Today, I had to run out and get some last minute items for our student ministry service tonight! So, I ventured out and decided to stop by Target. I will admit that I love Target. I have always been a big fan, I have always preferred Target over Wal-Mart. Both stores have their pros, but Wal-Mart always seems to get under my skin and they always have more cons than pros.
Anyways, I went into Target today and I was blown away! I walked in and there were carts all over the place, trash all over everywhere, looked un-kept and trashy, it was crazy. I could not believe it. That is the first time that has happened when I have walked into a Target, now that is the norm at Wal-Mart. To top it off, Target has 18 checkout counters, but they only had 3 open. Each line was backed up with at least 5 people. CRAZY and frustrating!
What I learned from this experience: Don’t let your guard go down on the details and striving to be excellent! Do the little things and do them well…if not people will notice and be disappointed. Make people expect the best from you and your organization! What are you doing to make people CRAVE the best from your organization?
My Tuesdays are usually slammed packed with meetings. I usually start the day with a meeting 10AM-12PM, then sometimes a lunch meeting, another meeting at 1:30-3:00, another at 3:30-4:30, and finally a meeting to end the day at 4:35-5:00. Well, today I am changing that up a little bit! Since I lead or co-lead the final 3 meetings of the day, I am doing something a little different. I am meeting my staff at 12:30 PM, we are going to enjoy a nice lunch together and then venture out on a field trip.
I have something that I want them to think about and evaluate and the best way to do it is in the form of a field trip. I always loved field trips when I was in school, so I figured I would bring that to the work environment! I will post why we went with stories and pictures later on! Well, got to run and get ready for a GREAT day!
Are any of you out there attending UNLEASH? Are any of you out there Student Ministry Peeps and attending UNLEASH? You could be the High School Pastor, Middle School Pastor, Volunteer Youth Pastor, Part-Time Youth Pastor (PT…Yeah right!), maybe just a volunteer that loves students…if this is you…let me know that you are going to be here. I would love the opportunity to meet you and also see you at the Student Ministry Breakout.
Also, if you are planning on attending…think about this question: What are some questions or topics that you would really like to see covered in our breakout? Maybe it is how to care for volunteers, service related, message preparation, campus visits, small groups, parent involvement, whatever. Do not hold anything back, ask anything! We want to make this as practical as possible! So if you have a question, leave a comment or you can feel free to go to my contact page and send it in.
Look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the conference on Thursday, March 13th!!
Just finished reading Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. This is a great book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his life. IF you love football and leadership and wisdom, then this is definitely a must read for you. Coach Dungy loves Jesus with all of his heart, soul, strength, and mind. It showed throughout the book. There are a ton of wisdom nuggets throughout the book, be sure to write them down! Here are some of the ones that I wrote down:
- “Things go wrong at times. You can’t control circumstances. However, you can always control your attitude, approach, and response. Your options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better.”
- “The truth is that most people have a better chance to be uncommon by effort by than natural gifts. Anyone could give that effort in his or her chosen endeavor, but he typical person doesn’t, choosing to do only enough to get by.”
- “…most of the failings of biblical leaders were spiritual rather than tactical.”
- “God’s plans don’t always follow human logic.”
- “We often can’t see what God is doing in our lives, but God sees the whole picture and His plan for us clearly.”
- “I am firm believer that the Lord has to short-circuit even our best plans for our benefit.”
- “VISION will ignite the fire of passion that fuels our commitment to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to achieve excellence. Only VISION allows us to transform dreams of greatness into the reality of achievement through human action. VISION has no boundaries and knows no limits. Our VISION is what we become in life.”
- “Do what we do….Let’s face it: if your system or approach hadn’t been working, you wouldn’t have come so close. So maintain your approach, and improve on it. There’s a difference between making incremental improvements and making sweeping changes that take you away from your core values.”
- “The Lord allowed us to win, but only in a way in which He had to get the credit.”
- “When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” George Washington Carver
Have any of you read this book? If so, what were your thoughts?
We have finalized the dates for Gauntlet 2008! We will be going back to the Majestic Beach Towers, Panama City Beach, FL. It is going to be an amazing trip…you don’t want to miss this year!
Here are the dates:
- Middle School: July13-18 (We will leave late on the night of the 13th!)
- High School: July 20-25 (We will leave late on the night of the 20th!)
Sign ups will be available soon, so be sure to check back here and the NewSpring website for more details.
Check out some of the stories, photos, and videos from GAUNTLET 2007: CLICK HERE!
So I hear that today is Super Tuesday! I am not really sure that I really care. I was thinking about it last night and trying to decide if I really care about the hoopla surrounding today… a day considered “the largest presidential primary day in American history.” There are reports that some people are whining, some people defending others, and early poll predictions. I guess it is cool to say that I have seen history take place. Oh well, we will see what happens and if anyone wins the nomination!
News out of South Carolina…we might be DRUG testing all of those aspiring for public office! Yes, this is the state I live in! WOW!!
Personal Note:
Today I am looking forward to a GREAT Tuesday for me because of a couple reasons:
- I am having lunch with my beautiful wife.
- I am putting the finishing touches on the message for tomorrow night…EPIC-Prophets.
- The process of moving dirt for our new youth and children’s buildings…a picture to follow.
- Two of the students in my small group will be hanging out at the office for Service Learning! Fun times!
- Meeting with my team this afternoon…they are awesome!
- NewSpring Membership Class tonight.
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