One of my favorite courses and topics has been Organizational Development and Change Management Principles. As our world continues to change faster than change itself, being able to keep up and ahead of the curve is near impossible. A great book by John Kotter titled, The Heart of Change, walks through eight critical steps in implementing wholesale change. One of those steps is all about creating short-term wins during long-term projects. The idea is that small victories create momentum and in-turn keeps the motivation going to tackle the next project.
Today was one of those days. For the first time in over 9 months, both of our cars were able to sit in our garage. Silly? Yes. Mental victory? Without question! :) Having finally gone through almost all of our things, sorting out what to keep, what to give to friends, give to charity, and what to pitch, we were able to consolidate our stuff and our garage is all but clean. Here's to a little victory, and one small step closer to the goal.
Oh, and the irony of it all? My poor little car still had to sleep outside for one more night as I have an early morning coffee appointment with a friend and don't want to wake the kids. I felt bad for her as I rolled her out of her long lost home!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Preparing For Rain
A week or so ago, we watched a very inspiring movie titled "Facing the Giants," written and produced by a church in Georgia. We would highly recommend it to everyone to see! http://www.facingthegiants.com/
Though certainly not a Hollywood production (which actually was rather refreshing), it had a very powerful message to share that has both encouraged and inspired us. As the title indicated, facing the giants is about trusting in the Lord and believing in Him when the "giants" of life come before us and we want to shrink away. There are obvious connections to the story of David and Goliath.
In this movie, there was a great illustration of faith in action that really stuck with us - It was the concept of "preparing for rain." It's illustrated in this story: "There were two farmers, both praying for rain for their crops. After praying, one farmer believed and waited for it to rain; the other famer believed and began to prepare his fields FOR the rain."
It is one thing to pray and say "God make this happen." It is another to believe God will answer, and to prepare for His action; being ready to receive what we prayed for.
For us, that principle has really encouraged us lately! It is clearly illustrated in our desire to move. We love and are so grateful for our current home, but we've been feeling led for quite some time to move to a different place. We have two main reasons for feeling moved this way - more space and location. Obviously we've got a growing family we need to accomodate, but we also are passionate for the ministry of community and would love to have a more ideal space in which to host small groups, get togethers and the like (maybe a basement and a slightly bigger living room?). And of course it would be wonderful to be all the more closer to church, work, doctors, etc. And with that same passion for community, we would also be closer to the people we fellowship with.
With these things, we are purposing to begin that journey - A journey that we probably rushed last year as it crashed and burned since we did not wait on God's timing (and now looking back, we are thankful He didn't allow us to rush, although it was a painful lesson for us). But now we feel called to prepare for rain. If God is leading, He will bring it to pass. We simply want to be ready for the day the rain comes. How are we preparing? Currently we are attempting to get our house ready to list, consolidating our stuff and clutter, moving some things to storage for a temporary time, painting, and doing minor maintenance and repair. For several years now, we've felt a strong leading to a new community here called Banning Lewis Ranch - it looks like our oppotunity may come in the next couple of months with it. When it opens (it's only been in planning stages for years now) we feel we will probably have a clear answer of where to move. For now, we are simply waiting, trusting, and preparing for His rain to fall.
In this movie, there was a great illustration of faith in action that really stuck with us - It was the concept of "preparing for rain." It's illustrated in this story: "There were two farmers, both praying for rain for their crops. After praying, one farmer believed and waited for it to rain; the other famer believed and began to prepare his fields FOR the rain."
It is one thing to pray and say "God make this happen." It is another to believe God will answer, and to prepare for His action; being ready to receive what we prayed for.
For us, that principle has really encouraged us lately! It is clearly illustrated in our desire to move. We love and are so grateful for our current home, but we've been feeling led for quite some time to move to a different place. We have two main reasons for feeling moved this way - more space and location. Obviously we've got a growing family we need to accomodate, but we also are passionate for the ministry of community and would love to have a more ideal space in which to host small groups, get togethers and the like (maybe a basement and a slightly bigger living room?). And of course it would be wonderful to be all the more closer to church, work, doctors, etc. And with that same passion for community, we would also be closer to the people we fellowship with.
With these things, we are purposing to begin that journey - A journey that we probably rushed last year as it crashed and burned since we did not wait on God's timing (and now looking back, we are thankful He didn't allow us to rush, although it was a painful lesson for us). But now we feel called to prepare for rain. If God is leading, He will bring it to pass. We simply want to be ready for the day the rain comes. How are we preparing? Currently we are attempting to get our house ready to list, consolidating our stuff and clutter, moving some things to storage for a temporary time, painting, and doing minor maintenance and repair. For several years now, we've felt a strong leading to a new community here called Banning Lewis Ranch - it looks like our oppotunity may come in the next couple of months with it. When it opens (it's only been in planning stages for years now) we feel we will probably have a clear answer of where to move. For now, we are simply waiting, trusting, and preparing for His rain to fall.
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