5 Lessons I am Currently Learning

Each and every day we are presented with things we can either learn from or skip over. Although I think my tendency is to skip over said lessons, the following are 5 lessons I am currently trying not to skip over. I am sure there are countless more lessons I need to be learning, but there will be time for that. For now, I am working on these...

Look Around Like a Child
My son reminds me of this lesson everyday. Before he was born, my wife and I often talked about how our family would take the time to see life through our kids eyes. Now as I have spent 2 years with our son I realize this takes much more mental effort than I first thought. The lesson is this... I need to spend time looking around like a child. Tonight while cleaning our little fish bowl with my wife, our little guy was so full of intrigue and curiosity he could barley contain himself. A great reminder to me that the little things he notices are sometimes worth stopping to check out myself.

Have the Hard Conversation
As I work to build a team that effectively reaches kids for Jesus at Cornerstone Fellowship, I am learning a lesson in having hard conversations. As a leader, I have discovered that one of the best things I can do for my team is to tell them the truth, even when it's not the easiest. Sometimes it's easier to let something slide or find a reason to justify it in my head. Although these hard conversations need to be filled with TONS of grace, I have discovered that not having them actually ends up being harder for everyone. (By the way this lesson also applies to life outside of work...family, friends, etc...)

Respond Slowly and Listen
One of my main roles on the weekends at Cornerstone is to do what I call "putting out fires". This basically means that I jump from place to place helping my team, parents, or kids with whatever they need help with. Sometimes the tasks can be small and sometimes they can be large. The lesson here is that I have discovered that when I walk into a situation I typically come to the quickest and smoothest solution when I take time to stop, gather info, and think. Often times if I do this the solution to a given problem comes much easier. It's worth noting that there needs to be a balance here...you can let the excuse of "gathering information" paralyze you from reaching a solution and solving the problem in an effective way.

Busy Is Not Always Best
So...this comes from over 10 years of experience in Children's Ministry as well as 2 years of experience as a dad. Busy is not always best! I see time and time again families who allow their schedules to be so busy they eliminate all chance of their family connecting during the week. This lesson, more than the rest, is one I am still working through. I am amazed at how, almost without blinking, my family's schedule for the week can fill with seemingly "important" things. My wife and I have made an intentional effort to keep this from happening. It takes almost a weekly conversation of "Do we have enough family time?" on the schedule. It takes regular effort and sometimes saying "no" to good things, but in the end my time with my family and my impact in their lives is all that matters.

Life Speeds Up
This is an add on lesson to the lesson above, but NEWS FLASH...Life Speeds Up...

I know I didn't need to tell you that and trust me, countless people told me that when we first had our son. "Enjoy it, they grow up so fast". Now that I am in it, I can't believe how RIGHT they were. My son is 2 1/2 this month and I don't know where the time went. In addition to that, our next son is due in a short 4 months! Lesson for me...don't look too far ahead, enjoy the moment I have right now...tomorrow will come when it comes...


So there you have it, 5 lessons I am currently working through! Can you relate? What lessons are you learning?