Monday, December 19, 2005

'Tis The Season


Since all of my students are gone, and I spent LAST week catching up on paperwork, I am going to take this dead time to reflect on my year as well as my upcoming trip home to Iowa.

As I think about 2005, I remember it starting out back at White's and toasting the New Year in the cottage supervising 12 troubled teenage boys. We were all depressed because we were stuck in a place that we didn't want to be and we all toasted to the goal of "Not sitting here in the same place again on NewYear's Eve 2005/New Year's Day 2006". The depressing thing for me at that point was that I had been sitting in that EXACT same chair the year before supervising the cottage.

So, after that rousing start, 2005 has been "The Journey Back to Life" for me. I had set out personal goals of sticking with my Masters program, Following the Candidate process of Student Development through to the end (wherever God would lead me), sticking with a workout program, and making sure to tell my family that I loved them every chance I got=

Well, 3 out of 4 ain't bad! I spent the first 8 month of 2005 pursuing every Hall Director position at every little rinky-dink Christian College around the United States and Canada. I am thankful and proud to say that I feel that I was truly diligent to going wherever God wanted me to go. I look at this search process and am humbled by God's mercy in so many ways: I had phone interviews at school's in Mississippi and Florida-I even got a campus visit down at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida=Both of these areas were hit hard by the hurricanes! I had a campus visit to a school outside the Twin Cities in Minnesota-This visit taught me that since God made me and my desires, strengths, and abilities, that it is totally ok to look for the things you want in a job while trusting in God to lead you there. I finally got an offer from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, and while this hasn't been my 'ideal' job, the opportunities to come in and help build a great Student Development program are here: the people want it and there are some good people here. It will just be hard to change a culture that has been content with mediocrity for so long. We should all be able to grow together!!!

I am excited to say that I am on track to finish my Masters Degree in May!!! Just in time to go to the National ACSD at IWU and gloat!!! Just kidding-I am so amazed that somehow I have been able to stick it out and had the ability to do really well in this program (I didn't do so hot with my undergrad grades!)

Now, to the most important goal that I met this year (You can all forget about having me say that I stuck to an exercise program! Like any of you did either=Put down that Fudge!):

LOVE. I think that one of the biggest reasons that I struggle in my daily walk is that I feel unworthy of God's love sometimes. This has nothing to do with self-worth or self-esteem, I am thankful for who I am, I just really feel the weight of my failures driving the nails into Christ. I am so thankful for His mercy that at times I cannot believe that He only requires me to accept the Gift of Salvation and Walk On.

It doesn't take much for my heart to break
And you have done it For what seems like the millionth time
Whenever I hear Of your saving grace
And how you gave your life In exchange for mine

Sometimes I wonder why you even love me
And why you ever chose to call me child
Then I remember It's by Your sacrifice
I can say that I am yours and You are mine...."You are Mine" by Third Day

Lord, I never want to miss an opportunity to say I love you to my family, my friends, Or most importantly to You God. I want to put my life into the perspective that I have hope to share with others. I am definitely a Ragamuffin=Someone who has fallen/tripped up so many times and all that I can do is get up and testify to Your saving grace. Help me to remember that I am indeed blessed and that the only reason that I have the blessings of family, friends, and life is because you first loved the world so much that you came into this world and were willing to give Your life for me.

Thank you all again so much for the love and joy that you have brought into my life and may you all have a Blessed Christmas Holiday and a very Happy New Year!!!

Monday, December 12, 2005

GOALS

As part of my Masters course work this week, I have been required/challenged to"Develop and articulate my personal vision, mission, core values, and primary goal(s) and contrast them to the organization for which I currently work; And then to ask if there is a gap".

Now, if an individual is to take this assignment seriously, clearly this is going to take a little bit of time. How does a person even go about establishing what their life goals and values are and then apply them to a life that is not yet determined or planned out? The only thing that I can say is that whatever conclusion we all come to in terms of OUR plans for our lives-There has to be an escape clause that says ".....unless God decides otherwise because, ultimately, I don't have a freaking clue how to run my own life.....I only have the best intentions, and since I don't really want my road paved to Hell=God feel free to take over at any point and right my ship!"

Those of you that know me, know that I have been working on my core values and mission statement as a part of my growth during my Masters journey for a while now. Everything that I am cries out to be an effective minister within the realm of Student Development. It is my heart's passion to find a way to be greater than I am and have an impact with students. I was blessed to be humbled by my work at White's Residential and Family Services for the last 2 and a half years but now have found my way back into the Collegiate ranks again.

Here is what I have managed so far:

MISSION: To develop people within a Christ-centered Residence Hall Community who are community focused, principle driven, and fit: mentally, spiritually, and physically.

CORE VALUES:

I-Influence Others
M-Model Servanthood to the city community
P-Practice Integrity
A-Accelerate Positive Change
C-Create community focus within the Residence Hall
T-Teamwork is our Leadership Model

These have been the basic mission and Core Values that I have had established for over 5 years now. In any great undertaking, application and results are always the most difficult thing to establish. It is one thing to have an idea or direction for HOW to get somewhere but it is a totally different thing entirely to make that direction personal and real. I do however have some personal goals/dreams that I have thrown out for myself to try and stay focused:

1) Research doctoral programs and be ready to enroll by the time I am 40-with a plan on how to pay for and complete the program by the time I am 45=Right now I am leaning towards a Ph.D in Organizational Leadership from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

2) Research ways to improve my credit and be ready to settle down into a house by the time I am 40.

3) Actually commit to living in Abilene:

-Commit to a church home
-Establish a role in a Sunday School class of people my own age.
-Join a Bible study
-Start and actually stick to an accountability group
-Find a local doctor, insurance agent, Vet, Bank, etc.
-Find my 'favorite' restaurant

4) Be the Associate Dean/Assistant Director of a Student Development program by the time I am 35.

5) Run my own Student Development program someday.

6) Settled down closer to my family.

I am still trying to figure out just exactly why God brought me to Abilene and even whether it was God's direction that I was following. What I do know is I am committed to pressing on towards the goal of finding the answers to those questions. Please take the time to consider looking at your own life and goals and writing them down and sharing them with those closest to you so that you can get the most out of the desires of your heart that God has given to you.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Favre you too!!!

Ok, I know that this post is not going to measure up to my normal "introspective" posts but I am feeling a need to be a "homer" and defend my man Brett Favre.

There has been talk swirling around, mostly by the the liberal media, that Favre is going to retire, which just puts even more pressure on a team that is struggling with identity and injuries this year. I want to put this thing to rest because Favre is NOT going to retire this year and probably not for the next 2 or 3 years. Let's take a look the facts and stats:

FAVRE'S 2005 STATS vs. 1996 (MVP YEAR & WON SUPERBOWL)

In '96 Favre threw for 3899 yards, 39 TD's, 13 Int's, and had a QB rating of 95.8.
In '05 Favre has thrown for 2991 yards, 19 TD's, 21 Int's, and has a QB rating of 75.9.

Now, while he is on a similar pace in yards, the TD's, Int's, and therefore, QB rating could be a result of all of the injuries and inexperienced receivers that Favre has had to work with but let's take a second to compare Favre with other QB's this year to see if he still has value in the NFL or if he really does need to retire.

According to the Fantasy point totals on Yahoo!.com, Favre is the 10th ranked QB in terms of overall Fantasy Points earned to this point in the season behind Carson Palmer, Brady, P. Manning, E. Manning, Brees, Collins, Bledsoe, Hasselbeck, and Plummer.

The final, and most important point, is that who other than these teams WOULDN'T WANT FAVRE?!? I mean, even Dallas would have to admit that they would want Favre over the statue of Bledsoe. Anyway, I have selected 5 teams that could use Favre to improve their offense. I did not select teams that had established starters, even if those starters are struggling (see Jake Delhomme!).

Here are the leading contenders in order from 5 to 1:

5) The Baltimore Ravens-Who wouldn't love to get rid of Kyle Boller and pair Favre's gunslinging ability with Ray Lewis and that great defense? Favre handing off to Jamal Lewis to establish the running game which then opens up the field to throw to quality receivers in Derrick Mason (11.9 per catch w/o Favre?!?) and Mark Clayton? Baltimore is currently4-8 and 4 games out of the playoff race but with Favre, who doesn't think that he could erase at least two of those losses-like maybe the loss to the Jets in Week 4, the Detroit game in Week 5, or maybe even the Week 7 loss to the Bears when Baltimore could only manage 6 points and lost 10-6? I think Favre makes up for at least 5 points a game which makes the Ravens 7-5 and in the thick of the AFC Wild Card race.

4) The Miami Dolphins- Favre hands off to Ricky Williams or Ronnie Brown-NO WAIT!-He's got Chris Chambers/Marty Booker open on a fly pattern down the sidelines for 6!!! Ok, play-by-play machine I am not, but the Dolphins have NOTHING at QB right now (See Gus Frerotte/Sage Rosenfels) and are still only 3 games out of playoff contenders. If they win in Week 2 against the Jets, or pick up 7 points against the Bills in Week 5-they are now 7-5 and with their remaining schedule of games against San Diego (struggling), NY Jets, Tennessee, and New England=the Dolphins are a playoff contender at 9-7 and Favre would give them that.

3) The Washington Redskins-The presence of Joe Gibbs gives this team a chance each week and with Clinton Portis, Santana Moss, and James Thrash on offense-Favre would have some weapons. Washington also has a decent, if aging, defense led by LaVar Arrington. Now, I may have broken the rules here because Mark Brunell has had a good year in stretches but even with his league-leading 21 interceptions, Favre is still having a better year than Brunell. Sticking to formula, if Wash picks up 2 points against Denver in Week 5, 1 POINT against Tampa in Week 10, 3 points against Oakland in Week 11, and even 6 points against San Diego in Week 12, and the Redskins are 10-2 and challenging for the #1 seed in the NFC=TAKE THAT PARCELLS!

2) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Tampa is a very interesting situation since they currently sit 5th in the NFC at 8-4 and are winning with Chris Simms. It's hard to look at this team and see where they could be better but compare Simms to Favre:

In '05 Favre has thrown for 2991 yards, 19 TD's, 21 Int's, and has a QB rating of 75.9.
In '05 Sims has thrown for 1781 yards, 7 TD's, 8 Int's, and has a QB rating of 80.3 in the 7 games that he has played in this year.
Projected over 13 games, like Favre, Sims' stats would be:
3302 yards, 13 TD's, and 15 Int's-not bad, but Tampa Bay is pretty much healthy with Michael Clayton, Joel Galloway, and promising Rookie tight end Alex Smith-Favre would have more talent and depth and therefore would improve his numbers and help Tampa to improve on its standings in the conference and actually help the Bucs overcome the current 1 game lead that Carolina has in its division.

And coming in at the #1 team that could use Brett Favre at QB:

1) The Chicago Bears-Now, since everyone knows that I am a Packers Fan this may seem like a crazy pick but it totally makes sense from a purely football perspective.

The Bears defense is the best defense to march out on to the field in the NFL since the last great Bears team was doin' the "SuperBowl Shuffle". (We are the Bears, Shuffling Crew-Shufflin' on down, doin' it for you-We're so BAD, we know we're good-Blowin' your mind that you knew we would-We're not here to start no trouble, we're just here to do the Super Bowl Shuffle) Ahem-sorry about that!

The Bears defense is so impressive that they have won 9 games with KYLE ORTON at Quarterback! Do I even need to say more? These Monsters of the Midway could bring back Jim Harbaugh at quarterback and go to the NFC Championship game but once they get there, they will have to beat Seattle and to do that, you have to have an offense that can score and a QB that can get the ball down the field and stretch the defense with Muhsin Muhammad, Justin Gage, and TE Desmond Clarke. The Bears even have a decent running back in Thomas Jones to keep the defense honest.

OK, so this was a really long post but the point is that there are numerous, CONTENDING teams that could use the services of Favre, not only this year, but for many more years to come.

Thank you and GOODNIGHT!!!

Thursday, December 01, 2005

How do you lead when your boss is not a servant?!?

For those of you that know me, I have been struggling with direction probably ever since I was let go from Indiana Wesleyan. I have recently made a change into the world of Student Development down at McMurry University. The problem is that I don't really work for McMurry=I am employed by Century Campus Housing Managment, who is basically a landlord for properties at colleges and universities around the country. They are very disjointed in thier follow-up and leadership and they embody the very essence of corporate greed shrouded in good intentions.

This brings me to my working relationship with my supervisor and the question that began this blog: How do I continue to keep a positive attitude and motivation for my vision of students when I have a boss that hates her life and translates that angst on to me? I have been struggling with the question that I think we all have when we are trying to find God's voice in our lives-'God, is this the place for me? Did I really make this decision based on your leading, or was I so desperate for a change that I convinced myself that this was Your Will for my life?!? I still very much feel like I am on the edge of the slippery slope of despair but I recently found a devotional book given to me when I was an RD at IWU that has given me some direction.

The book is called The Leadership Lessons of Jesus by Bob Briner (the man that co-wrote Roaring Lambs). The Week One devotional is entitled Who Speaks for You? and the scripture verse is as follows:

And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie."---Mark 1:7

I will not take the space to share the entire devotional in this column but I do want to share a little bit and show how it has impacted my attitude toward a bad situation.

"Who speaks for you? Who talks about you? What do they say? These are vital questions for every leader and every potential leader to ask continually, both of himself and of the quality of his leadership. What are others saying--to you, for you, and about you? It is safe to assume that if no one is helping communicate the message of your leadership, then no one is following you. If a distorted message is being disseminated, the quality and precision of your communication need attention.......From time to time a leader needs to assess the way his public--whomever they might be--perceives him."

Here are some thoughts on this devotional:

What is the message I am sending when I cop an attitude and become petty worrying about the way my boss treats me? Won't she have to answer for her actions at some point? Why do I always have to want vindication? How can I select a messenger before first selecting a message? What is the life-long focus/message that I need to be sending? Do I always speak truth? Do I engender the kind of commitment from others that led John the Baptist to never cower in the face of opposition? Do I do enough to publicly honor my staff?

What should our focus in the face of a nasty work situation be? Should we continue to question God's direction or should we look to the guidebook that He gave us and realize that He gave us helpful information for every situation?

May God Bless you and keep you in this time of celebration of Jesus's glorious birth and give you the strength and wisdom to witness in the middle of a not-so-perfect situation!

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Bowl Championship Survey

I was watching College Gameday (as is my normal Saturday wake-up routine) and I actually had to rewind the live TV because I could not believe what I was hearing: Nearly all of these guys that I love to listen and laugh to each week, had suddenly lost their minds. Corso, Herbstreit, Fowler, and even Desmond Howard all were coming out AGAINST a playoff system?!?

Here's the gist of their argument: They were saying that the system works-That despite early problems with the system, the last two years the BCS has pitted #1 against #2. They were also saying that the fans would never be up for flying to one bowl one week and then have to follow their team again the very next week in order to pack out areas that seat over 100,000 people.

Here's my take: Did they forget about Auburn so quickly?!? Herbstreit especially has been all aboard the Auburn bandwagon last year when they went undefeated and did not get the opportunity to play for the National Championship. He is so enamored with them that he was actually lobbying for them to get into a BCS bowl game instead of Oregon, who's only loss this year so far has been to #1 USC.

Now, back to why I bring up the Auburn scenario. The 'analysts' were saying that if College Football adopted a playoff, it would only move the controversy down to the debate over who would get into to the playoffs as the #8 seed. I say-"WHO CARES?!?" I say that if you win all of your games, you as a team, have done all that you can do to stake a claim at the National Championship. Auburn last year did everything that it could do: It won all of its games, coincidentally in the very conference (the SEC) that most analysts-including the guys on Gameday-like to say is the toughest conference in the country.

Wouldn't it be better to have the debate center on those teams that had not won all of their games instead of on those who do not have strength of schedule issues, who won all of their games, and did all of their talking on the field?!? As much as everyone likes to talk this year about the 'feel good' story of JoePa and the Penn State Nittany Lions-they still did lose to Michigan and noone can deny that fact. It doesn't matter that people didn't like the fact that the refs added time on to the game and that is why people feel that Michigan won. The result of the game was a W for Michigan.

I would much rather not have to worry about rewarding those teams, like Auburn, last year that had put in the effort to win all of their games than worrying over who I might offend because I kept them out of the playoffs when they didn't even win ALL OF THEIR GAMES!!!

So, now that my rant is over, and as Tony Kornheiser of the great PTI always says: I WIN!, here is what I propose for the "NEW AND IMPROVED COLLEGE PLAYOFF SYSTEM:

1) Let the BCS or whatever system 'they' want determine the rankings for the Division 1-A football teams.

2) The top 8 ranked teams in the country in the final BCS poll get invited to participate in the playoffs to compete for the National Championship.

3) The first round games will be hosted by the higher ranked team-so right now, this year- USC would host Notre Dame, Texas would host Oregon, Penn St would host Ohio St, and LSU would host(?) Virginia Tech.

4) The next round of games could be rotated each year between the BCS Bowls-the Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowls-with the National Championship game rotating sites each year just as it does now.

5) Here's the last and most important point for those that like to look at the "revenue" aspect of the BCS-I propose that the semifinal games be played on their normal New Year's Day schedule with the National Championship game played the weekend in January between the NFL Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. I think that this would take advantage of a week off in the football calendar and allow the teams to prepare for the matchup and further tie college football ratings into the NFL's.

Well, that's my rant-What do you think?!?

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

On this time of Thanksgiving.....I eat Crow!

As many of you know, I have been working frantically to finish up my Masters degree in Management from Indiana Wesleyan. It has been typical to my experience with IWU-I have had to do all of the work to follow up on enrollment and financial aid. It has been an amazing time of growth and learning how to persevere to see this thing through to the end. I am now on course to finish all of my coursework in May!

I as started my new class, the professor gave me a reminder as to WHY I am pursuing this degree and WHY I try to be deligent to my mission field of Student Development with his devotional entitled, "Servant Leadership". I hope that it speaks to you as much as it did me.

Servant Leadership

Two of the most vivid illustrations of Servant Leadership are found in the books of Matthew and I Peter.

“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, “You know that the leaders of the Gentiles exercise dominion over then, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you, let the LEADER be your minister; And whosoever will be CHIEF among you, let him be your SERVANT: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and GIVE his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-8).

“Be leaders of God’s people that are under your care, serving as overseers – not out of a sense of obligation, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to all” (I Peter 5:2-3).

Both passages clearly illustrate the continuum from theory X leadership to theory Z leadership; from authoritarian leadership to transformational leadership. There are seven Servant Leadership principles that can guide each of us in our various leadership roles.

1. We are only qualified to lead to the degree we are willing to serve.
2. The more we serve the greater we become.
3. Serving is a cheerful giving of love.
4. Love is the great commission for all that choose to serve and lead.
5. Love is the passion to benefit others by the giving of self – from self to service.
6. There is a price to pay in Servant Leadership, but the benefits are enduring.
7. Servant Leaders know that perseverance will outlast persecution.



Lord, I pray that during times of stress and trial that you will help me to remember that: The more we serve-the greater we become! Thank you so much for the priviledge of working with college students. --Jason

Monday, November 21, 2005

Perspective

It's interesting to me how we are all so focused on ourselves that we fail to see how are actions affect others. I have been working down here in Abilene, Texas for almost 3 months now and I am still blown away at our capacity to think only of ourselves. In the last few weeks I have had to deal with putting out a fire caused by someone smoking in their bathroom, students climbing out on roofs trying to get into the opposite sex's room, and just recently, I spent over 5 hours waiting in the emergency room for someone who had overdosed on morphine pills.

Why do we all continue to punish ourselves in these ways? Why do we as a people insist on finding new and exciting ways to make ourselves miserable. I myself am finding that I am feeling the weight of this Thanksgiving holiday. I have so many things in my life and things that I have overcome that I should be rejoicing over the opportunity to share a day of thanksgiving with others. What am I doing instead? I am brooding over not being able to go home to Iowa to spend this holiday with my family. I know in my heart that I should be thankful for my life, and I am, it's just that for me-this pain is real. I know in my heart that stacked up against the losses that the people in the Gulf region have endured, my pain is nothing, but for me my pain is real. In spite of having multiple options for where to go for Thanksgiving dinner, I still feel sorry for myself=The pain is real.

This is where I live in terms of the lessons that I try to teach to my residents. Ours is not to continue to dump on ourselves with guilt for feeling bad-Ours is to learn from these things so that they allow us the ability to walk in other people's shoes. If we truly learn about ourselves and become comfortable in our own skins, we will gain the perspective to reach out to others in their pain withour needing to defend our own.

This year, I am thankful for the gift of Jesus. I am thankful for my family. I am eternally thankful for the friendships that God has brought into my life=without some of you available on the other end of the line, where would I be?!? I am also thankful for the hurts in my life that God carried me through in order to help me be the man I need to be to be effective with my residents.

Have a Great Thanksgiving!!!

Saturday, July 02, 2005

Strange Fruit

ISAIAH 55:1-11:

As I was reading Isaiah this week, I was reminded how hard it is to be productive when I am distracted with other things. Isaiah gives the helpful reminder that God provides for ALL of our needs. It is only those times that we look away from God that we struggle. I read through this passage and I realized that I have been longing for all of the things that the Lord promises He will bring: Security and solid emotions; Forgiveness from guilt; Health and Wholeness; Peace of Mind about my job situation; and His strength to make it through working a two week vacation for my houseparents in which I will work 10 out of 14 days.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Introspection

What do you do when you are forced to come face to face with the potential death of a dream?

We all have to face this at some point in our lives. For some, it is the death of bachelorhood as they face the daunting task of establishing a family. For others, it is the death of that perceived "perfect" romance or the imagined missed opportunity of asking for a waitress's phone number.

For me, I have been faced with the real possibility that God may be asking me to give up on my dream of working with college students. For anyone that has been neck deep in the middle of a job search, you have an idea of what I am dealing with now. The sick feelings as you try to wipe away the anxieties of the day so that you can go to sleep at night only to be haunted by the regret of yesterday. Why didn't I pursue that contact? Why did make that stupid comment in that interview? What is it that they are looking for? Why not me? Where does my value lie now that no one wants me to work for them?

It is an unsettling reality to have the ground that you were so sure of drop out from underneath you, forcing you to look at who you are and what is important to you. Inevitably, there is always a great period of growth that happens on the backside of these moments in our lives but it is what we do during these times that forges who we will be once we have come through to our new reality.

The only thing that I have come up with during this time is the thing that we all inevitably come up with: you try to find a way to make the best of what you have in your current situation while passionately seeking the answers to the questions that plague you. For me, I have been focusing on the search; On the race, as it were. What can I continue to do today to make an impact? What amazing things have I been missing out on right here in my current situation? If God asks me to stay here, in what ways can that be a positive?

It is so easy to get caught up in looking ahead that we miss out on all the great things that we have going for us in our lives now. Looking back, the only true things that I have gaining from my current period of introspection is that: Regret is the worst thing in the world to have to live with and I know that I have enough strength to handle today-and that's enough for now.

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Prayer

Don't Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,

"Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he worked it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow - You may succeed with another try.
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.