7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Preface)

  • I’m going to begin a series of 7 posts, but the habits you find here will be different than those found in Stephen Covey’s book.
  • I am sharing these habits from personal life experience. I guess that means I’m calling myself a highly effective person. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. I’ll let other people be the judge of that.
  • I admit my creativity was lacking when I came up with the title for this series of posts. Maybe I’ll change the title between now and the next post.
  • I will conclude with this warning: You don’t have to form the same habits as me. But without these habits, life seems dull, stagnant, boring–at least to me.

The Way Back

So I watched this movie a couple weeks ago called The Way Back. Then two days ago, the smell of burgers on the grill and the sight of fireworks in the sky reminded me of something:

I am very thankful for the freedoms we have as citizens in the United States of America. I mean, there aren’t a whole lot of places in the world where you can shoot off colorful explosives just for fun.

I am also thankful for the freedom of press. I know there is censoring in the U.S. and the distortion of propaganda, but I thank God for the freedom of press. I thank him because there are people in the U.S., who, because we have a great amount of resources and freedom, have been able to apply their talents to make great movies and publish great stories. Specifically, I am thankful for the people who helped create The Way Back.

If you haven’t seen it, it is about the journey of a few prisoners escaping from the gulags in Siberia and trekking some 4000 miles to freedom. The movie is exceptional, and I dare say it is one of the best I’ve seen. Because of freedom of press, one director was able to collaborate with a team of actors and together (with a 1000 other people behind the scenes) they could craft a piece of art we call a movie. I admire the director, Peter Weir, for his ability to tell a meaningful story about a piece of history that many Americans overlook. We are familiar with the atrocities of the German Nazi prison camps against the Jews, but we are not as familiar with the Soviet’s gulags in Siberia.

The Way Back opened my eyes and brought me back. It brought me back to an attitude of gratitude. It helped me appreciate something that I have often taken for granted–freedom. And it also gave me hope. Hope that we as humans can treat each other with dignity. Hope that we can work together as a team. Hope that we can help each other along in this journey. Hope that we can follow a Selfless Leader back to Eden, back to freedom.

Pierced Ear Servant

The other day, a friend and I were talking about gauges. Gauges, like those big holes people put in their ears. Apparently, a lot of people at Ichthus wore gauges and my friend was telling me how disgusting the gauges looked. I agreed I didn’t find them aesthetically appealing, but then again, gauges are “biblical,” I said sarcastically. Here’s why:

The idea of a pierced ear servant comes from Exodus and Deuteronomy, the second and fifth books in a volume set called the Bible. The scenario arose when a slave decided that his or her master was such a good master that the slave would serve the master until death. In this case, the slave would stand against a door or doorpost, and the master would take an awl and hammer to smash a hole in the slave’s ear. An awl, through the ear, could be the size of a gauge.

Ironically, one of the Greek words for “servant” in the New Testament means under rower. That is, the people who sit under the deck of the boat and row on command. They help the people on top of the boat reach their destination. Paul referred to himself as such when he said he was a servant of Jesus. So, we have a pierced ear servant in the OT and an under rower in the NT.

What’s that mean for me? Sometimes, I’m not willing to serve. I know I should. But I don’t want to. I’d rather be selfish, spend my time my way, use my resources on my own interests. I’d rather watch a movie, play a game, be entertained, instead of going to work on social justice issues or wash the dishes or whatever. At times, I’d rather do anything than give of myself. Yet the strangest things happen when I choose to give.

I experience joy. I become energized. I feel alive. As Dave Matthews says, “When you give, you begin to live.”

So back to the pierced ear servant and the under rower ideas: I think what keeps me from giving, from being willing, is that I don’t always recognize the goodness of God. I think God will somehow screw me over. I don’t look back and see how kind He has been to me. I don’t acknowledge the good gifts He’s given. I know once I do that, once my eyes become more open, I voluntarily choose to serve Him because He’s good. I’ve experienced this many times. When it happens, I want to become an under rower and help others reach their destination, because in the end, it will be an encouragement to us all. In the end, what we do in service, in love, will be given back to us. That said, may we get over ourselves and reach out to others. May we open our eyes. May we wear our gauges proudly. May we become willing under rowers and willing pierced ear servants. And may we recognize the simple fact–GOD…IS…GOOD.

Feeling Used?

God wants to use you!

This is the most empty and awful thing to tell someone. Think, if I told my wife, “I want to use you.” Or if I told my child, “I want to use you.” Or if I told my friend, “I want to use you.”

Using people is an absolutely awful thing. It’s horrible, wretched. When people use people it’s called slavery, oppression, prostitution.

Last time I checked, God is known as loving Father, faithful Husband, loyal Friend. He is not the Great Taskmaster, or the Supreme Dictator, or the Pompous Pimp. He is love. God is love.

Love doesn’t use people. Love cares, nurtures, builds up, edifies. Love isn’t rude or crude, self-seeking or full of fury. Love isn’t abusive, controlling, or heavy-handed. Love is patient and kind. Love protects, trusts, hopes.

Love sticks with you to the end.

Love does not fail.

God…He loves you. He doesn’t want to use you; He wants to love you!

Sunset Discussions

Often times, we go through life without taking time for reflection.

In my estimation, reflection is an integral part of life. We have to reflect. Otherwise, life doesn’t make sense. It’s just a jumbled mess, a hodge-podge of random happenings. There is no rhyme, no reason.

Before dusk yesterday, my wife and I took our dog on a walk. When we returned home, we sat on the front porch and watched the sunset. Then, as the colors drained from the sky, we watched the lightning bugs put on their show. Lightning bugs are fascinating little creatures. Whoever created them–genius.

As we sat, we discussed how the week went, the fun we had babysitting, the laughs we shared at the pool, making crafts, riding bikes. We mused on our past month, how life has been since we’ve been back in Indiana, who we  still need to talk to, how things have changed, how they’ve stayed the same. Finally, we shared some laughs from our past year, about life in Portland, about fights we had, about memories with friends, about packing the car and moving back.

Life is much different than it was a year ago. It’s much different than it was a month ago. But if we didn’t take  time to reflect on it, we might not have noticed. And we might not have had so many laughs.

If you haven’t reflected in a while, go for it. You’ll be glad you did.

The Best in Real Estate–Donald Trump

I recently finished a book by Donald Trump. Good stuff!

I bought the book, How to Get Rich, at a used book store in downtown Crawfordsville. It might be the best $3.45 I’ve ever spent.

I didn’t buy the book to become rich. I didn’t buy it because I want to go into real estate. I bought it because I want to learn from the best. And right now, I’m trying to do that. I’m trying to learn from the best in a variety of categories.

For example, I’ve watched documentaries and read articles on Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, the best in basketball. I’ve read articles and books on Eminem and Lil Wayne, the best in rap. I’ve watched a documentary on Lady Gaga, the best in pop culture. I recently finished Bob Dylan’s autobiography, the best lyricist and folk-rocker. I’ve begun to follow the artwork of Makoto Fujimura, one of the best in abstract art. So, naturally, when I saw a book by Donald Trump, I had to buy it. After all, he’s the best in real estate. And hair!

Basically, Trump’s book is a modern-day Proverbs. It’s not written like Proverbs; rather, he tells stories and shares interesting facts. But all in all, the book boils down to a lot of good, solid advice. Practical wisdom from a practical man. Trump shared so much wisdom that I took three pages of notes. And I don’t know if an ounce of it will help me become rich, but it will certainly help me live well.

I will close with this: The thing that stood out to me the most about Donald Trump is his passionate and solid work ethic. The man is like the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going. He wakes up every morning at 5am, reads four or five newspapers before reporting to his office at 8am, then works non-stop until 6 or 7pm. He almost always has dinner plans with someone, and before bed, he thumbs through six or seven magazines. He keeps this schedule at least six, sometimes seven days a week. He usually takes one break at work–15 minutes at lunch.

Basically, the man loves what he does, he works like an ox, and he is rewarded for it. May we learn from his example.