitment to care for your family and work outside of your passion area because you love others. Perhaps you reaffirm your work in you favorite area even though it does not pay what you would like.

Meeting people

I have been reading a great book on Marketing & Sales. It's called We: The Ideal Customer Relationship

There are many great parts to the book and it's a very pracitcal guide to Sales, etc, however, the best part for me was the section relating to "encounters". The author, Steve Yastrow, develops the idea about how we meet people. He goes to great length to discuss 1) preparing ourselves to meet and listen and talk with people. 2) He challenges me to "leave the moment" behind that I was just in, and take time to prepare for the next moment (meeting someone).

There is so much more, so read the book, but it begs this question for me. Do I take the time to PREPARE to meet people? Do I take time to PREPARE to listen to my spouse, children and those I contact everyday? Do I PREPARE for those I meet regarding work or is it just a job and they are just customers????

Hope we all learn to value people more!

Amazing Journey

I have been watching a documentary of two men riding motorcycles from London to New York the long way (20k miles). It's a fascinating look into life all across the world as they encounter people and landscape not often seen in America.

While it's just a movie, these actors are just men riding motorcycles and telling the real story as they go. It's full of up's and down's, triumph and defeat. It's a lot like life. They spent 4 1/2 months preparing and 3 1/2 months on the trip (105 days). I will warn you that's it's long film, but you will be captivated. Also, there is some language at times that my be offensive to some.

If you watch it, consider how their preparation could help you be more successful in your endeavors.

The life I live

It occurs to me often lately that much of my language is self-centered. "I will..." and "My..." blah blah! It comes because I have been trained to take responsibility for myself (I think we should be responsible), but that breeds a dependance on Self!

My simple challenge is to see my life as "on loan". Afterall this is the life I was given. I did not earn it, I don't desrve it anymore than someone else. These are simply the circumstances that I find myself in. With that in mind, I am going to strive to see this life not as MINE, but as a LIFE ON LOAN, and what am I doing with it! Perhaps a little less Self will be a good thing. I think Jesus likes it when we give away what is not ours to gain something we don't deserve.