Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Keep It Interesting

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A few weeks ago while in Fort Worth for my sister's wedding, I was running along a sidewalk. I noted that periodically along the two-mile road I was traversing, the sidewalk would curve away from the road in a lazy arc and then return to its original position paralleling the street.
This intrigued me, because there was no reason to alter the otherwise straight sidewalk. There were no trees to circumvent, no bus stops to bypass, no fire hydrants to avoid. My guess was that the designers were simply seeking to keep it interesting.

As a communicator I believe that as long as I keep the communication style interesting, listeners and readers will keep their attention targeted to my message.

As soon as my style becomes less than engaging, I lose the audience. So I seek to keep it interesting.

Several years ago as a youth pastor, I was speaking to over 150 high school students in a meeting at our church. Seated in the crowd was a young lady who was deaf. In front of her with her back turned away from me was her sign-language interpreter.

As I recall the evening, I felt like I was on my "A" game. I was dynamic. I was engaging. I was funny. I had a rhythm going. I knew it was going to be a powerful message with a powerful ending and a powerful response.

About two-thirds of the way through my talk, the deaf student put up her hand to catch my attention. When she knew that I was looking at her, she took her index finger and placed it next to her nose in a drilling motion on her face.

I assumed she was complementing me in her own way. Wow! I thought: I am communicating at a level that even those who can't hear are getting it! With renewed passion I continued to be my engaging self, delivering an incredibly compelling message.

As the evening was winding down, I sought out the interpreter and asked her what this sign meant (as I mimicked the deaf student).

"Boring" was her reply.

Ouch! My deflated self gathered whatever dignity I had left and slumped away from the conversation.

It was then that I determined to use whatever means necessary to not only assume that I was dynamic, engaging, funny, interesting, informative, and challenging. I was going to work at it. I purposed to keep it interesting.

I may not succeed every time I preach, teach, write, or converse. But I do keep an eye open for the strategically placed index finger on the face of one of my listeners.

Question: What do you do to Keep It Interesting Share your thoughts below in 'comments'.

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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Easy Rider

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My son Zach is taking a road trip on his big bike this week. After four years of riding a Honda Metro through the streets of Ft. Lauderdale, he traded up to a big road bike. And he is coming to visit us!
The father in me is nervous. It's a long way to our house on a motorcycle.

I had him promise to take breaks. I have helped him map a route that avoids the interstate. I have even convinced Zach to let me track his iPhone during the trip so I can know right where he was at any given moment.

His mother is even more nervous than I am. But that 's what parents are supposed to do: Be nervous when their children attempt risky things.

But a big part of me is proud of him. Zach is pursuing a passion that he has had for several years. He's always wanted a big motorcycle. He's always wanted to travel on it. Deep inside of my son is a desire for adventure, a quest for the unknown.

He demonstrated that desire when he joined me earlier this year in India. He explored new areas. He engaged the local people. He tried new foods. He took risks.

That sounds a lot like his dad.

I am not sure that I have had a desire to ride a big bike on long trips. My adventurous passion has been to go into the remote villages of India among the unreached people groups with the Good News of Jesus.

So as a fellow adventurer and risk-taker, I applaud my son. I tell him to go ahead and ride the 12 hours to visit us. I encourage him to step out and try something new. And because I know his heart, I know that it will be an easy ride for him.

Question: What are you doing to encourage the passion within yourself and in your children? Share your thoughts below in 'comments'.

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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

The "Who You Are" Influence

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Who you are influences others more than what you do.
In our Do-Driven culture, finding a way to define a person outside of what they do is becoming increasingly difficult. But the statement remains true: Who you are influences others more than what you do.

Imagine the outside ball in the image above as a bakery donut hole. Or as a ping pong ball. The effect on the other balls would be much different.

In the same way, the who we are (what makes us up: our character, our dreams, our passions, our commitments, our values) will affect those with whom we interact, and especially those whom we chose to influence in a much greater way than what we do (our job, our actions, our talents, our choice of sports teams, etc.).

So instead of giving primary attention to what you do, focus on the inside: Who you are. For what you become on the inside ultimately affects what you do on the outside.

Question: How have you seen the who you are influence have a greater impact that the what you do influence? Share your thoughts below in 'comments'.

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Tuesday, September 03, 2013

I Survived A Power Outage

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The power went out on Sunday evening. An electrical storm blew through and not only left a lot of rain, but also left a bunch of dark houses.
I could almost hear the groans of my close neighbors. I definitely heard the complaints of my local Facebook friends: More rain, no power...

Most of us, when our power goes out, see it somewhere along the continuum of inconvenience to tragedy. Me, I didn't react to the power outage until the power came back on about four hours later. These were my thoughts:
  • I am not one of the 1.2 billion people who don't have power to go out.
  • I got to have a conversation with my daughter around a flashlight.
  • I got to synchronize my clocks perfectly! (I have OCD, though I am recovering...)
  • It has been over a year since the power went out last at my house, much different from the daily power cuts in India.
  • The same storm that knocked out our power also cooled everything off so being without air conditioning was not an issue.
  • I spent some time reading by candlelight.
  • I was grateful for the power company employees who went out on their Sunday to make my life easy.
So I am learning to:
  • Appreciate what I have.
  • Not covet what I don't have.
  • Respond to the unexpected with creativity, making the most of every situation.
Question: How do you react when the power goes out? Share your thoughts below in 'comments'.

If you like this post, you can re-post, 'share' it on your Facebook status, or forward it to your friends. Follow me on Twitter @bigcloudmusic if you find me interesting. Subscribe to this Blog if you'd like.

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