Mindy's Blog

Light a Candle and Fly

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:50:00 GMT

I often tell people I feel called to stand—to live—as a bridge between the “Candle Lighters” and the “Jet Fuel Drinkers”. What do I mean by that?

Candle-lighters are the quiet, steady-paced, somewhat solitary, somewhat mystical, focused-on-the-now, Spirit-aware, Presence of God-sensing Spiritual Formation types.

Jet-fuel-drinkers are the loud, fast-paced, somewhat solitary, somewhat fanatical, focused-on-the-future, Spirit-aware, Presence of God-sensing Leadership types.

I love these two groups deeply; they have each formed me in their own way, and I deeply believe the cause of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the blessed community, depends upon them both. In fact, though they often speak very different languages, they need each other.

Truth is, of course, those two extremes live in me. On any given day, I’m living out of my candle-lighting tendencies or my jet-fuel-drinking tendencies. And in my dream scenario, these worlds collide—even in me. The challenge is not which is right, but rather deep, authentic integration. If combined in real life, I suppose, jet-fuel and lit candles would detonate! But in my soul, these can and must combine if I am to live out my calling; if I am to give my life as a living sacrifice, if I am to live and breathe and move in the rhythms of grace.

Last week, as I entered my office Monday morning, I felt the familiar tightening of the chest as I considered the week ahead. I was tempted, in that moment, to simply push harder and faster, to allow fear or insecurity or drivenness to fuel my activity, setting a destructive trajectory to my entire week.

But I know better by now . . . I’ve lit enough candles.

Instead, I stopped to sense and name this unsteadiness in my soul and to surrender, yet again, to God’s good care. In those moments, I felt a choice in my spirit . . . and wrote a Post-it note reminder to keep on my desk:

"Determine that you will experience the journey with great joy and with great peace. Why? Because of the Kingdom within."

As it turns out, I never glanced at that note again until I left the office on Friday.

But as I review the many meetings, pressures, decisions, speaking engagements, conflicts and even a pre-dawn visit to the Emergency Room with my son that occurred this week, I am glad I paused on Monday. This week felt like integration.

There was joy and there was peace. Why? Because of the Kingdom.

Projects moved forward, children were loved, desperate prayers were prayed, limits were faced and blessed, and teammates were encouraged. Why? Because of the Kingdom.

How about you? How did the reality of the Kingdom undergird you last week? How does it undergird you now, as you read? What unsteadiness might you need to name in your own soul; what would it mean for you to surrender... yet again... to God’s good care?

Light a candle... and fly.

What Are You Doing Next Month? Three Opportunities!

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:35:00 GMT

Fall naturally brings the idea of change into our souls.

New programs begin, the school year starts, team retreats are taken . . . and the opportunity to grow is before us. Sometimes this happens naturally as we encounter life and other times purposefully setting aside space for conversation, learning and community is required. Where are you at this year?

If you are considering opportunities for growth and conversation, Soul Care is part of three very different, but equally incredible opportunities next month.

Registration is currently open for all three!

Registration for Formation in Christlikeness (which is hosted by our good friends at Renovare) can be done online or by phone. However, 450 people have already registered and there are 150 slots left! Don't delay.

Registration for Sentralized can be done online as well via their homepage. The event is September 29-31 and will focus on a clearer, deeper meaning of the missional conversation.

The LIFT Project consists of 7-week, online courses that connect you with world-class professional development. Each course is specifically designed especially for church or ministry leaders who want to develop their own leadership knowledge, skills and abilities. The courses require less than 2-hours per week and are guided by a facilitator. A year-long Leading for Transformation certificate is also available. Content contributors include transformation leaders such as Dr. Henry Cloud, Nancy Beach, Dallas Willard, Lance Witt, Pete Scazzero, Gary Haugen, Tim Keller and Jarrett and Jeanne Stevens. Courses begin September 12.

We hope you'll join us!

The Blessing of Silence - Mama Maggie

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:46:00 GMT

Today at The Global Leadership Summit before she kissed the floor in blessing, Mama Maggie shared this with the crowd:

Silence your body to listen to your words
Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts
Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating
Silence your heart to listen to your spirit,
Silence your spirit you listen to his spirit.

In silence you leave many and be with the one.

Mama Maggie Gobran is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee this year who has spent 20 years serving the poorest of the poor. A Coptic Christian from a prominent Egyptian family, she taught computer science and lectured at Cairo University. But following a conviction from God, she started a ministry to serve the poor in her city.

Don't Lose Your Soul

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 20:31:00 GMT

Was a privilege to serve at Encounter in California. Thanks to @lhahncalif for the inspiration and reminder.

Learning to Be Here Now

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:38:00 GMT

Learning to be “present” could be one of the best gifts you give to yourself and others this next year. But as you’ve probably already discovered in our distracted, anxiety-filled world, being “present” not at all easy. It will require some effort, some training of the soul.

Perfect fodder for a new year’s resolution! But wait, you cry… wait! This is not impressive! Just one goal?! And one that cannot be measured (in pounds or otherwise)?? But let’s think about impressive in a new light… imagine what being present could open up for you......

What would it be like to look deeply into the eyes of those you love, and really see them? Hear them? Understand them? Imagine just one evening marked by deep connection with those around you? What would open up? How about a whole week? An entire year?

And what would it be like to shake off those nagging chains of guilt and self-hatred mentioned in the video? Who doesn’t need ongoing protection from the hissing, scathing voice of the accuser?

Or, what would it be like to feel fear as you face challenges, failure, adversity, or conflict… feel it, but not be driven by it? What would that kind of freedom taste like? What possibilities would a fearless perspective open up for you, day after day… month after month?

To continue reading Learning to Be Here Now on Stirred Up Leadership, please click here.

A New Leader Needs Some Rhythm

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:57:00 GMT

Today's post is from Lindsey Sherrod who serves with CreatePossible, where she provides directional leadership, as well as communication and creative consultation for CreatePossible and its clients. She can be found at www.twitter.com/LRsherrod, where she shares about the creative, soul care focused, and often random, life.

I think I'm learning . . . slowly, painfully . . . at times, there is a place God has called me to, but the journey and direction is His—not mine.

My own "soul care" story is actually a bit similar to Mindy's . . . in college, much responsibility . . . much pressure . . . major collapse. The journey back taught me—breath by breath—what it means to let go of myself and live at the "soul care table" where God and I are both present.

BUT, the new challenge? I have a somewhat firm grasp (although eroded by my own frailty at times) of my personal soul care rhythm. What about when you're leading a team? Helping others—in a professional context—develop their own rhythm? Remind, remind, remind that the emotional/spiritual/relational aspect of a team can either make or break? (And, an unhealthy environment not only breaks the team, but people.)

So, Step #1: Figure out a rhythm that gets my soul care leadership qualities in check, before I even attempt to help others. Words from Nancy Ortberg have been driving my thoughts here, "As a leader, you are responsible for carving out a life that has a rhythm that renews you. It’s not anybody else’s job."

Time for some rhythm carving. Hope you have the chance for some today too.

Grace & Peace Download?

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:45:00 GMT

Can you download Grace & Peace?

Perhaps not, but a subtle reminder in less than peaceful moments CAN happen. It might be even as small and subtle as the background on your computer. Do we stare at anything more during the work week?

For the past few months, the creative team over at the Stirred Up Leadership blog (where Mindy is a contributor) has posted a series of "wallpaper" downloads featuring scripture.

The highlighted verse for December is "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." -Philippians 1:2

For download instructions, click here.

Enjoy grace and peace this season!

-Team Soul Care

Supreme Act of Prayer

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 01:46:00 GMT

Mindy's also blogging at Stirred Up Leadership for the Willow Creek Association!

I have often wondered about some of Jesus’ prayers. What did He really feel? What did He really pray for? What can we learn from His prayers?

The one I’ve wondered about most (and likely projected myself into) is a prayer Jesus offers after what appears to be a particularly frustrating series of ministry conversations/teaching episodes (don’t we all pray like crazy at those times?!). Now, you may have a hard time accepting that Jesus was ever frustrated as a teacher (and I suppose you would be correct). But if we evaluate teaching effectiveness according to the “results” of students who get it, I think you’d agree this was a failure along our current lines of evaluation. (Matthew 11, MSG) They are questioning if he’s really “the guy”, they’re criticizing whatever he does, he’s dishing out harsh warnings against those who won’t listen, and then, abruptly, he prays. Prays? Yes, prays. Abruptly. I always wonder what motivated that prayer.

To continue reading Supreme Act of Prayer on Stirred Up Leadership, please click here.

A Different Kind of Christmas: Guest Post from Soul Gardeners

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:42:00 GMT

Guest blogger from Soul Gardeners.com is Tom, who loves life and enjoys exploring as much of it as he can. He is sharing life with Lollie, Tayla and Liam as well as friends and family. He is passionate about the kingdom and how it takes expression in South Africa. For original posting, click here.

This Sunday is the beginning of the new year. That is if you follow the church calendar. The lectionary readings for the gospels next year will be from the book of Matthew. This past year was from Luke. This is now the eighth year I will be following the rhythms of the church year. It is a wonderful anti-rhythm to the consumer calendar and as we all know the Christmas season is the ultimate crazy consumer season.

So Sunday marks the start of Advent; the four Sundays before Christmas where we prepare our hearts for the “comings” of Jesus (that is what advent means). A few years ago I stumbled across the Advent Conspiracy site and though it was a great idea to establish a different rhythm.

Soul Care Home

Sat, 12 Feb 2011 20:43:00 GMT

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True Today

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:48:00 GMT

Yet, the Lord longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you Compassion.

For the Lord is a God of Justice.

Blessed are those who wait for him!

Isaiah 30:18

Symptoms of the Soul

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:38:00 GMT

On Twitter this week, Team Soul Care (@SoulCare) has been RE-Discovering our soul care roots and today we’re focusing on the symptoms of the soul.

When your own soul has been neglected, what tends to emerge? We often hear:

Self-absorption
Shame
Apathy
Toxic Anger
Physical Fatigue
Isolation
Stronger Temptation to Sin
Drivenness
Feelings of Desperation
Panic
Insecurity
Callousness
A Judgmental Attitude
Cynicism
Lack of Desire for God.

On other days, when our souls are thriving from a deepening life with God, we find:

Love
Joy
Compassion
Giving and Receiving Grace
Generosity of Spirit
Peace
Ability to Trust
Discernment
Humility
Creativity
Vision
Balance
Focus
Energy for Work

Who Is Caring for the Next Gen? -- With Tara Rumler

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:51:00 GMT

What will we call the emerging generation?

If it were up to you, what name or label would you give the new generation of young people?

Recently I read an article on this very topic. Some suggested labels included “Generation Net” or “iGen” because most have grown up online. Another suggested label was “Homelander” because they have grown up with public emergency at home and globally (like September 11 and the ongoing war on terror around the World.) Another idea was around the theme of the “Silent Generation” taken from the Great Depression because of the recent economic downturn.

The potential labels elicited three themes that are marking young people:

Internet and Technology
Home and Public Emergency
Economic Volatility and Uncertainty

How do you think those three themes are marking the souls of young people? Take a minute and respond. Journal or simply write a few words about that question.

Below the article, I noticed a multitude of comments about the new generation.

I estimate 90% of the comments were negative about perceived qualities and other possible harsh labels of the new generation, therefore demonstrating what I see as a major problem: Every generation looks down on the next, and instead of developing them, they condemn them prematurely. Thus, setting the new generation up to fail in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So, how can we respond positively to these markings on the new generation?

Mentor or share your wisdom in any platform to this new generation. (A mentor can change the trajectory of a young person’s life!)

Train them now on how to care for their souls. (Habits begin and form in young people)

Encourage others to build into the new generation. (Who do you know that could inspire young people?)

I think we all know deep down that this new generation will not respond to negativity, but will respond to being empowered and believed in. Think back to a time when you were young and someone gave you an opportunity, spoke uplifting words to you, or simply believed in you. Who was it and what did that person say or do?

The need for encouraging leaders, shepherds, mentors, group leaders, and hope givers to this generation is massive and urgent. Young people are our hope, our future and current leaders, and our greatest long-term investment. Let's teach them all we know! Your words, intentionality, and life can make a difference of a lifetime. Take some time to pray or journal a response to this question: How will you make a difference in the lives of the new generation?

(The article referenced, “Kids labeled 'generation next' before they grow up,” is via)

Guest blogger Tara Rumler is Student Ministries Group Life Director at Willow Creek and a freelance writer. She can be found at www.twitter.com/taraumler where she shares about life and her likes - leader development, coffee, reading, coaching, community, finance, and working out.

Fire and Breathing Space

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:09:00 GMT

Fire

Judy Brown

What makes a fire burn
is space between the logs,
a breathing space.
Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed in too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water.

So building fires
requires attention
to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.

When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned
to pile on logs,
then we come to see how
it is fuel, and the absence of fuel
together, that make fire possible.

We only need to lay a log
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.

San M. Intrator and Megan Scribner, Editors, Teaching with Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003, p,89.

Today my Spiritual Director read me this poem in response to my sharing how I am, for the first time in my life, operating with space—with margin—in my schedule. I now have time not only to accept a last-minute call for a coaching meeting—as happened yesterday, but also space to Be, reflect, and do some of the creative work that each of us crave to do, but often gets squeezed out by the sheer quantity of the stuff we try to do or the number of people we feel we have to see. I am still wrestling with the issue of stewardship—What is enough? What is effective stewardship of my life as a faith-supported missionary?, and those issues and questions we all face from time to time.

But I am finding, maybe for the first time in my life, that the issue is not sharing all the wonderful content and ideas which I have collected and gleaned over a lifetime, but finding that proper balance between fuel and space. I have never thought of the juxtaposition of those two items, but am finding great joy in coaching fewer, and going deeper, and finding that going deeper and burning hotter probably has not happened and will not happen without the necessary space between the logs.

Isn’t that a great metaphor, and one we all know to be true from our own fire-building experiences? And the meaning is even deeper in the context of spiritual friendships and formation.

This may be the image that helps me relinquish my fist-tight hold on content—the ideas, the paradigms, the principles that I for too long have thought were more important than they are.

I invite you, if and when you ever catch me loading up the fire with way too many logs, to just remind me—“Steve, you only need to lay a log lightly from time to time…”

I am finding that coaching surely operates on this kind of fire, as does mentoring, and the stewarding of relationships in the Body of Christ.

I just wish I had accepted that truth 30 years ago when I began teaching.

Warming myself by the fire…

Today’s guest blogger is Steve Hoke, a former VP of People Development with Church Resource Ministries who now focuses on leader development and strategic life coaching with mission leaders around the world. He lives with his wife in Ft. Collins, Colorado. He is the co-author with Bill Taylor of Global Mission Handbook: Your Guide to Crosscultural Service (IVPress, 2009). Steve can be contacted at steve.hoke@crmleaders.org.

Conversations that Nurture the Soul of Leaders

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:49:00 GMT

This week a couple of Soul Care friends are "stopping by" for conversation that reminds us to step outside our own situations, think, pray and listen.

Today is a post from Mac Lake, who is the Development Pastor at Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina, a multi-site church with thirteen campuses. You can find him blogging ideas and insights on leadership at www.maclakeonline.com.

Compelled by the grace of God spiritual leaders serve selflessly, love extravagantly, and give sacrificially. But frequently it’s their untiring efforts for the cause of Christ that bring exhaustion physically, emotionally and spiritually. Isn’t it ironic that serving the God we love can cause us to feel distant from the God we love to serve? That’s why it’s essential that the leaders greatest priority is the care of his or her own soul.

There have been plenty of times my spiritual tank has been so low I can’t seem to get myself back into a healthy place with God. It’s in these times I need someone else’s perspective, wisdom, and faith to boost my own. That’s why I value Soul Care Conversations as a vital part of my spiritual regimen. These discussions with trusted spiritual friends nourish my soul and keep my perspective in alignment with God’s perspective.

Even the most mature leaders need these types of conversations. King Hezekiah was the most spiritually mature king Israel had known in years, yet when the King of Assyria threatened to destroy Israel, he found himself under a tremendous amount of stress. As his soul began to weaken under the weight of the situation he sent word to Isaiah informing him of the situation. Hezekiah’s words reflect his concern, as he put on sackcloth and ashes he said, “This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.” (Isaiah 37:3)

Sensing his weariness Isaiah spoke God’s truth to Hezekiah saying, “This is what the LORD says: Do not be disturbed by this blasphemous speech against me from the Assyrian king’s messengers. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.” (Isaiah 37:5-7). Isaiah’s words in this soul care conversation helped Hezekiah see the situation from God’s perspective and infused him with the hope, faith, and courage he needed to move forward.

If you’re finding that your soul is weary maybe it’s time for some soul care conversations. Here are a few questions that might help stimulate the discussion.

What’s the freshest thing God has been doing in your life lately?
How full is your emotional, physical and spiritual tanks? Empty, quarter filled, half, three quarters or full.
What theme does God seem to be emphasizing in this season of your life?
If you could see God do one thing over the next 30 days what would it be?
What’s God been saying to you through His Word recently?
What passion is God stirring in your soul recently?
What season best describes your spiritual life right now: Winter, spring summer or fall? Why?
What’s exciting you the most in your spiritual journey these days?
What are you most excited about what God is doing in, through or around you?

This Weeks Leadership Challenge: Seek out a trusted spiritual friend and have a honest open soul care conversation.