Time
Manhood from 5-9
by on Feb 4th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
The way we employ the surplus hours after provision has been made for work, meals, and sleep will determine if we develop into mediocre or powerful people.”
- J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, p. 93
If you wish to become a leader in your work, organization, church, family, or marriage, you will need to master the use of your “extra” time. What you do with this undirected time will make all the difference in your life, and I wish that someone had hammered this point over my head far sooner than when J. Oswald Sanders did at age 22.
Undirected time can be a blessing or a curse, depending on how we have utilized it in our lives. Some men have used this time by strengthening their bodies, earning extra degrees, serving people without need for pay, developing stronger relationships with their wives and children, sitting at the feet of Jesus and His Word, or trembling before the throne of the Most High God in fervent prayer. Men like this start the next day better equipped than those who warm the couch, fill their stomachs, feed their lusts, or chase their dreams, literally.
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Leadership Library Spotlight
by on Feb 5th, 2010 at 2:00 am
Book: Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, Revised Edition
Author: Richard A. Swenson, M.D.
"A man from Mali, West Africa told me, ‘You Americans have all the watches, but we have all the time." p. 125
One of the guiding principles of the Leadership Library for this site is to provide you with resources that are worth buying and keeping for many years to come. Books come and go, so if you have limited funds (like me), you want to invest your money into books that will prove to be as helpful in 2030 as they are in 2010. Richard Swenson’s book, Margin, ideally suits this principle.
Because I live on a college campus, I often overhear (a.k.a. eavesdrop) conversations from students who share with one another how tired and stressed they are. They’ll inevitably complain about some exam, quiz, project, or absurd homework assignment and then shift to how such work is cutting into the demands of their social life and extra-curricular activities. Now, I have tried to learn a lesson from my uber-patient professors when I was the college student making the same complaints by not saying a word. However, a part of me wants to grab them by the collar, look them in the eye, and say, “You have no idea how easy you have it right now!” Of course, if a forty-year old professor or administrator saw me do this, they would probably be justified in telling me how easy I have it!
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As You Prepare For Another Year Of School, pt. 1
by on Aug 23rd, 2010 at 6:14 pm
The summer break has come to a close and while I think we all, to some degree, mourn its passing, we still find that the excitement and promise of a new school year is something to savor.
Some of you are starting the grand adventure of college. You have left home for the first time. The hope of expanding your mind is strong. If you are anything like I was at the beginning of my freshmen year, there is also a sense of fear that accompanies such hope. Can you handle the academic demands of college courses? Did you pick the right major? Is it really possible that you will make a new circle of friends that will most likely cause your friendships from home to pale in comparison?
The rest of you are returning to resume your academic pursuits. The questions of freshmen year are, for the most part, answered and now new ones are upon you. What orgs and extra-curricular activities will you join? Are you meeting your academic goals? What are you going to do when you graduate? Are you going to graduate?
Regardless of your situation, the beginning of the school year is the best time to consider education as a whole. You are not yet encumbered with homework, exams, social activities, and other responsibilities that always seem to increase as the year continues. Now is the time to think about what education is and how it can best be utilized. Here are just a few thoughts to help you approach the school year with a purpose:
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As You Prepare For Another Year Of School, pt. 2
by on Aug 24th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Here are a few more pieces of advice to help you make the most of your time in school:
CHOOSE TO TAKE STRATEGIC BREAKS
When I was in college, I made the mistake of thinking that I would somehow be able to rest after all of my obligations in and out of class were satisfied. This thinking actually didn’t affect me too negatively in college because I was young and wired to be a workaholic. It was after I graduated and entered a world that always seemed to pile on more work that I learned the value of strategic rest.
I know that I mentioned earlier the need for students to embrace the stress of college. However, one way to manage stress is to get adequate rest. God did not design us to operate over long periods of time without a good amount of sleep, food, and community. Denying yourself any of these elements too often will result in a breakdown of your health and academic performance. You will also be denying yourself the opportunity to enjoy a life of trust in God’s provision for work.
Make a determination to set aside times of study and times of rest. As a seminary student, I made a commitment to do no work on Sundays and to strive to complete all work by Saturdays. Yes, weekdays and nights were really long on some occasions, but having time to recuperate was crucial for succeeding in actually learning something (and not just finishing work).
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Is Anybody Else Overwhelmed? Good & Bad News
by on Nov 9th, 2010 at 1:00 am
It’s that time of the semester where I’m seeing “that look” on people’s faces. A blank stare accompanies a strained face and tense shoulders from the students all over campus, and the faculty and staff are succumbing to these same non-verbal indicators of fatigue as well. We’re in the nasty part of the college year and I think everybody is feeling it.
People are overwhelmed and I’m concerned not because they are stressed, but because a lot of bad thinking and bad reacting is taking place in light of this stress.
I’m not a productivity expert or psychologist. I can’t root out the sources of your overwhelmedness (if you would consider yourself tired like the rest of us), but I’m trying to keep my own nose above the waterline too. I’m weighed down by my own set of pressures and responsibilities. There are days where my schedule runs under the assumption that the earth takes 30 hours to make its full rotation. I have seasons when my “to do” list is so large that I intentionally avoid looking at it all at once so as to avoid passing out or mentally snapping. I know what it feels like to be so exhausted that shutting down from reality simply doesn’t sound bad anymore, and having been on the verge of burnout before, I want to spare you from making the mistake of failing to utilize God’s provision for the craziness of life.
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Overwhelmed With Life Yet? Here's Some Hope...
by on Nov 10th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Yesterday, I said some hard things about experiencing overwhelmedness (a.k.a. overload). Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of always staying ahead of all of life’s responsibilities. We are limited beings living in a sin-cursed world that will make us sweat just gain the necessities of life. We should expect our “to do” lists to continually outpace the “have done” lists.
However, there is good news to being overwhelmed: God is fully aware that the feeling of being overwhelmed will not go away in this life. He knows that we are limited beings living in a world that is out of our control no matter how hard we try to control it. With such knowledge in mind, He has provisioned us to withstand the constant assaults of stress in our lives, and we need only to receive these gifts. Today and tomorrow, I’ll list just some of them with the hope that they will encourage you if you are swamped with work, stress, and the burdens of life (like me).
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Overwhelmed With Life Yet? Even More Hope...
by on Nov 11th, 2010 at 12:40 am
Yesterday, we looked at two reasons why we can have hope in the midst of overwhelmedness. We are given the gift of God’s sovereignty and the gift of daily grace to help us face each day. These are not the only gifts.
However, before moving on with our topic, I want to wish all veterans, in peace time and war, a blessed Veterans Day. You served us faithfully, often at great cost to yourself. When we rested, you watched. When we indulged in comforting ourselves, you endured discomfort. Many more cannot be honored in person today because they sacrificed their lives. America has a volunteer military, and I’m grateful to all of you who wore the uniform, defended the country, and did what was asked of you.
Now, about rest, here are some other divine gifts to help us endure a crowded life:
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College Students, Are You Stressed Yet?
by on Dec 2nd, 2010 at 12:10 am
Finals week is just around the corner for most college students and I’m starting to see that familiar look of exhaustion their faces. I always found these the weeks just prior to final exams to be far worse in terms of stress and pressure than the exams themselves. Major papers, projects, and presentations all seem to occur during this time, and with time running out for all of them, the all-nighters are launched accompanied with caffeine, fatty foods, and indigestion.
If you find yourself weighed down by the stresses and pressures I have mentioned, don’t despair. You are going through a respectable right of passage where your limits are tested for the sake of being proven capable of handling your particular discipline. With a good old “college try” you will survive and earn your credits. Besides, in one, two, or three weeks, you’ll be free of those papers, projects, presentations, and exams. Winter break will set in and you can catch up on the rest you are clearly not getting right now.
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The Four Habits Of A Happily Inefficient Person
by on Dec 7th, 2010 at 2:25 am
A few months ago, I turned thirty years of age, and I decided it was time to make some adjustments to my modus operandi in life. Some might call it an early mid-life crisis, but I’m not interested in reclaiming my youth. In fact, I’m making adjustments to slam the hatch shut on those unhealthy youthful aspects that keep trying to surface during my day.
Over the past couple of years, the level of responsibility on my shoulders has increased in almost every dimension of my life. I’m the “grizzled veteran” among my co-workers who share the same title. In five years, I transitioned from single to married to married with a child. My opportunities to teach in the church steadily increase and now I serve the church as a deacon, which brings its own important responsibilities. I needed to sharpen my discipline if I was to be ready for the weight that such responsibilities bring.
I have made four adjustments so far and all of them could be considered trite and symbolic. They are not biblical requirements or specifically spiritual disciplines. They are simply four ways to slow down because I have been living too fast without regard for my days. Just so you’re not left wondering what they are: 1) shaving with an “old school” safety razor, 2) wearing clothes that required ironing and polishing frequently, 3) waking up before sunrise even if my work day starts in the late morning, and 4) journaling by hand.
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Avoiding The Spiritual & Moral Pitfalls Of Christmas Break, pt. 1
by on Dec 14th, 2010 at 2:00 am
Every January, without fail, I have dozens of men who return to campus fired up and excited to be back in such a spiritually stimulating environment because their time at home proved to be a huge step backward in their relationship with God and their struggle against habitual sin. I also experienced this as a student when I left a Christian bubble for the “real world.” The return to college proved to be a release from a time of spiritual struggle at home, and when you think about it, we should not be surprised that Christmas break can ironically be a spiritually destructive time for college students.
You might have heard the axiom that it takes 33 days to form a habit. Well, Christmas breaks tend to be three to four weeks (21-28 days), and that is more than enough time for us to develop spiritually unhealthy patterns. These days are rhythmically different from our familiar patterns created in the past semester. We do not have the routine stresses of college life keeping us busy. If we do not find work or activities during this time, the days of rest turn into weeks of boredom, and boredom is the breeding ground of spiritual lethargy, distracted behavior, and destructive actions.