As a pastor one of my responsibilities is to conduct funerals from time to time. I’m often asked if I dread doing funerals. My response is always the same…I’d rather do a funeral than a wedding.
They typically look at me with the same look you made when you read the title of this post.
When I was in college one of my dorm mates came knocking on my door with a fistful of candy bars.
Between bites he said, “Hey man, someone knocked over the vending machine! Go grab whatever you want, but you better hurry up before it’s all gone.”
What makes you successful at work will make you a failure at home. And what makes you successful at home will make you fail at work.
What makes you successful at work? It’s productivity. Success comes from getting a lot of the right stuff finished. You get in, get your work done, and get home.
Much is written these days about how you can find purpose and meaning in your work. Everyone seems to be taking all kinds of personality and strengths tests to find their unique calling because “If you discover how you are shaped you can unlock your dream job, so you’ll never have to work another day in your life!”…or so the logic goes.
The problem is most of us still feel like we are “working,” so that must mean our current job is not our dream job.
For many the idea of never retiring is not a hard concept. With the performance of our 401Ks over the last decade, most of us are going to be working longer than we anticipated. When you throw in the rate at which health care costs are escalating, never retiring may be a forced reality. But let’s put the money aspect of retirement aside for a moment. I want you to get a deeper point that is more troubling about “retirement.”
What comes to mind when you think of the word PARADISE?
None of my pastor friends would dare write a post like this because it would sound too self-serving. I get it. I’m posting this against my wife’s better judgment (but with her permission). What I’m about to share with you, if you ask your pastor, I guarantee they would say it is true for them. How do I know? Because the greatest pastors I know have said so in moments of quiet vulnerability. They weren’t complaining, just wishing and hoping they would be loved as much as they love their church.
I feel SO loved at my church…that’s why I feel confident to post something like this. But I know lots of pastors who don’t feel that way. So if you really do love your pastor here are 7 things you can do to show it:
Yes, you read that title correctly and I’ll explain what I mean in a moment. Audiobooks are exploding on the scene and for good reason. Not only are they convenient, you can even be more efficient with your reading. Audiobooks redeem brain drain time as you commute back and forth to work. Did you know you can even listen to a book at 3x speed so you can get through the material even faster if it starts to drag?
Audiobooks are a little-known secret that voracious readers employ to help them get through even more books in a year. Any person who reads a lot of books listens to at least a few audiobooks. Don’t believe me? Ask someone you know who reads a lot.
My book list is a little different than most. My list consists of the top 10 books I’ve read this year, not books that were published this year. I don’t concentrate on books that were released in the current year because most are forgettable. I’ll let others whittle down that list. My time and yours is valuable so having some filters will help you get the most out of your reading.
This year I read 36 books (pictured above). I dream of reading 52 books in a year but I’ve never been able to hit that number. Maybe next year.
How did you get your name? Did your parents pick your name based on its meaning? Or because it was a trendy name? Or maybe because it was classic? Maybe they named you after a family member or someone who impacted their life.
I was named after my father. Believe it or not I’m a junior…really I’m a second (II) because my parents were afraid I would be called “Junior” my whole life.
Back in October we took a group of our staff and volunteer leaders to the Catalyst One Day conference in Pennsylvania. The last time this conference was in the area I took a smaller group and the entire time I kept kicking myself for not bringing more people. The content from Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel is that good!
Anyway…one of the sessions by Andy Stanley, was on how great leaders ask great questions. The big take away for me of that session was that stories and questions are the best way to reinforce values. So I started a list of questions that I gathered from that session and from others to get me thinking. I put them in the back of my journal and have been adding to them as more questions come to mind.
