Spoiled and Didn’t Even Know It
If you’ve ever been a member of a private golf course, or flown first class or corporate jets on a regular basis and then had to play golf on a public course or fly coach you’ll know what I experienced this past week.I found out just how spoiled I’ve been.
Since December I have taken advantage of the SpringHill indoor pool and have been swimming a couple of days a week.
My wife and I and a couple other SpringHill staff intentionally arrive well ahead of the public lap swim so we can have the pool to ourselves.
So I’ve never known what it’s like to share the pool with lots of people. I had an inkling after talking to a friend recently who swims regularly at a YMCA. He described what it’s like to swim laps with lots of people with differing swimming abilities and speeds. Yet I didn’t give my good fortune much thought – until this past week.
You see I slept in and got to the pool later than normal and the community lap swimmers arrive early. So I experienced the chaos of public lap swim. Frankly, at first, I was a bit ticked. How could these people expect me to swim with them splashing all around me?
Then it dawned on me how fortunate I really am to have access to a pool for my own private work outs.
So I asked myself “what else is there in my life that I’ve been blessed with yet don’t even know it?” “And what good things are a part of my life now that at one time I appreciated as a gift but now see as expected or even a right?”
The public lap swim has certainly given me some things to think and pray about during my next private swim.
Are you blessed in any way but haven’t noticed or have forgotten it? It’s never too late to say thanks to the Source of all good things.
Why Kids Need Camp!
Do you know that the average elementary age child spends 1680 minutes per week in front of a television? That’s 28 hours.
Or that the average child –
Plays 1880 minutes or 30 hours of video games per week?
And spends another 623 minutes (over 10 hours) a week on a computer?
That’s a total of 68 hours sitting inside in front of a screen. Even if this number’s exaggerated by 2x that would still mean that the average child spends 34 hours a week inside interacting with technology.
In contrast research tells us that the average child spends –
- 30 minutes a week playing outside
- 3.5 minutes a week in meaningful conversation with their parents
- And less than an hour in a church, youth group or youth ministry gathering
- Which means kids spend just over an hour a week in meaningful engagements with people and places that can positively shape and influence their lives?
34 hours compared to 1.25 hours. Think about the implications of that for a moment.
Kids need much more than screen time to grow physically, emotionally and spiritually
- Kids need to interact with God’s creation by being outside
- They need to be nurtured within their family – God created the family for just this purpose.
- Finally kids need to be a part of a faith community such as a local church or other ministry
Yet these vital interactions are being squeezed out by technology. Not by war, famine or economic collapse but by a little screen.
Here’s another reality – all those negative trends about kids can be reversed by a week at a Christian camp (such as SpringHill Camps) where the average camper spends
- 36 hours outside per week doing incredibly fun, exciting and growing activities
- 300 minutes in a meaningful conversation with a staff person (that’s nearly two year’s worth of meaningful conversation with a parent)
- 10 to 12 hours a week in individual Bible study and small and large group settings learning about God and His plan for their lives.
So if you want to make a difference in the life of a young person give them the opportunity to attend summer camp. It may just change their life forever. (Click here to find out how you can help as well as share this post with others)
UNBROKEN
If you’re having a bad day, a bad week or a bad year you need to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. No matter how bad things are in life nothing compares to the experiences of Lieutenant Louis Zamperini.
And if you’re having a great day or your best year then you also need to read it. Because it’ll cause you to be thankful for the blessings you are experiencing.
But this isn’t why Unbroken is the best book of any kind I’ve read in the last couple years. No it’s great because Hillenbrand, who also wrote Seabiscuit, is a great story-teller, and the story she tells is so incredible that it’s almost unbelievable.
As I read this story of being lost and then brutalized I kept asking myself “can this be true? Is it possible that a person could really survive all that Zamperini went through?”
And the answer is “yes.” And not just survive but in the end achieve a wholeness and redemption that most people who’ve never lived through anything remotely as close to what Zamperini did do not achieve.
And this is also why it’s a great story because it’s true and it’s full of hope, true, real Hope. It’s a Hope that can transform any person because it transcends every situation no matter how horrible. Zamperini’s life’s a testimony to this reality.
So if you are looking for Hope, or simply want to an excellent book to dig into read Unbroken and I promise you it’ll be a story you’ll never forget and it might be one that could change your perspective on life forever.
Being a Part of the “Chicago 7”
Myself, Stan White, Mario Zandstra, Doug Goodwin & Jack McQueeney with one of our favorite leaders One of the highlights of my work is the opportunity to be a part of an informal group of peer leaders. The first “official” time we met together was six and half years ago in Chicago. It was in that meeting that we adopted the now infamous name Chicago 7 (why it’s infamous is another story which I won’t bother blogging about).
Currently the group includes Mario Zandstra from Pine Cove Ministries in Texas, Stan White from Forest Home in Southern California, Doug Goodwin from Kanakuk Kamps in Missouri, Jack McQueeney with the Navigators’ Glen Eyrie/Eagle Lake in Colorado and John McAuley from Muskoka Woods in Ontario, Canada.
This past week we met in Washington, DC. Our time together included a full agenda of items to discuss, people to meet and things to see.
One of our discussion topics was a review of our purpose and objectives as a group. It provided a reminder of why these men have become so important to me personally and professionally and why I encourage others to be a part of such a peer group.
Our purpose is to encourage each other in our leadership of our respected organizations. We accomplish this by doing the following:
We:
Provide a safe place to talk about our lives both professionally and personally.
Openly share ideas, new programs, and organizational insights with each other.
Benchmark other organizations and meet with other leaders.
Provide accountability on issues we each face.
Pray together for each other’s work, family and personal life.
As a result of our intentional relationships each of these men has become a dear friend and partner in ministry. But even more important to us is the fact that over the years God has used our relationships to strengthen and expand His Kingdom here on earth – the most worthy purpose.
One More Time on Calling
Jack McQueeney my favorite Navigator friend knows his call. “Need doesn’t always constitute a call.” Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators.
The needs of others don’t always equal a calling to meet those needs.
But our calling always includes meeting the needs of others.
This is why calling can be so confusing.
And it’s also why calling can be so dangerous.
It’s confusing because it’s easy to believe, either as an individual or as an organization, that we can and should address all the needs of all the people all the time. It’s a positive impulse but it’s misdirected because when we try to meet all the needs of all the people all the time we end up unable to meet hardly any needs of any one anytime.
Calling requires knowing that we are not God and thus can’t meet all the needs of all the people all of the time and trusting Him to enlist others to do what we can’t and are not called to do.
Calling is always focused on specific people and their specific needs. At SpringHill we’re called to serve children, teens and young adults. This is not to say adults don’t have needs that SpringHill can meet or that adults are less important than children. No it’s simply that we’re called and equipped to serve young people. We trust that God has called others to serve adults.
Calling can be dangerous when we have the ability but don’t meet the needs of the individuals God has placed in our lives. It’s when we use our calling as an excuse for not doing something that we put ourselves at serious risk.
What’s the risk? Think of Jesus’ parable in Luke 16:19-31. A rich man walks daily right by a poor beggar named Lazarus without lifting a finger to meet any of Lazarus’ needs. What’s the consequence for the rich man’s inaction? He goes to Hell and he never escapes.
Now the rich man didn’t end up in Hell for ignoring all poor beggars in the world just the one in his life. And that is what separates needs from calling. The needs of the one beggar in our life is our calling, the many needs may not.
When I’m Mr. Denise Perry
There are two weekends a year when I’m clearly Mr. Denise Perry. It’s SpringHill’s spring and fall Women’s Retreats.Denise along with Sarah Soderdahl are SpringHill’s Women’s Retreat’s coordinators.
And this past weekend was our spring event. So I spent the past week working for and serving Denise (and Sarah).
I gave a tour of camp on a freezing cold and wind sweep Friday evening to 25 women packed into a tour tram. I did this not because I’m the best tour guide but because I was the only one available (I think everyone else smartly checked the weather before checking their calendars) and there was no way I could say no to my supervisor so I cleared my Friday evening calendar for her.
Then I did two breakout sessions to over 100 women on Saturday. I always ask the women to be gracious in their evaluations of my session because Denise will be reading all the feedback. Thankfully they always grant my request and as a result Denise’s pleased with my performance.
In addition to the tours and breakout sessions I helped move a keyboard, delivered rain gear to camp, helped with formatting PowerPoint presentations, found tables for other breakout presenters, called for an elevator key, turned in a purse to lost and found, got a projector and computer working, consulted on a number of personnel and operational issues and did my best to keep things at home in some semblance of order.
In other words I’m at Denise’s beck and call. And I love it. And I love these weekends. I’m proud of what Denise and Sarah do in putting these weekends together and I love what God does in the lives of so many women. So it’s a privilege to be Mr. Denise Perry. And I’m already looking forward to our next Women’s Retreat so I can be him again.
Are You Waiting for Your Calling?
Since my last post “Opportunity Does Not Equal Calling” I’ve had a number of conversations with people who’ve grown weary of waiting for their calling.
So I’ve thought it would be good to explore what it means to wait for one’s calling.
In my previous post I stated that “calling comes to all people”. But if this is true then why are so many waiting for theirs?
I think it’s because we look at calling too narrowly. We typically think of it just in terms of vocation.
But there are other callings which, frankly, are higher and more important than our vocational calling.
The highest calling is to trust Jesus Christ with our lives and to follow Him. We’ve all been given this call so the good news (no pun intended) there’s no waiting.
The next call’s to each other, to “love one another” beginning with our family, friends and neighbors both near and far. Because many of these people are present in our lives we’re blessed to be called now.
The third call is to be good stewards of all we’ve been given. There is no waiting to receive this call either; for example if you are breathing (which means you’ve been given the gift of life) you’re officially called to be a steward.
Finally there’s this frustrating vocational calling. Vocation is the work we do, the part we play in the world.
Now it’s here that we often feel we’re waiting because we sense our work isn’t what it should or could be. So why do we wait for this calling? I’ve a couple of theories which given me perspective while I’ve waited.
First a vocation requires training and preparation. Maybe what we’re doing now is part of our preparation?
Second we tend to glamorize vocational calling, thinking it’s the highest calling. But the truth it’s really less important than the other ones. So maybe we have work to do in those first three callings?
So if you are waiting for your vocational calling remember you are already called in the highest ways. Be at peace and when you least expect it this final calling will come at precisely the right moment.
Opportunity Does Not Equal Calling
Opportunity is what you can do. Calling is what you must do. That’s a big difference. Yet it’s easy to confuse the two. I should know I’ve done it enough.
Opportunity comes only to those people and organizations others see as successful. Thus it feeds the one thing, pride, which can cloud vision and makes a decision about an opportunity nearly impossible.
Calling comes to all people and organizations. But callings are different for different people and different organizations. So it doesn’t naturally feed one’s ego but it instead requires faithfulness and obedience.
Opportunity comes regardless of capabilities. Calling always matches gifts and abilities.
Opportunity offers something that is apparent to many.
Calling requires going to places and doing things never imagined before or if it has then it’s considered foolish.
The quality of the opportunity’s measured by return on investment in that opportunity.
The quality of calling is measure by the passion one brings to the calling they’re given (click here for my post on passion).
Opportunity is generic. It doesn’t design itself to fit a person or an organization.
Calling is personal and specific thus unique.
Opportunities tend to be short-term.
Calling is almost always long-term.
Opportunity provides no moral or ethical boundaries.
Calling requires the highest good and the greatest benefit to others and God’s Kingdom.
Can opportunity and calling be for the same thing? Of course they can, at least on the surface, but if it’s true a calling then it’s not a true opportunity because opportunities, by definition, present equal alternatives – to take the opportunity or not.
Calling at the end of the day provides only one true alternative – to answer the call.
Be flattered by opportunities, if you must, but just for a moment.
Be always thankful for a calling because it’s a gift from God just for you.
How to Remember a Person’s Name
To be called by one’s name is to be known. And to be known is one of our deepest desires and most basic needs. This is why remembering and then greeting a person by name is so powerful and affirming.
As a follow-up to my last post (click here) the question is “how do we remember names when our memories can be so inadequate?” The following are some of the “secrets” I learned from Neil Atkinson and still use today to make this a reality.
First anyone can remember names. It just requires motivation. And part of the motivation is to do it for the right reasons – to know and affirm another person.
Second, when I meet someone for the first time I focus on their name and their face so I can connect the two.
Third, I intentionally use their name every chance I can in that first conversation. Repetition does wonders for the memory.
Fourth, I write down the person’s name and some features about them or the conversation that will help my recall. If I have a photo (we used year books in Young Life and today I use staff photos & become friends of Facebook) I will put their name and notes near their photo. There’s also software available that will help in this step.
Five, I will review these notes when it’s possible I will see that person again. This step also gives me an opportunity to pray for these new friends.
Finally I will use their name every time I see them.
This is all it takes to remember another person’s name. It requires the motivation, putting the other person first in your mind and a bit of discipline. The result will be that you will provide another person the experience of being known and thus affirmed. Not a bad outcome for a little memory exercise.
Calling a Person by Name
Neil Atkinson I remember my sophomore year at East Kentwood High School walking down the senior hall way and a guy named Neil was standing at the turn to the sophomore lockers. As I approached Neil gave me this big smile and said “Hi Mike what’s up?”Now there was no “hey man” or “hey dude” or any other generic label used for a male high school sophomore. No, he used my name.
I respond with a thoughtful “not much” and kept on walking to my locker. As I walked on I remember thinking “this guy knows my name. I’ve only met him a couple of times and there are over 2000 students in this school and he remembers me.”
You see Neil was the Grand Rapids Area Director for Young Life and led the club at my high school and I had attended a couple of clubs as a freshman.
So guess what happened after that day in the hallway when Neil called my by name? I started attending Young Life every single week. This led to attending YL camp that summer and, as a result, seeing my life changed forever.
And I mean forever. Almost everything about my life’s been influenced by that camp experience and the decision I made to trust Christ with my life.
And it all started because Neil made the effort to not only know my name but to know it well enough to call me by it in a very public place.
Years later Neil trained me to be a volunteer Young Life leader where I learned his secrets to learning and remembering another person’s name. It’s a skill I continue to use and one that I pray has the same impact on others that it had on me that day in my high school hall way.
