Tag Archives: relationships

The “R” Word…Again


At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m going to talk about the “R” word again. Yes, I’m referring to relationships. It’s a risk I’m willing to take because I become more convinced with every passing day just how vital relationships are. For me they are both the foundation and the thread that connect all of the pieces of life together.

But, in spite of that, I fail to give them the respect and time they deserve. The reasons for that are too many to list, but most, if I’m honest, are really just terrible excuses. I talk a lot about being intentional and last week I decided it was time I be intentional with relationships as well. For me, this means putting relationships in my “to-do” list. I know this may sound terrible. But, we schedule everything else in our lives, why not time to be intentional about relationships? I think we also need to be intentional with the relationships we invest in, but more on that later.

I use Things as my task-management system and love it. So, I created a new “area of responsibility” called Relationships. I currently have six different communication tasks scheduled in there with six different people. I can set them up to repeat every week, once a month, or anywhere in between. Sad as it may be I can simply get so “busy” with the day to day pace of life that I forget to connect with the people I care about most.

My hope is that being intentional about relationships becomes so much a rhythm of my life that I no longer need to put it in my “to-do” list. But, until then, I need the reminders.

Do you have any tips to share on how to be more intentional about relationships?

Comment Just Life, Relationships

Age is a Funny Thing

Here in America we live in a culture that gets offended when you ask about it…age. Personally, it’s the tone with which people ask the question that gets me. More often than not, when people first meet me they assume I’m younger than I am (and then they tell me that one day I’ll wish that was the case). Apparently I look young. I’m okay with that. What I’m not okay with is people looking down on me because of my age. I find this to be the case often in the church. Why that’s the case I haven’t yet been able to figure out. But, it’s not anything new either.

Yes, I am (by comparison) young. I have a lot to learn. Sometimes my passion needs to be reigned in a little bit. I am still at times naive. Sometimes I’m overeager. My passion and excitement can cause me to be judgmental. Bottom line: I make mistakes…a lot of them.

But, I’m also a loved and uniquely gifted child of God. And I respect the older generation. I respect their wisdom and knowledge. I admire their leadership. I can learn more from them than I’d ever imagine. And I crave mentors from among them.

Many churches today have become divided by age, by generation. And we are all to blame for that. In doing so I think we’re losing out on some extremely valuable relationships. We’re losing opportunities for cross generational mentoring and learning. Whether 15, 25, 35, 65 or anywhere in between, we’re all a piece of the puzzle. God has given us all unique gifts to be used for His kingdom. And the truth is that none of us can do it on our own. In fact, more often than not I think God can use us to accomplish the most for Him when we work together.

It’s a beautiful thing when we can forget about age and open ourselves up to relationships that can make a lasting impact on our lives and the Kingdom. It’s a lesson I’m learning…not using age as a defining fact in what relationships should or should not look like.

Thoughts?

2 Comments Deep Thinking, Just Life, Relationships

Taking the Online Offline

Relationships. One simple word, but one word that can make or break or so much. One word that demands our focus and attention whether we like it or not. One word that God called us to – with Him and with others.

In a society where we live so much of our time online our view of relationships can become quite distorted if we’re not careful. We can develop a community that is a mile long but only an inch deep.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that relationships cannot be built or fostered through online interaction. What I am saying, however, is that we can’t let it stop there. If we do, we’re missing out. We’re missing out on depth and growth in community. We have to take the online offline.

I’ve always been a firm believer in that – taking the online offline, but my time at the Echo Conference last week reaffirmed that. Sharing a meal and great conversation or staying up well past 2am talking about life, ministry and the church is something that you just can’t duplicate online.

So here’s to being intentional about seizing opportunities to take the online offline…to have a face to face conversation with someone who you normally associate with a tiny square picture on a screen. And here’s to intentionally using the online tools to continue the relationships when distance makes offline impossible.

Comment Deep Thinking, Just Life, Relationships

In One Month You’ll Hear the Echo

I really cannot tell you how incredibly excited I am that one month from today I’ll be in Dallas, TX with countless friends on the eve of the Echo Conference. Stephen Proctor described Echo as a pilgrimage to Mecca. And that’s exactly what it is for many of us in the church.

Beyond the fact that the brains behind this conference strive to push us all to better understand the heart and the WHY behind what we do (which I’m a big fan of) there really are countless great reasons to go. If you want to read some check out Proctor’s post, or perhaps this one from Tim Schraeder, or the Echo website. But, I’m only going to give you one reason: community. Yes there will be great speakers and and breakout sessions and I’m looking forward to learning a lot, but more than that I am looking forward to connecting and re-connecting with other creative/tech types in the church, members of my tribe. Echo is an opportunity to take the online community offline and have face to face conversations which is so important. Not only will you foster existing relationships but you’ll develop new ones.

If you aren’t registered yet, do it…today. And, if you head on over to worshipvj.com and check out his post you may even be able to save yourself some money on registration before July 1st. If you’re going to be there, let me know! I’d love to connect!

P.S. -For all you visual worship tribe folks, we’ll be hosting a late night Visual Worship Roundtable. Community bonus!

Comment Technology, Visual Worship

Creating in Isolation

In the discussion at the Visual Worship Roundtable someone mentioned the fact that the foundation of Jesus’ ministry was relationships and his interactions with people. In the creative aspect of ministry, it’s very easy for our ministry to seldom involve relationships and interactions with people. We can spend hours sitting at a desk creating a website, a brochure, a video, a motion background, etc.

I wonder if sometimes we spend so much time creating that we forget about just being, about being in relationships and community with others. If we don’t foster and seek out those relationships and interactions with people soon our creations become irrelevant because we are out of touch with reality, with people. It becomes difficult for our creations to speak to life when we’re not living it away from our computer screens.

How much time do you spend each day in front of your computer screen? How much do you spend with people? Does that need to change?


Comment Creativity, Visual Worship