Our eldest son wanted his bedtime snack to be a “Pirate Beard” tonight.

Uh…. initial thought = gross. Secondary thought = beards are cool, so why not eat one?

So, after a bit of thought, I put on my daddy-creative hat and rallied some random ingredients from the cupboard.

Here is what I came up with:

Unimpressive. I know.

J-Man was unimpressed too. And, if I’m honest, my feelings were a bit hurt.

SO RIDICULOUS.

With a bit of a sigh, I walked out of the room, semi-rejected by a 4 year old who didn’t like the snack I made him.

So… I took a moment to gather my kinda hurt feelings and reenter with him.

I asked him “What don’t you like about the Pirate Beard?”

He didn’t have (what I thought was) a good answer.

“Try the nose! It’s a honey/sesame almond from Trader Joe’s for crying out loud. It’s REALLY good.”

J-Man tries the nose. Big Smile.

“Try the mouth – it’s Corn Chex, and you LOVE Corn Chex. And the beard is peanut butter for goodness sakes!”

“Wait ’till you try the eyes. Raisins. Nummy Central.”

He got about halfway through the Pirate Beard Snack with lots of small bites and smiles before he had had enough.

He was surprised that my crazy snack actually tasted pretty decent. He was happy (mostly) with the experience.

If we pause for 28 seconds and are honest with ourselves, when people around us reject our creativity, it hurts.

“I worked really hard = you should be on board with it. You should like it. You should like me.”

A customer rejects our project? What if a donor rejects our ask? A family member or friend rejects us?

How will we react?

No big deal?

Leave, pout, wallow in disdain?

Or gather our thoughts, take a deep breath & continue in relationship? Will we offer the thing that costs us the most? Will we jump back in and offer ourselves?

What if we came back with a question or two: How would you change our product or service? What is it about our vision that doesn’t resonate with you? What is your perfect Pirate Beard?

What if we reentered with a simple baby step: Try the honey sesame almond. I think you’ll really like it.

We all need to be walked through stories and experiences. One step at a time.

Will we be a creative guide that values learning, and listening before lead? Will we continue to create and show up again after we have been rejected?

May each of us continue to create pirate beards, to deal with rejection in a healthy way and continue to take baby steps to listen, ask good questions & show up.

Kevin

PS – once J-Man had had enough, his vulture little brother finished all of it. If someone doesn’t like your product, vision or hope the first time around, there might be someone else who might.

Don’t loose hope! Try again! The world is full of little brothers who are ready to gobble up what you have to offer!

 

 

Here is a person who values his peeps over his product.

(See here if you have NO IDEA what I am talking about.)

He’s a guy I’ve been getting to know this year and admire greatly.

He values people so much that he basically gives his product (the creative person & presence he is) away for free every now and then.

His time.

The mileage on his car.

His presence.

The strings on his guitar.

His story.

The space in his soul.

His heart.

You should get to know him.

Buy his album (It’s really good, just like him.)

Humble, kind, present, subtle, ambitious & thankful.

If you want to be a world changer, follow an example like his.

An interesting thing happens when we start giving ourselves away to others.

They start doing it too.

It gives them life.

It gives you life.

Our relationships of give and take become mutual.

What can we give away for free this week? Some of our precious time? A service? A bit of our product? Ourselves?

I highly recommend that we all do it.

It helps us be us. It helps us be real. It helps us think more highly of others than we do ourselves.

And the world, our family, business or organization is better for it.

A HUGE PS:

Oh – by the way, this fella is also a great YL Leader in our region. Started a YL club at the school where he teaches., recruited a great team of volunteers and reaches 120 kids/per week at YL Club. 52 kids signed up for summer camp so far. Many more life changing stories to come.

Promise.

His story is being shared on a national level in YL.  (Names have been changed in the article). And one that longs to be told. It might be in your mailbox soon.

 

 

Had a great conversation with a really smart colleague yesterday.

We were talking about the temptation to value our product over people.

In YL, our product may be a great club, a sound club talk, an incredible camp experience or a shiny fundraising event.

In our businesses, it could be the service we offer or the great thing that we sell.

In our homes, it could be the picked up living room, a tidy refrigerator, or an exquisite meal that I am trying to cook.

Now, we must put effort into some of these products so that they have the potential to be really great.

Not to the detriment of our people though.

We can never sacrifice people for product.

We must value relationships over events, objects or sales.

Team really does matter.

A Person makes the world go ’round.

Trusting relationships, togetherness, shared story and integrated purpose.

If we are spending too much time thinking about how to offer a better product and not enough time wondering how to invite more people into the story of that product, I’m afraid that we have missed the mark.

When we think about events we are organizing, things we put in our schedule, where we spend our time,

we must figure out how to give people a valuable role, a personal invitation, a bit of ourselves… 

May we value thinking through how to get more people into the story of our lives, business and organizations.

May we never value product over people.

 

 

“I’m so busy” has become a badge of honor these days.

If we are not busy, well, we must be lazy.

My auto response when someone asks me how I’m doing is “Busy.”

I’m not as busy as I think and feel most days.

We have full lives, yes. Sarah has a small business, I work a full time job and a small part time job in YL. We have active boys, a house that needs work and an extended network of family and friends that we love to spend time with.

Through all of this, Sarah and I are working hard to remove “busyness” from our lexicon and our schedules.

We are learning the importance of the need for a realigning of our concepts of Space & Pace.

To create Space for time together, with our boys, Space to laugh, do nothing, swing on the swings, read good books, playing trains.

To slow down our Pace to listen to each other, to make eye contact, to avoid multitasking, to ask good questions and to actually listen.

Creating Space and Pace to take a break from the mayhem is not a new concept. (Check this out.) It’s simply a concept that is not valued as much as it has been in the past.

I also need Space and a shift in Pace to be more creative at work. To get into a spin class, sweat like crazy and not answer my phone or emails. My mind has the freedom to wander to new places and generate new ideas.

To sit in the steam room after a work out and wonder about things that I don’t have space to wonder about at my office. To press pause, take a walk, and make a big decision.

Do we have the Space to care for our family and for ourselves? A Pace that provides room for creativity? Does your business or organization value this type of thinking?

May each of us take a good look at our lives…

& Create Space and Pace – for quiet, listening, being present and creation – it’ll be worth it.

I write for 10 minutes + you read for 3 minutes = God only knows

This blog won’t be perfect, because I am not. And it won’t take you long to read each day.

Promise.

It will be real. Because I am real.  Because you are too. Let’s be real together.

Words can be weird.

If a certain word is a normal part of the lexicon of our business, organization or home, we often assume that others, who may not be in the same group as us, understand what we are talking about.

Sometimes these words might be insider lingo or an acronym that our business throws around. ROE. CPI. Synergy. Da Heck?

Other times, these words are inside jokes in our homes. Our house is fully of crazy, made up words and silly inside jokes. Come visit sometime and your life will never be the same.

Insider lingo should bug us.

The word “Discipleship” has been ringing in my ears since yesterday..

It’s a word that we use often in YL circles. We throw it around with ease – sometimes assuming that everyone knows what we are talking about.

What am I trying to get across when I use that word? Is it the right word for what I mean?

Yesterday, that word felt right to me. Today it feels weird.

So, I’m going to dive into that word. What do I think about it? More importantly, what do others think about it? Is it the right word for our people? Our context?

I’m hopeful that each of us can pause for 28 seconds today and think about the weird words we use our homes, our business, or our organization.

May each of us be thoughtful, hopeful and welcoming in our language.

So that people feel at home in our business, that they matter to our organization, that they are members of our families.

 

 

I had the incredible opportunity to visit and speak at the church I grew up in yesterday.

As I gave an in-depth YL update, I looked over the crowd and thought – “What an incredible group of folks!”

They have been with our family through thick and thin, and supported our work in YL by both their prayers, finances and friendship.

We were overwhelmed with thanks for these incredible relationships over the years as we drove from the parking lot.

A bit later in the afternoon, I realized that I had missed a huge opportunity to invite even more people into this organic and every growing story. I should have called all my aunts and uncles, invited friends of my parents and other people who are involved not only with YL, but with our lives.

Each of those people could have spent a bit of life with the fine folks at Alger Park Church, shared a cup of coffee or a quick story. They have so much in common. Faith & Us.

Listen to the story. Engage in the story. Be changed by the story.

Come and see. Come and hear. Come and be.

Next time, I will. I will be more thoughtful of who to personally invite to gatherings like this. Their lives will never be the same if I make that type of choice.

Whether you are in business, ministry, a stay at home parent, work in a factory, or are retired, there is a good chance that there is someone in your life that needs to be involved with what you are up to. They long to be involved with what you are up to.

What is on your schedule this upcoming week? Who else might you invite in the fray with you? Who needs an injection of life that you might be able to provide?

May each of us be inviters this week!

Here we go!

This is what I’m thinking about today:

• How do I verbalize to high school kids that the Gospel is a person, not a story? (Reading Speaking of Jesus – Carl Medearis).
• Wondering what I will learn from my friend Sam today, and also what ‘my plenty’ is and how I can offer that to our friendship. (II Cor. 8:14).
  • Who is a friend, customer, donor, family member that you need to connect with today? Give them a call – your life and their life will be better for it.
• Why do people still buy and eat canned meat? I love it! Octopus, sardines, smoked oysters. Fresh is usually best, but meat in a can is something that still sells. We must pay attention to the ways of the past as we innovate the things of the future. What really works? What motivates my desire to re-create? There are some things that do not need innovation or re-creation. I vow to listen to those that have gone before me, to ask real questions and not to create unless there is a direct need.
  • Where are you attempting to create? Does the world want or need that project? Do people want or need that project? If the answer is “no” then stop!