successful transition

As I watch rehearsal here at Crossroads this evening, I'm praising the Lord for another successful transition!

As the team prayed together during our rehearsal break Ernesto asked how many on the team were either new to the team or returning after a long break and about a 1/3 of the team raised their hands!  This filled me with a worshipful heart full of thanksgiving!

It's possible to be thankful for a rich past here at Crossroads while at the same time raising up new people to join us, change us!  We can enjoy reminiscing about  a past where all of us that started here served on multiple volunteer teams to make the church function - but none of us can do this alone long term!   And now we get to serve in the areas that we're the most talented in - not every area!

I'm thankful as we watched the Lord choose to touch Crossroads through Pastor Tim and Michelle's faithfulness leading us and introducing us to constant change.  Growing, maturing in Christ while having a blast!

Our staff has always joked about how fast things change here - they always have!

And now under Pastor Dave's leadership we get to enjoy being part of the God-given vision he is leading us toward!  A vision filled with future goals and continuing maturity in the Lord. And still having a blast!

Pastor Dave recently reminded us that if change ever stops then we have become the very thing we were terrified of becoming in the beginning.

How horrible it would be to not change and become stagnant...uninspired...unchallenged and unable to demonstrate with our lives that others are welcome here.

I'm thankful for change and leadership and new things that all lead us toward the God-given role for which we were created and the opportunity to welcome new family to the Kingdom!!

what I learned today

Right now I'm 'soul feeding' - in my favorite place on my deck it literally feels like my soul is drinking in the stillness of only hearing birds and natural things.  Nothing humanly added in these few moments before my day is filled with beautiful noisy grandkids!

I'm reading several leadership books right now, but I'm resonating most with the book "Strengthening the Soul of Leadership".  I can hardly read a page without highlighting everything it's describing.

The author asks this, "What would it look like for me to lead more consistently with my soul - the place of my own encounter with God - rather than leading primarily from my head, my unbridled activism, or my performance-oriented drivenness?"

Now that's a question to wrestle with!

We ALL have influence!

So many times people think you have to be in some kind of top position to be considered a leader, but that is such a lie!   Mom's and dad's have the greatest opportunity to shape and influence precious human being's spiritual understanding and confidence more than any CEO or top leader will ever have!  People working in any kind of service oriented job dealing with the public have a much higher opportunity to encourage people and make a huge difference in their day, they have way more encounters with the people than I'll ever have!

It's time for all of us to really focus on leading well wherever we find ourselves at this point in our lives.  A time for all of us to take responsibility for leading the people that God brings across our daily paths instead of waiting for the 'big opportunities' that may never come because God knows where He needs His children to work and serve the most!

As I lay my soul bare before the Lord asking Him to make me the kind of leader He needs me to be, I ask you to consider taking advantage of one leadership opportunity we're bringing again to Crossroads in August.  The Global Leadership Summit Simulcast.

Three years ago we decided that if we could bring this event to Mansfield it would allow our staff to all attend a conference together, local businesses to bring entire teams together and for tired mom's and dad's to come for a time of spiritual encouragement as well as professional challenges.

We all have influence!

It's so affordable compared to going away for a conference that it removes any excuse for not attending.  Please consider taking a step toward engaging your own soul, learning new leadership ideas and joining us for a time of worship at the Global Leadership Summit - August 10 & 11 at Crossroads!

Let's change our community by changing ourselves first!

Just click here to get your tickets now GLS tickets. and enter the Crossroads code PHS17TEAM to get our amazing price of just $89 for two days!  Will you join us?!

Leadership runs deep

I've been trying to be very intentional with my study about leadership.  I want to make sure I have a good understanding of the younger generations and what their needs are, as well as trying to improve my leadership for those I've served with for years.

The first thing in my studies that is very consistent, is the need to embrace the fact that God gifted me to lead.  This has always been difficult for me because although I'm very opinionated, I prefer group leadership, owning and carrying out decisions made by a group instead of being "the" leader.  This is why I love serving as one of the Directors of Crossroads - group ownership is the best!

However, as I look at my life, I see over and over again that God keeps placing me in positions of leadership both at work and in my personal life, so AGAIN I'm stepping completely into that confidence and thanking the Lord for the opportunities.  AND, continuing to try to learn and develop.

Secondly, in my studies, I'm seeing again how important it is to work toward health in the Lord.

A firm, full-in commitment to studying His Word, really studying, not just reading and covering our ministry, my family, my country and friends in prayer.

And then, confessing constantly.

The other day I was praying and He brought to mind all these little things, wrong thoughts, jealousy, unkind words - seemingly trivial things if you begin to compare.  As He placed each one on my heart I began to confess them .....and I suddenly felt the weight of those 'little' sins.

Even a single unkind word - created a need for a Savior.  Remembering that all sin is equal in it's requirement of confession and forgiveness, caused me in that moment to really understand why my leadership, life and everything that comes out of my mouth must be glorifying to the Lord.

My desire to be healthy before my Lord, must include the physical as well.  I've been blessed with a very high metabolism, however, weight is not the only deciding factor for a call to better health.  I'm seeing more and more people my age who are not overweight developing 'lifestyle' related critical illnesses.  Some of which would possibly be prevented with a very healthy lifestyle.  I read recently, "For the first time in history as many people are suffering from too much food, as are from malnutrition" Rick Warren.  Too much food is a choice.  I am really, really going to attempt to provide healthy choices for my family as I cook and prepare our meals, snacks and 'outings' together.

The other thing I feel we should all take advantage of are opportunities like the Global Leadership Summit Simulcast - that we will broadcast for 2 days, Thursday and Friday, August 6 & 7th at Crossroads.  This event provides important leadership development whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a CEO of a large company.  Because it's not possible for our Crossroads leaders and attendees to all go away for a conference due to our busy schedules, we decided to bring it to us!

I'm asking you, PLEASE consider attending this with us.  To register or find out more about it click on this link, http://www.crossroadswired.com/summit and remember Crossroads attendees, we have a special code for a cheaper price!

Strong leadership (all of us have areas we lead in), healthy lifestyle, burying ourselves in Him = the life He created us to live.

tonight

Tonight I lead our services at Crossroads Community Church.  Am I ready?

The responsibility of leading goes much deeper than simply showing up and doing a job.   My position allows me the ability and right to give orders, make suggestions and just plain boss people around.   But, that's far from leadership.

The result of good leadership means someone is following you.

Do they follow because of a job description?  Yes, if they are paid to!   Otherwise not for long.

My prayer for myself tonight is to lead by example, to lead by caring for even the smallest details and by loving those I lead, and most of all by being pleasing to my Savior.

And only through prayer and humility - to play a small part in bringing alive the Gospel message to many.  To visually and audibly engage every sense of their need for a Savior through our services.

"I need thee, oh I need thee...every hour I need thee, bless me now my Savior I come to thee."

Please join us at Crossroads this weekend and meet the only one who can meet your needs...

discomfort

I was recently reading a leadership article that said the number one trait all great leaders learn to
embrace is discomfort.

Just what I want to embrace!  NOT!

It made me laugh at myself as I look at the lengths at which I'm willing to go to avoid discomfort many times.  It certainly doesn't come naturally to desire discomfort, but I can understand how it could become easier if you 'lean into it' as the article says.

If I would just immediately confront and lay it out there (kindly of course), when I KNOW a volunteer would be a better fit in another area of ministry than my department - it would allow them to be successful in an area they are truly gifted for!

If I would face the discipline of consistently eating well and exercising-  I would have more stamina and be much stronger.

If I faced a tough job immediately with no delay it would be behind me before I knew it.

I could list one thing after another - you get the point.

God talks extensively about testing and trials and the maturity that can be accomplished no other way, so I guess it's time to face it.  Life isn't a bed of roses and the best things, the most enduring things come at a cost.

It costs me my comfort, a cost worth paying.

my day off

Surprisingly I'm still sitting on my couch - a rare accomplishment on my day off - but, a welcomed one.

I'm working on our next series after Easter - it's gonna be a lot of fun!  But I'm also contemplating many things as a leader that I'd really rather not address.  They are largely positive things, but they require organization and implementation, and I have to admit, it would be nice for someone to just tell me what to do instead of me having to create the 'what to do'!  Leadership feels heavy sometimes!

The things on my list today to re-organize or create:

1. Programming meeting organization for the next series 

• although we are meeting to create it - there has to be a plan for the meeting to be successful, in order for it to produce what we have to have done by meetings' end.   
• make sure all people attending the meeting know ahead of time all the details I have allowing them to research and come prepared 

      2.   Evaluation of Silent Auction

      3.   Recruit additional worship team members, to fill space left by our new Multi-Site locations

      4.  Finish Easter details

• So different this year since we have to consider things that our multi-sites can duplicate!  Again a positive problem but one that needs considerable thought.

       5. Rehearsals also need to change slightly in order to carefully think through 'every detail' that    
           will be seen at the Multi-sites!

       6. Cedarville Youth Worship Workshop on Palm Sunday

• We are going to honored by 6 young men studying to become worship leaders or studying in the area of music in a couple of weeks.  They are going to work with our youth worship team - a huge opportunity for our youth!  
• But a lot of organizing must occur for this to happen:  housing, meals, youth contacted 

Leading in ministry these past 16 years has been the most difficult thing I've every done but outside my family, the very most rewarding thing I've ever done!!

Now that my blog is written - I'm organized - thanks for your help and for always listening to me!

can I say - it is well with my soul

A ministry contact from out West wrote yesterday about our 'calling'.  The article was very timely for me and much appreciated! 

Within his writing he named a book about the 'soul' of leadership.  I now own the book and cannot wait to read it.  It sounds like the exact study I need right now.  Finding his post was not just random timing yesterday - when I opened Facebook just as his blog post went up -  God timing indeed.

This quote is one of the first I found as I quickly looked over the book, "...the best thing I can be for the people I work with is to be able to say, 'It is well with my soul."  

So I asked myself point blank - can I say that?

I'm not sure...  

I don't feel that a book exists that can reveal or solve all the problems of the soul, but this question feels important, so I'll combine reading with prayer and study of the ultimate instruction manuel God's Word and we'll see if this strengthens my soul!

Today I pray that you too will take a look deep within to the depths of your soul...

-is it well with your soul?

leadership in between

If you are in any kind of leadership, you probably find yourself caught between.

Between projects, between unhappy co-workers, between management and employees and between the vision and reality. In many ways that is what leadership is - being between the people you lead and wherever it is you are leading - pushing forward the vision while dealing with reality.

Nancy Ortberg said this, "Vision is full of possibilities and optimism. Reality is more often filled with disappointments and difficulties. And a leader needs to stand between those two things."

This is difficult especially if the reality is that the vision is not being supported or accomplished. I love living within an exciting vision, but reality is the everyday often very small steps toward the vision.

I am a leader and I stand between.

The only reason I do is because God has placed me there.

so thankful for opportunities

Yesterday I got to attend the "Gifted To Lead" conference.

Got to see Nancy Beach again!

Anyway, what a blessing to be challenged by such strong leaders. Challenged to lead strongly and confidently. Challenged to admit we were created with leadership gifts and to work hard to develop them. Challenged to follow God's leading in our lives always.

They described with shocking detail the 'ways' I have often felt in my leadership journey. Times I felt stupid for blurting out some idea that no one understood - times I didn't speak out and wished I had, especially when it involved things I was concerned about and shrugged it off instead of speaking honestly - and times of God moving in ways so far beyond our own doing.

I am thankful for all the people in my life that have pushed me out of my comfort zone - have told me 'you can do it' - have given me the opportunity to succeed and to fail.

I am thankful for those friends and volunteers that work under my leadership - I feel many times so sorry for you as my attention wonders to and fro - I feel proud of you as you create and serve and push to further God's Kingdom - and I love the longevity that so many of you have with our ministry, this speaks volumes to me because these days commitment is so rare.

It was a great day of learning and basking in a leadership surrounding - just soaking it all in. I am very thankful, so thankful!

budget time again

My least favorite time of the year...I have to attend my first go 'round of budgeting tomorrow. This has a tendency to make me not look forward to work!

It is going to be a tough year again. This makes things difficult. But, it is a great opportunity to once again be creative in our planning.

How do you face things you don't enjoy? If you are in any area of leadership, you realize there are many tough things we must do that are not enjoyable! I guess it's an opportunity to demonstrate strong leadership...to encourage the teams, to get really creative in order to continue to raise the bar on excellence - even if it means another year of really worn out equipment.

I take this time of the year very seriously and know my responsibility to follow God's direction for our ministry requires me to prepare well, try not to leave out any details and look forward to the new year determined to move the mission forward! A big responsibility that can translate into many lives changed for eternity! What a privilege!

wise leaders

Have you ever been around some one that is just wise? It will never stop surprising me when I just can't figure out the best solution to a problem and it rolls off a wise leaders tongue as if they have been thinking about the problem for hours. Amazing!

Pastor Tim is like this. (He won't like it that I'm writing about him...too bad!)

No kidding, we can be trying to figure out just the right order of music, struggling with a problem, or a last minute change to something in the program to make it flow, and minutes sometimes seconds later...out it comes, the perfect solution.

There are many things I could write about my 12 years of service with Tim, but, among others the quick leadership decisions he can just instantly make is obviously a gift straight from God to our ministry. And to me myself.

Pastor Tim is the public face of Crossroads, but it is behind the scenes that we get to see even more of his God gifts at work. He has been anointed and gifted to lead and it is fun to watch and a blessing to work with.

leading regardless

Occasionally everyone that is in the role of leadership feels like they shouldn't be there...I find myself feeling that way the past couple of weeks. I don't say this to evoke sympathy or any compliments, so please don't think that. I'm confident in my calling still I feel lately that I should be leading more confidently by now...

When I question my ability and strength I look to the Lord and also to other Godly leaders. Today I came across this excerpt from Nancy Beach one of my favorites. Nancy is a teaching pastor, writer and former leader of the Arts Teams at the WillowCreek Church. If even she feels this way it encourages me greatly!

Nancy said in her blog today concerning speaking at a very large conference recently, "I spoke about the issue of women leading in the church. As I walked up on stage to speak to the 3200 attenders, I took a deep breath and simply had to trust that God had given me a message to deliver and my job was simply to deliver it. I knew I could not control the response, nor should my own sense of worth be defined by whether the talk was well received..." Of course her talk was well received because she is amazing! But, even amazing, well known leaders struggle not to base their worth on what they do. Our worth of course is found only in God and our obedience to his calling.

The same day I found this from Nancy, I also found an article from Andy Stanley who had very encouraging words to leaders. Andy said, "as a young leader I was tormented by the assumption that I should know what to do in every given situation...the more responsibility you assume as a leader, the more uncertainty you will have to manage. The cost of success as a leader is greater uncertainty, not less!"

At first glance, these words may not sound very hopeful or encouraging, but knowing how both of these leaders have similar struggles, encourages me. So, I will continue to lead as God allows and try to keep my focus on Him instead of my shortcomings. I pray you are each encouraged as well as you lead wherever God calls you!

what I learned today

I love this line from Seth Godin, "When you identify the discomfort, you've found the place where a leader is needed."

That is so true, think about it. What are some of the times when a leader is most needed?

• when two sides cannot agree
  
• when there needs to be a quick decision made that everyone can get behind
• when strategy changes
• when vision needs to be re-cast
• when people are discouraged or unorganized

If everyone is on board and moving in the right direction, new leadership is not necessary. But the minute focus is lost, people refuse to agree and work together - that's the time for leadership. Now the discussion becomes, what is great leadership?

Great leadership to me of course is first of all God based. But beyond that, there can be no secret agenda, no desire to be known, no egomaniacs. We are surrounded in the media by people who clearly lead only to achieve status and recognition. And usually the only followers are those that hope to benefit from the leaders success, sadly it very often has nothing to do with the cause, the cause simply serves as a platform.

The more giving a leader is, the more productive she will be. I don't mean giving your life away with no boundaries, I just mean it's more productive to work to give then to get. Seth Godin talks about the fact that followers can "sniff" out why someone is asking for their attention. They soon tire of following someone who is only looking out for number one.

In conversations with my son (just this past weekend), this generation is very weary of chasing the ever allusive dream of obtaining much, and of arrogant leadership. They can spot a false leader from a mile away. They want to follow someone who gives not takes for himself. They also reject religion. Now before you get worried about my son, don't, he knows Christ in a more authentic way they I do sometimes. He sees past the religious set of rules that past generations have established. It is difficult for me to get past "the rules" of religion at times, even in a contemporary setting. He quotes scripture, and presents very pure arguments toward a freedom in his faith, that I have seldom experienced. He challenges my false boundaries, my religious 'to do' list. And I'm beginning to see a great, confident leader emerging, it scares me and excites me all at once! The passion of youth makes me jealous!

So today I learned that to be a great leader discomfort is required (isn't that just great!), and that you will lose those you lead if a secret agenda exists. So lead confidently and transparently!

what I learned today

Tuesday is my study day. I love Tuesday's!

Today as I was preparing to sit down and read, I came across an article on line that contained the following, If we find our authenticity and identity in Christ, we’ll have to be prepared to stop judging our effectiveness by how people respond to us. We’ll no doubt be misunderstood by some. But we won’t, as some people fear, be disregarded or discredited for speaking or acting in each given situation according to the need.

I have a tendency to care deeply about people's perception of me or something I've done, especially related to ministry. Ministry sometimes feels more personal to me than my own life. The above statement hit me right between the eyes. ...we'll no doubt be misunderstood by some...man, that's the understatement of the world. There are many decisions made in ministry that just cannot be shared openly with everyone, leaving anyone not satisfied to jump to conclusions and judge. Obviously there are times when leadership decisions can be wrong, but even when they are Godly, we may be misunderstood. Our identity must always be in Christ then we can rest in that.

I have comforted many through the years of ministry that do not receive the response they expected after speaking to a group or presenting a new exciting idea that they are sure God gave them. In these times of less than supportive responses, we have to understand that we are leaders, we are called to lead even when the people we lead do not get it. If our ideas and teachings are from the Lord they will not be disregarded! Others understanding may come in time, but regardless of response we must remain obedient in our calling. Leading is lonely, but never more so then when we judge our effectiveness on others responses...

Voiceless leader

lead-er (lee-der) noun 1. a person or thing that leads

No spectacular definition, no fancy description, just a person that leads. That is me.

In recent years my confidence in my own leadership has been greatly affected by what I realize now is truly a handicap. My family and friends began to notice several years ago that my voice would sound funny, so I finally went to a throat specialist. Diagnosis - dysphonia.

Dysphonia is basically spasms, and these spasms are in my vocal chords. This has been devastating at times. Never more so then when I recently tried to speak from the stage in our MidWeek service. I was being interviewed along with the four staff members I supervise. We are the Magnification team.

The guys were spectacular, I was a mess. I had so much I wanted to tell our audience about how hard the guys work, and how much all of us care deeply for our Magnification teams. I could barely speak.


Leaders should have a good voice, a strong voice, but at times I have no voice.

For now this is my voice, writing. This avenue of conversation has opened up to me just when I needed a way to speak. In the traditional way of leading and speaking I will be silent for a while and ask for healing, but in this format of speaking I will speak loudly as God allows.

Ecclesiastes 3:6-8 (English Standard Version)
6a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

I am ready for a quiet time before the Lord.

I am, a person that leads, as the definition above states.... just not in the typical way.