22959 Day 37

vision_and_stuff

i read this book, visioneering, much earlier in the year. i thought it would be a throwaway read (i read a book before by andy stanley and i didn't like it, plus i don't usually like leadership books not written by erwin mcmanus). humbly, i must admit that this booked gave me a lot to think about. and it continues to do so.

so, andy talks about at least three "tests" (i don't like the word test because i think christian's generally abuse this idea) or challenges (a superior word) to a leader's vision. i'm paraphrasing, but the three challenges look like this:

a) criticism from opponents

b) circumstances that seemingly thwart the execution of the vision

c) challenges that test (that darn word again) the character of the leader

consider our present situation with this house:

a) some people have questioned (criticized) our ability to raise funds, finish grad school, start a ministry, and buy and rehab an old house, all in the same year (they do have a good point...but these are challenges that can be met)

b) various circumstances have attempted to thwart our progress on this project: finding a place in our price range that could accommodate our vision, communicating between three or more parties, delays, extensions of deadlines, the finagling and haggling over numbers on quote sheets, the ending of leases and finding interim housing, the saving and budgeting of funds, i could go on and on with this category...

c) lying to the bank about income that may or may not magically appear in our bank account in the near future.

as you can see, category C is a little different than the other ones. could i really live for ten years in a house that i acquired based on a lie? my answer to that is no.

andy would say that the challenges in categories a and b could be met in various ways, but if you don't pass category c, well then you don't have a whole lot to offer as a leader. moral authority, he calls it. don't do anything to sacrifice it, no matter the price (and i can give you a dollar amount).

this is a difficult lesson to learn.

22059 Day 28

where's_waldo?

jon graduated from Boston University last year. he thought about joining the peace corps. he thought about going to africa. these are noble thoughts. but tim and bobby talked him in to sticking around and interning with sojourn. what a big win for us! jon has been a big supremely helpful in getting sojourn registered as a student organization. he knows the university well. he understands the culture of the school. and he is crafting a cool vision for what the expression of sojourn on the BU campus could look like. i appreciate jon very much...keep up the good work, bud!

21859 Day 26

life_as_a_house

sometime i really freak out and think that what we are doing is way too preposterous. changing jobs and careers while one spouse is still in school...raising and living off of financial support...moving at the beginning and the middle of an important and busy semester...buying a house...all in year two of marriage. i can't wait until five or so years from now when i can look back and decide if what we did was really stupid or a really big step of faith.

in particular, i've been concerned about the house over the last 24 hours. we got some news yesterday from the mortgage company that was not bad, but not exciting either. some numbers have changed a little and not in our favor. in moments like that i waver between seeing it as another challenge to over come or a way to back out before we get too far over our heads. so, feeling discouraged i decided to go to the house today.

i prayed. i wrote a friend a letter. i read psalms 68 which says in verse 6, God sets the lonely in families, which is a verse that seems to keep coming up all the time and has become the "mission statement" for what amy and i hope this house will be. then i rode my bike home.

we got a note today in the mail from amy's mom that just happened to talk about the house and the "daunting" mortgage progress (even in the best of times...i like that line). funny how that happens, eh. most of what she said had to do with maintaining a vision for our home...for the people who will live there with us, the memories we will make, and the stories we will tell. what an encouragement...thanks!