I happened to be rummaging through a colleague’s desk not too long ago (with permission!).
I came across a notecard that had a name, date, some niceties, and random topics on it. After I’d seen 4 or 5 of these cards, I realized they were my colleague's way of reminding himself what he wanted to accomplish in a given interaction.
I smiled to myself. This guy is a nice, somewhat irreverent, confident gentleman. I would have assumed he strolled into most meetings and automatically fell into normal chit-chat, knew which high points he had to hit, and moved on.
As it turns out, he was intentional when he went into meetings. He wrote down the person’s name, some personal details (their spouse’s name, hometown, or favorite sports team), and the topics he wanted to cover.
I’ve been to a number of meetings with this colleague and never saw him pull out a notecard. With just the simple act of writing these things down, he was much more effective in meetings by building personal bonds with people and knowing what business he wanted to complete.
Read MoreMy mother-in-law got Everett this onesie which says: "Ask me about Mama's book!"
Read More“Teach me to do it myself” is a concept in the Montessori education philosophy. It’s the idea of helping a child only as far as they need your help. You should transition the activity you’re doing with them over to them as soon as their abilities allow for it.
The idea is that children should always be growing in their abilities, and you shouldn’t keep them helpless or totally dependent on you for everything.
It’s a spiritual principle as well. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul talks about the idea of milk versus solid foods. When you are an infant, you need pure milk because your digestive system isn’t developed enough to handle real food. The same is true for spiritual infancy. But the expectation is that you will grow spiritually and be able to handle more solid food (harder questions and bigger decisions). God desires that as we grow in our knowledge of Him, we grow in the ability to walk according to His will. We are able to feed ourselves (study the Word) and make Godly decisions because we know who He is and listen to His voice.
It’s a philosophy in children’s education, and a spiritual concept, and it also applies to our jobs.
Read MoreOne of the guys has - by most people’s account - a pretty phenomenal job. I personally know about a dozen people who would love to work where he works doing what he does. As we were talking he said “I’m done there. I can just feel it.”
Read MoreThat is why we must “pitch our tents” where we will always have quiet times with Him, however noisy our times with the world may be.
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