Sincerity is always the right answer
I have never been hurt or offended by sincerity. I always appreciate when someone says something genuine to me. I have never regretted saying something heartfelt. Fear gets in the way of us speaking sincerely more often. It gets in the way of us telling people what they mean to us and what we appreciate […]
Creating a Culture
Everyone takes their shot at this at some point: Leadership is creating a culture that most fully allows people to live into their potential. Most people consume culture. When they don’t like the culture of their team they complain about it. Leaders create the kind of culture they want to be a part of. Don’t […]
“Be sure it is worth it even if you don’t reach your goals”
Up until 4th grade I had never lost a race on the playground at Hoover Elementary School in Iowa City. Then it happened. Luke Moore beat me and I was devastated. I came home crying to my mom after school. My mom is a caring person who didn’t care whether I was the fastest kid […]
Stories of Hope. Stories of Sacrifice
I am constantly struck by the sacrifices people make for Young Life. People make sacrifices for other things but I am on staff with Young Life so that is what I see the most. One volunteer Young Life leader yesterday started her day by adding the 8th seat to her minivan so that she could […]
Doing right things.
Against all odds Butler Basketball made the NCAA finals in 2010 and came within inches of a national title. A couple of players graduated and one left early for the NBA. The next year they were struggling in conference play, barely above five hundred. They lost a mid week game in February to Youngstown State, […]
Talking about things that matter
Young Life used to be the most entertaining thing in town. There was literally nothing you could do that could entertain you more than a Young Life club. I don’t think this is true anymore. Kids have access to all the entertainment they could handle. We can’t compete with the world’s ability to entertain kids […]
I am proud of you just for being you.
Every night before Kylie goes to bed I say to Kylie, “I am proud of you just for being you.” I want her to know that I am proud of her and it has nothing to do with what she does or doesn’t accomplish. I am afraid of telling her I am proud of her […]
Choose Joy
Some days it seems that simple. Just choose joy. Many days it doesn’t seem like it is my choice. I believe that most of the time we find what we are looking for. This is an important concept that translates to almost everything we do. I will write more about that later. If we believe […]
You are worth it
One of the messages that Young Life leaders communicate to kids is that they are worth it. They don’t ever hear us say it but our lives say it in a variety of ways. You are worth going to your game straight from work. You are worth staying up all night preparing a talk. You […]
Faithfulness
Mary Kriebel is one of my favorite people. There is nothing particularly special about her, but she is faithful to what God has for her. She is a chiropractor, a mother of three and she wants kids to know that they were created for something. I have been working with her and a group of […]
This is what we do…we tell stories
I am convinced that my job is to be a storyteller. The medium changes. The audience changes. But what we do is tell stories. We tell high school kids about what they were created for. We tell Young Life leaders that there is a grand story that they can be a part of. We tell […]
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