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Our 8-year-old son Cooper was asked to work in his class store at the end of church this past Sunday.
While standing there taking kids’ Bible Bucks and exchanging them for small prizes, he ate a Starburst off the table! He was immediately gripped with such conviction that he went and told his teacher. She said it was ok and that she forgave him and appreciated his honesty.
Later when Cooper got in the car with his dad he retold the story to him and said, “daddy I’m so sorry!” Jeremy said, “Buddy its ok, thanks for being honest. What we will do is take some of the money you have saved and buy some new Starburst and turn them in on Sunday to pay back for your decision. I also think you need to tell your mom when we get home.” Cooper was reluctant to get out of the car and when he did he started crying. Then he told me the story, and I responded the same as the others and told him “I appreciated your honesty and your sweet heart for knowing it was wrong to take things that aren’t ours.”
Later that day we all began to watch the pre-game Super Bowl shows. Cooper sat and listened as they told the stories of the recent school shootings and other pretty scary events in the
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I recently visited my kid’s school to have lunch with them. While sitting with my Kindergartener Branson we were talking about his day and I asked him what “special” he had that day. (“Specials” fill a slot everyday with a rotating schedule of art, music, science, counseling, and P.E.) He couldn’t remember what special they had so he asked his friend sitting beside him who said “P.E.” I asked Branson if he enjoyed P.E. and he replied “I didn’t go”. Over the next few minutes I peppered him with questions about why he didn’t attend. “Did you get in trouble?” “Were you not finished with all your work in time?” Every question was met with a reply from Branson that went something like this: “no, I just didn’t get to go I guess.”
Later that night at home my wife Corrie said to Branson, “hey buddy, dad said you didn’t get to go to gym today. Why not?” He said, “I went to gym.”
I was more confused than ever. So I said to Branson “when I asked if you went to P.E. you said ‘no’”.
He responded “well I didn’t know P.E. was the same thing as gym.”
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Language is important. Words matter.
It’s not as big a deal when the confusion is over whether or not your 5 year old attended
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Have you ever been in a meeting where the boss/pastor/supervisor said “Did you finish the ______?” only to have the person to whom the question was addressed sit stone faced and say “No, I didn’t know you were ready for me to start on that yet.”
The supervisor thought the project should have been completed by now. The employee didn’t even know the decision had been made to move into the action phase.
How does this happen?
It happens when there is a misunderstanding about whether the previous conversation was a discussion or a decision.
This is a phrase I learned from my mom and dad’s marriage. They had a great marriage before she passed away, and I NEVER saw them fight or argue. As I got older I learned that they discussed “the budget” and other things intentionally away from me and my brother to protect us. All it did for me is make me think I was headed for divorce the first time my wife and I had an argument...but I digress.
Mom used to describe the early days of their marriage when she would think they were discussing something and dad assumed it had been decided. She told examples of other times where she was sure they had decided on an issue only to see it
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We’re all busy. We are all trying to get a lot of things done with a small amount of time to do them. Whether it’s work, go to school, and plan a wedding, or maybe it’s working a job while starting your own company, and raising a family, we all are trying to juggle our schedules, hobbies, families, and jobs, and it can feel overwhelming at times. So what do we do? How can we be better at managing our time and accomplishing everything that needs to get done?
I stay pretty busy. Currently my responsibilities include: pastoring a growing church, running a growing web company, managing this website, being a dad to 2 little girls, and being a husband to my wife (and try to be a scratch golfer).
I don’t claim to be the expert but over the years I have learned some tricks that help me accomplish everything that needs to get done. I have always been ADD so my suggestions will seem crazy to the type A people reading this, but aren’t we all a little ADD now anyway? So let me give you 6 tips to multitasking your busy schedule.
Disclaimer: I don’t sleep much, and I’m married to the most amazing, understanding, helpful wife in the world, so if you live with a nagger or need lots of
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I remember when I told my mom I was going to marry a pastor, and the first words out of her mouth were, “He better not move you away from me.” Much to her dismay, her question became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and I found myself living five states over, away from home, at twenty years old. It didn’t take long for me to learn that living away from family was just one of the many sacrifices that ministry would ask of me. Being the wife of a pastor carries many unique burdens, expectations, and different ways of thinking, but ministry is also a life filled with favor, blessings, opportunities, and meaningful life experiences that wouldn’t come otherwise. Over the course of seven years in fulltime ministry, I have developed a few philosophies that I think are unique to pastors' wives. These new “norms” for Jason and me have helped our marriage to remain healthy and thriving amidst the idiosyncrasies of life in the ministry.
Be his biggest cheerleader
This comes naturally for me because my general disposition is to be an encourager. Ministry is filled with highs and lows, and each high and low carries significant emotional swings. It is so difficult for pastors to not
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