Last Friday I wrote about Wile E. Coyote and Fixing January . January and I still have challenging relationship, but I’ve been trying to affirm her where I can. You know, cuz that’s what Jesus would do. But our counselor says we’ve got a long way to go. I’ve been working at the practice of being thankful, but I’ve also had some other thoughts (And so have you! Check out the good ideas in the comments on the original post).
I’ve been thinking about one of my favorite axioms from Mark Batterson.
Change of pace + Change of place = Change of perspective
True that.
Not many of us are able to apply this by taking a vacation on a beach in Mexico, but I’ve been trying to be creative by shaking things up a bit.
Here are some of the things I’m trying.
1. New Experiences. John and I got a groupon and have been taking dance lessons with some friends of ours. Hysterical. Not only have we laughed our heads off, I’ve been reminded how much I like control, and have been comforted by the fact that this may be the one thing I can do that John can’t. Well, actually he just can’t do it worse than I can’t do it. It’s humbling and healthy for both of us to laugh at ourselves.
2. New Relationships. Ok, this one is more for me than John cuz he’s an introvert and doesn’t really like people, but we each have met a ton of young couples at our church this fall. I met some. He met others. None of them really knew each other. We wanted to help them connect and get to know them better so last weekend we invited them to a “Come to Cook” dinner where everyone pitched in on teams to pull the meal together. People are always more comfortable when they have a job to do so it was so much fun!
3. New Practices. This fall I got involved in helping facilitate the Willow Creek Association online courses called LIFT (Leadership Intensives for Transformation). I can’t recommend these highly enough. If you want huge value for your investment, check these out. They are mostly 7 week courses around topics of leadership and spiritual formation. You receive an assignment each Monday that may include watching a video, doing a self-assessment, reading an article, and interacting online around several application/discussion questions. The total time investment each week is only 2 hours and you can fit it in whenever it’s convenient for you! Most classes also include a couple of virtual classroom experiences when everyone is online at the same time, interacting around a video teaching. I’ll be facilitating the Leading for Results class that was created, and is taught by Henry Cloud around his book, Integrity. It starts February 6th and it’s for EVERYONE, not just ministry leaders. I did it for the first time this fall and thought the content was the most practical and relevant I’d seen. I’d love to have you join in!
What about YOU? What are the life-giving new experiences, relationships, or practices you’ve tried or want to try? Share with us!
