'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!!!

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.

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!!!

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!