How To Have a Great Day...

This post brought to you by Cool Dog. He's cooler than you... And he's a dog.

Today was my day off. Since starting my job in the retail world, I don't have a regular day off like I did in ministry. So I've come into a new appreciation of it as a recharge. And I would venture to say that today was nigh perfect. Why was it so perfect? Well I'm glad you asked. Here's a break down of how I had the perfect day off. Follow it closely, and you too can be as relaxed (but probably not as awesome) as me (or Cool Dog)...

1) Sleep Late Alarms are for work days. Sleep later than you usually do. You've earned it.

2) Eat Your Cereal In Your PJs Getting dressed right away is for work days and fleeing your house when it's on fire. It's OK to start slow on your day off. Go ahead and watch morning TV while you eat your Cocoa Pebbles in your PJs. You've earned it.

3) Hang Out With People You Like Being around people that you don't choose to is for work days and family reunions. On your day off, you can hang out with whoever you want. So today, I got to spend time with one of my favorite humans, my brother.

4) Eat Well Eating a sack lunch is for work days and third grade field trips to the state capital where stupid Kevin Hughes trips you while going up the stairs and makes you fall and everyone sees you and laughs. It's important that, on your day off, you eat some quality food. So today, I went to Five Guys and had a tremendous double cheeseburger and fries.

5) Do What You Want To Do Doing what you don't want to is for work days and anniversary dinners with your sweetheart. Today I wanted to get through a significant piece of the book I'm reading (since I've got another one I want to start). I brought it with me to lunch and spent a good two and a half hours eating, reading, and drinking Diet Coke. Ahh...

6) Attend A Rock Show Listening to soft Adult Contemporary music is for work days and orthodontic waiting rooms. Today my friend, the right reverend Micah Merchant, called me up this afternoon and offered a free ticket to the David Crowder* Band show tonight. So I went with him, worshipped, rocked out, laughed, and had a good time. I highly recommend going to a rock show every time you have a day off.

7) Veg Out In Front of the TV Using your brain is for work days and trying to figure out how to open the child proof bottle of Advil. After getting home from the rock show, I cranked up the old DVR and started in on the shows I missed today. Oh... Tina Fey. It's great to see you again. What's that? You missed me. I know baby... I know.


So dear reader, enjoy your days off. You need them to recharge your battery for work days...

I'm Tapped...

Ugh... Sorry reader. Late night at work = I can't write something right now. Guess I'll be tacking on two posts to the monthly goal...

It's Gotta Be the Shoes...

I mentioned in a previous post that I had started working at a large national retail chain store. For eight hours at a time (soon to be more due to Thanksgiving shopping) I walk the aisles helping customers, filling holes on shelves, straightening merchandise, and generally (and happily) doing as I'm told. There are tasks that my job involves that require me to put forth some amounts of thought. Like tracking down products in our store or other stores in the area. (I rather like this part. It's kind of like solving a mystery!) And there are parts of my job that allow me to enter into a kind of mental state of auto-pilot. My body does the work while my mind dwells on other things.

It was during one such time this past week that I began to think of how working at this job had taught me another lesson that I'm not sure I had previously learned in the church.

When I started, I was asked to procure the elements of the store's uniform. Unfortunately for me, these included shoes. I hate wearing shoes. They make my feet feel claustrophobic. For this reason, I much prefer my Rainbows. (But I digress.) The only pairs of shoes I have are some slip on chucks and some Vans. Neither of which provide much support. But I work with what I've got. You know?

After working a few shifts I began to experience quite a bit of pain in my feet. Now, I'm not talking about a little soreness. I'm talking about full on "slow me down, make me grimace, making my whole body exhausted" pain. I've always had bad ankles and low arches, so this should have come as no surprise. But still...

So after a few weeks of limping home, I finally decided to go get some good shoes. I went out early one morning before my shift started and found a great pair of New Balance for super cheap.

I noticed about halfway through work that night that I wasn't in pain! And, not only that, but I noticed over the next week that I wasn't getting as tired while I worked. I had more energy during work which meant I had more energy when I got home too!

It was a small change that yielded a big result!

Shoes are such a small part of my wardrobe. Yet, because all of my weight comes down on them with every step, they're very important. I wonder if there are important areas in our lives or ministry that could benefit in big ways if we made a few small changes.

I guess I know what I'll be thinking about when I go in to work tonight...

How I Met My Bobblehead...

Remember that time I twittered something that I would like to receive as a gift and then received it? Yep. I loved that time too. Well, guess what? Here's another round of something similar...

Last Monday, the official How I Met Your Mother twitter sent out a tweet saying that the first 100 people who retweeted that there was a new episode on that night would win a free copy of a special condensed version of Barney's book, The Bro Code (which I already have), called Bro On the Go. So, of course, I immediately complied.

A little later in the week, I received a twitter response from someone at CBS saying that I had won and asking that I email my info to them. Boo Yah. However, when I did, they told me that I was actually #107 in the contest (yeah right) and asked if I'd settle for a talking Barney Stinson bobblehead. Uhh... yeah.

A week later and this little gem is at my door...

Ugly and totally inaccurate representation of NPH? Yep. Free prize from a contest which automatically elevates its value to near legendary levels of awesome? Oh yeah.

I'd type what he says too, but this is a PG blog.

Go ahead,be jealous...

Inspiration...

Wow... This month's goal is turning out to be tougher than I thought.

You see, there are days when I feel like it's almost second nature to write. And then days (like today) that I struggle to get anything typed out. For me, it all comes down to inspiration. When I've got it, the words flow smoother than a greased fat kid taking off down a slip n' slide. But when inspiration is absent, writing even a simple sentence can feel like passing a kidney stone. The problem is, I can't manufacture inspiration. No matter how... hard... I... try.

But I have an idea. I'm going to employ this idea for the entirety of the coming week, evaluate its effectiveness, and then report on it.

To be continued...

A Little Loggins Makes Everything Better (Even Me)...

I'm not sure if you could tell from my two previous posts (here and here), but I've been sick. However, after two days of feeling like a got punched in the immune system by all germs ever, I've emerged from my cocoon stronger than ever. That's right, no fever today. Want to know my cure?

Kenny Loggins

Yeah, read that again. Kenny Loggins.

It wasn't that long ago that I said that there was no better song to get you pumped up than Europe's The Final Countdown. But today I discovered I was wrong. When I was in desperate need of pumpitude, it wasn't Europe that came to my aid. No. It was Kenny Loggins.

You see, today I listened to Kenny Loggins' song I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man) so many times, I became so pumped up that I beat the germs that were invading my body in a dance off. I very effectively served them.

So to you, dear readers, I offer this health tip: listen to Kenny Loggins. his music can cure any ailment...

I Might Be Dying...

I know that I set a goal of writing something original every weekday during November, but I can't do it today. Yesterday's post was about how I got sick. Today, it took a turn for the worse. On top of a fever, you can add dizziness and shortness of breath. Ugh... and my symptoms have affected my ability to think straight.

So I'm going to either tack on a day this weekend, or at the end of the month.

Bear with me people. I hope I can be back tomorrow. But if I die tonight, I want my ashes scattered in three places: the moon, Hawaii, and the Keebler factory. Cause that way, everyone will always wonder...

I'm So Sick...

Ugh... For so long now, I've been reading on my friends' blogs, facebooks, and twitters that hey were all getting super sick with the flu. But I laughed at them. Why? Because they're mere mortals. They don't have the immune system that I do. I laugh in the face of germs... while wearing a surgical mask. But still...

And then, there was today...

It started completely uneventful. Bank, shuttling my brother to school, lunch with a new friend. But then, once I got home, I began to feel super cold. Like, my insides were cold. And I couldn't warm up. I put on a sweatshirt and wrapped myself in a blanket (also made of sweatshirt). But I still couldn't get warm. With my work shift quickly approaching, I took my temperature. 100.5. (Moms, is that high?) I decided that getting paid was more important than my health (or the health of others) and went in to work anyway.

It was terrible. I was sweating like crazy for almost the whole night. It was semi-bearable when I was moving, as it allowed my perspiration to cool, so I tried to keep moving all... the... time.

Thank goodness I made it through.

Of course, now I've got to go back in tomorrow at noon. Here's hoping a good night of sleep will work miracles...

Ministry Lessons From the Retail World...

I've recently started working at a rather large national retail store chain. And, as I was working my shift today, I began to think about some of the things I've seen and experienced since starting. I realized that some of the principles and practices that my bosses have trained me in (and modeled to me) transfer rather beautifully to the world of ministry. So I wanted to jot a few down so that I can remember them, and use them, in my ministry!


1) Presentation is important... We spend a ton of time on presentation at the store. Several times a day, we walk the aisles making sure that there are no holes on the shelves, products are where they should be, and that things are facing forward. Things are dusted all the time. Floors are polished. Seasonal decorations are hung. All of these things are done with the customer in mind. If perception is reality, then we want to be perceived as a clean, organized store.

I'm not sure if we think about presentation enough in ministry. What's the first thing a guest sees (and therefore thinks) when they walk into our space? What kind of environments are we creating and how do they affect our message? When we hand over our promo for camp to a parent, what impression does it give them? We need to start recognizing how much presentation can add to our credibility.


2) But it's not as important as great customer service... It doesn't matter how good the store looks, without paying special attention to the customers, the store can never be successful. Our store policy is that we're always asking customers "Can I help you find something?" Providing great customer service is the first thing on everyone's job description.

All of us in professional ministry have struggled with balancing being task driven vs. relationship driven. While presentation is important (we could have the best looking ministry around, with the biggest programs, sweetest print work, and most awesome videos) unless we're working hard to encourage growing relationships (with God and others), we're never going to have a successful ministry. Life change happens within the context of relationships.


3) Everyone's a janitor... This is a principle that I first learned from a book called Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney's Success It basically means that no job is too small for anyone. If there's trash on the ground, everyone from the new guy janitor to the company CEO reaches for it to pick it up. No one is too important to lend a hand when it's needed.

I'm especially guilty of thinking I'm too important to do some things in ministry. Sometimes, under the guise of "empowering a volunteer" to do something, I'd pass it off my plate. But the truth is that each of us is important, and each of is isn't too important. So there's nothing we should consider ourselves above, and nothing we shouldn't be willing to pitch in on. I love that everyone pitches in and does their part at my store. If only there was some model of that for ministry. Something like... a body. Like... a body... of Christ. Eh. I think I've still got a lot to learn with this one...


4) Encouragement is important... At least once a day (sometimes more than once) we have a sales team huddle, where all of the sales staff and managers gather together to talk about what's important at the time. And every huddle starts with what they call "recognition". It's basically team members bragging on each other! Everyone has the opportunity to bring attention to someone's good job! I love it! I even got recognized today!

Anyone who's been in ministry for very long can attest to how easy it can be to get discouraged. We all need encouragement. Duh. But I'll go one step farther and suggest that we all need to encourage others too! I don't care whether you're gifted in it or not. Just do it! It makes them feel great and makes you feel good too!


5) The store looks great because it's always being worked on... As I was working on product placement today, a customer walked by and said, "Wow! Now I know why this store always looks so good!" And it's true! We're always working toward making the store better! We never just let things coast because there's no such thing as coasting. If we let things go, they'll go downhill!

Too many ministries suffer because we find something (a method, a process, etc.) that we get comfortable with and stick with it for too long. The truth is (especially in youth ministry) that our audience is always growing and changing. We need to change with them! Don't be afraid to evaluate your ministry, admit that things aren't working like they should be, and take action to make them better! Don't get comfortable or settle! Don't be afraid to change! (Says the black kettle to the black pot.)


I'm actually having fun with this job. And the more I work there, the more I feel like I'm learning about dealing with people (managing, being on a team, serving others). I hope that God will give me grace (and memory) enough to live these lessons out when I land another pastoral job...

My Bucket List...

Yes, I was inspired by the movie. No, I didn't see it. Yes, I'm that good...

After the movie The Bucket List was released, I made two decisions. One, I would no longer classify a movie as "good" just because Jack Nicholson or Morgan Freeman was in it. (Double for Rob Reiner's involvement.) And two, I would do my best to write down and keep track of some things I deeply desire to see or experience as a part of really taking advantage of the life God has given me, you know, before I kick the bucket.

I'm kind of surprised that I haven't posted on this before.

But anyway, I'd like to post some of them here. I can't post all, as some of them are a little too personal. But I'd still love to share some of them. I'll share the one I've already accomplished! Here we go...

1) Travel to the following places (in no particular order): London, Ireland, Gettysburg, Philadelphia, Italy, Australia, China, Kenya, Israel, (the list keeps getting added to)...

2) Run a half-Marathon...

3) Own (and, of course, wear) a very nice tailored suit...

4) Fire a cannon...

5) Ride a bicycle to work...

7) Spend the night in the Plaza Hotel in NYC (and reenact parts of Home Alone 2)...

8) Attend a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field...

9) Steal a pair of bowling shoes from a bowling alley... DONE!!!

10) See U2 in concert live...

11) Visit the Library of Congress and sit and read...

12) Learn to play Linus and Lucy on the piano...

13) Drive a monster truck...

14) Appear as a character in a comic book...

15) Attend the Sundance, Tribecca, and Butt-numb-a-thon FIlm Festivals...

16) Sing and play guitar onstage in a really big and/or historic venue (like the Ryman Auditorium)...

16) Write a book...



That's all I've got so far! Looks like I've got a lot of work to do, and you can bet I'm still adding to the list as time goes on. Do you have anything that you deeply want to do before you kick the bucket? Maybe I'll steal an idea from you...