Sunday, July 22, 2007
Keeping Track of Things
We now can answer the question from last week (what type of leader we are- Cultural, Structual, or Informal) a little better. After diving deeper we learned that there are main words that go with each type of leader. Or how each one views an organization. The Structual leader views people or an organization as a machine, Cultural views things as a family, and the Informal leader views things like a jungle. From these key words we expanded them and found our best fit. However, to be a good leader you must use a little of all three even though we all excel at one more then the others. So there is a lot to keep track of. What type of leader am I? How are my goals coming (the ones I made at the begging of the summer) it being 3 weeks away from the end of the program? And what is my bowling score? That is right my bowling score… Our Wednesday activity this week was bowling. It was very old school and we had to keep track of our score on paper, no computer systems present. It was a learning experience for all. So how do you score a strike? Here are some pictures from the bowling night:
Our verse this week was Psalm 126:
1 When the LORD brought back the captives to [a] Zion,
we were like men who dreamed.
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
3 The LORD has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.
4 Restore our fortunes, [c] O LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.
We need to remember that as God’s people we live between “memory and hope”. We need to remember what God has done for us and look ahead for what we still hope God will do.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Structual, Cultural, or Informal?
Have you ever thought about not only where you lead from (what Henry Devries talked about) but also what type of leader you are? Bob Eames gave us an introduction this week to the three main types of leadership styles. Structual, Cultural, and Informal. The next post will have more on these as we will go over them more this coming week. Our bible study challlenged us to think about what the greatest temptations are in our own lives and then comforted us by saying that God is our greatest helper! Psalm 124 is a good reminder of this:
1 If the LORD had not been on our side—
let Israel say-
2 if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us,
3 when their anger flared against us,
they would have swallowed us alive;
4 the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 the raging waters
would have swept us away.
6 Praise be to the LORD,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
out of the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
For our Wednesday activity it was one of the favorites for those who went. We went kayaking in Grand Lake/Shadow Mountain Lake. We spent 4 hours out there having fun, getting burnt by the sun, swimming, and for some learing how to paddle correctly (especially difficult in a double). The week in images:
Out to eat with Bob Eames for Thai food
We were blessed again this week with more LCI alumni. Danielle Roskamp and Dave Stehouwer
What we live in
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Fireworks and Rain
Wow! It is hard to believe that this post marks the half-way point for the LCI program. “Leadership at SMR and Beyound: What’s next for you?” was the topic this week brought to us by the very popular VP of finances for Calvin College Henry Devries. He challenged us to think about where our “sweet spot” is, or the place where we flourish the most/are best at/or where we are most comfortable within a leadership role. All very good things to think about. Psalm 123 was our verse in our Bible studies read like this:
1 I lift up my eyes to you,
to you whose throne is in heaven.
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured much contempt.
4 We have endured much ridicule from the proud,
much contempt from the arrogant.
MERCY is the key word here…
With Henry Devries on Wednesday we went to Grand lake for the 4th to watch fireworks. It is not a bad deal when you have Grand Lake below the fireworks and mountains in the background of then on top of that you are surronded by great company. Most beautiful 4th I have ever had.
This weekend we had the men’s and women’s retreat. Although both retreats got rained out (so everyone returned to SMR without spending the night away) the time we had before the weather got bad was very enjoyable. The women had fun setting up camp and hanging out and the men had fun with a big Coleman stove eating hotdogs together. There was also a lot of frisbee thorwing! So not ideal but what can you do? We now look forward for the arrival of Bob Eames…
The 4th at Grand Lake
We also had some LCI alumni come to enjoy the fireworks with us such as Elise Voyvadick, Jill De vries, and Annie Reilly
