Love Life, Embrace Risks, and Live for Eternity

A Highlight with my Favorite Two and a Half Year Old

Lynnsey, my two and half year old niece, and I have bonded a great deal lately. I love her personality at such a young age and I enjoy spending as much time as I can with her.

Here is one of my favorite highlights that took place over the past week.

My brother decided to have us all over for a bbq. My dearest sister-in-law thought it would be a great idea for me to give Lynnsey a bath. I personally just think Hayley wanted a break. She is a smart woman.  :)

After I gave my niece the most entertaining bath ever, I lifted her out of the tub and wrapped her in a tightly in a towel. I then proceeded to drain the bath tub. I looked over to see what she was doing and my mischievous niece was nowhere to be found. Her towel was laying on the ground so I decided to call out for her. I had no response.  I ran to the front door and it was an unbelievable sight. I saw her running around the front yard butt naked laughing really hard. She thought it was hilarious. I of course chased after her and tackled her to the ground with the towel.

The neighbors, my family, and friends all thought it was hilarious. I am just praying that she grows out of the "I love being naked stage".

The Wedding Dress

So, over the past year I've been storing a wedding dress at my place. No, it's not my wedding dress but I along with another woman purchased it. Yeah, it is hard to explain. The dress was for someone that we were mentoring.

Anyways, every time I had guests over they would ask about the dress. I would swear up and down that it wasn't mine but nobody would believe me. Unbelievable!

Here is the deal. The woman who was suppose to get married isn't anymore. So, now I have a dress hanging in my place that will not be put to good use. Sad, isn't it?

Do you know of anyone that would like to purchase this brand new dress that has never been worn? Willing to sell it for $100.00. Any takers?

An Unusual Small Group

The Monday Night Coffee Shop Group has stretched me big time over the past several years. It is atypcial type of Bible Study. It is probably the most diverse group I have ever been a part of.

We welcome all types of people. The rich. The middle class. The poor. Drug dealers. Artists. Athiests. Agnostics. Pastors. The unchurched. Casino dealers. Teachers. Those decked out in fun tattoos and piercings. Nurses. Transgenders. And even the downright broken.

It is one crazy group and I love it!

Everyone is there because they are exploring spirituality to some extent. This is wether they are exploring Jesus Christ or they are not too sure what spiritual truth is. All that I know is that each individual is exposed to Biblical Truth every Monday evening. 

Here is the deal. It is not our job to fix people or change people. However, it is our responsibility to love them and point them to Jesus Christ. It is our responsibilty to dish out grace to them. To lead them to the beauty of the cross and the resurrection.

I pray that God truly empowers the Church to move forward with the sweet mission.

Season Two with 120 Men

On Saturday, season two of my Men's Adult Basketball League ended. This past season was much more intense which made me extremely nervous. :)           

                                 

                                                    Season Two Champs

                                  

                                            One of my favorite state certified refs.      

                                     

                                        My kick butt staff that help run the league!

                                                   Check out season one here!

You Can's Always Blame the Economy

As we all know, Michigan has been drastically impacted by the economy. Organizations, businesses, churches, and all.

Businesses have been closing down. Every day, a great day of people are experiencing lay offs. Retirement funds have been touched. And pay cuts have been implemented. It is a rough economy!

However, iphones, wiis, and gigantic flat screen tvs are being purchased in this economy. People still have cable tv. Vacations are still be taken. People are even still hitting up Starbucks several times a week.

I am a firm believer that you cannot always blame the economy for the lack of revenue in a business. You cannot always blame the economy for the lack of customers. You cannot always blame the economy for people leaving a particular organization or even church.

It just might be time to search within. One should always re-evaluate what their services offer or how they are running things. We need to just get smart with how we operate.

Is it relevant? Is it what the community wants? Is it in line with God's will? Or is it man's will that is taking over?   

Haugerland

Uncontrollable! That is exactly how I would describe my life right now. Especially during the months of May and June. More and more work has been added to my plate. 

My day camps, gymnastics classes, and t-ball league with 400 kids start on Monday. My Men's Adult Basektball playoffs is this weekend and the next season starts back up again soon. Soon, my 3 year old soccer league will also start back up again. All of the programs are growing in number of participants. I am stretched to the max! 

During the chaotic season, I try to keep my family a high priority in my life. They keep reminding me to do so. Here is what has been taking place this past week in Haugerland.

                                        

My 7 year old cousin passed away two weeks ago. It was a rough one but we know that Ethan is partying with Jesus right now.

                                       

In January, my grandma was put in in an at home hospice care while living at my mom's house. Last weekend, we celebrated her 93rd birthday. Wow!

                                      

Jacob and Lynnsey took me to the Detroit Zoo this past week. We had way too much fun! Now, Jacob has a sad face in this picture. Don't worry. It's fake!

                                      

I lived with nine other women in college. It was a blast! Two weekends ago, one of the room-mates came into town with her husband and 18 month old baby girl. It was my first time meeing baby Gracie and she was so stinkin adorable!

Fully Present

Everyone seems to be attached to their cell phones nowadays. Think about it. Throughout the day we constantly see people on their phones. Either texting, talking, or using the internet. It is unbelievable!

Over the past week and a half, I took around 17 of my staff team through 36 hours of intense training. Over the first few trainings, I was a bit relaxed on the cell phone use. My staff were texting and even checking their facebook page during training. I soon realized that they were not fully present. Not only were the staff not giving 100% of their attention to the information that was being delivered but they were neglecting each other. I recognized that that can hinder the dynamics of a team.

On Saturday, I decided to make the training into a cell phone free zone. I had all 17 of my camp staff leave their cell phones on my desk for a four hour training. It was amazing! They were fully present!

I encourage you to go without your cell phone for a few hours. Try focusing on face to face interaction. Embrace what is going on around you. You might be amazed on how much you miss out on.

Advice for Leaders

Leading 30-40 staff along with 125 volunteers is a handful. They definitely keep me on my toes. Over the years, I have worked hard on my leadership skills. I have failed as a leader many times but I have also been shaped.

Here are a few tips from the One Minute Manager that I strive daily to hold onto.

• Encourage upward feedback. Ask your staff how you are doing and how you can be more helpful.
• These staff expect you to be professional. They expect you to be above reproach. If you act unprofessional in any way, it only undermines your credibility.
• We talk alot about leading by example. Your example is very powerful.

3 Year Olds, Ice Cream Trucks, Dandelions, and Soccer!

A year ago, I took a big risk. I decided to start a 3 year old soccer league. A few parents asked for it so I decided to honor their wishes. One year ago, we brought in sixty 3 year olds from scratch. This year, we have well over ninety 3 year olds. Unbelievable!

Here are a few highlights of the season so far:

• I had a slight problem when the ice cream truck decided to park right in front of my soccer fields in the middle of practice. The 3 year olds were NOT FOCUSED on soccer that day. That ice cream man was evil!

• One of my little ones loves to pick a bouquet of dandelions for me in the middle of the soccer drills

• One of the 3 year olds busted out crying in the middle of the game this past week because he wasn't able to touch the soccer ball

Leadership Styles

A few weeks back, I gathered with around 25 leaders in the Metro Detroit Area for a two day training. A portion of the training focused on leadership styles. I must admit that this portion of the training was my favorite seeing that I am constantly trying to strengthen my personal leadership skills along with my staffs.

We dissected three major leadership styles.

1. Autocratic Leader-In the autocratic style, the leader takes decisions without consulting with others. The decision is made without any form of consultation. An autocratic style works when there is no need for input on the decision, where the decision would not change as the result of input, and where the motivation of people to carry out subsequent actions would not be affected whether they were or were not involved in the decision-making. 

2. Democratic-In the democratic style, the leader involves the people in the decision-making, although the process for the final decision may vary from the leader having the final say to them facilitating consensus in the group. Democratic decision-making is usually appreciated by the people, especially if they have been used to autocratic decisions with which they disagreed. It can be problematic when there are a wide range of opinions and there is no clear way of reaching an equitable final decision. 

3. Laissez-Faire-The laissez-faire style is to minimize the leader's involvement in decision-making, and hence allowing people to make their own decisions, although they may still be responsible for the outcome. Laissez-faire works best when people are capable and motivated in making their own decisions, and where there is no requirement for a central coordination, for example in sharing resources across a range of different people and groups.

We each guessed what we thought was our own leadership style that we tend to practice. Then, we took a questionnaire that pointed us to what style we are prone to using.  

At that point, we had an in depth discussion with the strengths and weaknesses of every style. We tend to view the autrocratic style of leadership as a negative approach. However, there are times when it is needed.

I believe that it is extremely important that all three leadership styles are used in some way when it comes decision-making in the work environment, volunteer environment, or even church environment. There are times the leader must rise and make an autcratic decision. While there are other times, the leader needs to trust their team and empower their team in making the right decision.