College Orientation and One More Fleece
Denise and I just spent two days on Calvin College’s campus participating in our son MD’s college orientation. We stayed in one of the dorms. We were in sessions with other parents learning about Calvin, how to be a good parent to a college student and spending some time with MD.
It was a great two days. Calvin did an excellent job of providing an engaging, informative, professional and fun orientation session for the parents and the incoming students.
But the best part for me was something a bit more profound than being happy with the dorm food. I realized that this was the final confirmation, a final fleece, of the prayers Denise, MD and I had about the right place for MD to go to school.
Not that “we” had lingering doubts. I know MD and Denise did not but, honestly, I had a few. You see Calvin did not start out as either MD’s or our first choice when the school selection process started. We visited some incredible schools over a 18 month period and at the end no school was the stand out number one choice for MD.
So with the decision time approaching and no clear direction MD, Denise and I took two weeks where we individually prayed two times a day to seek God’s direction. Then at the end of two weeks we agreed to come together to share with each other what school God has put on our hearts. The clear answer for all of us was Calvin.
Now you would think that such clear direction would have taken care of any lingering doubts I had but it didn’t. I knew it was the right decision but… so I needed one more fleece. God graciously provide it. Orientation reaffirmed in an incredible way what I already knew – Calvin is the place for MD.
Location, Location, Location
I ended my day last night sitting on the deck of our house with a close friend over looking a couple hundred acres of woods (we own only 5 of those acres which is a great deal – pay taxes on 5 acres and enjoy 200), watching the sun set and listening to a few campfires at camp. Yes I said “listened to a few campfires”. Because at SpringHill a campfire is not just burning logs but is 20 or so kids and their counselors singing crazy camp songs and sharing stories about their day at camp.
Last night I think there must have been a contest between some areas (groups of cabins) as to which area could sing the loudest. It was fun to hear the crazy songs, songs like Funky Chicken, You Can’t Ride My Little Red Wagon, One Dark Night-Fire-Fire-Fire and one of my old favorites Flea.
After my friend left I thought about all those kids and the potential spiritual impact this week may have on their lives. How last night’s campfire may have been the place where a camper made a significant decision concerning their faith and their relationship with Christ. All those funny, loud, goofy songs and yet, at the same time, such a powerful and moving experience, a true milestone in people’s lives. And frankly it’s not just campers at SpringHill but campers at camps all over the country and around the world who had those same experiences around a campfire last night.
There is something powerful about being in God’s creation, sitting around a campfire, singing funny songs, having s’mores and sharing lives together. And I have the privilege and the pleasure of being a witness to so much of it in my work and, of course, from the deck of our house.
Our home is a testament to the old real estate adage – location, location, location. There are only a handful of homes in the world where the backyard entertainment on a summer evening is as spectacular as ours.
Swimming in a Blue Ocean
Summer is one of the best times of the year for me to see and reflect on the state of SpringHill and to think about its future. All the interaction with campers, staff, parents and donors as well as time traveling creates a unique space that allows me to peer into the future.
One of the things I do when I am traveling is listen to audio books. And if it is a really a good book I will then also read through it. This summer that book is Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. It has been recommended to me by a number of folks over the last year including Craig Soderdahl our VP for Day Camps.
Frankly I put off reading it because I was sceptical that another book on strategy could provide anything new and helpful to me or SpringHill. Boy was I wrong.
It is the best business/management book I have read since Good to Great by Jim Collins . The premise of the book is that using the right approach to strategic planning you can “create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant.” By using case studies Kim and Mauborgne lay out a step by step process that outlines how an organization can create a “blue ocean.”
Reading the case studies themselves are both inspirational and illustrative and I have found myself continuing to repeat some of them as I have explained Blue Ocean Strategy to others.
If you are looking for a good summer read, one that might make a difference in your career or the organization you are a part of then I recommend Blue Ocean Strategy. And think about it, don’t we all want to be on a blue ocean during summer vacation?
A Tradition Like No Other!
“A tradition like no other”, sports announcer Jim Nantz’s words describing the Master’s golf tournament could just as easily be applied to 6 square at SpringHill. Yes 6 square. Everyone has heard of 4 square but at SpringHill we play a faster, more competitive and highly skilled game of 6 square. It is a long-standing tradition that campers highly anticipate each year.
Some skilled 6 square campers playing a game following a visit to the Trading Post. On my walk around our Michigan overnight camp yesterday afternoon I stumbled across a couple of hotly contested 6 square games being played in Copper Country. I was reminded of what makes camp so much fun and memorable. Kids are able to do things that they normally don’t get to do at home (who plays 6 square at home?) in a place that is different from their day-to-day enviroment, within a community of new friends and fresh voices that can speak into their lives in transformative ways.
We love 6 square because it provides the maximum number of kids participating while a smaller number of kids are in line waiting to play. Kids are in the game longer before being knocked out and on the side line for a shorter period of time. Many of our cabins are 7 campers and 1 counselor meaning only two are waiting in line to fill a spot of someone who is knocked out. In other cabins it is a 5 to 1 ratio which means the entire cabin can play at the same while any other extras can join in.
If you have never played a game of 6 square you need to try it. It is “a tradition like no other”.
No More Boring Staff Meetings
Monday’s always make me think of those weekly staff meetings I had when I was in the corporate world. Reality is most of them, though may have fulfilled their purpose, were boring and certainly did not ignite excitement and enthusiasm for the week ahead.
When I came to SpringHill I saw a whole new way to look at the “weekly staff meeting.” SpringHill’s weekly summer staff meetings are fun, inspiring and informational all at the same time. There is an almost a pep rally feeling to the entire meeting and for certain a great way to start a week of camp.
Three of our staff singing a song they made up for our high schooler campers and their staff (TST) So if you want to re-invent your staff meetings here are some suggestions, based on my SpringHill experience, on how you can take a weekly (or monthly) staff meeting and make it a kick off to a great week (month):
- Use music before and after the meeting.
- Have your most creative people put a plan together to share information in a fun and memory way.
- Build an agenda on the needs of the organization as well as input from the staff.
- Highlight and recognize staff as much as possible.
- Use laughter, even on more serious issues. People get it and will remember it.
- Allow the humor to flow naturally and not always be rehearsed.
- Use video, especially home done video with some of the team as the actors. Video is a memorable way to communicate ideas.
- In smaller teams food and beverages is always a plus.
- Save the serious moments for the truly serious stuff (if you don’t use serious moments often then they can be very impactful).
- Meetings should not just reflect the leader or leaders but the organization, who you are what you are about.
If you ever want to see one of our staff meetings, they are every Sunday mornings, 11:30, all summer long at either of our overnight camps. You are welcome to join us.
Do As I Do Not as I Say
“Lord, I am thankful that Molly is your friend.” This was the prayer of one of our elementary campers shared by her counselor – Molly – at our weekly staff worship. This little girl was praying for Molly because Molly had become her role model and her hero during her week of camp.
Molly explained how this little girl never left her side and began imitating her through the week. This included the habit, starting on Wednesday, of carrying her Bible with her everywhere. Why? Because she knew that Molly had her Bible with her. Also this camper, in faith, committed her life to Christ. Why? Because she knew Molly had done the same with her life. And, although Molly did not say this, I’m sure this camper prayed for Molly why? Because she had heard Molly pray for her and the rest of the Molly’s campers throughout the week.
“Do as I say not as I do” is a good line but in reality people, especially kids, do not hear us as well as they see us.
Facing the Ugly Reality!
Last night I saw one of those more graphic anti-smoking ads on TV where they show this procession of good-looking, talented people smoking. Then the last scene is of a deathly white man in a wheel chair with an oxygen tank telling us “this is what will happen to you if you keep on smoking”. So how do you watch this ad and then choose to keep on or start smoking?
Then two times this week I heard a version of “someone showed our church/organization a graph the projected what the number of members/people impacted by our work would be in 20 years. The projections said there would be zero.” Ouch! What do these two organizations do with such prophecies of doom?
Why is the ugly reality ignored? Because we don’t believe it, or we don’t like it, or we think it will never happen to us. So the likely future does not cause any change in us or our organizations and we become succesful only in making analysts into prophets.
Change, true transformation, always begins with facing the ugly reality including the likely end of the course we are on. Then stepping up and doing something courageous about it.
One church I visited this past week, Faith Church in Dyer, Indiana, did this, faced their ugly reality and over a 20 year period literally transformed itself. They grew from a church of a couple hundred people to a church of nearly 5000 on three campus’.
The second organization, a much larger organization full of rich history, heard the same type of projection. I sensed from one of the leaders within this organization, who shared the story with me, that the organization has not yet come to grips with this ugly reality. Thus they are doing nothing serious to change the course they are on. So the result will be, as predicted, that they will make another analyst a prophet and their only future reality to be found in history books.
We need to let analysts be analysts and face the ugly reality they provide so we can, instead, make their projections into catalysts for changing an ugly reality into a beautiful future.
“To See and To Be Seen”
Why did I spend eight days this last week traveling the mid-west visiting SpringHill sites? Because of something I learned when I was a volunteer Young Life leader. To do effective “contact work”, that is build relationships with students, you need “to see and to be seen.” I have brought this principle into my leadership at SpringHill and it drives my effort to see as many SpringHill Experiences, staff, campers, parents and supporters as I can especially during the summer season.
SpringHill Day Camp location at Faith Church in Dyer, IN. Faith Church is location right on the Indiana - Illinois boarder. I'm attempting "to see and be seen" in both states at the same time as I straddle the state line. “To see” is simply to be in places where I can witness our ministry first hand, to see our work in action. This allows me the ability to see our staff interact with our campers, parents and supporters who visit our sites. “To see” gives me the opportunity to provide real-time feedback to our team as well as share, in real-time, the great things being done across the organization with our staff and supporters. When I speak about SpringHill I can speak from personal experience because I have been there and have seen it.
“To be seen” is all about accessibility to these same groups of people – staff, campers, parents and supporters. By allowing myself “to be seen” I become available. By being available and accessible I’m able to build relationships and through relationships provide support, encouragement and hear necessary feedback first hand. We do our work in the “context of personal, loving and caring relationships” and to be in this context requires me “to be seen.”
And frankly, when you think about it, “to see and to be seen”, is not only an authentic and effective approach to leadership but how we can live our lives as well.
Why I Love U2
Traveling all over Indiana in my car this past week I listened to two audio books and music from my favorite band – U2. There are lots of reasons to love U2, their great music, social consciousness or deep and spiritual lyrics. But as I listened to their most recent album I realized I admire U2 for a couple other reasons. Reasons that provide inspiration for my own work and career (I often draw inspiration from unexpected places).
U2 in 1981 Photos for their "October" album First is these four guys have stayed together for 30 years. How many great bands have done that? The four original guys – Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam still playing together, creating great music. Not a mix and match of members with the same band name. They must have worked through their egos, differing visions and life changes to stay together as a band. What impact can longevity with others make in our work and the lives of others?
Secondly, they are still creative giants. Their best work maybe their most recent work. How many bands who actually stay together for a long time are still creating and producing quality music and shows. Many just do the reunion tour thing and play all their old stuff with a couple new songs thrown in the mix (that really are not that good). It appears U2 has not allowed the vices and lifestyles that burn out so many bands or their past success keep them from continuing to contribute new and better music to the world. Again, for me a great place to aspire to.
Longevity with a team of folks who put aside those things that divide and doing what it takes to continue to contribute original value to the world is a worthy way to make music and live our lives.
U2 in 2009 introducing their "No Line on the Horizon" album at Fordham University. Magnificent
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice
But to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry
It was a joyful noise.Welcoming Campers to Camp
I spent yesterday doing one of my favorite things in the world – helping welcome campers and their families to SpringHill. It was week 1, opening day for our Indiana overnight camp which made it even better. Not only are campers a bit nervous and excited about camp but on opening day of week 1 all the staff, including myself, have a few “pre-game butterflies”.
TSTer's welcoming campers and their parents at the luggage tent. I’ve been a part of our camp in Indiana for 10 years and thus spend a big part of my summers in southern Indiana. Two people said to me “you are always here on Father’s Day”. And as I thought about it I realized that maybe true. What those comments made me realize though was the depth of relationships I have had the privilege to build with our staff, campers and their parents over these last 10 years.
My work allows me to be in contact with, work with and become friends with some of the best people. People from around the mid-west and from all over the country. And here is what occurred to me as I thought about these relationships. Christ’s Kingdom is truly every where. God’s people are everywhere, and the power of connection between His people makes for a very visible and transformational expression of His Son in the world.
Even though I was not home with my kids for Father’s Day I was able to spend it with friends doing something I truly love and being a part of something, a Kingdom, which is much bigger and more transformational than any single person or organization.
Campers being brought to their cabins via the SpringHill fire truck.
