Lessons Learned

On Saturday I shared with some of Grace leadership that as part of my processing this summer I spent time reading through the journals I’ve kept over the years.  When I was a freshman architectural student I was required to carry a sketch journal around with me at all times and the habit has stuck for 30+ years.  Anyone who has ever been in a meeting with me has likely noticed that I am constantly doodling or note-taking and mostly processing my thoughts.

Back in March I posted two blog entries with a collection of some of the wisdom and insights that found their way into my journal notes over the years.  As I am preparing for a new season of ministry I’ve been re-reading journals and thought I’d also repost a few of the collected thoughts:

• People are more interested in what you are learning than in what you know.
• Clay experiences the greatest joy when it doesn’t attempt to be the potter…
• Its better to have a light in the tunnel than a light at the end of the tunnel…
• We serve a God who comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable…
• The questions you ask will determine the ministry you do…
• If there are no tears in the writer there will be no tears in the reader…
• Janis Joplin was right - “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…”
• We are defined by our cure – not our disease…
• Failures aren’t fatal – they’re directional…
• If we keep doing what we’ve always done then we will get what we’ve always got…(or at least we won’t get what we want)
• The only thing I contribute to my redemption is my sin…
• God is attracted to weakness and humility…
• Inefficient structures may be necessary for effective ministry…
• Success is best measured by the stories we tell, the people we honor and the language we use…
• Abounding in God’s work can distract me from abiding in God’s love…
• Parthenogenesis never leads to progress…
• Its best to quit being clever and look people in the eyes and tell the truth…
• If you hang in longer than your friends think you should – you give God more room to work…
• We all live just one day at a time – but often we are living the wrong day…
• What we call normalcy might just be massive denial and illusion…
• A jewel needs the proper setting for light to show its brilliance…
• You come to recognize someone’s voice through familiarity…
• If you are bored with your devotional life there’s a good chance that Jesus is even more bored than you are…
• Give up certainty and be satisfied with clarity…
• Sin happens…
• If we can’t be holy we can at least be weird…
• No one is meant to be a cloud without rain…
• The first task of leadership is to define reality, the second to say thank you and in between to be a servant…
• Jesus invites rather than dictates… 
• Only God can make it rain...
• We are simul justus et peccata…
• It is the revelation of God that forms us… 
•  Joy is one of the most powerful connections to the nature and presence of God…
• Don’t move any faster than you can on your knees…
• It’s all good!
• The power of prayer is in the One who hears, not the one who prays…
• If you want more people to eat carrots, then change the color of the carrots…
• Leadership is a role and not a title….
• Don’t try to describe the ocean if you’ve never seen it….
• Purity of heart is to will one thing…
• We were created to swim in the deep end….
• What you do thunders so loudly I can hardly hear what you are saying…
• We judge ourselves on our intentions – We judge others on their actions…
• Once upon a time is now…
• Sometimes it’s hard to find the pixie dust…
• Always bump the lamp…
• The task is to clean the room – the purpose is to make you happy….
• Leadership begins in the mirror….
• Prayer is the common language of the Jesus community…
• Only through prayer can the prosperity of a church be increased or even maintain…
• Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered…
• You are only as deep as the last person you served….
• Jesus does not call the world to go to church, He calls the church to go to world…
• Life begins when your youngest child’s pet dies….
• Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up…
• A story is not a story until you tell someone….
• Episcobaptispresbgatonalist….
• The opposite of poverty is enough…
• Talent is cheaper than table salt – what separates the talented individual from the successful one is hard work…
• Captain Kirk wasn’t the smartest guy on the Enterprise…
• When you are screwing up and no one says anything, it means they’ve given up…
• Brick walls are opportunities to discover how badly we want something…
• If you wait long enough people will surprise and impress you…
• The first penguin takes the biggest risk…
• If you put people in open systems they will want to contribute and contribute well…
• Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God…
• We are exactly where we've been led...