Yeah, I know...weird.
But stranger still is the fact that, in my very limited reading in each book, a common theme emerged.
From "Spiritual Leadership"...
"The true leader is concerned primarily with the welfare of others, not with his own comfort or prestige. He shows sympathy for the problems of others, but his sympathy fortifies and stimulates; it does not soften and make weak. A spiritual leader will always direct the confidence of others to the Lord. He sees in each emergency a new opportunity for helpfulness..."
"D.E. Hoste spoke about the secrets of Hudson Taylor, whom Hoste had followed in leadership of the China Inland Mission: 'Another secret of his influence among us lay in his great sympathy and thoughtful consideration for the welfare and comfort of those about him...He manifested great tenderness and patience toward the failures and shortcomings of his brethren, and was thus able in many cases to help them reach a higher plane of devotion'."
And, succinctly, from "Snog":
"Love does not dominate...
Love cultivates."
Every day gives us opportunities to lead and to love. Perhaps they are simply two sides of the same coin.
My prayer is that each of us will lead well and love much in the new year.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Love and Leadership
So my Christmas Day reading consisted of two highly disparate pieces of literature...
"Spiritual Leadership" by J. Oswald Sanders, and
"Snog: A Puppy's Guide to Love" by Rachael Hale.
MERRY Christmas
It's Christmas Day 2007.
How on earth did this year go by SO fast?
My mind still hasn't wrapped itself around the fact that the Christmas festivities are already a thing of the past, not to mention that 2007 is pretty much a done deal.
Yesterday morning, as Jim and I had our family Christmas with the kids, I realized how good it is to have days of celebration. I love the significance of Christmas being the celebration of Christ's coming, of course, but, beyond that, it's good just to CELEBRATE - to set aside routine, to set aside the press of everyday, and to just make MERRY with one another. I thought about the festivals and celebrations that God insisted upon for the Old Testament Israelites. These were important times of sacrifice, remembrance and focus, but often they involved gatherings, feasting and much rejoicing, too. Maybe now I understand a little better why this was important on so many levels.
We've had a good Christmas - a really MERRY Christmas. Our day together as a family was fun and pleasant, then the gatherings with Jim's and my families were good times to reconnect, enjoy holiday traditions and laugh and make new memories together. I know that in some families, gatherings AREN'T met with eager anticipation, so we consider ourselves VERY fortunate to be able to look forward to these times.
Cami and I were talking the other day about how much will be changing in our family in the next decade. It's a very exciting era ahead for the Clay family as our kids discover themselves more, go into and out of high school and maybe college, enter the workforce, explore their faith, etc.
A lot of life is going to happen in the next 365 days (or one-tenth of that decade I just mentioned), and before we know it, Christmas 2008 will be upon us. What's ahead excites me - and I know that's the Lord working in me. I'm excited to enjoy my family and tackle the challenges, to make merry whenever the opportunity arises and to rejoice in the salvation of the One we celebrate at Christmas-time.
To you and yours, from me and mine:
Here's to a very MERRY Christmas and coming year.
How on earth did this year go by SO fast?
My mind still hasn't wrapped itself around the fact that the Christmas festivities are already a thing of the past, not to mention that 2007 is pretty much a done deal.
Yesterday morning, as Jim and I had our family Christmas with the kids, I realized how good it is to have days of celebration. I love the significance of Christmas being the celebration of Christ's coming, of course, but, beyond that, it's good just to CELEBRATE - to set aside routine, to set aside the press of everyday, and to just make MERRY with one another. I thought about the festivals and celebrations that God insisted upon for the Old Testament Israelites. These were important times of sacrifice, remembrance and focus, but often they involved gatherings, feasting and much rejoicing, too. Maybe now I understand a little better why this was important on so many levels.
We've had a good Christmas - a really MERRY Christmas. Our day together as a family was fun and pleasant, then the gatherings with Jim's and my families were good times to reconnect, enjoy holiday traditions and laugh and make new memories together. I know that in some families, gatherings AREN'T met with eager anticipation, so we consider ourselves VERY fortunate to be able to look forward to these times.
Cami and I were talking the other day about how much will be changing in our family in the next decade. It's a very exciting era ahead for the Clay family as our kids discover themselves more, go into and out of high school and maybe college, enter the workforce, explore their faith, etc.
A lot of life is going to happen in the next 365 days (or one-tenth of that decade I just mentioned), and before we know it, Christmas 2008 will be upon us. What's ahead excites me - and I know that's the Lord working in me. I'm excited to enjoy my family and tackle the challenges, to make merry whenever the opportunity arises and to rejoice in the salvation of the One we celebrate at Christmas-time.
To you and yours, from me and mine:
Here's to a very MERRY Christmas and coming year.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Word Became Flesh
More musing on the Incarnation.
The Word Became Flesh
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling among men like us:
The hurried, the harried, the complacent, the oblivious.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling in a place like ours:
Needy, desperate even, and with so few expecting redemption.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling a thing of perfection:
The mundane and miraculous infused with holiness.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling accessible:
He was seen, heard, touched - watched, listened to, embraced.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling consummately human:
He wept real tears, felt real anger and compassion, was bound with real restraints and nailed to a very real cross.
The Word became flesh
so that blood could be spilled -
the blood without which there would be no reconcile.
The Word became flesh
to SHOW us life.
The Word became flesh
to GIVE us life.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling among us.
We beheld His glory,
the glory of the One and Only,
Who came from the Father
full of grace and truth.
MLC 12-20-07
John 1:14
The Word Became Flesh
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling among men like us:
The hurried, the harried, the complacent, the oblivious.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling in a place like ours:
Needy, desperate even, and with so few expecting redemption.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling a thing of perfection:
The mundane and miraculous infused with holiness.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling accessible:
He was seen, heard, touched - watched, listened to, embraced.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling consummately human:
He wept real tears, felt real anger and compassion, was bound with real restraints and nailed to a very real cross.
The Word became flesh
so that blood could be spilled -
the blood without which there would be no reconcile.
The Word became flesh
to SHOW us life.
The Word became flesh
to GIVE us life.
The Word became flesh
and made His dwelling among us.
We beheld His glory,
the glory of the One and Only,
Who came from the Father
full of grace and truth.
MLC 12-20-07
John 1:14
Sixteen
My firstborn turned 16 last Saturday.
My 6 lb. 4 oz. teeny-tiny newborn of 16 years, 5 days and 6 hours ago has become a bright, beautiful, vivacious young woman. She is compassionate, fun-loving and outgoing, and has a joie de vivre that shines unmistakably. She is a communicator, observer and verbal processor. Her circle of friends and acquaintances is wide and varied and delightful. The Lord has stretched her introverted mother (me) extensively through her fundamental bent of "the more the merrier". :) This sixteen-year-old of mine is a thinker: she wants to know what she stands for and why, and then, to walk the talk. She's not one to back down from worthwhile challenges and tackles the things she knows she must or that which will improve her skills. She loves to drive. She has a song for every occasion. She's a good listener. She's strong without seeming like she has something to prove; confident without being cocky. She loves road trips and football, hanging out with friends, talking and texting on her cell phone, eating out, dancing, playing Guitar Hero, listening to music, writing, taking pictures, analyzing stuff of all kinds, and getting gorgeous and girlie for formals. She is perceptive, insightful, a hard worker and a delight.
Cami, you are a bright light in our lives. I've learned so much from you about loving.
Besties, right?
Love you, Mom
My 6 lb. 4 oz. teeny-tiny newborn of 16 years, 5 days and 6 hours ago has become a bright, beautiful, vivacious young woman. She is compassionate, fun-loving and outgoing, and has a joie de vivre that shines unmistakably. She is a communicator, observer and verbal processor. Her circle of friends and acquaintances is wide and varied and delightful. The Lord has stretched her introverted mother (me) extensively through her fundamental bent of "the more the merrier". :) This sixteen-year-old of mine is a thinker: she wants to know what she stands for and why, and then, to walk the talk. She's not one to back down from worthwhile challenges and tackles the things she knows she must or that which will improve her skills. She loves to drive. She has a song for every occasion. She's a good listener. She's strong without seeming like she has something to prove; confident without being cocky. She loves road trips and football, hanging out with friends, talking and texting on her cell phone, eating out, dancing, playing Guitar Hero, listening to music, writing, taking pictures, analyzing stuff of all kinds, and getting gorgeous and girlie for formals. She is perceptive, insightful, a hard worker and a delight.
Cami, you are a bright light in our lives. I've learned so much from you about loving.
Besties, right?
Love you, Mom
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Twelve
My baby turned twelve today.
My sleepy 7 lb. 3 oz. newborn of 12 years and 12 hours ago has grown into a 5 foot 7 inch (and growing) pre-teen. At this moment, he's sitting on the other side of the room playing a new computer game he got for his birthday. The kid knows about a hundred times as much about computers as I do. His hands and feet indicate that he's going to be a six-footer, at least. He plays trombone in the school band and has a fantastic anatomical anomaly with his hands that allows him to do a trick that has Cami's high school friends jealous. He hugged every member of the family this morning when we surrounded him for gift-opening at 6:20 AM. He keeps us all laughing with his wittiness and can crack his knuckles and put away pizza like no one I've ever seen. He reads books, draws comics, goes cheerfully to school, helps me bake, and has irrepressible joy for anything he delights in. He cheered on the Cougar football team in the middle of the crowd at Qwest Field in September, performed with the school band onstage in December, maneuvers through the crowd of 250+ 6th graders at school every day, and went on all manner of rides at Disney World in May. He's learning to play electric and bass guitars, talks to people at church and orders his own food at restaurants. He wore a Santa hat to school today and his Cougars shirt on "Rivalry Day" despite being in the huge minority to those in Husky garb. He signed up for chess club, all on his own, and goes every Monday after school. His best non-family friend is Logan, and they hang out together at school every day. He's trying to decide whether to take jazz band or woodshop next year in 7th grade. Yeah, he's talking about next year...at school...no hesitation, no complaints.
Nate, you've taught me so much about living. I love, love, love you.
You've come a long way, baby.
My sleepy 7 lb. 3 oz. newborn of 12 years and 12 hours ago has grown into a 5 foot 7 inch (and growing) pre-teen. At this moment, he's sitting on the other side of the room playing a new computer game he got for his birthday. The kid knows about a hundred times as much about computers as I do. His hands and feet indicate that he's going to be a six-footer, at least. He plays trombone in the school band and has a fantastic anatomical anomaly with his hands that allows him to do a trick that has Cami's high school friends jealous. He hugged every member of the family this morning when we surrounded him for gift-opening at 6:20 AM. He keeps us all laughing with his wittiness and can crack his knuckles and put away pizza like no one I've ever seen. He reads books, draws comics, goes cheerfully to school, helps me bake, and has irrepressible joy for anything he delights in. He cheered on the Cougar football team in the middle of the crowd at Qwest Field in September, performed with the school band onstage in December, maneuvers through the crowd of 250+ 6th graders at school every day, and went on all manner of rides at Disney World in May. He's learning to play electric and bass guitars, talks to people at church and orders his own food at restaurants. He wore a Santa hat to school today and his Cougars shirt on "Rivalry Day" despite being in the huge minority to those in Husky garb. He signed up for chess club, all on his own, and goes every Monday after school. His best non-family friend is Logan, and they hang out together at school every day. He's trying to decide whether to take jazz band or woodshop next year in 7th grade. Yeah, he's talking about next year...at school...no hesitation, no complaints.
Nate, you've taught me so much about living. I love, love, love you.
You've come a long way, baby.
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