Our staff team was discussing the upcoming calender year, and talking through some of the strategies for pursuing after what we see as a vision for 2010. In this conversation it hit me how much I have learned about this from our extended hospital stay with Josiah in the ICU.

1. Someone with vision sees long term goals.

Often Josiah's day to day care is very intense and challenging. Dealing with his frequent fevers and sudden hikes or drops in heart rate, blood pressure, and O2 saturation's is sometimes overwhelming. The hospital staff here is incredible, yet they (like me, and you I presume as well) can get so focused on stabilizing Josiah's day that the long term goal (going home) is put aside. I can find myself doing this in the office, and an entire week flies by where all I was able to manage was a state of stability. Someone with vision sees past this. Erin and I have to do the very best we can to put the big goals(s) above all else... we can't afford to lose another week to merely stabilizing things. Again, this is our job as Josiah's parents. It is not necessarily the job of a nurse or doctor to do this. They DO need to focus on the immediate needs. Likewise, in a church/organization it is the role of pastor/staff to look at the big goals. Allow someone else to handle the immediate needs that DO need attention.

2. Someone with vision thinks holistically.

Josiah has a myriad of doctors, nurses, and therapists who come to see him on almost a daily basis. Each of them is specialized in his or her role. As parents, we have to remind the Occupational therapist who is concerned about Josiah's limited range of movement about his poor lung development for the respiratory therapist and not to overwork him and tire him. We have to think about his nutrition, his sleeping patterns, his mobility, his medication, and his mood. We have to think about Josiah holistically. Similarly, someone with vision thinks holistically about their church/organization. Will this ministry conflict with another? Does this family need special help? Did that person slip through the cracks? Has this event been promoted enough? A visionary pastor/staff keeps the overall health of the church/organization at the forefront.

Simple keys for success I know, but how much more effective would you and I be if we started with these?

i came, i saw, i'm going home and going to bed...

Ok, so I got this idea from this site here

I am doing some Christmas performances here this year, all by myself. Why? Because it is too hard to get everyone together this time of year to rehearse. So, I came up with the following suitcase drum set that I can play my guitar with, with the help of the highly talented Pete Farmer of farmerfootdrums.

Wanna make one?

Here's how I did it.

1st, find a suitcase at your local Goodwill Store. This will run you 3-5 bucks tops.

Here's what you need for my setup

Kick Pedal

(3) 2X4X8
(3) 2X4X10
(2) 2x4x4
(1) plywood 1x24x24
(5) 3 inch hinges
(1) 6ft oak quarter round
a box of wood screws


Here's my suitcase with the template for what's to come inside of it.



Draw a template on paper, and hope you can make the wooden one look the same... so it will fit INSIDE of your suitcase. All of my measurement are based on a suitcase that is 8x16x25

purchase, or find a cheap bass drum pedal

lay out the lumber you need, before you screw anything into place, or or cut anything... for me, I was able to do all of this with an 8ft 2x4, and a plywood sheet 24x24.

center stack = 2x4x8
outside stacks 2x4x10


measure twice, cut once

the stacks will keep the bass drum pedal from sliding, and hold the suitcase in place when you are finished

now, screw 2 of the 2x4x8 pieces in place. (dead center)
1st into the plywood, then into the board

use your bass drum pedal to help you place the outer stacks

screw 2 of the boards for the outer stacks 2x4x10 into place

install the 3 inch hinge for the 3rd 2x4x8 board on your center stack.
when open, the board should sit flush to the back edge of the center stack



using the width of your suitcase as a guide, place the outer hinges, making sure they open in the opposite direction.

add a small 2x4x4 as a bumper to keep your farmer foot drums in place. I am using the foot shaker, and the foot tambourine.

add quarter round to the outer edge to make the entire thing look snazzy, and to keep the foot drums from sliding off the outside edge.

again, my suitcase is only 16 inches, so I have to cut off the edge of my 1x24x24 plywood board, so that it will fit into the case


Now, add two 3 inch hinges to the board you just cut off, so that it can fold back inside of the case



Here is the finished product in action... notice the string to hang the bass kick drum pedal from the side of the suitcase.




the farmer foot drums fit nicely in the blank space. This also keep them from banging around inside.








The bass drum has a great sound, and the farmer foot drums have a great mesh with the 12 string guitar I am playing at the same time.

Looking forward to playing this publicly for Christmas performances. Most notably, one at the Red Dutch Barn on Christmas Eve. The simplicity of that place is what inspired me to make something to fit the venue. The service will be a Christmas Song Sing-A-Long. I am working very hard to be ready for this, so would you please make plans to join us?

Red Dutch Barn
W Gap Creek Rd
off of N Hwy 101 in Greer SC 29651
Dec 24th at 6pm and 8pm

The single mom's free oil change is one of the best events we do in order to be a bridge of God's love to our community. Interested in doing one in your town? Here is how:
1. Find a location. We have done these oil changes in school parking lots, business parks, and housing communities. Look for locations with high visibility, and universal community ties.
2. Establish a knowledgeable mechanic in your congregation who can oversee, and sign off on every vehicle. This person does not need to be licensed as a mechanic, but it doesn't hurt.
3. Write out a waiver form. The mom's need to understand while the event is meant to help them, we are not an auto shop. (this also gets you a person's name and address: we always mail an invite to church, and an invite for the next upcoming oil change)
4. Establish a plan for moms/kids while their car is serviced. We usually have an inflatable for kids, and food/coffee for the moms.
5. Have enough oil on hand. We take oil donations weeks in advance. Also, consider some of the other fluids you can top off.. like window washing fluid, and brake fluid.
6. Work out a plan with local Napa store. You will need oil filters for each car. Usually, they allow us to sign for a bunch of them, (the common ones) and return what we don't use. We also always have runners available for uncommon filters we might need during the event. (Never drain the oil out of a vehicle without having a new oil filter in hand)
7. Plan your event, and publicize it I suggest max 2hrs. It is hard to maintain momentum for longer than that. Only publicize for what you will be able to handle. A good starting number is to plan for 20 cars. More than that will be quite overwhelming for a 1st effort.
8. Have enough ramps, tools and oil pans to be able to change oil in 3-4 cars simultaneously. This depends on how much help you have, but 3-4 stations is the best way to keep things moving.
9. Have a clipboard and pen, and new oil filter with the waiver form stay with the vehicle at all times. This will allow your oil changers to write any information about the car that will be helpful to the owner on the form. (like suggesting a tire rotation, or noting that the car was very low on oil when it arrived)
10. Draw a map out showing the intended flow of "traffic" for a single mom when she arrives. Know where she will be greeted, who will talk to her, where she will be asked to step out and your driver take the wheel of the vehicle, where the car will go throughout the process, (think of it like a automatic car wash, and what order of steps work sequentially) and where the mom will be returned to the car.

The goal of this process is to meet an immediate need, share the love of Jesus Christ, and find out other needs the mother might have at home. Be sure to follow up on every need she is willing to share with you, even if this means directing her to another ministry that will be able to help her.

(Oh, don't you dare try to verify that she is indeed a single mom. If you are thinking about this right now, you probably missed the point of why the event is being held in the 1st place. Go to the top of the post and try it again)

Questions?

Doesn't it feel great to exercise? I love how I feel after a long day in the saddle, like I do when I have ridden 80-100 miles or more on the road. I love the days I have been able to spent 6 hrs or more traversing the incredible MTB trails and views at Dupont State Forest. It is this strange feeling of total exhaustion mixed with a adrenaline high, that I absolutely love.

I had lunch with some friends yesterday, and we got talking about some of the things - life long adventure goals we would love to do, but probably never will. John is a fishing and boating biff, and he wants to take a boat the length of the inter-coastal waterway. Don loves to hike, and wonders how far he could make it along the Appalachian Trail. I piped in that I would love to ride my bike from coast to coast someday. They all agreed that I should definitely do that.

Here's the the thing... when I am riding regularly, I get in an average of 400-500 miles in a month. Do you know how far I would need to ride to get across the United States? 300-600miles per week!

I accumulated 3.7 miles for the month of October. Right now I have the big goose egg for November. I got a long way to go. Anyone else feel my pain?