Discipline

We all have the same amount of time.  The difference is how we prioritize the stuff that will fill it.

in 2011 i'm taking a fresh crack at prioritizing.  I need to accomplish some new things this year.  (I'll post more on that later)
In 2010 i was acclimatizing to a new job and a new city and my wife was jumping back into school.  IT was a year of transition.  They key to staying oriented i'm told is to keep your eyes on the horizon.  I feel better oriented now, and i've noticed something; the horizon looks different up here.  The sun sets behind different trees and different topography.  This year i'm going to explore the landscape around me.

For me that means reading new books or different books.  I want my growth to be broad.
As a sort of warm up i've jumped into Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point.  I'm passionate about ideas and how they spread so i'm loving this book.

But more than just a vehicle for the spread of great ideas, i'm a man.  Someone recently suggested in a conversation we were having that we were starting to delve into identity issues.  I wasn't sure he was right.  But since that conversation i have been doing some thinking on identity and on the kind of person i am and want to be.

In the fall our church went through the Book; The Me I Want to Be by John Ortberg.   I went through that series with a pretty solid picture in my mind of who i am and who i'm supposed to be.  I'm not saying that has now changed but i am willing to ask some new questions.  Cause of this i'm sure.  I do want to grow and I say that in the context of a strong belief that God chooses some to be _______ and others to be ________ and more than that God has specific _______ that he intends for me alone to _______.

These ideas came to my mind afresh as i was reading Linchpin by Seth Godin on New Year's Day.  In it he refers to Linchpins as artists.

check it out, "What makes someone an artist? I don’t think it has anything to do with a paintbrush. There are painters who follow the numbers, or paint billboards, or work in a small village in China, painting reproductions. These folks, while swell people, aren’t artists. On the other hand, Charlie Chaplin was an artist, beyond a doubt. So is Jonathan Ive, who designed the iPod. You can be an artist who works with oil paint or marble, sure. But there are artists who worked with numbers, business models, and customer conversations. Art is about intent and communication, not substances

One blogger i read reminded me that while everyone can be a linchpin, there is a something to be said for environment.

What allows linchpins to flourish? 

They say the best wine grapes are those grown at the right temperatures (Burgundy), with the right soil with just enough calcium (like those in the Niagara region).  You want a great wine, wonderful people and amazing results then you’ve got to invest in their potential or find a good set up that will help you do that.

so that's it.  In 2011, i'm going to make art.  intensely personal, powerfully communicative and i'm praying that my life will impact many many people - towards Him.

I am not what I have been.

read a fascinating article by Daniel pink today.

He linked here.

I downloaded this.

It reminded me that I am not what I have been.  Don't put me in a box or tell me what I can or can't do because I for one have not stopped learning.  I'm just getting started

ADHD

Fascinating thinking on education.

Got me thinking about my own experiences in school and the experiences that we're walking our 7 year old son through now.

Now I'm not ADHD but I probably diverge in my thinking from time to time.



I wonder what other skills (like divergent thinking) we loose as a result as the present educational system.

What was your favourite memory of learning in school?

Least Favourite?

My Daughter

OK before i get into it, You should understand that it's September.

That means that there are a million more things to do than normal.

Kids need new clothes, supplies, shoes etc in time for school, cross country, church whatever.

And all of the programs at church are kicking off.

I'm in a state of eternally playing catch up.

This week i skipped the day off cause i was in Southern ontario serving on a district committee. Got home tuesday night and jumped right back in on Wednesday with a full day of meetings.

This morning i was planning on ticking a lot of boxes because next week we're on Staff "retreat" on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday and i need to get some stuff off my plate so next week when we're back, i can be in message prep mode as i've got two assignments approaching. Instead i spent the morning spending some really good time with a fellow staff member who i needed to connect with. Good time, but no boxes ticked.

I checked the email before rushing home to watch Esther while Luana goes to School, and my inbox was full of new boxes.

I got home and Luana, who had been working like crazy all morning greeted me with a list of things i needed to do so she could jump right back in when she gets home with her list.

I wolfed down a bite and fed Esther lunch and started working my way through the honey do list when I noticed that Esther was talking to me and had been for who knows how long.

I paused from loading the dishwasher to hear her story.

She said, "There was a girl named mary who had a sister, and Mary's sister was busy getting ready for lunch because God came over. but Mary listened to God instead.

And God said, you don't have to be in such a rush."

To say i was rattled a bit is an understatement. I didn't know what to say. I sat down next to her and pulled on onto my lap and gave her a hug so she wouldn't see me cry. I asked her how she got so smart.

She reminded me she goes to school.

I need a say a couple things now.

I need to say thank-you to Heather and Mark and the whole team in Children's Ministry at Redwood park for helping my daughter get so smart.

I need to tell you that i love pouring my life into people so that they can learn to hear from God and take steps of obedience and purpose and spend their lives walking with him.

I know that everything i do at Redwood is really important. So if i haven't gotten to something i said i would do or something you hoped i would do, i'm sorry. I really am. I've just been reminded that there's something really important i need to do right now.
;-)