day 1275: Losing to Thankfulness

"Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him."

There is a quote in the TV show, Game of Thrones, that stuck with me.  The Queen Mother says to her young son, who has just become King, that he better needs to understand the commoners. She says to him, "People not like us expect to lose important things in life."   What she was saying is that those not in royalty can find themselves living their life expecting to lose, not always holding a manifest destiny to winning.  The business world is the same.  Those on top, expect more.  Those who are struggling, smaller, and trying to keep their head above water, appreciate and look at their business differently. The front page of the New York Times business section today, reminds us of a time in Silicon Valley, 1999, when all was great and nothing could get in our way to success. We knew no risk.  We expected only the best.  And, when it went away, and we were humbled, we appreciated and became more thankful of what he had, what we had learned and what we could expect going forward. The lesson?  We need to keep ourselves in check and recognize that losing will bring greater appreciation and thankfulness, so how can we cultivate that spirit of humility and gratitude, even in the best of times?

We all get hurt. We all lose out on something we expected.  We all will get beaten down at some point in our careers and lives.  Even in the losing, we can be thankful as someone else will always be in more of a struggle than we are.  Tomorrow, and into this long weekend, let's remember the wins and the losses and see if we can't find a place of equal thankfulness.  Ours is a place to be the example of continuous thankfulness. Anything less is not giving our God His due!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!

Reference: Psalm 95:2 (New Living Translation)

day 1274: Thankfulness

 "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

I am just going to come out and say that there is not enough of a spirit of thankfulness when we are at work. Something not good happens when we put the key in the door or swipe the card key and cross the threshold into our workplaces. Sure, we tell people thank you throughout the day and we finish our emails with "thanks", but do we really, really have a spirit of thankfulness when it comes to our work and the people who we work with and around? When we are truly thankful for something we cherish it, we protect it, and we do whatever we have to do to keep that object, experience or person firmly in our lives. If we were to have everyone go around the room in a business meeting and do like we do in church and point out the things we were thankful for, it would be an interesting exercise to see what people highlight and even more interesting to see what they don't mention. When we do this at church, like I did this past weekend with the kids in my Sunday school class, the words come from the heart; family, friends, a house, food on the table, loved ones who care and pray for us, our church, the ability to freely worship, etc. And in this day and age, from adults you hear a lot more people sincerely thankful to have a job. But, if we come out from under the steeple and do the same exercise in the board room, I suspect the answers would be much different and way more superficial because the spirit of thankfulness is not alive and well in the workplace.

Yes, there is a thankfulness for having a job in the first place, but even that is transferable and temporary. The spirit of thankfulness is getting down under the surface and really appreciating and loving something or someone for what they do and how they support us, and in return us caring so much that we would do nearly anything to keep them as part of our lives. This is a week where we should be going about the work of becoming thankful to others around us. Where that starts is with returning to the One who we can all be thankful and asking Him to instill that spirit within us. We read in Colossians 2:7; "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." If we want to be known and seen as someone who is thankful we have to position our lives and ourselves to Him first. Someone at your workplace today needs to know that they are appreciated and that you are thankful for them. Can you seek them out, find them today and reach out to them with a spirit of thankfulness and really tell them how thankful you are for them? What you get back in return may be a whole lot more good than you ever expected.

Reference: Colossians 2:7 (New Living Testament)

day 1272: Tagging

"...but He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness."

"Kilroy was here."  That was a popular "tag", or graffiti back in the day.  Apparently Kilroy started in World War II and lasted for decades.  Now, we tag everyday.  We "check in" on Facebook or Foursquare.  We post or tweet a picture to prove we were someplace and in our own little way we are putting our"mark" on a place or an event. Business is one of the few places in life that we mostly just "pass through", without much emotional or historical connection.  I remember watching a consultant pull out of the audience someone who was high ranking in his company.  He was the Chief Accounting Officer of a very large and prestigious company.  He brought him on the stage and interviewed him about his job, his impact, and the legacy he was trying to build within the organization.  The Officer felt pretty good about the what he was doing and that his legacy would stand in the company.  The consultant humored him and then asked, "What was the name of the person who had your job before you?".  The executive answered quickly.  The consultant then asked who was in the job before him? The executive stood their baffled as he had no clue.  The consultant made his point about legacy building within companies. If you work in a big company, ask the same about your own job.  Do you know two to three generations before you who was in the job and what they accomplished and left behind?  If we run businesses, this is the time to stop and think about what "tag" that is indelible that someone can feel they will have always left behind.  Figure this out and you will have unlocked something special and certainly long lasting.

God put us on the earth to bring glory to Him in all that we do, to love Him with all our heart and to love others above ourselves.  When we do this, this is our "tag".  And what better tag is there? Very shortly, our careers will be over.  We won't be called upon to lead or contribute.  When that happens, our lives will change, but our mark will still be able to be made in the places that matter the most, the lives of others. Today, as we start this thanksgiving short work week, start with what it is that you can "tag" and leave an impact on others where they will see that God's love is at work through you.  This might well be the thing that is remembered, changes a life and generations to come. 

Reference: Acts 14:17 (New Living Translation)

day 1271: Overshadowed

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

I've been struggling on what to write today with it being the 50th remembrance of the assassination of President Kennedy. Instead of creating something new, I am going to begin with quoting today's "Daily Bread" devotion as I thought it was so good that it deserves the extra reading.

"The assassination of US President John F. Kennedy stunned people around the globe 50 years ago today. The day after the shooting, an article in The Times (London) spoke of the reverberations being felt throughout world financial markets. It carried the headline, 'All Other Events Overshadowed by US Tragedy.' 

There are times in our lives when a death, a tragedy, or a sudden turn of events eclipses everything else. It happened to an unmarried young woman who was told that she would become the mother of the promised Messiah, God's Son.  When she asked how this could happen, the angel Gabriel said, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you."

When we think of being overshadowed, we many times think of terrible events like what we remember today.  But what God's Word tells us in the birth of Jesus is that He and the Holy Spirit's overshadowing can also bring glorious and wondrous things to our lives. The question in our own lives is whether we will allow His light into our darkest places and moments so that He may shine in and through us?

Reference: Luke 1:26-38 (New Living Translation)

day 1270: Serving Time

"Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.'”

When we see or hear, "serving time" we think about those who are incarcerated and are waiting out the time of their sentence.  But, we also can feel this way when we are doing any activity that we don't want to be doing and we just can't wait for it to end.  At work we call these people "clock watchers", but we would be disingenuous if all of us didn't say that we have experienced this in our careers.  It's impossible for every day of work to be so exciting and enthralling that the day flies by.  Our challenge is to get ahead of this and ensure that each of our employees don't have any reason to look at the clock.  A good place to start is with meetings.  How many are your employees attending each day?  How long are these meetings?  How productive are they? After meetings, take a look at other activities that might feel like time being wasted. A moment felt like time is being served, is a moment of productivity lost.

When Paul replayed what he had heard God say to him about God's grace being enough and being all that he needed, it was in context of Paul trying to understand an affliction/handicap that he experienced in his life.  Yet, it is clear that God gave him these words of comfort for all of us who feel like we carry any burden that makes us want to just get time to pass us through to the other side. We each have things that will make us want to get time to move faster.  We don't want to find ourselves sitting in this situation.  Our time on this earth is short and precious and we don't want to wish any of it away.  Today as we head to work,let's  make the most of each moment.  Consider that each interaction, each email and phone call is an opportunity to share our faith, encourage someone else and leave behind an impression of God's love and glory working through us.  

Reference: 2 Corinthians 12:9 (New Living Translation)   

day 1269: The Guest Room

"Then David summoned all Israel to Jerusalem to bring the Ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it."

We had the rug in our master bedroom cleaned in the afternoon and the cleaner said that we couldn't walk on the rug for 12 hours so Patti and I were relegated to the guest room for the night. It had been a long time since we slept there, but since we bought that bed and mattress many guests, family members, house sitters, friends have slept in that bed.  In the middle of the night we both woke up and said to each other, "This mattress is horrible!".  We were both embarrassed and upset that we we didn't know how bad this was and how many people had had that same experience without ever telling us.  The guest room is a little like the places in our companies and organizations where we never visit and we just take it for granted that everyone else has it as good as us.  You might be frightened if you looked at all you have and then slept one night in the "guest room" and made the comparison.  You probably will find a few places that need a new mattress!

Jesus, while in his ministry, never had a home.  He traveled and slept in a different place nightly.  He was among different people each day, experiencing and listening to what was being said in the streets.  It is no wonder that he could communicate with such authenticity and relate to everyone.  Jesus understood what people were going through because he was in their "guest room" every day.  He still is.  Jesus comes into our lives if we invite Him.  He comes to work with us if we bring Him along. Jesus is the humble guest who never complains when we don't give Him our best, and He keeps coming back for more regardless. We need to consider what kind of guest room we are preparing for our Lord and for others when they look to us as a example of God's love and ways.  

Reference: 1 Chronicles 15:3 (New Living Translation)

day 1268: What is Hidden?

"The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive."

I am sure there will be some who will write that they disagree with me, but it appears to me that at the heart of the now well-known Snapchat is the ability to send a picture to someone that no one has a record of being sent and the receiving person can't copy, forward or retain.  Consider for a moment what types of pictures one would want to send with those characteristics?  Kodak once had a marketing campaign that said, "A picture is worth a 1000 memories".  That would not be a slogan that Snapchat would want to use. Applications like Snapchat and the ability to surf the net privately all have rationalizations on why these are important and needed.  That said, those things that no one else can see, that there is no record of, do not normally lead people down a good path of action.  Facebook may have been given a reputation favor by Snapchat turning down their $3B offer.   If Snapchat were ever to build a business where they could go public, they will have to convince their investors that the content of Snapchat is something other than what it is today.

What we do when no one else can see or know may be the best indication of who we really are. This is not meant to be a bummer to start the day, but it is a cold, stark truth that we must face. Thoughts that we have, what we watch, what we read, what we do and say when no one else can see or hear...that is our default mode and it's who we are.  When we think of it this way, "Do we like who we are?"  The answer, not surprisingly, is almost always, "No".  This is because we are all flawed and sinful by nature, but that doesn't mean that we have to live that way.  This is the promise we are given through Jesus that His light can shine within us to expose who we really are so we can change to be more like Him.  Today, each of us will be faced with a moment(s) of choice to act in a way that is hidden, or to act in way that if everyone was looking, we and God would be pleased.  Our God is a God of forgiveness and redemption.  To Him, our sins are "SnapSins"...they happened, we sincerely repent, they are forgiven and gone forever.   What has been hidden can be exposed if we only open up ourselves to Him! Will we?

Reference: Proverbs 20:27 (New Living Translation)

day 1267: First Moves

"So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit."

While I was on vacation last week, I checked in online when I could (we had very sketchy internet) and I saw that SnapChat had turned down a $3B offer from Facebook.  Oh, to be a first mover. SnapChat popped up with the ability to send a picture and then it would disappear from the internet.  I've not figured out what real business can be built from this, but it is clear that they have captured the attention of lots of people, including Facebook, who is willing to pay three times more than what they paid for Instagram.  Being the first mover in a market is still worthwhile. While hard to know if you will be the one that sticks, getting there first still has its advantages. Like its' service, SnapChat could be here today, and gone tomorrow, but right now, they are first.  We all have some opportunity that when innovating we can find a first mover advantage.  Sometimes it may be that someone, someplace else has done it already, but this is the first time your consumers or customers will have experienced what you are offering.  Sit and think and consider what you have in the hopper that you can take advantage of being the first mover.

Through the lens of the account of Saul/Paul and his journeys, the Pastor at our church (cornerstone-sf.org) is exploring what it meant for Paul to be the first mover of the Good News outside of the Jewish community. There are many great lessons here, and I was reminded yesterday of the challenges and rewards that can come from having the courage to make a move forward. Paul was a first mover.  It took extraordinary courage and commitment for him to do what he did to move God's message to the Gentiles.  He is a model for us as without question we each have a "first move" to make our workplaces as it relates to bringing glory to God in all that we do.  It could be the change of a habit, a word of kindness, an hour of listening to someones concerns, stepping up for the job that no one else wants to do, the correction of a wrong, the day without a cursed word coming from your mouth.  Whatever it is, God is giving all of us a "first move" to make and He will be there to support us if we are willing to just move!

Reference: Acts 13:4 (New Living Translation)

day 1266: Distant Future (redux)

 I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

Part and parcel to working is the concern and thinking about our future and our career plan. It's a funny thing that we feel like with our work that we have to be thinking not only about our current job, but also about the next one and the one after that and that we get advice to be planning our career at all times. What can happen though is that we become so caught up in the thinking about the distant future that we lose the perspective of the job we are in and being sure that we do the current job well and get the most from the experience, etc. We are not good at living in the moment and being very objective about our current jobs as ones that we can enjoy and from which we can gain great satisfaction. I have a friend who is never in the moment in his job. He is always thinking and talking about the next job and what he can do to further his career and he has little to no regard for the ramifications of him always focusing on the distant future. He can't see that he is not giving his all to the company where he now works, is not investing in the people around him like they need and want him to do, and drives his friends and his family a bit crazy with not settling down. I am not sure what it is that drives this distant future focus versus living and working in the present, but he is not alone in this. Many people are like this.

As I was reading the book of Ezekiel, God gives Ezekiel many instructions on what to tell the different countries and leaders about what is going to happen to them in the distant future. This is where the words "distant future" struck me as we cannot ignore what is coming and we must plan and be cognizant of the future, but we can't obsess on it either and miss the life that we have been put here to live. Being present for those around us and being okay in the job we are in today can yield many benefits and positives. Today, as you go through your day, think about how much time you are spending truly in the present and getting the most from it, versus worrying and obsessing about the distant future. It may well be that today, if focused on, could be of such value and worth that it blocks out all concern of the distant future.

Reference: Ezekiel 

day 1265: Spreading It Around (redux)

 I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”

Purposed worKING spends a lot of time on trying to help each of us become better and better in living out our work lives in a way that God would want us to so that we can bring glory to Him in all that we do. There are so many lessons from the Bible that it feels like the fountain that can’t run dry. Each day that we face the small and big challenges of our work day and we are given the opportunity to either live, work and walk in the steps of our Lord and the examples and instructions given to us or to ignore and move in our own patterns and those of the world. As believers we know what we are to do, but when surrounded by so many others and the influences upon us, we can fall onto a path that we didn’t want to walk on but just end up there. It’s hard to be in the world. It’s hard to work. And, it’s even harder to work the way we want day in and day out. As disciples of Christ we have big charges put in front us. When Jesus says; “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”, He is not mincing words and He is making it clear as to what we are supposed to do. And as we all know, loving one another, all the time and consistently is as about as hard as it gets. But, this is what we are to do. At work we can show our love by being ones who are caring, listening, respectful, encouraging, appreciative and giving of ourselves. Maybe no one will ever describe it at the office as “love” but we will send the same important and powerful message. Today, look around you and think of someone who needs your attention and caring. There is always someone, so find at least one and go a little further with them today so that the descriptive words above would be tagged on you today if the other person was asked to describe you. Spread it around today and also see if it doesn’t catch on too.

Reference: John 13:35 (New Living Testament) 

day 1264: Clearing The Air (redux)

 I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

"So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person." 


When we show up at a meeting or a presentation and we take stock of the people in the room it is always a more difficult moment if we look around the room and there are people there who we either have some unfinished business, or worse yet, there is someone there who we have a problem with that is unresolved. It can be felt in the air. If we know that one of those people are going to be there, even before we go into the meeting or presentation, it can really throw us off and give us angst. It begs the question why we ever let ourselves get into the situation where we either harbor ill feelings or we allow someone to feel the same about us. I was in a meeting the other day when someone else said something to which I disagreed. I tried to say to her, as politely as possible that I was in disagreement and that I thought we should think of things in a different way. She didn't say anything back, but it was clear that she did not like my disagreeing with her. We went through that section of the meeting and at the break I could just feel the coldness in the air. I got up and went over to her at the other side of the room to say that if I had overstated my disagreement, that I apologize. In a moment, the air was clear and we were back to the good place we were at the beginning of the meeting. If I hadn't done that, then I am sure that the rough patch would have gotten rougher and the bad feelings would have not gotten better.

It's a principle we should all follow in that we shouldn't let any bad feelings be harbored or grow and its nothing new as we can read in Matthew; "So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person." We may not be going to the altar today, but we are always stepping in the footsteps of our Lord and He does not want us to be the ones who allow for others to have something against us. We are to be the ones to step forward, reconcile, forgive and move on. We are to be the ones who feel the responsibility to clear the air. As you start this week, is there any clearing of the air that you need to do?

Reference: Matthew 5:23-24 (New Living Testament)

day 1263: Dealing (redux)

 I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

"When you make an agreement with a neighbor to buy or sell property, you must never take advantage of each other."

Much of work is about "dealing".   Dealing shows up all over the place. We deal when we work with customers and negotiate fees, services, deliveries, etc. We deal with our co-workers when trying to decide who is going to do what and when. We deal with our boss when we figure out pay, hours, assignments, performance assessments, etc. We deal with ourselves when we inwardly decide on how hard to work and how much to put into our jobs. We deal with our family and loved ones over the days and hours we will be working versus be with them. Yes, we are constantly dealing. There are those who are superb at getting the best deal and those that aren't that good at getting a deal closed successfully. Dealing is a skill but it is just as much as an art as the best deals are those that everyone who is involved walks away feeling satisfied and treated fairly. A deal that is one-sided, while at the time looks good for the winner, is not a good deal. Anytime the other side feels like a loser or taken advantage of, then it is almost assured that the deal won't last and the relationship of the people who made the deal will be acrimonious. The art part of deal-making is being able to read and know the emotions of the other person and knowing when to pull-up and stop pushing any further.

When in doubt, we can do two things to know where the line is drawn. First, we should apply the Golden Rule. It if it would feel bad to us if we were on the other side of the deal, then we've pushed too far. Secondly, we must listen to God's voice speaking to us through the principle taught in Leviticus 25:14; "When you make an agreement with a neighbor to buy or sell property, you must never take advantage of each other." Today, you are going to "deal" a number of times. Think hard about what God has said to us about making those deals. If we become one who always makes a fair and equitable deal, then we will also be known as one who others can approach and gain learning. We never know when we might get the opportunity to tell others about the most marvelous and fantastic deal of everlasting life and when that chance comes, we want to be able to do so as a person who consistently and credibly reflects in our work lives and rest of life the ways and the principles of our Lord.

Reference: Leviticus 25:14 (New Living Testament) 

day 1262: Recognizing What We Already Have (redux)

 I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

Consultants, which are everywhere it seems, are many times a function of the principle that we just don't believe we have good enough ideas or expertise inside of our organizations and that we must go outside of the company to get what we need. It's the grass is greener on the other side thing. So, consultants are brought in to tell us what to do and give us their big ideas. How many times though have we sat around during or after the consultants' presentations and say to ourselves sarcastically, "Yeah, like tell me something I don't already know!". What is clear about this, so many times, is that the ideas and the expertise is already in the house, we just haven't figured out how to unlock those or we have put constraints on allowing people the freedom to express their opinions or implement their ideas. But, if someone comes from the outside, they don't carry any baggage and they don't feel any inhibitions to bringing forward their ideas, even though those ideas may not be anything new.

We as believers know an account of a man who was not listened to in his own hometown. I often think of the people who were in Nazareth who missed out on being able to be up close and personal with Jesus because they just couldn't see past the familiarity of who he was. The same may be happening within your own company today. Are there people who have the answers and the ideas but we are looking past them because we are familiar or we don't listen to them because we don't like the way they say it, or we have heard it before? Today would be a great day to stop and see if you can recognize what you already have inside your organization and see if there aren't already people within your company who aren't yet being listened to, or need to be heard. Maybe one of the areas we are to lead is in being the person who can unlock those people and give them their voice!

Reference: Mark 6:1-6 (New Living Testament)

day 1261: Condemning (Redux)

I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

"So let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall."

I was sitting in a meeting the other day and I listened to one person condemn another (of course the person being condemned was not in the room) and without hesitation another person jumped on the the bandwagon to be shortly followed by another person. It was a bit of a bloodbath. With one small push back that maybe this wasn't a fully fair assessment that was taking place, everyone backed down and adjusted their stance. This interaction reminded me of how easy it is to tear someone down and how hard it is to get people to instead build others up. We are quick to condemn and we are fast to pass the blame and tag others for maybe what we should be stepping up and owning ourselves. I've found that those who fluidly condemn others are not the same people who take accountability and accept their lumps when they should. These are also the same people who others either fear or even avoid because they worry that whatever is being said about others is also said about them when they leave the room.

Paul knew how easy it is for people to be condemning when he point blank denounced it in Romans when he was talking to those who he was working with; "So let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall." That Paul had to say such a thing to the believers he was working with, only reinforces how he knew that we easily condemn and do so without the regard we should have for others. Today, think about how much condemning is going on around your office and reflect on what part you might be playing or what you can do to bring the condemnation down.

Reference: Romans 14:13 (New Living Testament)

day 1260: Layering (Redux)

I'll be traveling and taking some vacation time through November 15th, so Purposed worKING will be revisiting some earlier posts until then...

"In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge." 


No one gets to be good at what they do without layering one skill and experience on top of another until they come to a place where they are really good, or even a master of what they have been working towards. As much as it would be great to get good by just showing up, we have to layer and layer until we finally have built up enough to draw upon so we really know what we are doing. There are many people who are not willing to spend the time and energy to build the layers. Either they don't believe that they should have to put in the time and efforts, or they are just too lazy to put in the hard work. Layering takes time. Layering takes patience. Layering takes an attitude of not believing that we don't need any more experience, any more practice, any more coaching, or any more discipline. Those that do layer and understand the importance of this are the ones who are able to have a few layers peeled back or punctured and still have much to work with going forward. We must learn to layer and learn to do so with each and every opportunity given to us.

Peter tells us this as well when he writes; "In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge." Peter is saying that we must layer our faith with our moral excellence, but even that is not enough. He says that we then must add the layer of knowledge. Peter wants us to continue to grow and grow through adding these layers into our life. Today, think about whether or not you are layering as you should.

Reference: 2 Peter 1:5 (New Living Testament)

day 1259: Matches

"Your teeth are as white as sheep that are freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin."

There may not be a harder technology challenge than finding the perfect match.  Industries have been built from this need; biotech, digital tech, agriculture, just to name a few.  In digital technology we are always hunting for the perfect match, whether that be through dating sites, through job sites, and broadly between retailers/manufacturers and customers.  The perfect match is one where two parties decide they want the same thing. This is hard work and with today's technology algorithms we get closer and closer to the perfect match.  Some will call them "recommendation" or "discovery" engines, but these are also all about matching what I like to what I might not yet know I will like.  Matching is so important to all that we do that we should ensure that the understanding of the science of matching is resident within our companies.  If we aren't almost obsessed with the pursuit of the perfect match then we are probably missing out on business.

The Song of Solomon is a love poem and Solomon even speaks of the perfect match. Christ came to the earth to become our perfect match and even today He provides us the continual opportunity to come closer and closer to Him. He is our perfect match and if we spend our focus and energy on matching closer and closer to Him, the rest will fall into place nicely for us.  It's when we get too fixated on matching to others, or to a job, or to a thing, that we can fall apart. Consider today where you are putting your matching efforts.

Reference: Song of Solomon 6:6 (New Living Translation)

day 1258: Simple Syrup

"That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick."

Remember the movie Mary Poppins? Some will say, I don't remember the movie, but I saw the play on Broadway a few years back?  Regardless, Mary sings a verse, "A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down so nice..."  We should all remember that as we deliver messages to employees, customers and partners.  The best "sugar" is usually that which is made of a "simple syrup" and this holds up true as well when we are communicating.  Breaking down messages to the most basic and simple is hard work and too many times we are too busy to think ahead so we go into a meeting or presentation and before we know it we are getting that blank stare of "I'm not following" and then then first question can be summed up as, "What did you just say?".  These are high stakes moments that we can't take for granted.  We only get so many times to make something clear and simple before we lose credibility that can't be regained.  If we are not spending twice as much time in preparation as it takes to deliver the message, then I can assure you that what you communicate will not be simple enough to be understood.

Unfortunately, we are also guilty of this in our faith walk.  Since we don't spend time practicing our readiness to speak of our faith, when asked we end up making things complicated and not at all easy to understand.  Recently, Pope Francis was quoted as saying, "At times we lose people because they don't understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity."  In Matthew we learn that Jesus could cast out demons with a "simple command".  Let's consider today what we can say simply and what we can do simply to bring glory to God in our work!

Reference: Mathew 8:16 (New Living Translation)

day 1257: Running Around Like Crazy - Part 3

 "I discipline my body like an athlete, training to do what it should"

"This job will be the death of me", he said as he pulled out of the parking lot at 10:30pm for the third time this week. The race we run with our work is a long one. The way careers are set up we can expect to spend most of our adult lives working. We do this day after day, sometimes closer to seven days a week than we want. We subtract hours from other parts of our lives, like sleep and family time, and add them to our work days. We do this month after month and year after year until one day we hit a wall and say we just can't take it any longer. It is a long and grueling race and if we were able to step back from it and see the size of the hills in front of us we would probably think differently about how we approach our work. But, trying to gain that perspective is nearly impossible, so we do out best and we slug through day by day, giving it our all, running the race the best we can.

We have been exploring what Paul had to say about how to win the race of life and faith and how to finish strong for our Lord. We have applied the principles that he describes about knowing the goal/objective and focus and on how to get to the finish line. He also says in verse 27 of I Corinthians Chapter 9; "I discipline my body like an athlete, training to do what it should". I like this statement because I believe that much of the success any of us have at anything we strive to achieve comes from the preparation we do before the task. I believe it was Billy Martin, the controversial but heralded coach of the New York Yankees in the 1970's, who said, "The World Series is won in spring training". He was saying that the finish line and how the we finish is all in how we prepare, discipline and train ourselves. We can run a strong race at work if we also adopt this attitude and we begin today to train and discipline ourselves for the future and the work ahead of us. We can be stronger and have more endurance if we think of our physical bodies as the tool that allows us to operate day in a day out at our highest productivity. How we eat, sleep and exercise can make a difference. And, how strong we are spiritually before the crisis hits lets us be prepared for the times when we will be tested emotionally and physically. If we begin each day in training, both physically and spiritually, and we stay disciplined to be strong in both areas, we will stand a much better chance of completing the long race, winning along the way, and knowing that when we finish we will have finished well.

Reference: I Corinthians 9:27 (New Living Testament)

day 1256: Running Around Like Crazy - Part 2

 "So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches"

"It's a rat race around here". Ever heard that statement? What picture does it conjure up? When I hear that statement I think of a maze with two rats being let loose into the entrance and off they go working their way from one side of the other to get the cheese. Or, I see two rats running after each other, running in circles and swerves trying to catch each other. Minus the rats part, (or not minus, depending on where you work), the picture of running around like crazy or running around a maze can feel just like the office. We so many times feel like we are chasing and going from thing to thing without purpose or definition that we end up feeling like we have wasted time and energy until it just wears us down. We then wonder why we are not springing out of bed in the morning to get to work.

As mentioned yesterday, Paul gives us his tips to winning the race for life and not only does he tell us to run the race to win, he also says to run with discipline and focus. In verse 26 of I Corinthians 9 he says, "So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer who misses his punches". What Paul was modeling for us was efficiency and productivity in reaching a goal and purpose, because we can straighten out the line between two points. When we feel like we are in the rat race at work, a place to start to fix is determining where it is that you are trying go and get very specific on that goal and purpose and "straighten out" the corners and angles that get in your way. And when at work we meander and wander and lose that purpose of why we are here in the first place, we can end up in a maze that takes us quite a bit of time to exit at the goal. The straightening out of work can happen when we part ways with those that drag us down or cause issues for the sake of causing issues, or it might be adjusting our own emotions to filter out the negative attitudes within ourselves that so often can creep in. And, it might be that we need to start afresh today with getting down to business and not spending that extra time worrying or talking about what it is that things should be, but are out of our control. There is a great feeling about finishing a race strong. The same can happen today at work for you by setting your goals and purpose for the day and running straight towards that goal keeping the distractions away until the goal is achieved. A day where on he way home you can feel great about what was achieved is a GREAT day!

Reference: I Corinthians 9:26