The Beach or the Mountains, or the …?
I remember late night debates with friends about which were better – the mountains or the beach? At the heart of the debate was the romantic calling of the sea and the laid back life on the beach versus the adventure and majesty of the mountains. What both have in common is that they show the immense size and beauty of God’s creation while often creating existential crises because they make us feel so insignificant in their midst.
When pressed in those debates I always landed on mountains as my choice. But over the last 15 years my preference has slowly shifted. As our family traveled down to Myrtle Beach for spring break I posed the question to them – mountains or beaches? After a bit of discussion they asked my choice to which I answered – neither.
You see a couple of years ago I realized that my answer was now “C. None of the above”, though I still love and appreciate both (especially the beach after a long Michigan winter), my first choice has become, what I call, the great north woods, especially the forests and glades around the Great Lakes.
There is nothing I love more than a summer morning filled with the sweet smell of firs, pine and poplar combined with the coolness that the natural air conditioning of the Great Lakes provide, or watching the sunset over a spring fed lake or over the coast of Lake Michigan. I still love to watch white tail leap a fence or catch a trout in a lake or a stream.
There’s just so much that I love about great north woods, but in the end, I find the same majesty of the mountains and the same romantic calling of the sea but in an environment that’s personal, intimate and accessible. They have truly become my sanctuary.
What’s your favorite place?
The Culture of Opinion
Over the last few months I’ve traveled 90 minutes to and from Grand Rapids on a weekly basis. As I started this routine, I turned to the local sports talk radio for my on road entertainment. But within a few trips I grew weary of listening to the callers spouting off with their opinions about local teams, coaching decisions and player performance.
I grew weary because I had just come off of 5 years of coaching middle school and high school sports and I had discovered that there’s much more to coaching decisions than what the average fan sees during a game. I came to appreciate that coaches have significantly more information about their players and their team than any person could conceivably gain just by being a fan.
And what made sports talk radio even more wearisome was simply that most of the callers had so little experience playing or coaching, and none at the highest levels, yet felt they could, with authority, criticize coaches and players. They seemed to ignore the obvious fact that those they criticize have significantly more knowledge, experience and ability than all the callers combined.
Yet this culture of opinion isn’t limited to the world of sports. It’s in every facet of our society including politics and business. So as I listened during those first few trips I realized I no longer want to be filled with a litany of uniformed and inexperienced opinions, instead I need facts and perspective that I can trust, value and act on (such as a good interview with a player or coach). And I also decided I will not be one of those people who criticize others, whether they’re close to me or far off, when I’m not capable of doing any better myself, and when I know I have significantly less information and experience than they do.
What I Believe to Be True!
In The Leadership Challenge the authors Kouzes and Posner recommend an exercise that helps clarify one’s vision. They recommend writing on paper “what I (we) want to accomplish” followed by asking the question why, writing down your answer, and then keeping asking why until you’ve run out of reasons. The result is an insight into your core motivations and the beliefs behind what you want to accomplish.
When I did this exercise, answering the “why” behind what we do and what we want to be at SpringHill I ended with a core set of believes that I then articulated in a form of a confession.
Though this isn’t an official SpringHill statement it does, I believe, hit at the heart of many of the reasons behind why SpringHill staff are so passionate about what we do and why we do it.
What I Believe to Be True!
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I believe the most transformational moments in a person’s life begins with a saving faith in Jesus Christ and a vibrant, growing relationship with Him.
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I believe that the most likely time for a person to have these transformational moments is when they are a child.
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I believe these transformational moments in a child’s life best happen through the partnership of parents, local churches and ministries such as SpringHill.
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I agree with Bill Hybles, that the local church is the hope of the world.
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But I also believe that the future hope of the local church rest with children. Therefore, if we want to strengthen the local church and thus change the world, the most important thing we can all do is to focus our time, energy and resources on the spiritual development of children.
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I believe that, through the partnership of people and organizations that share these same convictions, we can create more opportunities for more young people to have these transformational experiences, thus preparing them to join us in creating a better world.
- Finally, I believe God has called SpringHill to create significant transformational experiences for young people where they can know and grow in their relationship with Jesus. I know this to be true because I’ve been privileged to be a part of and witness to 1000’s of young lives being transformed every year.
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“Strategic Planning is Not Strategic Thinking”
As part of my work in re-articulating the SpringHill vision I’ve turned, once again, to one of the best books on leadership ever written The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. In the section titled Inspiring a Shared Vision Kouzes and Posner write…
“Strategic planning often spoils strategic thinking because it causes managers to believe that the manipulation of numbers creates imaginative insight into the future and vision. This confusion lies at the heart of the issue: the most successful strategies are visions; they are not plans. McGill University professor Harry Mintzberg explains that planning represents a “calculating” style, while leaders employ a “committing” style – one that ‘engages people in a journey. They lead in such a way that everyone on the journey helps shape its course. As a result, enthusiasm inevitably builds along the way. Those with a calculating style fix on a destination and calculate what the group must do to get there, with no concern for the members preferences. But calculated strategies have no value in and of themselves…Strategies take on value only as committed people infuse them with energy.’
Leadership that focuses on a committing style is what leadership scholars have called transformational leadership. Transformational leadership occurs when, in their interactions, people ‘raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality. Their purposes, which might have started out as separate but related, as in the case of transactional leadership, become fused…. But transforming leadership ultimately becomes moral in that it raises the level of human conduct and ethical aspiration of both the leader and the led, and thus it has a transforming effect on both.'”
I’ve taken these words to heart and am using them as guides as I lead SpringHill in the re-articulating of its vision.
Kids Tell A Bible Story – David and Goliath
Another video from SpringHill Winter Retreats. Enjoy!
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.11176492&w=450&h=325&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]1st collector for Kids Tell A Bible Story – David and Goliath
Follow my videos on vodpodThe Power of a Fresh Context
In my last post I wrote about the transformational power of a fresh voice heard in a different context. That fresh voice is an essential part of a transformational experience. But it’s the fresh voice in a new and different context that makes all the difference.
What makes a context different and thus such a powerful combination with a fresh voice?
First, a different context requires, well, getting out of an old context, even if it’s for a short time. Going away, leaving the routines and the familiar behind is the only way to step into a new context. This is why going away to camp is so powerful and transformational for kids. I’ve heard of parents doing “camp” at home for their kids. This maybe a good and fun summer activity but it can’t replace going away to camp, because it will not have the transformational power that leaving home, and going to camp, can have in a child’s life.
Second, a transformational context includes excitement, adventure, challenge, and novelty. It’s why SpringHill and so many other camps have activities such as zip lines, climbing walls, blobs and horses. These are exciting, challenging and novel activities. They’re things kids do not do in their regular, everyday life. When a child or student does something for the first time, such as scale a 40 foot climbing wall, they’re also more likely to do and make positive spiritual and life decisions for the very first time.
The power of a fresh context is also what drives SpringHill to have something new at camp every year. People come to SpringHill expectant, expectant of something new to see or do, and thus expectant of a new and fresh perspective on life and the possibility of a different direction to take.
This is The Power of Camp, and it’s why I believe all Kids Need Camp.
What’s your camp story?
The Power of Hearing a Fresh Voice
I remember a conversation with the youth pastor from our church in Grand Rapids the day after he had taken a group of students to a big Christian concert. He said something to this effect, “whatever this musician said on stage the kids would go crazy. He would say ‘you should read your Bible everyday’ and my kids would scream and jump up and down. I don’t understand it, I’ve been telling my kids they need to be reading their Bibles, but whenever I bring it up, I just get blank stares. Why can this guy, from stage and in such a short period of time, have such a powerful voice in my students’ life?”
The answer to this amazed youth pastor is simple – there is transformational power a person experiences when they hear an often repeated message in a fresh voice, spoken in a different context.
This is why going to camp, having a camp experience, is so powerful, so life changing. At camp kids hear the same message they’ve heard repeated at home, at church or in school. But the voice is different; it’s a different person, at a different age, and many times from a different place in life speaking the same message in a totally different environment – camp.
And it breaks my heart to say this, but it’s an experience that happens so rarely in a young person’s life outside a camp experience. Why? Because there are so few experiences for kids that offer this combination of fresh voice spoken in an exciting and adventuresome context that also aligns with the voices of parents, church and school.
It’s why at SpringHill, we believe so strongly that all Kids Need Camp.
Have you experienced the Power of Camp? If so please share your story, it might encourage others to help a child have the same transformational experience this summer.
The Fall of Jericho
A great video from SpringHill’s Winter Retreats, a fun 4 minutes to begin your week with.
[vodpod id=Groupvideo.11135435&w=450&h=325&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
1st collector for The Fall of Jericho
Follow my videos on vodpodThe Power of Camp
When I was in Indianapolis last week I stayed at the Marriott SpringHill Suites (what other hotel would a SpringHill staffer stay at?).
Upon arrival two Marriott staff greeted me at the front desk. I happen to be wearing a SpringHill fleece and the staff looked at me inquisitively and asked “are you with SpringHill Suites?” Of course this provided an opportunity to share about the “other” SpringHill. After a brief description, one of the staff had this dreamy look in her eyes which caused me to ask “have you been to camp?”
She answered “I went to camp when I was young and it was one of the best times in my entire life.” So, of course, I asked “which camp did you go to?” She thought about it for a moment and said “you know I don’t remember, I just remember I loved it.”
As I went to my room I thought about this woman’s camp experience. It was so powerful that being reminded of it put her in a state of reliving the experience right there in the hotel lobby. It was obvious her camp experience was even more important than the camp itself.
Later I went back to the lobby so I could ask her a follow-up question. I wanted to know what made an experience so memorable that a person would even forget the name of the place it occurred. When I found her I asked “what made camp one of the best times in your life?”
She quickly answered “I loved sitting around the camp fire singing, being with people who have become some of my closest friends, and the spiritual impact it had on me and others.”
This woman experienced the Power of Camp – memorable experiences, lifelong relationships and transformational spiritual moments. It’s these stories that fuel the passion of SpringHill Camp staff and the staff of 100’s of other Christian camps around the country to, every summer, provide “one of the best experiences in life” for literally 100,000’s of kids and families.
To learn more about the Power of Camp click here.
Thankful for Faithful Supporters
After a four-day business trip to Indianapolis Denise and I took advantage of the spring like weather in northern Michigan and walked around camp (last weekend we snowshoed around camp). As we walked around Copper Country I reflected on the incredible support SpringHill has received over the decades.
Incredible support comes from incredible people who believe in what God has done and is doing in and through SpringHill. They align with the answers to the 6 key questions I’ve been writing about over the last couple of weeks. There’s a mutual commitment to making the answers to the 6 key questions a reality.
It’s important to understand that at SpringHill we include in our definition of supporters – volunteers, prayer partners, ambassadors, and donors. Every person who falls into one or more of these categories is absolutely critical to our effectiveness. We’ve been blessed over the years to have many people in all four groups.
While in Indianapolis I, along-side Craig Soderdahl our Regional Vice President and Kate Wilson our Regional Development Representative, met with friends of SpringHill who included corporate donors, long time supporters , former and current board members and staff, and over dinner, a group of future camper families, prayer partners, ambassadors, volunteers and donors.
Each meeting in Indianapolis was a powerful reminder of the essential role our supporters play in SpringHill today and into the future. The walk around Copper Country reminded me of the critical role our supporters have played over the years. So whether it’s past, present or future, on this early spring day, I’m deeply thankful for our supporters and what they’ve done and do for SpringHill, kids and Jesus.
