Never forget

In the hustle and bustle of just daily life, I remember to pause and not forget.

Never forgotten, always missed, and I'm thankful for witnesses who have gone before.

Christian...

Christian, are you living like this is true? Does this truth cause a stir? If no, question yourself why and pursue that answer to the fullest extent, to its root.

What would it look like for you to "come awake, come awake!" or "fix your eyes on the cross" or "run to him who showed great love" and "stand in the light".

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely you bled, for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave!

Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with him again
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave!

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bow to none but heavens will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold you down
In strength you reign
Forever let your church proclaim

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave

Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with him again
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave

Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!
The glory of God has defeated the night!

Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!
Our God is not dead, he's alive! he's alive!

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with him again
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave

Rise up from the grave...

by Matt Maher

This day

will come:

And the ransomed of the LORD shall
return
and come to Zion with signing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away.

Isaiah 51:11

Why business travelers drive me nuts

• We take business calls from rental car shuttle buses. 
• We take business calls from restroom stalls. 
• We take business calls going through security lines. 
• We take business calls when we're boarding planes. 
• We think our schedule is 10x more important than the other 1000 business travelers in the same airport. 
• We will use the priority security line even if it's longer than the normal security line. 
• We can't handle when the little grey TSA bins run out at the beginning of the security line. We expect the TSA to run like a well-oiled machine. Wha?
• We walk through the airport staring at our phones and wonder why people can't watch where they are going. 
• We carry one phone for work, one for personal use, an iPad, and a computer. And we wonder why our luggage is so heavy. 
• Speaking of luggage, we couldn't possibly check our bags. Out of the question. We much prefer to cram them into the puzzles we create every. time. we. board. a. plane. 
• We cannot believe someone would bring a baby or a kid onto the plane. Don't they know we have important work to do? 
• We complain and gripe about the internet speed on the plane and we expect to have our VPN and Netflicks and Pandora streaming. Seriously.
• We've heard the "safety features" speech so many times we could say it from memory. But we would have absolutely no idea how to use any of the safety features if we really had to. 
• Our phones have an off button?

Arms we cannot see

The saving God is the good Creator, who made creation in certain ways but is never bound by those ways. The only thing he is bound by is his own consistent nature. Consistent, yes. Predictable, never. To us fearful humans, frantic to control our little worlds, such a picture is frightening. It means letting go of the familiar and casting ourselves into arms we cannot see, yet believing on the basis of the Word of God and the testimony of those who have gone before that the arms are there, stronger and more loving than anything we could ever imagine on our own.

by John Oswalt, from his Isaiah (the NIV Application Commentary)

Belief and obedience

"The Word of God is meant to do more than penetrate. It's meant to activate. It can bore holes through obstacles. It can tumble defenses. It can plant wandering feet of clay in places of divine purpose. It can sanctify the sin sick and steady the aimless and confused. It can light a blazing torch in a black hole. Simply put, the Word was meant to work."

"It's not until the hearing turns into doing that believing leads to blessing. Our 'doing' may not always show up in physical activity. The initial act of obedience might be waiting upon the Lord or setting our minds zealously upon His faithfulness."

I'll add that obedience looks like this: believing His promises are true; living daily life in the conviction that they are true.

excerpts from Beth Moore's Bible study on James

This face

80 / 20 or 20 / 80

I've been taking a financial course all day. I now have a head full of numbers.

This is resulting in putting the previous post into numbers:

Items 1 and 2 comprise of the "20%".
Items 3 to 13 comprise of the "80%".
This is the 80 / 20 path.

But we seem to more often flip this:

Items 1 and 2 comprise of the "80%".
Items 3 to 13 comprise of the "20%".
This is the 20 / 80 path.

And let me say from my very limited perspective and experience the 80 / 20 path seems like a wiser investment with more gains.

you can't cook a steak with a spark

Disclaimer: this is another "guys and gals" post. I just can't help it.

I've been reading a book called Sacred Sex, by Tim Alan Gardner. It's an amazing book. While the title of the book is about - well, read the title - this blog post isn't about that. Well, it is. But it's not. Stay with me here.


The book talks about "Oneness", "my mate only", "what women and men want out of sex". As I've been processing this book (which I'm reading as part of my small group), I've been thinking of my own journey toward marriage (hopefully one day) and how my current thought process influences this journey.

1. is there a basic attraction? (i hate to use the word spark here, but I can't think of a better one.)
2. common interests?
3. common ministry / goals? *
4. do you see this person helping you get to your life goals? And you helping them get to theirs?
5. #4 requires that you know your life goals. do you?
6. the person you marry today may not (will not) look like a 20-something beach babe
7. the person you marry for sure won't look like a 20-something beach babe in 30 years. or 40. or 50.
8. you probably don't look like a 20-something beach babe either. and you won't at 50, 60, 70 years old.
9. spark? what spark? It's there and now it's gone. Yes -- it's a spark. That's what sparks do.
10. what are you doing to fan the flames that will burn bluer, longer, and hotter? They don't "just happen" -- they take cultivation, nurturing, effort, and long term commitment.
11. marriage is like a steak. and you can't cook a steak with a spark. it takes a looked-after, poked-at hot-burning-coals-kind-of-fire.
12. in today's culture I really do think we're addicted to sparks. We go from person to person sparking each other and then move on as soon as the spark runs its course. This is child's play. I wonder what would happen if we put more emphasis on items 3 through 12 instead of so much focus on items 1 and 2?
13. life is short - very very short, so let's get moving.

* this assumes the non-negotiable of sharing a common Faith.

Parallel

Have you studied the 18th century slave trade in detail at all? Even a little venture into the history will make your blood run cold and your stomach hurl. And it should. It was evil incarnate, orchestrated by the devil himself.

Do you know that during the 18th century, while the slave trade was a huge contributor to the British economy, slavery itself was basically overlooked in 18th century British culture? There weren't many slaves in Britain during this time and the ones who were were treated decently (generalization of course).

So while the every day common person in Britain went about his day, enjoying the conveniences of tea and sugar from other parts of the world, he had zero insight into the human casualty behind those conveniences. He would not know that slave ships' human "cargo" perished in numbers as high as 50% on the deadly voyages across the ocean from their homeland to their fate. If they were "lucky" enough to survive, the torturous conditions they endured were - well do a little history reading and find out for yourself. And see if you can keep your lunch down.

Did you know that all of this was done in the name that "they aren't really human" or they are "sub-human", "less than us". These human beings were put into a category of non-human, so their bodies and breath could be fed to the fires of convenience and demand and dollar.

I ask you this: how is this different than the abortion industry today?

• industry - just as the slave trade profited millions and was there largely protected by law, the abortion industry is a huge money making business that profits entities such as Planned Parenthood with millions.
• built on the literal material of human beings - instead of ripping people from their native homelands, we're tearing babies apart in the womb. 
• oblivious - just like the average British native who was (mostly) unaware of the perils and torment these fellow humans were put through, we also go about our daily lives insulated from today's "sterile" killing machines.
• convenience - the 18th century British liked their tea and sugar. We like our sex whenever and however and we don't want the consequences. 
• not really human - just like these 18th century souls, today's unborn babies are not deemed human until they fully pass the birth canal.*

Have we any idea the human casualty behind our quest for "no-consequence sexual freedom"?

* separate conversation: the abortion industry targets African-Americans far and above any other race. Perhaps another parallel? 

My three boys

Mom came to visit a couple months back and she got some cute photos of the boys. And for once I wasn't behind the camera.

Caspian

Wilbur

Mr. Darcy

facts and consequences

fact:
60,000,000 people aborted since 1973 in the US alone.
assume 50% were girls and 50% were boys.
30,000,000 missing girls.
30,000,000 missing boys.
divide the 60,000,000 into thirds = 1/3 for every decade since 1973 = 20,000,000 people missing for each decade.
following this (crude) logic, there are 20,000,000 people missing from my generation alone: 10,000,000 women and 10,000,000 men from the ages of 25-35 years old.
20,000,000 people = the July 2012 population for New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and Phoenix combined. *
Imagine if these six cities just disappeared one day? Imagine the economic devastation alone.
And remember - that's just 1/3 of the total missing population.
  
consequences
shortage in today's US workforce
an aging population
lack of a robust economic platform to care for the aging population
what technology innovation have we lost?
what medical breakthroughs have we missed out on?
what energy innovation breakthroughs have we missed?
as a single, i look around and there just seems to be a shortage of good men - is this yet another consequence?

and this, folks, is just the economic side of things. just the tip of the iceberg. how about the physical, emotional and spiritual consequences?

* http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763098.html

wow.

"Follow your passions. Life is too short to spend it doing things that you despise, that you don’t love. I say, when you wake up in the morning, what are you thinking about? What are you passionate about? What makes you feel alive? I think God gives us passions as a direction that he wants us to go. You will be happier and you’ll do a better job if you love what you’re doing." U.S. Senator Ted Cruz

More here. 

Can I please go back?

St. Abb's Head, north eastern Scotland

Death may approach

Death may approach, I shall not flee, for daily I have trained to be
Alive to Christ and dead to sin. Death cannot end what Christ begins.

No longer warmed by Satan's fires, yet burned by unreformed desires.
Spirit of God, attend our flesh. Fountain of life, our souls refresh.

Whether at risk to life or limb ever our hope is found in Him.
As Jesus suffered, so shall we, but not beyond His wise decree.

Take up His yoke where freedom reigns. In love He chastens those he trains.
Joy has its root, and grace its key in patience and humility.

Many the saints who fell before. Grief for our loss is fresh and sore.
Though death may hold them for a day, Jesus has conquered: so shall they.

Hallelujah! Christ arose bearing the wounds He gladly chose;
emblems of pain transformed by grace, sins cancelled out, joy in their place.

by New Scottish Hymns

Hero - an ordinary man willing to do the mission God put in front of him

I'm currently reading Eric Metaxas' book Amazing Grace, a biography on William Wilberforce. Oh my word. This book is good.

 Below are a couple excerpts:

And thus, history: three men, each named William, each twenty-seven years old, talking at the base of an ancient oak tree on a hill in May: one prime minister, one prime-minister-to-be, and one who would stand from that moment forward at the center of something so big and beyond any single man that a tree whose life had begun several centuries earlier, and would continue for nearly two more, was the humble creature chosen to bear mute witness to the conversation. (ch 9) 

Wilberforce did not yet know that he lived on a planet that was, in Luther's famous phrase, "with devils filled" - that he was part of a rearguard action well behind enemy lines. (ch 10)

The line between courageous faith and foolish idealism is, almost by definition, on angstrom wide. Wilberforce was quite right that a flame had been kindled and would not go out until it had done its work, but he had no idea that it would be twenty tortuous years in the burning before its work was done. And if the "work" in question was not the abolition of the slave trade but the abolition of slavery itself, the flame would continue burning for another forty-five years. (ch 10)

the funny thing about God

He doesn't let up.

He keeps pressing on us to open up to Him the areas of our lives that we don't want to.

He keeps pushing on the areas we're afraid to look at or admit we have.

He keeps putting us in places or keeping us in places that keep us uncomfortable.

And all this is for Him.

So we can be more like Him.

For only in that are we truly happy.

And comfortable.

And unafraid.

Prayer for today

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:24, 32 ESV)

cloudy glass broken in a million pieces

God, I'm longing for the day to come  
When this cloudy glass I'm looking through  
Is shattered in a million pieces  
And finally I can just see You
 
God, You know I believe it's true  
I know I will see You  
But until the day I do
 
I will trust You, trust You  
Trust You, God, I will  
Even when I don't understand  
Even then I will say again
 
You are my God, and I'll trust You

by Steven Curtis Chapman

portions of Psalm 130 (From Depths of Woe)

To wash away the crimson stain,
Grace, grace alone availeth;
Our works, alas! Are all in vain;
In much the best life faileth;
No man can glory in Thy sight,
All must alike confess Thy might,

And live alone by mercy
(Live alone by mercy)
And live alone by mercy
(Live alone by mercy)

Therefore my trust is in the Lord,

And not in mine own merit;
On Him my soul shall rest, His word
Upholds my fainting spirit;
His promised mercy is my fort,
My comfort and my sweet support;

by Indelible Grace

(not really) A book review

because I'm only about 20 pages into it. A review would require finishing it.  But I can't help sharing these words from Eric Metaxas' new book Seven Men: And the Secret of their Greatness: 

(not shared in the order they were written.)

Strength is denigrated because it can be used for ill. So we live in a culture  where strength is feared and where there is a sense that - to protect the weak - strength itself must be weakened. When this happens, the heroic and true nature of strength is much forgotten. It leads to a world of men who aren't really men. Instead they are just two kinds of boys: boasting, loud-mouthed bullies or soft, emasculated pseudo-men. Women feel that they must be "empowered" and must never rely on men for strength. It's a lot like a socialistic idea, where "power" and "strength" are redistributed - taken away from men and given to women, to even things out. Of course, it doesn't work that way. Everyone loses.

But God's idea of making men strong was so that they would use that strength to protect women and children and anyone else. There's something heroic in that. Male strength is a gift from God, and like all gifts from God, it's always and everywhere meant to be used to bless others. In Genesis 12:1-3, God tells Abraham that he will bless him so that Abraham can bless others. All blessings and every gift - and strength is a gift - are God's gifts, to be used for his purposes, which means to bless others. So men are meant to use their strength to protect and bless those who are weaker. That can mean other men who need help or it can mean women and children. True strength is always strength given over to God's purposes.

Courage in the ordinary

Reading this blog post was like drinking a creamy, frothy, hot chai latte on a cold rainy day. It was comforting and a little spicy. Comforting in that it reminded me that we "change the world" one little courageous act of faithfulness or kindness at a time. Spicy in that it challenged me to evaluate my current status against the "ordinary".

Most of the time, I don't understand why I'm where I'm at in my life - vocationally, mostly. Conceptually, I know that I'm here due to a combination of my own choices and God's design. But I don't really understand why I'm here.

And where's here, you may ask. Here is currently at executive training at a large conference center for a rather largish company. This company sells IT (information technology (computer) (that little explanation is for you, Mom)) services and accompanying hardware and software. I don't really like computers other than the communication outlet they provide me. I really only like technology when it advances or enhances my creativity. So the "here" in my life may (does) seem a little ill-fitting.

The "here" in the bigger sense is a career as an executive in this rather largish company. Is it what I ultimately would've chosen for myself? No. Is it where I am right now? Yes. Is it where God wants me to be ordinary and faithful and kind? Yes. Could He call me into a different direction soon? Possibly. Could He leave me "here" for the rest of my earthly life? Possibly.

The article helped me understand that instead of "changing diapers and doing dishes", my ordinary calling is to run a business and a team and provide value to clients. It reminded me that no matter what I'm doing with my life (by choice or the by the Hand of God), my duty and privilege is to be courageously ordinary and faithful and kind. And this ordinary life is easily transferable and transitional - if I'm faithful in this current ordinary "here", He will be faithful to give me the next ordinary "there" in His time and His place. If we are faithful in little, He will give us much. That is ordinary and comforting and a little spicy, too.

The little things

photos of nephews sent in texts
Wilbur's big lips
Caspian's soft muzzle
the elderly man whistling a classical tune (Rachmaninoff?) coming out of the grocery store the other night
a friend reminding me its okay and perfectly lovely to buy myself flowers
airline drink coupons
this beautiful sunny 75 degree spring day
doodlebugs who melt me with their sweetness and goofyness
babysitting one of my most favorite little ones and having her throw her arms around me in a big hug
late night talks (two nights in a row) with roommates
big trees
texts from friends that make me laugh
the promise of hope and one day all things made new

The recipient of forgiveness

I've been learning a lot about forgiveness lately. The lessons have come in various forms: instruction from a mentor, receiving forgiveness given to me for a wrong I committed, Scripture, and a devotional I'm currently reading.

Here are some excerpts from the devotional I've been reading*:

• Refusing to forgive is tantamount to re-crucifying Christ. Instead of seeing stones rolled away, we throw stones at each other. 
• Forgiving is not ignoring wrongdoing, but overcoming evil inside us and in our world with love. To forgive is not just a command of Christ but the key to reconciling all that is broken in our lives and relationships. 
• [Forgiveness] can heal both the forgiver and the forgiven. In fact, it could change the world if we allowed it to. 
• When Christians do put Christ's command into practice by forgiving, they create a ripple effect that can touch thousands of lives and even affect the course of history. 
• When we forgive we set ourselves free from the demon of bitterness. But we also set loose the power of love in the world. 
• If the cross and resurrection are not just historic happenings but present realities, which I believe they are, then what we celebrate at Easter is the healing power of God's forgiveness at work in our world today. 
• Jesus offered his disciples the "keys of the kingdom." We hold the key of forgiveness in our hands. And we must choose whether or not to use it. Christ wants to use our hands, wounded as they may be, to extend his forgiveness to the world. Will they be closed, or outstretched like his

I am learning that forgiveness is a matter of life and death, especially when it comes to the life (or death) of relationships.  These truths are sitting heavy in my soul, heavy in a good way -- the way that makes me stop and think and linger for a long while, and let the roots of these words sink in deep, in a life-transforming way.

*Johann Christoph Arnold from the book Bread and Wine - Readings for Lent and Easter

Did Christ over sinners weep

1. Did Christ over sinners weep, And shall our cheeks be dry?
Let floods of penitential grief, Burst forth from every eye.

Chorus: Behold the Son of God in tears, The angels wondering see.
Hast thou no wonder, O my soul? He shed those tears for thee!

2. He wept that we might weep, Might weep over sin and shame.
He wept to show His love for us, And bid us love the same. (Chorus)

3. Then tender be our hearts, Our eyes in sorrow dim,
Til every tear from every eye, Be wiped away by Him. (Chorus)

by Indelible Grace

Definitions

In light of this week's Supreme Court rulings, here are a couple points to consider: 

First: this is a definition issue: marriage was originally designed and historically defined as between a human male and female. In today's current debate, one side of the argument wants this definition to resign. But if that is the case, then we must all become okay with calling apples oranges and oranges apples. A definition is a definition. If you change one, you must be willing to let all other definitions be changed as well. 

Second: this is not a rights issue. (Setting the definition issue aside for a moment) access to marriage is not a right. I do not have a right to get married. It may happen, it may not. It is a privilege to be married, and one I hope to have the chance to experience, but it is not something I can demand as a right. So to make this a rights issue makes no sense.

Third: in light of this previous post, this is not a discrimination issue - read the post for more words around this.

Fourth: this ruling, if voted in favor of the left, will be the largest take away in State's power since the Healthcare Reform. It removes the States' rights (in the truest sense of the word) and puts (even more) power in the hands of the already-too-bloated-and-powerful Courts.

Fifth: this is a human issue -- meaning personal lives are in the mix. We must ALWAYS treat the opposing side with dignity, respect, truth, and love. There is no room for any other treatment, or our argument is lost to the wind, or worse -- a clanging gong that rattles peoples' ears.

On being a photographer

I've caught a couple of the creativeLIVE 28 Days with Sue Bryce videos this week and they are good. I just listened to the free video on Fear and it's fabulous.

Some take-aways:

• I'm not here to compete; I'm here to create. 
• Fear is going to hold me back - every time - if I let it.
• The root of my fear is that I don't think I'm good enough. The lack of progress or success I have in my business has nothing to do with the industry - it has everything to do with what's in my head. 
• I must unapologetically run with my own style, realizing that as a creator, my fingerprints are unlike anyone else.
• As a Christian, it's cool to apply this through the lens of Scripture - as a creature made in God's image, I'm also a creator. When I create, it reflects directly back to Him.

Upon A Life I Did Not Live

1. Upon a life I have not lived,
Upon a death I did not die,
Another’s life; Another’s death,
I stake my whole eternity.

2. Not on the tears which I have shed,
Not on the sorrows I have known,
Another’s tears; Another’s griefs,
On these I rest, on these alone.

Chorus:
O Jesus, Son of God, I build on what Thy cross has done for me;
There both my life and death I read, my guilt, and pardon there I see.

3. Lord, I believe; O deal with me,
As one who has Thy Word believed!
I take the gift, Lord, look on me,
As one who has Thy gift received. (Chorus)

by Indelible Grace

quote for the day (and life in general)

"I'm made uncomfortable so I can be comforted"

The Greatness of Our God

Hope and Help

Irresolute I find myself

Wandering between love of earth

And of Heaven.

Focused on one, but forgetting

The other.

Focused on the other, and forgetting

The One.

How do I find contentment in both?

Earth, in all its verdant beauty, beckons

Me to dig in and accept her for all her faults

And adventures. But my heart gets caught in

The rain and I run for shelter.

The shelter I find in visions of Heaven

Where neither moth nor rust can

Destroy friendships or treasures. Resolute  

To stay in the shelter, I’m called back.

Called back to love the Earth and my fellow

Creatures, cultivating fields of rock and rich

Soil. Opening my soul to the refinement that

Will take place in those fields. Looking

Toward the Creator of Heaven, and clinging

To the Anchor of my soul; my feet digging into

Earthy dust while my eyes look to the

Heavens, where Hope and Help come forth.

(REALLY BIG) Phone photos

Hosea 2:18-23

And I will make for them a covenant on 

that day with the beasts of the field, the birds
of the heavens, and the creeping things of the
ground. And I will abolish the bow, the
sword, and war from the land, and I will
make you lie down in safety. And I will
betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you
to me in righteousness and in justice, in
steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth
you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know
the LORD.

“And in that day I will answer, declares 

the LORD, 

 I will answer the heavens, 

and they shall answer the earth, 

and the earth shall answer the grain, the 

wine, and the oil, 

and they shall answer Jezreel, 

and I will sow her for myself in the 

land. 

And I will have mercy on No Mercy, 

 and I will say to Not My People, ‘You 

are my people’; 

and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’”

A (pre)Valentine's Day post

A few thoughts once again running around in my head:

I've been watching (well listening mostly) to a couple of friends being deliberately pursued by godly men. These pursuits haven't been without bumps or questions, but with the deliberation and lots of prayer, the questions typically get answered and the bumps flattened.

I've learned the hard way of doing the pursuing on my own; even if the pursuing seemed like the only way to get the ball rolling, it was not good. It put the relationship on the wrong foot and set a tone that just wasn't sustainable.

Guys, pursue your love interests, no matter how terrified you may be. Your terror will not turn us off (in fact we'll think it's cute) but your lack of action will. Gals, let them pursue you, no matter how scared you may be or what questions you have in your mind (as long as he's not a dirty scum bag, of course. But if he's a decent and good guy, let him pursue you, even if he doesn't match the Matt Damon image you have in your head). If you let them pursue you long enough, your questions will get answered and fears allayed.

If you are single, you have as much responsibility to protect the marriages around you as the people inside those marriages. Your thoughts, actions, and words go a long way in this direction, and so does the lack thereof.

If you're married, love your spouse like it's your last day to love them. Be grateful that you have them even with the accompanying trials and irritations.

This is 1,027th time you've heard this stuff, and I do not take credit for any of the above. Sometimes I think it's just good to be reminded of something you already know. Sort of like a Christian being reminded of the Gospel message and remembering that they are a sinner, saved by Christ's dying love.

what I'm learning at work right now

(These may be somewhat random and without context, but I wanted to document in this venue nonetheless.)

I've made the following (non-comprehensive) list after coming across various readings and conversations over the past couple of weeks - reading on blogs I follow, John Piper, company leadership, my current work team, Os Guinness, and many more. (Conversations with now current work team, not Piper or Guinness.)

What is required for doing His work in the marketplace: 

• Emotional intelligence (EQ) - the ability to read people
• organize teams of skilled and experienced people who are skilled and have exemplified excellence in their field (I need to develop into this as well)
• filled with God's spirit
• integrity
• quality and excellence in work output
• referential power
• generalist in product knowledge as you rely on team for detailed knowledge
• ask quiet people to share their insights - they usually know the most
• you are an adviser, not a sales person
• company culture is what people do when no one is watching
• you need to be your client's friend and trusted adviser
• understand client value versus something they get for free
• hold the client accountable to give you credit where credit is due (you = your company)
• constantly build relationships
• product vs thought leadership
• transaction vs value
• blunt vs forthright

All of the above can be wrapped into the following verse:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

I'm learning that every good thing I am learning at work can be referenced back to Scripture and how we are to live as followers of Christ.

Caspian is 5!

Wilbur and Caspian at the birthday party.

Birthday ride and having fun in the river.

It's hard to believe it's been 5 years since this:

He was so little!

Loved from the very beginning.

Rock of Ages

1. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
 let me hide myself in thee; 
 let the water and the blood, 
 from thy wounded side which flowed, 
 be of sin the double cure; 
 save from wrath and make me pure. 

2. Not the labors of my hands 
 can fulfill thy law's commands; 
 could my zeal no respite know, 
 could my tears forever flow, 
 all for sin could not atone; 
 thou must save, and thou alone. 

3. Nothing in my hand I bring, 
 simply to the cross I cling; 
 naked, come to thee for dress; 
 helpless, look to thee for grace; 
 foul, I to the fountain fly; 
 wash me, Savior, or I die. 

4. While I draw this fleeting breath, 
 when mine eyes shall close in death, 
 when I soar to worlds unknown, 
 see thee on thy judgment throne, 
 Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
 let me hide myself in thee. 

Work and Prayer

As I begin yet another new role / training program at work, I am feeling mostly without direction and vision. There are many loose ends to be tied and a map yet to be given. This is forcing me to trust and wait. And have patience. Fun stuff.

As I wait, this is a prayer I am and will continue praying through 2013:
1) that I would bring His light into the marketplace, directly or discretely
2) that He would teach me new skills that have eternal significance
3) that He would expand my current horizons and give me wisdom to see them

All of the above directly applies to where I'm currently waiting in regards to my work. How does this apply to your work? How would you change this prayer for your specific role?