Big Is The New Small

Failure is a very common fear that we all face at different times in our lives.  This fear is often paralyzing and inhibits us from reaching our maximum potential.  It is important to understand that you will fail, I will fail and your biggest hero on this earth will fail.  You must embrace the fact that failure is an inevitable event, rather than you being a pitiful person.  Once you understand this premise, and welcome the fact that failure is part of your personal development, you will then be given permission to fail…. and fail often. 

I have a history of trying new things, pushing the envelope, doing my own thing, questioning everything and failing.  My supervisors/mentors and I have always had the understanding that I will try new things and they may have to correct my course at times; however I will learn from my mistakes and this process will repeat itself all over again.  Our understanding gives me permission to be innovative, permission to fail and permission to “Be Me.” This process generally leads to a high level of competence, a high level of success and a greater dependence on God. 

The more you fail, the more calculated your risks will become and remember: “It doesn’t matter what happens to you, but rather what happens through you.”  Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda never Dida! 

Do you fear failure?  Why?  What risks do you need to take?

THIS MIGHT BE LONG, BUT IT’S WORTH THE READ!

Can I Borrow $25? 
 

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: ‘Daddy, may I ask you a question?’
DAD: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the man.
SON: ‘Daddy, how much do you make an hour?’
DAD: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the man said angrily.
SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’
DAD: ‘If you must know, I make $50 an hour.’
SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: ‘Daddy, may I please borrow $25?’

The father was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’ The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. ‘Are you asleep, son?’ He asked. ‘No daddy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy. ‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier’ said the man ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you daddy!’ He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. ‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the father grumbled. Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied. ‘Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time s lip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

THOUGHTS?

Yesterday was Wesley’s birthday and we surprised him with this new and really cool 10 speed bike.  He was excited not only to ride his bike for the first time, but to put on his new X-Games helmet.  Riding a 10 speed that has freewheel and gears to shift is quite a step up from his previous dirt bike with back brakes.

As I was watching him ride, I noticed several things about his 10 speed gear shifting:

• He was either in 1st gear and pedaling really fast and not going anywhere
• He was in one of the higher gears pedaling unecessarily hard while going up hills
• He was trying to over-think the shifting instead of just riding the bike

Fortunately, Wesley was able to make the necessary adjustments after some trial and error and after day one he is on his way to being a pro.  I have been around individuals and worked for leaders that make the same mistakes that Wesley was making on his 10 speed.  Those leaders generally don’t make the adjustments as quickly as Wesley did.  In other words you have leaders who:

• Are running around trying to always look busy, be busy, keep their people looking busy and pedaling really fast and are not getting much accomplished, as a matter of fact productivity is lower.
• Unwilling to shift gears and make the necessary changes to work smarter and not harder.  Not delegating, not making necessary adjustments, unwilling to get rid of old ways, unwilling to see the writing on the wall and change. 
• Try to hard for the sake of trying to hard; always trying to be super leader or super boss.  People will follow you because of what’s inside of you, not because you are over analyzing tasks as simple as riding a bike.  Let your employees ride their bikes without always over correcting, let them make some mistakes, fumble-to-find and allow them to grow into a pro.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t develop, train and mentor your people.  I am saying “Stop Trying So Hard!”  A good leader will surround themselves with competent people, lead them and trust them to get the job done.  Over-correcting can occur if a leader is always correcting and always correcting.  You remember what they say in Driver’s Education; “If you over-correct, you can end up in a ditch.”

Thoughts on Stop Trying So Hard!

Have you worked for leaders or been around individuals who are always in 1st gear pedaling fast but not going anywhere, unwilling to shift gears and make a change or always over-correcting?

Personal Ramblings:

• Today is my son Wesley’s Birthday (He’s the Big 9)
• We went to Ardmore yesterday to the in-laws for Mothers Day
• It’s time to get back in the gym starting today
• Praying for the families in Oklahoma and Missouri affected by the torndoes; “Tornadoes are Viscious!”

Church Ramblings:

• Our satellite got moved 1/2 of a degree from last weeks storm and we didn’t have a signal, so I had to preach on Saturday night from Craig’s notes.
• My team is amazing; it’s great to see how they all pitch-in during adverse situations
• My team went to LifeChurch.tv Central to meet all of the central teams (mission= put a name w/ a face)

Blog Ramblings:

• I added a few more people to my blogroll; If you have linked BigIsTheNewSmall, let me know so that I can show you some LinkLuv
• Any thoughts or ideas on blog posts or blog series that you would like me to do; let me know

 What I am Reading:

• Juggling Elephants
• The Dip (Revisiting) 
• YouVersion (Daily Bible Read)

Follow Me or Friend Me:

• Facebook (Let’s be friends… click here)
• Twitter (Follow me… click here)

Questions:

• Do you pray before your meals? Why or Why not?  Hmmmm “Give us this day, our daily bread”
• Do you know your neighbor’s names?  Hmmmm “Love your neighbor as yourself”

Your Ramblings:

• Anything that you want to sound off about this Monday Afternoon or evening feel free!

The beginning of this year I posted a blog entitled “Pimp Your Blog” in which I discussed the art of promoting your blog.  Today’s post has a little bit different twist; however it is a distant cousin of the original post.  I am encouraging each and every person who is reading this post to pimp their blog. In addition, if you have linked BigIsTheNewSmall let me know, so that I can show you some LinkLuv and help you pimp your blog.

In other words, if you have a blog make a comment in the comment section and let everyone know about it.  You can tell us what type of stuff you write or the type of blog you have: personal, ministry, family business, random, technology, video…  I don’t care how many blogs you pimp; you can pimp your Pastor’s blog, your friends blog, your blog, blogs you read that are really good…. “The Blog World Is Yours!”  I am going to pimp a couple myself.

Everyone reading should check out the blogs that are being pimped; who knows you might find some new favorite blogs to read!

Get your pimp on!

BigIsTheNewSmall

With the presidential primary winding down, you often here pollsters asking the question which candidate would you like to sit down and have a beer with?  BTW-That’s what made president Bush so popular in his early days, because more Americans said they would want to sit down and have a beer with him… in otherwords he came across as “one of the guys or a regular guy.”  I personally would still like to sit down and have a cup of Starbucks with President “W” Bush.

Somehow our LifeGroup got into the discussion of who would you want to sit down and have a beer or a cup of coffee with… and this is an interesting question to ask, with a wide range of responses.

Answer The Beer Question:

If you could sit down and have a beer or Starbucks cup of coffee with anyone in the world that is currently living, who would it be?  What questions would you ask or what would you talk about?

I just wanted to keep it real today and let you know that I Really Don’t Care What People Think!  Last year I posted a blog with the same title and I was talking about People Pleasers.   As I was looking at my most popular/most commented blog posts (some of which are controversial) and to be honest I have a strong position on each of them and I Really Don’t Care What People Think!

Check out each of those posts to the right.   As you are reading the below statements please add “I Really Don’t Care What People Think” to the end of each, here we go:

• Barack Obama could be the first Black President but I think he’s a phony (He Scares Me!) 
• Obama’s position on abortion, parental notification and the protection of the unborn is horrendous
• I want to hear from more of you; if you have linked BigIsTheNewSmall let me know
• Definitely tithe
• I’m down w/ secular music in the church, we play it every week
• I’m still Black; however the new blog look was definitely an upgrade
• Reverend Wright is now a household name; I definitely don’t agree w/ his negative crud; however I think he’s being honest about how he feels and about Obama
• I own some of those $150 jeans
• The church is a great place to talk about sex and I’m not ready to talk to my oldest son yet
• I personally don’t care what a pastor spends his money on… I don’t know their details or live their life; nor am I in their conversations w/ God…  Wisdom, Wisdom, Wisdom!
• Abortion is Murder… enough said!
• I spent many years working with Sex Offenders and although it’s not a popular position, Sex Offenders have to be treated different!

Your Turn!  Any thoughts relative to any of those blogs or my opinions?  Go ahead, sound off because I Really Don’t Care What People Think!  BigIsTheNewSmall

Looking Back:

• Michael Jackson used to be the man
• Some crazy individuals flew some planes into the Twin Towers
• I couldn’t swim as a kid
• Gas was .97 cents a gallon
• I left the comfortable world that new, to go into full-time vocational ministry

Looking Ahead:

• I am having lunch with this guy this week
• I purchased this phone and I will have it by Wednesday (I will be able to do some cool video blogging)
• We will have a new President soon and it won’t be this guy
• Gas will be $10 a gallon
• I still won’t know how to swim

How about you; do you have any Looking Back While Looking ahead thoughts!  Any thoughts on my thoughts!

BTW- This video blogging element will be a cool addition for BigIsTheNewSmall! 

What’s going on inside my head…

1. Airport security, necessary, poor interpersonal skills, what’s up w/ the 3oz. bottles and the air-puff machine
2. Be mindful of your associations… perception becomes reality, Obama/Rev. Wright/The American People
3. Geico and Sonic have the best commercials, Cavemen/Goofy Men
4. If you have never visited the NW Oklahoma City Campus and live locally, you should the staff, volunteers and people are the best
5. It’s time to get the grass, flower bed, patio and garage in order
6. My oldest son will be changing schools do to some re-alignment (Angie Debo-current school 1421 on the API; Westfield-new school 1500 on the API) 1,500 is the highest possible score… Sometimes change is good!
7. I am pulling for the Hornets as a previous 2 year season ticket holder… I can’t wait for the Sonics/Durant to get to OKC
8. You can do more w/ less, you can be productive without burning the midnight oil, you can have fun and produce, people pleasers don’t please anyone… BigIsTheNewSmall
9. We just finalized our anniversary cruise “Liberty of The Seas” San Juan/Puerto Rico, Philipsburg St. Maarten, Labidi/Labadee
10. I am not reading as many blogs, I’m reading more books and outlining a book that I am thinking about writing…  Seasons

What are some random thoughts going on inside your head?

BigIsTheNewSmall

God isn’t fair! Habakkuk