What do you see?

Most of us have seen this optical illusion before.  Do you see a beautiful young woman or an elderly woman?  Like all optical illusions, it is about perspective.  How do you see it?  Why does someone else see it differently?  Because we look at things in different ways and we look sometimes expecting things to be a certain way.  With this picture, it is hard for some to see anything but what they first perceive and for some it is hard to switch back once your mind has made the adjustment to the other image.

Many times we look at ourselves and see only the faults, the shortcomings, the impossibilities. We look at where we have failed and think God cannot possibly use us now.  Truthfully, many times others will look at us in the same way.  While it is important to acknowledge our sins and confess them and agree with God on their seriousness, it is also essential that we realize that Christ died for all sin and nothing is too big for Him to forgive and nothing is so permanent that God cannot use us on the other side of confession.   This truth applies to salvation, but it also applies to restoration.

"It's never too late to be who 

you might have been." 

Mark Batterson, in his book Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny, reminds us that "it's never too late to be who you might have been."  Later in the book, he also says, "Jesus didn't die just to get us off the hook.  He also died to resurrect the person we were destined to be before sin distorted the image of God in us."

Mastering the Art of Failing

FAILURE!  We don't like to talk about it (unless it is someone else's, at which point we will gossip - I mean pray - about it).  We certainly don't want to admit to failure.  FAIL is definitely a "four letter word" and we just do not want to allow its use in our conversations.  We want to find ways to label it something else or claim some sort of odd victory out of it.  Success is our goal and the only option we want to acknowledge!

There have been more than a few occasions when I have labeled an event or a program a failure and others have argued with me.  They have pointed out reasons that it "wasn't really a failure because . . .".  I believe that type of response comes out of our fear of being labeled a failure and a misunderstanding of what failure actually means. 

Let's check out some definitions of failure: 

1. an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success 

2. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected 

3. a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency

So failure is a lack of success, the nonperformance of something expected, or a subnormal quantity or quality. Isn't that exactly what we are talking about here?  An experience that falls short of what we had expected or hoped for is by definition a failure.  Rather than trying to ignore it, hide it, or rename it, why don't we just accept it for what it is and learn what to do next?

One of the dangers of not owning our failure is that we never learn anything from it.  The better course of action is to claim the failure and then follow several key steps:

1. Ask ourselves, "What can we learn from this?" 

2. What could we have done differently? 

3. What next?

What can we learn from this? This question is a significant one.  Maybe through the process of failing we can learn more about ourselves and our organization.  Perhaps we can better discover who we are and how we carry out our vision.  Maybe we learn more about our actual vision, how to articulate it, and how we implement it.  Was the entire concept wrong or are there other reasons it failed?

On a personal level, we may learn who we really are and what our purpose is by evaluating the failure.

What could we have done differently? Was the timing wrong? Was the location wrong?  Did we place the right personnel in the right position? Could we have advertised better or promoted better internally?  Did we sell the vision?  If the project or event matches our vision and purpose, then these questions can be of great value in determining why we failed and what we can concentrate on for the future.

What next? Now that "it" has failed, what do we do next?  Maybe we identify that the problem was simply that project wasn't us!  It didn't match our purpose or wasn't a part of our DNA.  If that is the case, then we let it go and move on.  

Or maybe we realize the problem was in the logistics.  If we had done things differently, we would have experienced success.  In this scenario, we might relaunch with the new procedures in place.  As Henry Ford said, "Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely."

A third exciting option when we have failed is to look at exactly what it now enables us to do!  That's right - failure can sometimes be enabling.  Before the failure, we were investing time, people, and finances in the project.  Now that it has ceased, what can we do with those resources?  Maybe the failure simply frees us up to do something bigger, better, more significant!  

"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down." (Mary Pickford, movie actress and co-founder of Untied Artists Studios)

Familiar Finger Gestures (and not the ones you're thinking)

Thumbs up is a widely accepted and well-known finger gesture for those of us in the United States.  It signifies ''great'' or ''awesome'' and is used to sign approval, but is stronger than an OK sign.  Now one must be careful in other countries, because it can mean something else.  In Thailand, Iraq, and Iran, it is considered an extremely obscene gesture and in Australia, it can be a sign for OK unless you make an upward motion, then it can be a grave insult!

The "We're Number One" sign is another widely accepted and understood gesture.  In fact, you can save the effort and energy to form the gesture yourself thanks to a man by the name of  Geral Fauss.  Geral is the inventor or designer of the foam finger. A high school industrial arts teacher in Texas, he designed the #1 Foam Finger in 1978 after experimenting with a plywood model (too heavy) and a paper model (too fragile).  Our lives have been forever changed and we no longer have to exert the effort to form the "We're Number One" sign ourselves.

If you have played or been around sports and particularly football the "four fingers" gesture should be a familiar one.  There is much discussion and debate over where the practice originated.  Alabama fans claim Bear Bryant started it. Miami Hurricane fans argue that it was Jimmy Johnson and Arkansas fans say it started in 1964 with the Razorbacks (featuring a player by the name of Jimmy Johnson).  Wherever it started and by whom, it is commonplace in most games today.  The sign indicates the players' belief and understanding that a game is won in that crucial final period. True fans and players use the sign as a symbol that they own that last quarter.

That crucial final period! 

Many of us today are in a final quarter.  For some it is the final quarter of life itself, but for others it can be the final quarter of a job, a task, or a situation.  Whatever it is in you, know that how you play out the final quarter is extremely important.  The writer of Hebrews notes the importance to running the race to the end in Heb 12:1  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

You may be tired.  You may be hurting.  You may want to just quit or coast, but it is important to remain faithful to the end.  For a company, there is nothing worse than an employee who just bides his time toward his final days.  For a track runner, you want to see her straining all the way to the finish line.

Seth Godin sums it up well in his blog:

It's not enough to finish the checklist, to hurriedly do the last three steps and declare victory.  In fact, the last coat of polish and the unhurried delivery of worthwhile work is valued all out of proportion to the total amount of effort you put into the project.

We need to make sure, whatever our current final period is, we are not just calling it in or going through the motions.  Rather let us give our best and make sure we own that last quarter for the glory of God!

The Power Based Life by Mike Flynt

I was excited to see “The Power Based Life” by Mike Flynt on the list of books available receive and review from Booksneeze. I remember reading the story of his return to college in his fifties to play football. Mike’s strategies for developing a “power based life” center upon a personal relationship with Christ.  He draws from his own experiences and also utilizes the stories of others to show how building upon your strengths gives a life of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Obviously this book is based on a Christ centered relationship and Mike tells of his efforts before Christ and afterwards.  However, the book offers practical advice that could prove helpful to anyone, whether they are a Christian or not.  That said, he emphasizes discovering who God has created us to be.

This book can be read in a short time and provides valuable strategies and insights.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Deep Fried or Deeply Fulfilled??

According to Delish.com, here are the Top Ten Most Unusual State Fair Foods (and their originating states):

v      Chicken Fried Bacon (Texas)

v      Fried Avocado Bites (California)

v      Spaghetti and Meatballs on a Stick (Minnesota)

v      Fried Frog Legs (California)

v      Hot Beef Sundae (Iowa)

v      Pizza Cones (Indiana)

v      Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich (California)

v      Deep Fried Twinkies (Indiana)

v      Fried Coca-Cola (Texas)

v      Key Lime Pie on a Stick (Minnesota)

There are some that I would have bumped from that list in favor of these:

§         Mealworm Covered Caramel Apples (Arizona)

§         Fried Butter Balls (Montana)

§         Python Kabobs (California). 

There are also some observations that jump out at me:

§         No matter the topic, when it comes to the unusual, California seems to lead the list.

§         For some reason, Minnesota really seems to like things “on a stick”!

I remember several years ago at the Virginia State Fair, there was a booth selling “Deep Fried Oreos”!  Now, being a fan of oreos and a firm believer in the joy of deep frying, I had to give it a try.  I would say that it ranked Number 1 in the top two of most disgusting things I have ever put in my mouth.  To this day I can not believe that two such wonderful things can be combined into a totally awful dish!

In my mind this treat was going to deliver a taste that ranked up there with “Hot Now” Krispy Kreme donuts.  (If you don’t understand that reference, I know you are “not from around here” and I hurt for your deprived life expereinces.)  But the fact is, it just did not deliver what it promised.  I was left with a wretched taste in my mouth and an empty feeling in terms of my satisfaction.  It is like what the world so often offers us.

We watch the commercials, flip through the magazines, and listen to the radio.  Over and over again the theme is the same.  This product or this expereince is what you need to be happy, to feel fulfilled, or to be satisfied!  We often buy into that hype only to discover they are all like “Deep Fried Oreos”!  Continuing the food theme, these promises are like cotton candy – a lot of fluff, but quickly gone!

You want to be satisfied?  You want something that leaves you feeling full?  You want something that is lasting? There is one place to find it:

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.  (Eph 3:19)