To Serve well

Serving with Excellence for a Life of Excellence

Simple Thoughts Sunday

In the midst of a cultural reset: shifting to all that is strength

This incredible photo of an Osprey, is courtesy of @_thepaintedsky, aka Jessica Walker, who I happened upon via @annvoskamp’s unbelievably beautiful weekly blog, “Only the Good Stuff: Multivitamins for your Weekend”

This thought narrative of a “cultural reset” came from a post from Rebekah Lyons titled, “Look what we get to do together.” In the spirit of transparency, I needed more than anything this week to shift from bewilderment to my normal operating mode, which is, “what if? What is God working on? What am I to learn from where I am or we are right now, and how do I or we move ahead with bold and positive strength (of ideas, wisdom, peace)?” This idea has me right where I need to be right now, and I wonder if it might be beneficial for you as well. I feel like the universe is saying, “yep, that’s exactly what we need to do.” Shift. Advance to the next step.

This beautiful photograph led me on a trail to find out just what that bird was. The Osprey made its way into the books in 1460 and its name means “bird of prey.” This beautiful creature is an incredible fishing sportsman, catching a meal in at least 1 in every 4 dives. (Goodness, Audrie, why can’t I catch a fish after 100 casts of the line?) Their average time hunting is all of 12 minutes. They are, essentially, badasses. The Osprey also is agile, building nests on the tops of telephone poles and other manmade structures, which makes them unique. In my mind, they look around and see what is available, what is worthy and they make it their place – regardless of where it is.

I have a couple of thoughts stirring. First, as a human, we are at the top of the food chain (so to speak). In other words, God made us the original badasses. We have been given, and are given daily, all that we need. This is pure truth folks. You are strong, you are bold, you are outrageously capable of moving above the current situation and helping create solutions and generating positive energy and ideas that will help lift the human race. We all have a role, whether you are like my mom, hanging out in her retirement community lifting the spirits of others, or, like our team at work – on the front lines – caring for those that aren’t well and watching the news closely (and praying earnestly) so they know what step to take next.

Second, like the Osprey, we may need to look around and be ready to strike and to make it our place. I find such beauty in this. It’s simple. Look around. There is work to be done. Whether you find yourself in the quiet or in the middle of the chaos, God will make it clear where you can use your gifts or resources to move us out of this season. We need to lift our heads outside of our phones and television sets and insist that we acknowledge that we can do something. Even a child or a senior can spend an hour writing encouraging cards to healthcare workers and those in hospital beds that cannot see family right now. Insist that you and your family rise up. (A quick sidebar: One of our staff members and her family recently spent their night sorting scrubs for our front line providers and her children wrote notes to each of them. How cool is that?)

Folks, we ARE in a cultural shift. Our world will be changed after this. We will be talking about this for years – maybe decades. How it shifts is entirely up to us. My prayer is that we will SHIFT into a higher level of ourselves, to a higher awareness on what we can do together and that at the end we find ourselves loving each other better and stronger and even more than we ever have in our world’s history. This is our time to rise.

Simple thoughts Sunday: What’s really important? Let’s “run” there!

Wow, what a week. With the election in full swing, COVID-19 speculation, and every day life rushing through, there seemed to be an onslaught of noise in the universe. I thought it may be me, but I have had enough people corroborate they’re feeling the same. (Maybe I should look up the moon phases…)

All of that led me to today’s short post. We are all set out to “run our race.” I have absolutely always loved this scripture. It conjures up thoughts of being strong, committed, and focused on winning in life. (Not that we always have to win, but I do think we should be all-out dedicated to bringing our best in every moment.) No matter what “noise” is in the world or in our heads, our focus should be on running really well. 

To me that looks like remembering to keep everything in perspective and to bringing our minds and actions back to our point of purpose. If we serve those who God has surrounded us with well, and we move toward the works God points us to, we will indeed be “running there” – or achieving our purpose.

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Be insanely hopeful

Hope is an expectation.

I love the idea of being expectant. Being expectant of more sunshine and less gray skies; of unity instead of division; of love instead of fractured relationships; of optimal health and deep happiness; etc. In the Biblical sense of the word, hope constitutes a confident expectation that God’s promises will come to pass, and that you will indeed receive an answer to prayers and your desires will come to pass.

I love hope. I love insane hope even more. Insane is like, “Yes, this is absolutely going to happen. God is going to show off! He is going to outdo anything my creative mind may have imagined!” Imagine the feeling of barely being able to contain your joy. Can you feel it? “This family vacation isn’t just going to be just fun, but it is going to have a life-changing impact through the conversations we have and the commitment we make to being present.” “I am not just going to finish the race, the hike, the new health goal… I am going to NAIL IT- I am going to not just get by but feel strong and vibrant at the end…” Again, insane hope.

What is your insane hope? Where do you need to think bigger? To believe stronger? To expect great things to happen? What scenarios do you need an extra dose of hope in?

I can think of a few myself. I have always been a glass half-full kind of gal, but I have to be honest: I don’t generally think grand thoughts about what could be. I tend to take a realistic perspective. Perhaps sometimes even leaning into not creating false hopes … maybe I’ve taken that too far. As a girl of faith, I need to grow in this area. I have personally seen God show off, and I suppose that is reason enough to start to believe bigger! 

Let’s be insanely hopeful this week!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Lean into the word

First of all, isn’t this image terrific? I could sooo use this scene. What about you?

Although today we have so many options to read, listen and receive the “word,” without a lot of intention and focus, diving in and really “leaning” in isn’t that easy. It should be, but let’s be honest — it’s not. Getting away to really soak it in would be fabulous.

One year at the family camp we always went to (shout out to Pine Cove), they had remodeled the rooms, and above my bed was a scripture that essentially said, “he’s got this… you can breathe… be still.” It disarmed me. The scripture reference allowed me to reset. As I went in and out of the room that week, it spoke to me and helped me realize that I often carry around things I really don’t need to.

We all need a reset. I find myself needing them more often as I get older. It never ceases to amaze me that the ancient texts of the Bible can magically point us into the direction we apparently needed to be pointed, and perhaps didn’t even realize.

I am going to do my best to “lean in” this week. If you are able to, let us all know if something stood out to you in the process. I think it just might be powerful.

Here are a few that I kind of love thinking about in the context of resetting.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.”

Exodus 14:14

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.”

Philippians 4:7

“This hope we have is an anchor of the soul. A hope both sure and steadfast.”

Hebrews 6:19

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Elevate the sparkle this week!

Who else is ready to “shake off” winter and bring on the sparkle of warmer days? That surely is a metaphor for life in general… Sometimes, we need to “shake” off a season and pray that God will provide some clear skies and brighter moments.

There is a great scripture that points us to the fact that God is pushing us toward sparkle toward a life fulfilled and joyful…

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4

I’ve heard this read at weddings, and at other celebratory moments in life – those “sparkling” moments, if you will. It strikes me that we need “every day sparkle,” like the kind that happens on a cold winter day. The kind that shows up when a fun song hits the radio, throwing you back to your youth, when “adulting” hadn’t quite taken hold. The kind that makes you smile. We need this truth today.

Today’s simple thought is this: I am praying over each of you right now that God might remove any “yuck” and provide a path of clarity, richness and pure DELIGHT for you and those you love. I hope you will join me in elevating the SPARKLE this week.

Rewind! This is a throwback post that really spoke to me from 2019.

Simple Thoughts Sunday: The power of visualization

WOW! I love inspirational messages like this one that so directly deliver a game changing thought.

I’d like to think I SHOW UP AS MY HIGHEST SELF every day, but I am not sure I can say I do this in every area of my life. For example, do I really walk out how I want to “show up” physically? As in, athletically speaking? Ouch… I don’t think so. Maybe a “pretty good” version, but highest? Definitely not.

Let’s pull the plane up a bit and back into the question of what exactly does your highest self look like?

If I were hitting my stride in full force, what would my highest self look like on an ideal day? My wake up time? Meals? Physical activity? Productivity? Would I design art? Write something breathtaking? Breathe deeply and eat nutritious and beautiful meals? Who would I surround myself with? How would I elevate my mind? Would I be reading classic literature or listening to stunning music? How about my relationships? Am I investing my energy well?

This is such a worthwhile question.

I hope you will not only visualize your highest self, but write out what that looks like and move ever closer to that each and every day.

So much love for you all. Let’s make it a beautiful week… honoring ourselves and those God has placed in our path by showing up fully.

Rewind! This is Partially a throwback post to one from 2019 that was just speaking to me this weekend.

Simple Thoughts Sunday: Be God-struck, own your joy (A lesson from our own KC Chiefs!)

This super fun celebration photo on Instagram showcases pure joy and owning the moment. Did you know that God truly wants us to be explosive in our joy? I just love that. Sometimes I hear people say that the Bible is too serious and doesn’t apply to life as we know it in this generation. I have to challenge that because even Jesus, when he walked on earth, was a party-goer early and often. Dining with friends, family and community and celebrating in many scriptures. After all, he had a tremendous story to live out and it was worth a full expression of joy.

In Psalms, which is a great place to start if you haven’t ever dived into the Bible, there are so many references to this truth. I love Psalm 126, which helps us see joy played out. The best part is that it is not imposed joy. It is not for one person, it is not for the naturally joyful, but for all of us. It is found when our lives are tethered to God’s and a deep knowing that joy isn’t found in vacations, new clothes, the latest technology… or whatever we like to think will fill us up.

I love that Patrick Mahomes and other team members realize this and use their platform in a humble way. Patrick has not been shy about sharing his faith, and has been clear that he’s not putting on a show for Chiefs Kingdom, but that he’s playing for God.

“Obviously I want to win every game, but I’m glorifying Him every single time I’m out there,” he said this week on the road to Miami. His ability to bring this energy to the team and to a world-wide stage is beyond powerful. I for one, absolutely love that he is able to be both God struck and joyful, both in the grit and the glory.

I believe we should all play out our days with that exact mentality and focus. In fact, I’m praying right now that we will do just that! Let’s bring our best self to every project, conversation and effort and be God-struck and own our own joy along the way!

Simple Thoughts Sunday: A random conversation on a plane

Guest blog: Today’s post is from my dear, sweet sister, Lisa George.

My loved one and I were out this past weekend running errands when we stopped for a caffeinated treat. The coffee shop was nestled within high-end retail shops and restaurants surrounded by upper middle-class homes. As we stood in line, we noticed a little boy and girl ordering drinks at the front of the line; judging by their height, we guessed they were around 9 years old – with the boy being slightly shorter than the girl. At first glance we thought it was funny (and maybe a little odd) the boy paid with a credit card and then proceeded to put it in his mouth as he and the little girl walked over to a small table in the corner next to the coffee bar. The boy set down his iPhone on the table which appeared to be one of the latest on the market with the large screen. They were dressed in the latest children’s fashion with colorful stocking hats, thin puffy jackets and UGG boots. We laughed and agreed these cute little ones who mimicked adults were either brother and sister, or out on a “date.”

We stood near their table while we waited for our orders. It was hard not to notice the little ones laughing loudly while they were taking turns looking at Instagram and YouTube videos; sharing with one another sights pulled up from the internet. Our order took longer than normal since these children ordered the largest and most expensive drinks on the menu (venti strawberry Frappuccino’s, to be specific). We kept thinking we would see a parent or the person whom the credit card belonged to. Nobody was there to look after them. As we drove away we discussed how strange and sad it was to see children simply on their own with a credit card and iPhone. We wondered if these little ones were simply dropped off or if they walked from their home located close by.

This scene seemed innocent enough, however it brought me back to “randomly” meeting a guy on a plane during a flight with my sister this past summer. It was an early Sunday morning and my sister and I had planned on taking a nap and did not have any intention of speaking to the person who would ultimately end up sitting in between us (my sister preferred the aisle and me the window). We ended up talking to this person the entire flight. He was originally from our city, attended KU and lived in Boulder CO with his wife and four children. He shared enough of his life story over the flight to understand he had been through “life” as a youngster which ultimately lead him into ministry. Also, for the past 10 years he worked for an organization called iEmpathize. This organization works to spread awareness and help those involved in human trafficking. We were taken aback when he told us Kansas City was ranked No. 2 out of the top 15 metropolitan cities in the U.S. due to our city’s central location (logistical hub for shipping via trucks and railroad).

The connection was enough to know we wanted to hear more about what he was doing in our city. We exchanged contact information and ended up attending a lecture he held a few weeks after we met. Leaders representing the city police department, hospitals, clergy and multiple charities related to the human trafficking issue all turned out for the devastating and important discussion. We learned how all children are vulnerable; not just those in poverty, but also high income and LGBT. Also, that the children who are most vulnerable are those who feel alone and those who do not have much adult interest or presence in their lives.  

He told us a story about an upper-income family with a young boy around 10 years old who loved to play video games and ended up befriending a “female Avatar.” The young boy and the “Avatar” got to know each other and became trusted friends in a chat room. The “Avatar” ended up sending him a picture (approx. 16 year old female body) and coaxed him into doing the same. The older man disguised as an“Avatar” now had the child’s location through GPS, and ended up using the image to coerce the child into giving him what he wants.

Seeing these children this past week reminded me how our parents would send us out the door with a dollar, and we would ride our bikes to the convenience store to buy candy. We were simply told not to talk to strangers. We were vulnerable, however with today’s children the internet is a whole new ball game. It is estimated there are a million predators searching for their next victim every hour of the day. We as adults need to be equipped with a response. One way or another we can all make a difference to prevent someone from being being exploited.

iEmpathize and Children’s Mercy Hospital are hosting Empower KC, a tour experience and training throughout each day next week. The tours start every 45 minutes on Jan 28-31st at UMKC in Pierson Auditorium. You can register here. Please share with others and bring a friend and join the movement to end it!

For more information please email mark@iEmpathize.org. Thank you!