Somethin's burnin...

This morning I had a very cool thing happen at church.  There's this young man, maybe 17 or so...who is new to Grace.  Very humble, very quiet, very polite... He kind of blends in with the rest of the crowd and could easily go unnoticed.  He was baptized at the Big Event at Grace Church (gracechurchreno.org) .  He's new to faith in Christ and I'm here to say:  there's something burning inside...

He came up to my office and asked me to plug in his iPod.  He played a beat and shared a song he had written about Jesus that included this powerful....SUPER powerful, bold, creative rap that spoke the Truth about his transformation...

This quiet young man poured out his heart through this ability I would have never known he had the guts to do...

Makes me think:  How many of us are sitting on some kind of God-given gift?  How many of us are ok with blending in while letting some huge calling quietly die inside us?

Is God calling you to more?  Are you willing to step out and see what He does, through you?

What makes a good leader

The Global Leadership Summit is coming up at Grace on August 11 and 12.  Register at gracechurchreno.org.  As I think about  leadership, here are some thoughts on what I think helps make a great leader...Maybe I'll learn much more at the Summit.  I hope so.

A leader is willing to risk.  Willing to learn.  Willing to delegate.  Willing to let go.  Willing to help.

A leader is willing to let it be the other guy's idea...

A leader is willing to forgive.  Willing to apologize.   Willing to share.  Willing to give others ownership.  Willing to dream.  Willing to let others dream too.  Willing to stay.  Willing to leave when it's time...

Nothing earth shattering here...just thinking.  And looking forward to the GLS.

peacocks, daddys, and daughters

So we have a quickly growing flock of peacocks who think ours is their home.  They are beautiful, for sure, but also LOUD and MESSY.  David has had enough.  He has a secret plan to trap and relocate, just to thin the 'herd'.  His prize catch would be the most brilliant male, as he seems the most active with the ladies.  (This year, Dave threw away over 22 eggs...and still 4 chicks hatched that we know of...)

Yesterday, Dave's dream almost came true.  The cockiest of males had found his way into our dog run, and actually into a small igloo dog house inside the dog run.  The problem was, his tail feathers were too long and cumbersome for him to get turned around.  David rushed in the house with a sparkle in his eye. Let the relocation begin.

Enter Laura Lee.  Not happy.  She loves that peacock.  He's part of her childhood.  Tears.  Pleading.

Long story short, after hours of letting him try to escape on his own, we ended up pulling the peacock out of the dog house by his lovely tail feathers and setting him free....

Daddys and daughters.  that's how it works.    ;)

(feather fatalities)