Thought i'd take a page from my friend, Alexis, who is really good at just posting short little regular messages... lets see if I can hack it.
For work this week and the next two, essentially, I am working with New Student Programs to help support "Baylor Line Camp" - which is a 4 day on-campus experience for incoming freshmen. Its an opportunity for them to get to know other students and really get integrated into the baylor experience. I think its been going well so far, but it feels like football camp - we have line camp stuff every morning, class most afternoons (though on some days we have class in the AM and line camp stuff in the afternoon...) and then line camp stuff at night. Meanwhile, we are still expected to get our homework done! :) I am not in the worst shape - some people actually work for New Student Programs and they are working until after midnight every day Tues - Fri and still have to do this other stuff - -- - crazy!
I am also taking pictures at Line Camp for the office, so hopefully I'll have some of those pics up on the blog soon - maybe this weekend - so you can see.
In the meantime, I'm taking two summer courses during this session: Leadership in Higher Education and Faith-Based Higher Education (a survey of the history of protestant colleges and universities). Both are very interesting. And both are taught by Dub Oliver, the vice-president for student life at baylor - which makes us feel important, I think, and also very very lucky that he's willing to devote a lot of hours a week to learning with us.
that's it for now - breakfast starts in 30 minutes and I need to get ready! Love you!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
Journal on Leadership, week 1
(Note to my readers: first of all, as always thanks for your grace with my infrequent - especially since returning from Kenya - updates. I commit to posting weekly beginning this week.)
As an assignment for class, our professor asked my colleagues and I to journal on leadership. He has asked us to focus on "all or a combination of the following questions:
* what am I learning about myself as I participate in this seminar and related activities?
* what has been particularly thought provoking as I interact with the seminar readings and class discussions?
* how do I define leadership and what do I need to do to grow in my leadership capacity?
* what leadership related activities and behaviors am I exhibiting and/or observing in my work environment?
I will be making effort in the next four week to at least comment weekly on these questions in a response to my professor's assignment. I decided to use this forum because journaling is hard for me, but dialoguing with you all (even though its not face to face) is somehow easier.
~~~~~~
While I have not finished the reading for this week, yet, I have made effort to reflect on leadership all weekend and think about my recent experiences with a variety of leaders and leadership opportunities, and to journal about them. I've also started reading a devotional book that Ish Smith gave me when I left Greenville, called Women in Leadership.
The first day it defined management and leadership thusly:
Management: getting things done BY others.
Leadership: getting things done WITH others.
~ I think those are pretty good short summaries of what leadership vs. management each really are.
As I was thinking about what Leadership IS and IS not, I identified these topics:
Leadership can be:
* setting a course, visioning
* doing something first
* doing something last
* listening and asking questions
* giving counsel
* teaching
* serving
Leadership should not necessarily be:
* blanket enforcement of "my way"
* prescriptive advice
* bossing
* controlling
(but I also understand that sometimes leadership has elements of those things - in crisis times, etc. Truly, leadership is about the heart and its attitude, I think, since so quickly we can devolve into the bossy cranky leader from the once affable and servant-hearted leader.)
As I read through Philippians I thought about the model that Paul gives us in Christ. And I think that it is a great picture for leaders.
Philippians 2:1-11 essentially says: take on the mind of Christ and lead from the lowest position. Christ's example teaches us that its not about titles, and recognition, and being seen. Authority is more than a nameplate, and when you have authority, in particular God's authority, to lead, you can speak with a whisper and the heavens will move.
When I think back on my recent trip to Africa, I was really struck by the difference in leadership styles of Marquette and myself. I am an arranger, and activator, and when something needs to be done, I find someone to do it, or I do it, and I try to make it fun (I'm an ENFP after all). And I saw my role, not as better than the students by any means, but certainly as responsible for their lives as traveled into these places that were a little dangerous. I parented more than Marquette did, for sure, in the sense of rules and being aware of where the students were at all times. Marquette is a super relational person (as am I, I know) but her style was to stop and talk to one person at the expense of everything passing by - she's a great listener and always gives her full attention. I give my full attention, but not always when we're in the field or when other stuff is going on - my mind is always to the next thing, anticipating the next need or crisis. In truth, even though sometimes our leadership styles clashed (and even here I haven't enough space to detail all of it), I think our styles were complimentary. It made me think of the debate in Spring semester between Shushok and McCormick - Servant Leadership vs. Shepherd Leadership. I identified with both sides during that debate, but clearly saw myself (in hindsight) using shepherd leadership on the trip - even as I washed dirty lunch dishes or painted the barn instead of doing the "cool" weed whacking, I saw very clearly how when I needed to lead the flock, I went to the front, while Marquette to the servant leadership route and stayed at the back to pen everyone in.
Today's devotional pages reminded me that:
* Decisive action always requires a bit of bravery.
and * Decisive action is necessary in critical situations.
~ I was thinking about how risky it is to be a leader. Whether you are a leader by position or just by circumstance, leading is difficult. The priests had to go first across the Jordan. Even Joshua who was the new leader of the Isrealites wouldn't go first - the priests were the ones. And I think sometimes of the first two priests, at the front of the poles thinking, "dang it, I should have taken the back today, but no, I wanted to be up front..." and I wonder what was going through their minds when they saw the Jordan river at flood stage and Joshua said, "Just put your toes in and start to cross. The Lord will make a way." I imagine those priests thinking, "Yeah right, Joshua! If you're so confident, why don't you step in." They had to risk everything on their belief that God would show up. And I think Leaders are like that, especially Christian leaders.
Recently I had the opportunity to hear Tommye Lou Davis speak on the 10 Characteristics of Effective Leadership. It was during an event for soon to be high school seniors, called the Christian Leadership Institute. Tommye Lou is the chair of the Baylor Committe for the George W. Bush Presidential Museum. She told a bit of her story about how that came about, how the Lord has presented her with a number of "burning bush" moments and then we worked on these 10 characteristics together:
L: listening, love, look closely, Lord
* listen to the voices within and to the voices of others - but be discerning.
E: empathy, equality
* empathize with the life history and needs of others
A: action, attitude
* we are the directors not victims of our lives
D: delegation, determination, discipline (Heb 12:11)
* trust others, let go, give jobs away, give glory and recognition away
E: enthusiasm, excellence
* get other excited, don't except less than an excellent product or effort - from yourself and others.
R: reflection, risk, respect
* think, meditate, ponder, pray, assess regularly
S: stewardship, serve, sacrifice, sincerity
* remember the golden rule
H: humility (james 4:10, Phil 2:1-11), humor
* consider others better than you, enjoy life and see the humor in all situations
I: integrity, invention
* say what you mean, do what you say, and when you don't... admit it.
P: patience, passion, purpose (col 3:17), positivity, planning, preparation, perseverance
* give yourself and your friends a break, let go of past mistakes, love what you do and work hard at it, plan ahead.
~~~~~~
So as of today, I don't have a definition of leadership yet. But I am still thinking about my leadership, how and when I lead and when I lead because I'm in a position to do it (like in my job with chaplains) and when I lead because it comes naturally (i.e. planning an event).
I'll be back with more reflections on leadership next Monday. And in the meantime, hopefully I'll be writing an update on my life, this week. :)
Blessings to you all. Phil. 1:9.
As an assignment for class, our professor asked my colleagues and I to journal on leadership. He has asked us to focus on "all or a combination of the following questions:
* what am I learning about myself as I participate in this seminar and related activities?
* what has been particularly thought provoking as I interact with the seminar readings and class discussions?
* how do I define leadership and what do I need to do to grow in my leadership capacity?
* what leadership related activities and behaviors am I exhibiting and/or observing in my work environment?
I will be making effort in the next four week to at least comment weekly on these questions in a response to my professor's assignment. I decided to use this forum because journaling is hard for me, but dialoguing with you all (even though its not face to face) is somehow easier.
~~~~~~
While I have not finished the reading for this week, yet, I have made effort to reflect on leadership all weekend and think about my recent experiences with a variety of leaders and leadership opportunities, and to journal about them. I've also started reading a devotional book that Ish Smith gave me when I left Greenville, called Women in Leadership.
The first day it defined management and leadership thusly:
Management: getting things done BY others.
Leadership: getting things done WITH others.
~ I think those are pretty good short summaries of what leadership vs. management each really are.
As I was thinking about what Leadership IS and IS not, I identified these topics:
Leadership can be:
* setting a course, visioning
* doing something first
* doing something last
* listening and asking questions
* giving counsel
* teaching
* serving
Leadership should not necessarily be:
* blanket enforcement of "my way"
* prescriptive advice
* bossing
* controlling
(but I also understand that sometimes leadership has elements of those things - in crisis times, etc. Truly, leadership is about the heart and its attitude, I think, since so quickly we can devolve into the bossy cranky leader from the once affable and servant-hearted leader.)
As I read through Philippians I thought about the model that Paul gives us in Christ. And I think that it is a great picture for leaders.
Philippians 2:1-11 essentially says: take on the mind of Christ and lead from the lowest position. Christ's example teaches us that its not about titles, and recognition, and being seen. Authority is more than a nameplate, and when you have authority, in particular God's authority, to lead, you can speak with a whisper and the heavens will move.
When I think back on my recent trip to Africa, I was really struck by the difference in leadership styles of Marquette and myself. I am an arranger, and activator, and when something needs to be done, I find someone to do it, or I do it, and I try to make it fun (I'm an ENFP after all). And I saw my role, not as better than the students by any means, but certainly as responsible for their lives as traveled into these places that were a little dangerous. I parented more than Marquette did, for sure, in the sense of rules and being aware of where the students were at all times. Marquette is a super relational person (as am I, I know) but her style was to stop and talk to one person at the expense of everything passing by - she's a great listener and always gives her full attention. I give my full attention, but not always when we're in the field or when other stuff is going on - my mind is always to the next thing, anticipating the next need or crisis. In truth, even though sometimes our leadership styles clashed (and even here I haven't enough space to detail all of it), I think our styles were complimentary. It made me think of the debate in Spring semester between Shushok and McCormick - Servant Leadership vs. Shepherd Leadership. I identified with both sides during that debate, but clearly saw myself (in hindsight) using shepherd leadership on the trip - even as I washed dirty lunch dishes or painted the barn instead of doing the "cool" weed whacking, I saw very clearly how when I needed to lead the flock, I went to the front, while Marquette to the servant leadership route and stayed at the back to pen everyone in.
Today's devotional pages reminded me that:
* Decisive action always requires a bit of bravery.
and * Decisive action is necessary in critical situations.
~ I was thinking about how risky it is to be a leader. Whether you are a leader by position or just by circumstance, leading is difficult. The priests had to go first across the Jordan. Even Joshua who was the new leader of the Isrealites wouldn't go first - the priests were the ones. And I think sometimes of the first two priests, at the front of the poles thinking, "dang it, I should have taken the back today, but no, I wanted to be up front..." and I wonder what was going through their minds when they saw the Jordan river at flood stage and Joshua said, "Just put your toes in and start to cross. The Lord will make a way." I imagine those priests thinking, "Yeah right, Joshua! If you're so confident, why don't you step in." They had to risk everything on their belief that God would show up. And I think Leaders are like that, especially Christian leaders.
Recently I had the opportunity to hear Tommye Lou Davis speak on the 10 Characteristics of Effective Leadership. It was during an event for soon to be high school seniors, called the Christian Leadership Institute. Tommye Lou is the chair of the Baylor Committe for the George W. Bush Presidential Museum. She told a bit of her story about how that came about, how the Lord has presented her with a number of "burning bush" moments and then we worked on these 10 characteristics together:
L: listening, love, look closely, Lord
* listen to the voices within and to the voices of others - but be discerning.
E: empathy, equality
* empathize with the life history and needs of others
A: action, attitude
* we are the directors not victims of our lives
D: delegation, determination, discipline (Heb 12:11)
* trust others, let go, give jobs away, give glory and recognition away
E: enthusiasm, excellence
* get other excited, don't except less than an excellent product or effort - from yourself and others.
R: reflection, risk, respect
* think, meditate, ponder, pray, assess regularly
S: stewardship, serve, sacrifice, sincerity
* remember the golden rule
H: humility (james 4:10, Phil 2:1-11), humor
* consider others better than you, enjoy life and see the humor in all situations
I: integrity, invention
* say what you mean, do what you say, and when you don't... admit it.
P: patience, passion, purpose (col 3:17), positivity, planning, preparation, perseverance
* give yourself and your friends a break, let go of past mistakes, love what you do and work hard at it, plan ahead.
~~~~~~
So as of today, I don't have a definition of leadership yet. But I am still thinking about my leadership, how and when I lead and when I lead because I'm in a position to do it (like in my job with chaplains) and when I lead because it comes naturally (i.e. planning an event).
I'll be back with more reflections on leadership next Monday. And in the meantime, hopefully I'll be writing an update on my life, this week. :)
Blessings to you all. Phil. 1:9.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Adequacy and Authenticity
I had a great conversation with a friend today. It followed a great sermon at my church. Matt, who delivered the sermon today, discussed how we behave in certain ways to try and get others to authenticate our faith. We use certain language or wear certain clothing or do certain things, etc, to try to fit in with others who do/say/wear those things that they will say we are Christians.
Matt used the Pharisees as his example (in Matthew 23:1-12). The Pharisees were always interpreting their version of following God and then putting it on other people - and if you behaved in those ways, then you were OK. If you didn't behave in those ways then you were "out" (as Heidi Klum would say). We do the same thing in our Chrsitian life - we find these pastors or authors that seem to have it all figured out and try to follow all they say so that we can say "I did it! Everyone will know I'm a Christian now."
Matt didn't use this verse, but I thought of it during his talk. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples, then you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." But he also said, "If you love one another, then all people will know that you are my disciples." So somewhere in here we've gotten off track and its no longer about loving God and
people but more about "being" or "doing" something that qualifies us.
So then I was talking to my friend today on the phone. We were talking about how easy it is, when we feel inadequate to follow God, to fall back into our old life and patterns. And then we prove to ourselves that we are indeed inadequate. And the case is closed.
Except that its a lie.
Well, its not really a lie - we are inadequate. But God is not. "God is able to do more than we ask or imagine," and frankly, I can imagine a lot of things so God is pretty amazing to do more than that.
Her question, "Doesn't it ever get easier {to follow God}?"
My answer, "well, actually... no."
The analogy we used in our conversation was climing a 14,000 foot peak. (Now, this metaphor may fall apart if you are a mountain climber, so bear with me and don't email me saying its not true - just listen for the idea, OK?!) Let's say that you were going to climb this 14k peak and you were going to climb 1,000 feet a day. Each day your muscles would get increasingly stronger, but the air would get increasingly thinner. So even though you are stronger, it is still hard each day. But following Jesus is like climbing a 14,000,000 foot peak.
A wise person once said that the closer we get to Jesus the further away we realize we are. The closer we get to him, the more we realize his holiness, his power, his love and his grace. And the more we realize these things, the more we see ourselves in stark contrast. The person who just met Jesus feels pretty low, but I would venture to guess that as they continue to know Jesus in a real way they may make changes in their life in those initial areas, but slowly the "little" areas (which I really think are the big areas) come into view - we move from our past of (we'll use this example) murder to our current behavior of slander, or whatever. And we realize that slander is like murder to God. He doesn't differentiate like us humans do between things that are "really" bad and things that are just a little bad. Jesus actually said, "if you look at a woman lustfully, you are committing adultery" - yikes.
So I know that I need help in these areas. I need to believe that God can do things through me, even though I fall - a lot. I need to remember that its not really about ME, but about God. And I need to remember that I am adequate because God has called me. Not that God called me because I was adequate.
And I need to remember that God authenticates my faith. I may live my Christianity different than a lot of people, in ways that people think are "good" or "bad" - but its not really about "good" and "bad" Christianity. There are a lot of different beliefs about what those descriptors mean. To some people a "bad" Christian is one who never reads their bible, or drinks occasionally, to others the "bad" Christian is one who is legalistic about those things.
I don't want to be a Christian in the eyes of my friends or family, but lose sight of the type of Christian God has called me to be.
I just want to follow Jesus and do as he tells me. I don't always know what that means, but I'm hoping to keep learning as I climb the peak with him.
here are books that speak to what I'm thinking about today:
Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
We Would See Jesus by Roy Hession
Love to you today! Tiffani
Matt used the Pharisees as his example (in Matthew 23:1-12). The Pharisees were always interpreting their version of following God and then putting it on other people - and if you behaved in those ways, then you were OK. If you didn't behave in those ways then you were "out" (as Heidi Klum would say). We do the same thing in our Chrsitian life - we find these pastors or authors that seem to have it all figured out and try to follow all they say so that we can say "I did it! Everyone will know I'm a Christian now."
Matt didn't use this verse, but I thought of it during his talk. Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples, then you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." But he also said, "If you love one another, then all people will know that you are my disciples." So somewhere in here we've gotten off track and its no longer about loving God and
people but more about "being" or "doing" something that qualifies us.
So then I was talking to my friend today on the phone. We were talking about how easy it is, when we feel inadequate to follow God, to fall back into our old life and patterns. And then we prove to ourselves that we are indeed inadequate. And the case is closed.
Except that its a lie.
Well, its not really a lie - we are inadequate. But God is not. "God is able to do more than we ask or imagine," and frankly, I can imagine a lot of things so God is pretty amazing to do more than that.
Her question, "Doesn't it ever get easier {to follow God}?"
My answer, "well, actually... no."
The analogy we used in our conversation was climing a 14,000 foot peak. (Now, this metaphor may fall apart if you are a mountain climber, so bear with me and don't email me saying its not true - just listen for the idea, OK?!) Let's say that you were going to climb this 14k peak and you were going to climb 1,000 feet a day. Each day your muscles would get increasingly stronger, but the air would get increasingly thinner. So even though you are stronger, it is still hard each day. But following Jesus is like climbing a 14,000,000 foot peak.
A wise person once said that the closer we get to Jesus the further away we realize we are. The closer we get to him, the more we realize his holiness, his power, his love and his grace. And the more we realize these things, the more we see ourselves in stark contrast. The person who just met Jesus feels pretty low, but I would venture to guess that as they continue to know Jesus in a real way they may make changes in their life in those initial areas, but slowly the "little" areas (which I really think are the big areas) come into view - we move from our past of (we'll use this example) murder to our current behavior of slander, or whatever. And we realize that slander is like murder to God. He doesn't differentiate like us humans do between things that are "really" bad and things that are just a little bad. Jesus actually said, "if you look at a woman lustfully, you are committing adultery" - yikes.
So I know that I need help in these areas. I need to believe that God can do things through me, even though I fall - a lot. I need to remember that its not really about ME, but about God. And I need to remember that I am adequate because God has called me. Not that God called me because I was adequate.
And I need to remember that God authenticates my faith. I may live my Christianity different than a lot of people, in ways that people think are "good" or "bad" - but its not really about "good" and "bad" Christianity. There are a lot of different beliefs about what those descriptors mean. To some people a "bad" Christian is one who never reads their bible, or drinks occasionally, to others the "bad" Christian is one who is legalistic about those things.
I don't want to be a Christian in the eyes of my friends or family, but lose sight of the type of Christian God has called me to be.
I just want to follow Jesus and do as he tells me. I don't always know what that means, but I'm hoping to keep learning as I climb the peak with him.
here are books that speak to what I'm thinking about today:
Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
We Would See Jesus by Roy Hession
Love to you today! Tiffani
Sunday, June 03, 2007
faithful friends!
To my faithful friends. Please take one last opportunity to learn about the Kenya trip from this site: http://kenyahelpusgo.blogspot.com. From now on I'm back to updating here. I should be able to throw out an update later this week about my summer plans. :)
In the meantime.... check out this site for pics from the trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/tiffanibelle/KenyaMemoriesI
If you get time, check out these links to places/people we visited and worked with while in Kenya:
http://www.amaniafrica.org/ (women's ministry - amazing)
http://www.newlifehometrust.org/ (orphanages)
http://thecityharvest.org/ (the church we worked with)
http://www.journeytokenya.com/ (homepage for the Dellamaters)
http://lodges.safari.co.za/safari-lodge-sarova-mara-tented-camp.html (the site for the hotel we stay at, on safari)
Love! Tiffani
In the meantime.... check out this site for pics from the trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/tiffanibelle/KenyaMemoriesI
If you get time, check out these links to places/people we visited and worked with while in Kenya:
http://www.amaniafrica.org/ (women's ministry - amazing)
http://www.newlifehometrust.org/ (orphanages)
http://thecityharvest.org/ (the church we worked with)
http://www.journeytokenya.com/ (homepage for the Dellamaters)
http://lodges.safari.co.za/safari-lodge-sarova-mara-tented-camp.html (the site for the hotel we stay at, on safari)
Love! Tiffani
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Just to make my life easier, I'm going to plan to post on the Kenya website while I'm gone and if I get extra time I'll post a copy here. But if you want to see updates or info:
http://kenyahelpusgo.blogspot.com.
Keep it real. Go in peace.
Love, Tiff
http://kenyahelpusgo.blogspot.com.
Keep it real. Go in peace.
Love, Tiff
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