Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.The state of Arizona is in a serious hole right now financially. We have not done well as a state at balancing our budget and have put ourselves into a pickle that we must deal with now before it spirals completely out of whack. It is inevitable that cuts to the budget must happen. Without cuts, there is no hope for stability. Unfortunately, the plan put forth by John Kavanagh & Russell Pearce takes aim at education in the state first. You can read the article, but the highlight of it is this: In the GOP options plan, education is targeted for the biggest cuts over the next year and a half. The K-12 system is penciled in for a nearly $1 billion cut for this year and next. "That's $1,000 a kid in Arizona over 17 months," said Rep. Rich Crandall, R-Mesa. He predicted that the proposed deep cuts to education won't win enough votes to pass. Education advocates were quick to cry foul. "Cutting from the budget in a slash-and-burn manner and balancing the budget on the backs of students is the wrong way to go," said Rep. Rae Waters, D-Phoenix. I just do not think it is a wise idea to attack education first when figuring out what to cut from the budget. Arizona consistently ranks near the bottom for education in the United States. It makes complete sense why when you see that education is always in the crosshairs for the GOP dominated legislature. I worry about raising my kids in an environment where education is not considered a priority. When the budget is out of control, there will always be cuts that are unpopular. Everyone has to suffer with cuts. However, it is beyond wrong when education and then healthcare are the first things to get cut. I hope that these draconian proposals of slash & burn on our state's education budget are not approved - for the sake of not only today but the future of the state of Arizona.
My sister Chelsea is one of my favorite people in the world. I got the opportunity to hang out with her and her husband Nathan last night since they were in town from Colorado. It was such a blessing for me to see them and spend some time chatting. We had some great fights growing up. I think sometimes we fought simply because we were so similar it pissed us off. She has always been one of my best friends. I love laughing at stupid things with her. I love her stubborn opinions. I love how she is never afraid to say what is on her mind. I love that she is a nurse taking care of babies who desperately need her incredible intelligence and warm loving heart. I love that she took my wonderful dog Tazo when it became apparent that our house was too small for him and he needed more room to run. I love that she picked such a solid guy in Nathan for a husband. I love that I still call her Chelbs to this day. I love that she is passionate about Jesus but not your typical churchy person. I love that my boys both love seeing her and Nathan when they can. I love that she chose to get married at the zoo. I love that she is an ASU grad. I love that I can share anything with her and she will always defend me - even when she probably knows I am wrong. I love that when we get together (though it doesn't happen nearly enough) we have the greatest of times like we did last night. I have not always been the best of brothers to her, but she truly is the greatest sister in the world. She loves life and strives each day to live to its fullest. The world is a better place because of my sister.
I love you Chelbs. Thanks for all of the memories - looking forward to the many yet to come.
So in Acts 16, Paul has Timothy be circumcised "because of the Jews" who lived in the area. So in essence, Paul has Timothy go through a heck of a lot of pain simply to appease the legalists. Am I reading this wrong? Why does it seem that legalism always gets the final word. I know that Paul's heart was to not be a hindrance to anyone so that if it meant getting Timothy chopped then so be it, but I just have a hard time with this. I guess this is like any situation where you conform to surrounding culture in ways that aren't harmful to your relationship with Jesus in order to help in your ministry to that culture. I guess its just weird to me because on one hand it appears that Paul appeases the legalist culture but then later on in Galatia he speaks out so much against circumcision and makes a mockery of why don't you chop everything off if that is the way to holiness. Paul is a weird character. He seems like the type of guy who would have a beer with the bar crowd and then turn around and speak of the abomination of alcohol with the super conservatives. Is this the idea of being all things to all people that he writes about in Corinthians? At what point do you stop? Should a person ever have customs or practices? Or are we called to be willing to be whatever to whomever? Coming full circle, I guess its just weird to me that Timothy had to go through circumcision. No wonder he felt timid in his ministry - to get in he had to cut off part of his manhood.
I truly believe leadership hinges on trust. If above all else leadership is influence, it seems that the greatest impact influence could have would be through a trusting relationship. In other words, if I fully trust in someone leading me - their influence is going to be stronger in and on my life. The problem is that trust is not something that just happens. It cannot be gained in a short amount of time and it is constantly tested. As a leader, you cannot assume you can walk into a situation and immediately command/demand trust from your subordinates. You might wear the boss hat, you might have all the power, but that doesn't equate into trust from those people below you. Trust also isn't something cookie-cutter from the book of how to lead that you can just spit out verbally and expect it to be there. You can tell a person how much they should trust you and how much you have their back, but ultimately it does not matter if you don't live that out or if in the very same breath you communicate a thousand different reasons to not trust you at all. As the old saying goes, "it takes many years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it." With all that said, I find it intriguing that time-after-time I see all sorts of leaders walk into situations and immediately enforce their power and command while putting their subordinates into their place yet trying in the very same breath to pretend to give a rip about the people they are leading. Why should those people follow? Why should they trust? Why should they allow any influence upon their lives?
There have been many leaders in my life. The ones that I trusted showed that they were worthy of my trust, even when they had to make difficult decisions that upset me in the moment. There have been plenty of poor leaders who even though they had the power, their only influence over me was that I learned I never wanted to lead like that. My hope is that in studying my own personal feelings, emotions, and thoughts from those leading me that I will be able to learn how to lead and gather trust better in my own leadership moments.
"And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
I wonder about the words that Mordecai delievered to Esther in regards to her standing up to the king. It seems as if there was a very specific task, time, position, and place for Esther to be in. God's will seemed so specific and precise for her. Does that apply to everyone - or did it just happen to work out that way with her?
I have a friend who told me that the will of God is like a paint canvas. He can and will use the whole canvas - not just a specific dot on the canvas. He encourages me to think above specificity when it comes to God's will. In other words, not to get hung up on having to be in a specific location, job, task in order to be in the will of God. God is bigger than a dot. If things were that narrow than it would seem that God's will would hardly ever get done right. And yet I study my life and wonder where do I fit? Does God truly have "one" thing for me - I have to be doing x @ x location @ x time or I am in violation of His will (ie "the dot" theory) OR does God not really care about such specifics and is able/willing to work with the path I choose (ie "the canvas" theory)? I lean towards the canvas, but then again that might be because I like the idea of having more freedom and choice.
This has been what I have been chewing on in 2009 thus far.
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