LAUNCHING SOON! Women in Youth Ministry Cohort

There's something about the mixture of a group of likeminded individuals coming together and the accountability of a trained coach that does wonders for your growth and development as a leader and youth worker. I've learned that journeying with a safe group of peers provides fertile soil for long-lasting change.

I think that women in youth ministry are the intersection of some of my favorite people: leaders, women, and youth workers. And this environment is a beautiful opportunity for my gifts and background to be used for other women!

This whole-life coaching program is all about developing and empowering women in leadership. Being a woman in youth ministry is different. It demands unique skills and awareness as we approach the challenges and opportunities due to our gender.

We will learn across a scope of subjects focused on leadership development and youth ministry realities in this changing culture. This specialized cohort will have 8-10 women in leadership, and meets twice for 2 days plus 4 times online (2-3 hours each). Each component is very intentional and structured to provide encouragement, training, challenge, and transformation.

This cohort provides customized attention to your specific context and needs as a woman in youth ministry.

A Few Details...

• HOW MANY: Maximum of 10 women and 5 women have already committed
• WHO: Our group is from all over the U.S., and you do not need to be in full time ministry or a point leader. But each women must be in youth ministry in some way.
• MEETING SCHEDULE: This cohort will meet twice for 2 full day meetings in Northern Indiana and have 4 online meetings (2-3 hours each). We will meet during the 2015-2016 school year. The specific dates will be chosen by the group. Our first face-to-face gathering will be in September, the other dates below are suggestive:
  • September: face-to-face
  • October: online
  • December: online
  • February: online
  • March: online
  • April: face-to-face
• 1on1 COACHING: Participants receive four 30-minute phone calls with me between our face-to-face meetings
• CONNECTION: Private Facebook group for ongoing support and interaction
• HOMEWORK: We will do a good amount of shared, cross-disciplinary reading. I believe that Leaders are Readers! Additionally, each participate will self-assign homework based on learning and necessary, personalized growth areas
• COST: $2000 (+ participant travel costs)

The transformation you'll experience from the other women and myself will be beyond these bullet points! You can read about Andrea's experience in our last cohort.

I've participated in similar cohorts and it's worth it. It's one of the best investments, in my opinion, you can make in your leadership. It has been for me. Conferences and network meetings are great, but they rarely produce the kind of customized, personalized, long-lasting transformation that we require as leaders.

The women who've already committed are very diverse! They are from all over the country, different denominations, different life stages, and different experiences in ministry. I'm VERY excited about our "differences" because it will make our learning that much richer and more profound!!

If you're interested in this cohort or a future one, you can learn more about the Youth Ministry Coaching Program HERE (including sample schedules and FAQs) or contact me directly HERE. I'd love to figure this out with you!

Wanna just apply? Complete this YMCP application! Can't wait until September!!

What My Garbage Collector has Taught me about Work

Right before Christmas I ran into our garbage collector. He was working hard right up to Christmas Day, so we shared some light jokes and I thanked him for his service to our family and neighborhood. He lit up like a Christmas tree and started bragging on his job.

I do not lie. The man who collects other people's trash for a living began bragging about this work he gets to do.

While I was holding a cooking dish to make Christmas dinner, he told about how much pride he takes in taking care for his truck. Once a week he gets to work early to wash it, Armor-All the insides, vacuum the seats and floors, and buff out his hub caps. Not because he has to (it's not company policy), but because he wants to care for what he's been entrusted. I don't even do that kind of work on my own cars, much less a dump truck. But he does. He told me he wants to be excellent in the work he does. He went on to gush about how he cares about his customers (his words) and he wants their neighborhood to look nice and cared for. He said he gets a part to play in that by cleaning up our trash and taking it away to a place we'll never know about. 

He handles the care of his truck with such professionalism and excellence that the owner of Waste Management noticed and gave him a $500 bonus (out of his own wallet!) for Christmas. Funny enough, the owner asked him if $300 was a good bonus to help him feel appreciated for his service that year and for taking care of the truck. Our garbage collector talked him up $200!! He said, "well, I've kept my truck clean all year!" So he got a couple hundred more dollars. I love it. He stuck up for his hard work and saw the value he brings to the company.

Earlier, last year the owner of Waste Management offered to buy him a new truck. He had an older model and was due for an upgrade. He declined. He told the owner that he didn't need a new truck. His was fine. It worked fine and accomplished the job. He was content with what he had, even when offered something more, better.

That conversation with him lasted about 10 minutes in the alley of our place. I was so inspired. Fast forward...

Yesterday I ran into him again as I was headed out for a meeting, complete with a bag of trash in hand. I turned the corner to see MOUNDS of trash overflowing the dumpsters and overtaking the defined trash bins. My eyes met his and together our eyes rolled and bugged out. We shook our heads in unison. SO.MUCH.TRASH!!!! "So much for a holiday weekend," I said to him.

We commiserated together for a few seconds about how much trash the Memorial Day weekend produced for restaurants and homes. He told me that he was up at 3am, at work by 4am to get started on his route, and at 1pm he wasn't even halfway done with his route for the day! Wow. He'd already worked a 9 hour day and he wasn't even halfway done. He wasn't complaining. He was just telling it like it was.

Again, I thanked him for his service. Again, he beamed and said, "it's my pleasure, ma'am." I believe he really meant that it was his pleasure to pick up my trash. That's a man with some character. Could you say that? I don't think I could.

What if we all had that attitude about our work? What if we saw our work - no matter how inglorious, unappreciated, dirty, or difficult - with that same attitude of our garbage collector. What if we treated our customers with the same respect and dignity, even when we get trashed upon (literally in his case)? What if we got to work early to take care of the tools we'd been given for our job, not because they'd be reviewed in our annual evaluation, but because it was the right thing to do and because we took pride in caring for them?

Most of the time he has a smile on his face and a lightness to his step. He collects smelly, messy, disgusting garbage all day every day. That's his job and he takes pride in it. He has another perspective on it. I see trash. He sees service.

Our garbage collector has taught me a lot about having a different perspective on work. Even when it seems dirty or meaningless or messy, there can be another approach. There can be another way. And even when you're just picking up crap, it can still be important work because of the people you encounter and the greater value behind the work itself. 

I don't know the faith story of our garbage collector, but he's taught me more about this verse than a lot of pastors...

“Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.”

— Colossians 3:23 (The Message)

May your work today be for the right reasons, to honor the right One, giving dignity and respect to those you meet. May your work be excellent, not shoddy. May you do your best as everything you do is unto the Lord.

Rhythms for Leading Under Pressure

This week I was deeply honored to speak at Compassion International's staff chapel in Colorado Springs, CO. Locally, about 900 people work at their headquarters and attend their twice per month chapel service. But the INCREDIBLE thing is their chapel services are streamed LIVE to their 2400 staff all around the world in Asia, Europe, Africa, and South America.

I was asked to speak in their year-long series called Soul Pursuit: Fully Integrated Living. Specifically, I was asked to speak on "Rhythms for Leading Under Pressure". (Fun topic, right?) I realized as I prepared that I had a lot to say on the subject. Really, most all of my leadership life I've lead under pressure. And I've learned a few things about the critical rhythms required.

HERE is the 35-minute message.

May it provide life for your soul and leadership...