Catching up on my reading....

Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels


















I could spend quite some time if I wrote out all the things about this book that are worth reviewing. It really just needs to be read.

If you are a church elder, pastor, lay leader, etc - read it
If you are a leader in the business world - read it
If you are a leader of a family - read it.

While Bill is targeting church leaders and much of it focuses in that realm, so many of us that have leadership potential allow it to flounder...to dissipate because we don't recognize it, don't build it up and don't use it. The passion in this book and the useful points will be items that I will be working on and wrestling with for a very long time.

I imagine that anyone else in a position of leadership or wanting ultimately to be in a position of leadership would benefit from many of the chapters.

Get it. Read it. Work on it.

What a sunset

It was very cold today, so I hardly wanted to go outside to take the picture, but it turned out pretty good :)

Jacob has lost 2 teeth

All I want for Christmas is my 2 bottom teeth!

And he also left a really great note for the tooth fairy because he had lost the tooth...see if you can tell where Jaden decided to step in and help him :)

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone enjoyed any trick-or-treating that they got to do.  For us, it was a relatively quick night because of the cold, but, our ninja, our samurai and our dragon had a great time anyway.

The dragon is going to get you!

Kristen looks way happier now
than she would be a little later as
we walked in the cold air

Gotta love the shoes

Quick catch up on Books...reading with Jaden

For one, I have been enjoying the fact that Jaden and I are spending evenings and quiet times together reading.  We do a couple chapters at a time and it is really good bonding time.  We have read a number of things, but of late, we have been reading this Deltora Quest series by Emily Rodda.  Here are the ones we have read over the last month or so...

The Shifting Sands



City of the Rats


The Lake of Tears

Jude's Halloween Party at School

We had a fun time getting to go with Jude this afternoon to his school.  It was just Jude, Kristen and I.  It was neat to be able to give him undivided attention.  While he has been very excited about being a dragon for Halloween, I think he enjoyed seeing Scooby-Doo, in person, right outside of his classroom.

Another book

The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Saw the movie, so I thought I would read the book...I liked the movie better...which is not the norm. It is a very quick read, which is great and I think there are great things in it, but the story is very simple and if you don't decide to read into it, it could have no impact at all and end up having an old-school, after school special type of feel.

If, however, you think about it with respect to your own legacy as well as how the choices you make impact lives around you...then it can be worthwhile and thought-provoking from that standpoint.

Steak Night Event

We had 118 men attend Steak Night at the church this year.  I acted as MC and did a reasonable job.  I will give myself a 6.  Lots to learn for me in terms of speaking slower, being more precise with instructions and being more planned in my deliver topics in general.  While I think the night was great, I felt like I had taken it down overall by a small amount by distracting things due to my errors.   Oh well...learn and move on.
One thing I will definitely keep in mind, and I have to figure this out with the other guys on the team...I didn't get to actually participate or really enjoy the event because of running it.  While I am OK with that, it makes me think I need to find something for the guys on the team that went through this with me to say thank you and, if possible, help them find a similar experience that they actually get to participate/enjoy so that they are not only serving.

Jaden and I are currently reading...

The Forests Of Silence by Emily Rodda

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed reading this with Jaden. He could easily read it by himself...but this seems to be a good kind of read to do during our together time.  There is something awesome about sharing a story together and having something to look forward to like this.  He is disappointed when we stop reading and is excited to sit down and go through more the next time we have time together.  A good use of our time for sure :)



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Recently read book

The New Breed: Understanding and Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer by Jonathan McKee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Enjoyed reading this as it had some great practical ways that it is helping someone, such as myself, that has little or no experience in managing volunteers to think of things as I get started in my endeavor.

I think the way it was written was both good and bad. There were moments that the fact that you had multiple authors playing off each other helped things along and others that seemed forced and led to goofy exchanges.

Ultimately, the mark of a good book is are you keeping it for reference? Do you want to give this away to others to help them? Did you spend tons of time wanting to underline things?

I do have this as a reference...as it has some great material in the back with examples that I think are very useful.

I think I would pass this along to others, if they are newer to the game of managing volunteers.

I didn't spend a ton of time underlining...but, there were at least a couple of chapters that I wanted to go back to again.



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