Tag Archives: community

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Work Week Devotion 02.26.2017

I Timothy 4:12b

I Timothy 4:12b (NLT): Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity.

Everyone is watching. An unbelieving world is watching. Other believers are watching. Some are watching for guidance and inspiration. Sadly, some are watching to catch you in a weak moment. We can’t separate the worldly and the spiritual, work and church, recreation and responsibility.

We are to reflect Christ in all aspects of our lives: the way we do business, the way we treat our families, how we act on vacation, our thoughts when we’re alone. We won’t ever be pure and perfect but we should always remember that we are to be an example to all believers and hopefully to non-believers. After all, everyone is watching.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the patience and grace you extend to us. Please forgive us when we do not reflect Christ as we should. Help us to be an example of light to fellow believers and to an unbelieving world. Amen.

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Work Week Devotion 08.14.2016

Colossians 3:23

Colossians 3:23 (NLT): Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

People can be tough sometimes! They’re demanding, irrational and unappreciative. They don’t always DESERVE your best, but God asks you to give them your best anyway. When you serve a difficult person in love, it says nothing about what they deserve but a lot about the Lord of your life. Rest assured that God sees each time you are mistreated and all of your effort that you think goes unnoticed.

When you get discouraged and are tempted to cut corners remember that God honors good work. When you are ready to throw your hands up in frustration, imagine Jesus standing in front of you. In serving others you are serving and representing Him.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving us and giving us the opportunity to love others. Help us remember that even difficult people are created and loved by you. Show us how to serve You through serving others. Amen.

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Just Keep Scrolling

Avoiding negativity in a saturated life

I’ve heard that Facebook makes you hate people you thought you liked and Pinterest makes you love people you’ve never met. Unfortunately, I think there is a lot of truth to that. I love social media (obviously) but with it comes the opportunity to be offended, self-righteous, paranoid and just plain negative right at your finger tips, any time, day or night.

While there is a lot of evil in the world, I truly believe there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:8-10.) I believe the difference is what my good friend Kari said “In our society everything is a BIG DEAL!” Nothing goes unanalyzed. Nothing is a minor annoyance. We are bombarded by, expected to have an opinion on and debate so many things. Many of which we have absolutely no control over. It can cause lack of sleep, damage to relationships and loss of joy. I really like what Scott Alexander says in Rhinoceros Success (Lampo Press 1980):

Do not ignore the negative but don’t saturate yourself with it, either. We become the product of three things: the people we associate with, the books we read and the media we listen to.

Care deeply. Influence the part of your world that you can. Educate yourself. Vote. Make a difference. Don’t be drawn into negativity and don’t become bitter. If you are a Christian, your theology may be sound and your values may be correct but you can destroy your witness and damage the church through negative media banter. Don’t kid yourself that you are simply expressing some righteous indignation. You probably aren’t. You are quite possibly being a jerk.

Resisting social media negativity looks different for different people. Maybe you have to limit time spent on your devices. Maybe you have to unfollow some people who are always pushing your buttons. Maybe you have to sit on your hands. Maybe you have to just keep swimming scrolling. Maybe, just maybe, you need to have a real, face-to-face conversation about something really important. Identify what is most likely to put you in a place of negativity and have a strategy to avoid those things. Have a plan to stay positive. Here’s a good plan:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Philippians 4:8

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Every Walt Needs a Roy

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last 75 years (and if that’s the case you’re most likely not reading this) you know of Walt Disney. Have you ever heard of Roy O. Disney? Roy was Walt’s older brother and an integral part of the success of the Disney companies. While Walt was the dreamer, Roy was often the doer. And the voice of reason.

“Every Walt needs a Roy and every Roy needs a Walt. Every dreamer needs a doer. Every starter needs a finisher. Every entrepreneur needs an administrator…If you want to achieve great things, then find the person who supplies what you lack and who lacks what you supply.” Pat Williams How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life (CHI 2004)

We all have certain strengths and weaknesses. It is sometimes good to work to improve upon your weaknesses so they aren’t a hindrance, but it’s always more efficient (and usually more fun) to play to your strengths. Ideally, you find someone who complements you. Someone who is strong where you lack. A Roy to your Walt. When you have people on your team who complement you, far more can be achieved than going it alone.

Some of you are reading this and immediately know “I’m a Walt!” or “Yup. I’m always the Roy.” But don’t worry if it doesn’t seem that simple. Some of us can be either depending on the season of our life or the situation/relationship we are in. For example: I think I’m a pretty good leader most of the time. However, I’m NOT a good administrator. I like to identify potential problems and come up with creative ways to solve them but lack the patience it takes to completely carry out the plan (and heaven forbid I have to make phone calls!) However, at other times in my life I have been the voice of reason and the one who says “That sounds like a good idea, but let’s think about this for a minute. You need a plan!”

“Intrapreneur” is an interesting term that’s been coined fairly recently. I’ll be addressing that in the next post.  In the meantime, if you are a Walt make sure you have a Roy by your side and that you respect and appreciate them. If you are a Roy know that you play a very important role even if it is often “unsung.”  So, at this time in your life, are you a Walt or a Roy?

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No Free Pizza!

“Real friends don’t ask friends for free pizza!” Have you ever heard that famous quote? No? It was posted by my friend Kris who owns a (fabulous) local pizza place. I think he was a little frustrated at the time.

If you own a business or are in a leadership position you’ve probably noticed a certain phenomenon. People you are really close to seldom ask for favors or free stuff. People you are “kind of” close to seem to have no problem thinking you can just “do them a little favor.” Has something like that ever happened to you? Frustrating, isn’t it? Sometimes it makes you want to not do business with anyone you know. Don’t let it make you feel that way. An ever-increasing circle of friends can be a great asset to a business. You don’t make friends to expand your business – that’s artificial. You get to know people and naturally expand your network – that’s relational.

In his book Thou Shall Prosper (Wiley, 2010) Rabbi Daniel Lapin says “Make lots of new friends, try to help them, and make sure they all know how you could help them and that you are eager to do so.” Supporting your friends, especially in a small community, church community or social network is vital to the success and culture of your community. Small business (and franchisees of national brands count here) can and should thrive in our communities.

Rational friends will not expect you to give away your products or services. Since they are going to be spending money anyway, they should want to spend it with you! And you with them, when the opportunity arises. In a perfect “give and take” relationship, all parties support the businesses of the other parties. I buy pizza from Kris, he buys eyewear from me, we both take that money and spend it in locally owned salons, bookstores, etc, etc. Can we sometimes get a product cheaper at a big retailer? Probably. Does that invest much capital back into our community? No. Is it worth the extra expense to support our friends in local business? Absolutely.

I hope you don’t have friends asking for free pizza. More importantly – don’t be one of those friends! How can you support your friends in local business?