Welcome everyone! I’m honored you are taking time to tune in here, and I apologize for the slight delay in the uploading of the blog. As you know, I planned on March 31st as the date for the first entry about a month ago. Little did I know what that day would hold, but strangely enough, it corresponds very well to our topic of leadership. Let me explain:
After attending House of Prayer last night (wonderful experience….I highly recommend attending, Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m., Sanctuary…but I digress), I returned to my office to gather my things and noticed a text on my phone which read, “How’s Jacob…I heard what happened.” For those of you who don’t know, Jacob is my 18-year-old son, and this text came from a friend of mine here at church, also the mother of one of Jacob’s friends. Needless to say, I nearly collapsed as I had no idea anything at all that anything had “happened” to Jacob other than his normal daily activities. I quickly called home to learn that he had been hit in the face by a pitch during baseball practice. I rushed home, found him to look like he’d been beaten within an inch of his life, but nevertheless okay. Needless to say, I breathed a prayer of thanksgiving.
In the midst of this, my 11-year-old daughter, Sylvia, began to complain of a sore throat, and upon checking, was found to have a fever. Per school guidelines, I kept Sylvia home from school today, and ultimately it became necessary for Sylvia to take an antibiotic. Now, you must understand that Sylvia has been sick only a VERY few times in her life, and has NEVER had to swallow a pill. See where this is headed? Not only was this a major obstacle for her, but she was terrified in the mix. My “leadership approach” with her was to first explain that I had faith in her, knew she could do this, and would stand by her. We gave it a try. No success. So, we waited a while. We ended up trying 5-6 times with no success and a very upset mom and daughter. We took another break.
Finally, I realized….She understood what was expected, but for whatever reason, was just not able to make it happen. I, as her mom, had the resources and ability to change the playing field. I ended up calling our physician, explaining the situation, and acquiring a liquid version of the medicine.
I know, I know…..there are probably at least a few of you who would like to give me some parenting advice about standing my ground. Believe me…this whole thing did not occur without much tough love on my part. But, as leaders (and parents), sometimes we have to take a broader look at the situation and be flexible in our approaches…even if it means not getting “our way” every time. It’s also important for us to examine our personal attitudes as we lead others. I was most certainly a bit tired and stressed in light of all of the events of the evening before. This undoubtedly impacted my patience in coaching Sylvia. Ultimately, Sylvia is getting her medicine. Will she have to eventually learn to take pills? Most likely so….this will be a hurdle SHE has to jump, but as her mom, my job was to make sure she received medicine and was healthy.
Do you have times in your ministries when you are frustrated that someone serving won’t do things the way you might like to have them done? Even after explaining, modeling, etc.? Try taking a broader look. There are often many approaches to achieving our goals. Flexilibility is often the key.
In future posts, I look forward to sharing clips of leadership information I am reading, things I am learning about, as well as highlights of ministries you are all involved in. Please feel free to share with me ideas for things you’d like to see here. I look forward to this new venture and new mode of communicating with all of you. Blessings!
Thoughts on Serving and Leading 