Category Archives for "Uncategorized"

November 2013 – Top Posts & Commenters Plus GIVEAWAY

Here are the highlights from November 2013. Thanks to everyone who read along and commented. Your readership and participation in the daily discussions are what make The Stretched Community. Thank you! Overall, traffic was up from October (5.31%). Traffic was up 44.70% compared to a year ago. The top 10 posts again included three posts from 2012, one post from 2011, and two posts from previous months in 2013. If you missed any of these posts, I hope you’ll go and check them out now by clicking below. The post with the most engagement was from November 1, 2013 – Ice Breaker – Favorite Candy Bar.

Top 10 Commenters:

David Paul Stolpe (66)

Steve Y (36)
Larry Carter (20)
TNeal (11)
Joe Lalonde (7)
Caleb (6)
Norman Stolpe (6)
Matt McWilliams (5)
Bill (cycleguy) (3)
Dan Erickson (3)

As promised at the beginning of the month, I have randomly chosen someone from the top 10 commenters list to receive a copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars. The winner of this book is…(drum roll)…Caleb. Congrats to Caleb!

For the month of December, I’ll be giving away a copy of Chazown: Define Your Vision. Pursue Your Passion. Live Your Life on Purpose. This month, the winner will be chosen randomly from the top 10 commenters.

Thanks to each and everyone for reading and for commenting. I’m looking forward to November with The Stretched Community! The month of December will include more STRETCHING posts and the new ADVENTure series. If you’re interested in guest posting here, leave a comment to connect with me. December should be another great month!

How was your month? If you’re a blogger share a link to your top post in the comments? What was your favorite Stretched post this month? How were you STRETCHED in November?

In case you’re interested, here are a few other interesting stats about November (based on Google Analytics):

Visits – Increased 6.98%
Unique Visitors – Increased 17.01%
Pageviews – Increased 3.99%
Pages Per Visit – Decreased 2.94%
Average Visit Duration – Decreased 26.83%
Bounce Rate –Decreased 0.48%
New Visits – Increased 7.59%

Don’t forget to sign up for the weekly Stretched newsletter. Check out this post to find out how to sign up.

Thank You – #11

Thank You No. 11

Today, I’m thankful for our veterans.

Many have served to protect our freedom and to gain freedom for others. My grandfathers, my cousin, and my wife’s uncle are four family members who come to mind. I work with several vets, and I have several friends who have served or who are currently serving. Thank you.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Why are you thankful today?

October 2013 – Top Posts and Commenters

Here are the highlights from October 2013. Thanks to everyone who read along and commented. Your readership and participation in the daily discussions are what make The Stretched Community. Thank you! Overall, traffic was up from September (5.31%). Traffic was up 44.70% compared to a year ago. The top 10 posts again included two posts from 2012 and one post from previous months in 2013. If you missed any of these posts, I hope you’ll go and check them out now by clicking below. The post with the most engagement was #6 from the list below (The Power of A Positive Attitude).

Top 10 Commenters:

David Paul Stolpe (51)

As promised at the beginning of the month, I have randomly chosen someone from the top 10 commenters list to receive a copy of The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing [A Spiritual Memoir] by Jeff Goins. The winner of this book is…(drum roll)…David Stolpe. Congrats to David!

For the month of November, I’ll be giving away a copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars. This month, the winner will be chosen randomly from the top 10 commenters.

Thanks to each and everyone for reading and for commenting. I’m looking forward to November with The Stretched Community! The month of November will include a couple of book reviews, more reflection on my Guatemala trip, and opportunities to express gratitude. If you’re interested in guest posting here, leave a comment to connect with me. November should be another great month!

How was your month? If you’re a blogger share a link to your top post in the comments? What was your favorite Stretched post this month? How were you STRETCHED in October?

In case you’re interested, here are a few other interesting stats about October (based on Google Analytics):

Visits – Increased 7.93%
Unique Visitors – Increased 7.26%
Pageviews – Increased 3.93%
Pages Per Visit – Decreased 1.24%
Average Visit Duration – Stayed the same
Bounce Rate – Increased 3.74%
New Visits – Decreased 0.83%

5 Ways To Reward Your Employees

Last week, I shared 10 Essentials for Enhancing the Performance Management Process. There was lot of positive discussion surrounding the subject of how to improve the performance of your employees. Today, I want to tackle the topic of reward. Rewarding employees appropriately is a key aspect of improving employee performance. It’s essential that employees are recognized for a job well done. Sometimes this recognition is tied to a monetary reward, and sometimes it’s necessary to find non-monetary methods for rewarding your team.

Inappropriate rewards could easily work against the overall performance of the business and it’s employees. Rewarding employees who don’t deserve could be argued as grace, but this kind of “reward” sends the wrong message to employees, and it sets teams up for mediocrity.

Appropriate rewards push individual performance to new levels, and they raise the bar on overall company performance. Here are a few reward types for you to consider as you seek to improve your team and company.

5 Ways To Reward Your Employees

Thank You Note. Matt McWilliams wrote about the Thank You Revolution in his eBook available for free when you sign up at his blog. And I wrote a guest post for him titled, The Power of Gratitude. Rewarding employees should start with gratitude. A simple handwritten thank you note is all it takes many times tell employees that they’ve done well or done something that deserves recognition. Last week, I wrote to many of my direct reports to thank them for their hard work in bringing our fiscal year to a successful completion. These notes gave me an opportunity to specifically recall good things that my team members have done this year. One of my team members took time to write me back this week: “Thanks for the card. It means a lot.” His simple response affirms the power of a simple thank you note. Don’t underestimate the power of a simple thank you note.
Department Meeting Shoutout. Let’s face it. It’s easy to get caught up in the regular business items in agenda of a standard office meeting. Make it part of your meeting agenda to recognize employees who have gone above and beyond the call of duty since the last meeting. Maybe an employee did something to wow a customer. Maybe they were key to a sale or project success. Honor them in front of their peers. It shows them their efforts are appreciated. It demonstrates to others in the office the type of actions and behavior worth following.
Small Financial Reward Program. Our company set up a reward program which permits managers and fellow employees to recognize employees who have done something special. The rewards start at $25 and go up from there. A small reward of this nature is a great way to show family members how their loved one is appreciated. These rewards are often used by employees to take their spouses out to dinner or to purchase something for the home they wouldn’t have purchased otherwise. This may not be possible for your company, but it’s something worth considering if your company can swing it. A small financial reward of this nature rewards employees, and it encourages employees to do things which will benefit the company.
Merit Based Increases. This is the time of year I decide on pay increases for my team members. I have a fixed amount to work with as dictated by my company. In order to reward high performers, it’s crucial I provide the higher merit increases to the employees who have earned it through their performance over the past year. There is a market fairness factor that plays into this decision. I am doing a disservice to my team though if I don’t reward team members based on their performance. If I decided to give everyone the same increase regarding their performance, I would not be sending a positive message that would improve the overall performance of the company.
Incentive. Finding ways to provide incentives to employees can be a great way to promote desired behaviors and outcome. At our office our sales members are paid based on commission. They have a huge incentive to sell profitable projects. Our project managers receive an incentive bonus at the end of the year. The incentive is based on individual project slip along with a couple of other key performance indicators. And our management encouraged to work together towards overall business success as part of the management incentive program. Managing your payment program to make room for this kind of program can be a great way to enhance the overall performance of your team and your business.

I’m sure there are some other ways to reward employees. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the above list and your ideas for rewarding employees. Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments.

How do you reward your team members? How does your company reward its employees? Do you think rewards work? Why or why not?

Cheer Each Other On

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

My Guatemala story would be incomplete if I failed to talk about the importance of cheering each other on toward love and good deeds – especially when it comes to marriage.

My initial leap of faith decision to go to Guatemala would not have happened had it not been for my wife. Let me explain.

Two years before my initial trip to Guatemala, my wife and I were planning to go to Nairobi, Kenya on a mission trip with a group from our church. We saved and raised money to go on this trip. We got our shots. We purchased our airline tickets, and we made our final deposits for the trip. As we finalized our preparations for the trip, something wasn’t quite right. My wife’s health was beginning to deteriorate. We visited her doctor, and we tried to make some adjustments. But it wasn’t enough. Four weeks before the trip, we made the difficult decision to cancel our plans. It was one of the toughest decisions we have ever had to make. We didn’t have travel insurance. We couldn’t get our money back, and we were missing out on a “dream” mission trip to serve the poorest of the poor in the slums of Nairobi. I remember feeling lonely and defeated. Would we ever be able to go on an international mission trip again? More importantly, would my wife’s health improve?

Without going into detail, things got worse before they got better. Leanne ended up in the hospital in September just weeks after we would have come back from Kenya. It was clear that being in Nairobi at this time would not have been a good idea for us. Leanne’s recovery was slow but steady. She was released from the hospital in early October, and she began the process of healing.

Throughout the healing process, we continued our desire to serve others. We launched our H.O.P.E. group (Helping Other People Everywhere) serving the local community with other families. This has filled much of our desire to serve others, but there was still an itch begging to be scratched. We still desired to serve internationally.

Fast forward to last spring, our youth pastor asked if I would go on the high school summer mission trip to Guatemala as a chaperone. I can’t tell you how much I struggled with this decision. How could I “risk” leaving my wife and son home alone while I traveled to Guatemala with our daughter? I prayed. I sought godly council from friends and family. And I wrestled through a lot of fear and doubt. In the midst of this, my biggest cheerleader kept encouraging me to go. Leanne said go over and over again. She knew it would be hard, but she knew it was the right thing to do. She kept cheering. She kept spurring me on toward love and good deeds.

You know the story. I ended up going to Guatemala in 2012, and the trip rocked my world.

Upon my arrival home, I had so many stories to share. I indicated my desire to go back again. And Leanne listened to my stories – a little jealous about my experiences and a lot more interested in going overseas for missions. Our family talked and prayed about going somewhere together as a family in 2013. We kept coming back to Guatemala.

This decision gave me an opportunity to be the cheerleader. Leanne was a little concerned about the language barrier that went with being in a strange place. As the week went along, I tried to encourage Leanne, and I prayed she would connect with the people of Xenacoj as we ministered together. It was amazing to watch her fear and frustration transform into enthusiasm and excitement. I will always remember our last day in Xenacoj. Leanne was in tears – good tears. She didn’t want to leave yet. Xenacoj had captured her.

Our reentry back into life in the United States has gone relatively smoothly. Yet we’ve been left with a huge desire in our heart for serving the people of Guatemala. And so our story continues to evolve. It’s our turn to cheer you on. While we prepare for another trip to Guatemala at some point, we want to encourage you. We want to spur you on toward love and good deeds. Maybe it’s in your office. Maybe it’s in your neighborhood. Maybe it’s overseas. Maybe with us in Guatemala.

How will you share love and good deeds with others today?

Who is your biggest cheerleader? Who do you need to encourage today?

What are you being encouraged to pursue?

10 Essentials for Enhancing the Performance Management Process

This week, I’m in the middle of the performance management process for my team members. This is an annual opportunity to provide feedback to my team members on their performance over the past year. With 12 direct reports, it could be easy to rush through this process which is required by my company. I could simply write a couple of sentences about each team member and move on to the next year.

Taking this approach doesn’t do them any favors, and it doesn’t help my team or the company get better. A well thought out and carefully executed performance review can be the bedrock of success for your team and your company.

In today’s post, I offer ten ways to improve the performance management process. This is written from a managers perspective; however, this is a great reference for those who don’t manage direct reports. After reading today’s post, you may want to suggest that your supervisor start this type of performance management process for you. You may simply want to tweak what is already happening at your job.

Whether you are a manager of direct reports or not, I hope you’ll find this list helpful in understanding ways to get better. Success doesn’t happen by accident. Success happens by being intentional, and this list offers suggestions – no, essentials – for being intentional with the performance management process.

10 Essentials for Enhancing the Performance Management Process:

Start with regular one-on-one meetings. It’s important to meet with your employees on a regular basis. These meetings provide an opportunity to touch base on performance issues and other business and non-business related items. You can read about the power of one-on-one meetings in a guest post I wrote for Matt McWilliams. This year I started having monthly one-on-one meetings with my team, and it’s been helpful for my team members and for me.
Set performance targets. It’s critical that employees have SMART targets. Targets should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. At the beginning of each year, I sit down with my team members to set targets. These targets align with our overall business objectives, and they also provide opportunities for individuals to grow personally.
Quarterly review progress towards targets. It shouldn’t be a surprise at the end of the year when doing a performance evaluation. I sit down with my employees once a quarter to review their progress in achieving their targets. Doing this once a quarter provides an opportunity for my team members to make performance corrections that will help them meet or exceed their targets.
Get feedback from others. I encourage my team members to ask for feedback from their peers. And I get feedback from other managers and supervisors regarding the performance of my team members. Before completing the annual performance management process, I meet in a roundtable meeting which helps to calibrate my overall assessment. This meeting also provides extra insight into developmental action items I might want to suggest to my team members.
Take time to write an honest and detailed assessment. When I write evaluations for my team members, I want them to be fair, well-thought, and encouraging. Writing this kind of assessment takes time. I schedule time to carefully review the past year of activity. I look at notes from my past one-on-one meetings. I review previous results from the quarterly updates. And I take into account comments shared by my fellow management team members. A written record provides employees a tangible document to review as they seek to grow and improve.
Meet with employee to review results. At the end of the year, it’s important to let your employees know how they have done. Feedback provides information necessary to help them improve. Feedback also keeps them doing the right things.
Remember the good things. Make sure you praise your team members for the good things they have done throughout the year. A pat on the back goes a long way towards encouraging the right behavior.
Create a development plan correcting issues. As managers, it is our responsibility to help our team members succeed. We have to give our team members help in getting better. The performance review process is the perfect time to help employees get better.
Discuss career progression essentials. Most employees want to know what it will take for them to get tho the next level in their career path. It’s important to talk regularly to employees about their plans for the future. What are their goals for the next 5 years or 10 years? What do they need to do in order to be ready for the next steps? These are questions that will help you help them. Are their expectations realistic? How can you help them? The performance review process provides an opportunity to discuss essentials for career advancement.
Do it again. It may seem repetitive, but you have to do it over and over and over again. Doing this for only one year does not demonstrate a long-term interest in the performance of an employee. Repeated year after year is essential to a successful performance management process.

How has the performance management process helped you succeed? What would you add to the list above? What do you need to do differently in order to improve your own performance management process?

Tuned In – Keeping Your Ears Open To God’s Voice

This radio tower stands tall above the village of Santa Clara. Santa Clara sits on the mountain top ridge as you drive out of the Lake Atitlan valley in Guatemala. The tower is not a lot different from what you might see in the United States, but this one represents something pretty significant in our trip to Guatemala.

Let me explain.

We spent most of our time in Xenacoj (or nearby), but part of our trip included an exploratory trip to Lake Atitlan (one of the ten most beautiful lakes in the entire world). The goal of this one day, one night trip was to find another location where GO! Ministries might be able to expand their ministry in Guatemala. After staying in a beautiful bed and breakfast on the coast of the lake and serving children in the village of San Pedro, we felt it was time to move on.

Nothing felt exactly right for expanding GO!’s reach until we stumbled upon the village of Santa Clara as we were driving back to Xenacoj on Thursday. When we stopped in Santa Clara, our intent was to stop for 15 minutes so our team could stretch their legs and one of our team members who was fighting illness could get some fresh air. Our fifteen minute pit stop turned into a 3 hour appointment.

After walking through the town square where local marching bands were playing in exhibition on what must have been a holiday in this town, we decided to walk through a few of the streets to get a better feel for the town. What was the need? Were they open to this type of ministry? Would the churches in Santa Clara welcome GO! Ministries as partners or would they cast them out?

While we were walking down one of the streets, we ran into a local pastor and his wife. It was as if God had set up this meeting. We ended up talking in the street for several minutes learning more about the town and its openness to missionaries. We learned a lot in those minutes. Santa Clara is about three times bigger than Xenacoj. The people in the town struggle with similar issues that inflicted Xenacoj. Poverty is one of the challenges in Santa Clara, and divorce is another challenge in Santa Clara.

We did our best to understand what was being said, but it was a challenge to understand the Spanish language being exchanged between the pastor, his wife, and our missionary friends.

We decided to take a walk to the pastor’s church. The church is also home to a school. We poked our heads into a couple of the classrooms. The children were amused at the site of “the Gringos”. We learned that the church was open to partnering with GO! Ministries and their martial arts ministry.

From there, we asked if they would join us for more conversation and a bite to eat. They agreed, and we ended up in a restaurant near our van.

As we sat down in the restaurant, it was amazing to listen as the discussion continued. Like Xenacoj, there were a mix of Catholic and Evangelical churches in the community. It appeared these churches do work together to a degree to spread the message of help. From our discussion, it was quite obvious that there was more need for help – spreading God’s Word, teaching, and helping with the widows and the orphans of the town.

Our missionary friend, Dave Sgro, had been praying about a place to expand their ministry. He was hoping to find a place that was similar to Xenacoj. He was hoping to find a place 3-4 hours away from Xenacoj. He was hoping to find a place open to break dancing and martial arts (two tools that they used in Xenacoj to engage with the community). And they were hoping to find the place where God was calling them.

It was interesting to watch this unfold.

Could this have happened if Dave had just prayed about it but stayed in Xenacoj? I suppose, but it doesn’t seem realistic to me.

Could this have happened if Dave and his family took a vacation to Lake Atitlan without thinking about expansion of the ministry? Again, I suppose, but I don’t think this would be realistic either.

After much prayer and thought, Dave took action by going to Lake Atitlan. He didn’t know exactly where he would land, but he realized that God had given him a vision for serving in another community, and he went. He had his antenna up as we explored the area right by the lake, and it didn’t feel right – it didn’t match the vision that God had laid upon his heart. He kept the antenna up as we began our journey home, and we “stumbled upon” the village of Santa Clara. Was it an accident? I don’t think so.

I will always remember this divine appointment in Santa Clara. How God uses GO! Ministries in this town is still being worked out, but I will forever be marked by what I experienced in our three-hour pit stop to Santa Clara.

How do you listen for God’s voice? What have you heard lately? And how will you respond to His voice?

Ice Breaker – Allergies

Image by VerseVend (via Flickr – Creative Commons)

Each week on The Stretched Blog, I ask an ice breaker question. The questions are designed to help us get to know each other here in The Stretched Community. I’ll provide my answer to the question here in the post, and then you can leave your response in the comments. While you’re in the comments section, see how others answered the ice breaker question.

This week’s ice breaker is making an appearance on Thursday instead of Friday due to a special guest posting opportunity tomorrow (more details to follow).

Question: Do you have any allergies? If you could be allergic to one thing, what would it be?

My Answer: Apparently, I’m allergic to caffeine. I get migraine headaches when I have caffeine. It stinks, but I would rather not have migraines.

If I could be allergic to one thing, I would be allergic to shopping. I’m not a big fan of shopping as it is, and think of all the money I would save if I couldn’t shop. I’m sure there would be significant downsides to this allergy, but it’s fun to imagine.

Answer this week’s ice breaker question by leaving a comment. I look forward to reading your response! (As always, feel free to share links.) And keep STRETCHING!

Also don’t forget to sign up for the weekly Stretched newsletter. Check out this post to find out how to sign up.

We Can Make A Difference

Why aren’t these boys in school?

This is the question that went through my head when I took this picture. The older boy is definitely old enough to be in school. Maybe he’s taking care of his siblings. Are his parents working?

I took this picture while I was standing in the yard of a local school in Xenacoj in August. School was definitely in session, but these kids were standing on the other side of a barbed wire fence while other kids their age were attending school. There was no truancy officer making sure school age children were in school during the school day.

Their absence from school is already putting them behind in learning and gaining skills that will help provide for their family. I obviously don’t know what their story is, but this is a common scene in Guatemala. Many children aren’t in school for one reason or another. The pattern of illiteracy continues.

Education is something we take for granted in the United States. In the U.S., all children have access to school, and they are required to attend.

Meanwhile, in many parts of the world, children don’t have the privilege of going to school. They have to work. They have to take care of siblings. They don’t have school buses to drive them a long way to school. They don’t have family members who encourage them to get an education.

Did you ever complain about going to school when you were younger? Or do your kids complain about school?

How do you think your perspective or your kids perspective might change by meeting kids like these?

Our experience in Guatemala definitely opened our eyes to a different world.

How can we make a difference for kids like these? That’s an interesting question.

GO! Ministries is trying to make a difference for kids in and around Xenacoj by providing a feeding program in the poorest schools five days a week. The food served at school is very basic (rice, beans, and tortillas), and it makes a huge difference for these kids. Many children don’t eat so well at home, but through the feeding programs they get one decent meal every day while they are in school. More families will send their kids to school if they know they will get this kind of meal. A meal like this provides nutrition and energy that helps children learn more effectively.

GO Ministries is also in the process of setting up a child sponsor program for kids served by the feeding programs. The sponsor program will provide more resources to feed the children. They will get chicken and/or fish along with their rice, beans, and tortillas. It will also provide funds for medical attention that many of these children lack.

Do these programs fix everything in Xenacoj? I suppose not, but it’s a huge help for many.

Can all these kids be helped? It seems like a huge challenge. I know that God cares for these kids. I know that all things are possible with God. I know that we can make a difference by helping one. We can sit around doing nothing overwhelmed by the immensity of problem, or we can stand up and do something – doing for one what we wish we could do for many.

And so our trip to Guatemala continues to stretch and challenge me. I don’t want it to be a waste. I want to do what I can to help kids like these. I share this to help you see into their world, and I share to keep me stretching and processing – to challenge me and our family to find ways to help.

You can make a difference for kids like this. Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:

Education yourself. Learn about the conditions children live in around the world. Learn about the education (or lack of education) children experience in other parts of the world. Learn about their nutrition. Don’t ignore the fact that kids are faced with this level of poverty around the world.
Pray. Prayer is powerful. Pray that these kids would be safe. Pray that they would have food. Pray that they would learn new skills to provide for their future families. And most importantly, pray that they would know the love of God.
Consider sponsoring a child. These sponsor programs make a huge difference for kids and their families. If you’re interested in sponsoring a child through GO! Ministries, send an e-mail to Dave Sgro at davidlsgro@gmail.com. You can also check out organizations like Compassion, World Vision, CMF International, or Lifeline Christian Mission.
Go! Go to Guatemala or another country. Even a week-long trip makes a huge difference. We fed 450 children while we were in Guatemala for a week. We learned so much and experienced so much in just a week. We were able to hug these kids and share God’s love in a very tangible way through our experience. Our family is already making plans to return to Guatemala. Maybe you’ll come with us!?!

Don’t sit around doing nothing. Take action. You can make a huge difference for needy kids around the world.

What can (and what will) you do today to make a difference for a kid in need?

Want To Be Happier? Me too! (@DBartosik)

Today, I’m honored to present guest blogger, David Bartosik. David recently connected with me through the Team Faith Builder Facebook Group. He is Pastor to Students at Richfield Community Church, and he blogs at dbartosik.com about awakening affections for God. You can link up with him on Facebook and Twitter.

David reached out to me on this guest post following my post last week about A Different Twist on Happiness. If you want to add to the conversation through a guest post on happiness (or any other stretching topic), leave me a comment so we can connect. Thanks!

Want to be happier? Me too!

Jon recently wrote a post that directed us to think about the concept of happiness.

7 years ago I was pushed to contemplate the same thing and it changed my life and I can never go back.

Pursuing our happiness and pursuing God are not contrary ideas.

The more you pursue your own happiness it should lead you to God and lead to a deeper, more profound happiness that is contagious and limitless.

1. God designed us to Pursue Happiness.

In every person is a desire to be happy. We buy stuff. We marry people. We do stuff. Every motive of every decision of every person is rooted in their desire to be Happy. This desire was God-given.

2. He is the ultimate source of Happiness.

So if so many people are pursuing happiness, why aren’t their more happy people? Suicide rates are up. Anti depressant medications top the chart of most filled prescriptions. Monogamous relationships are a thing of the past. If that statement is true why aren’t people who believe in God happier? If God is the ultimate source of happiness shouldn’t those that believe in him be the happiest people? Reason-Christians often get wrapped up in the gifts instead of the giver of the gifts. On Christmas are you happy for the new bike, the lawnmower, the Christmas feast, or are you happy in the person who gave it to you? It is a subtle idea that creates a world of difference. God says, pursue your happiness in the giver and the gifts will be even that much more special in view of who gave it. He himself is the ultimate gift. Ultimate happiness is found in HIM.

3. Pursue Him for the rest of your life.

This is the hard part. The first one is a picture of reality. It’s just how it is. The second idea is an awakening to that reality. This third point is a battle. It is one thing to recognize a reality but it is a completely different thing all together to want to and continually pursue that reality. It is a fight, but rather than an obligatory fight that is filled with sacrifice, it is actually a fight for a deeper happiness than I am experiencing.

No one would argue that this idea doesn’t exist in the foundation of our country.

LIFE. Guaranteed.

LIBERTY. Guaranteed.

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS? Well, good luck it’s a pursuit because this is not a guarantee. But what is guaranteed is you can pursue it.

As I observe our culture, it seems as if we’ve missed it. As Jon asked last week I don’t think the question “What makes you happy?” is illegitimate, but I would twist it a little further.

Is this an accurate view of how life should be lived? Why aren’t more people living it?

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Category Archives for "Uncategorized"

November 2013 – Top Posts & Commenters Plus GIVEAWAY

Top 10 Posts:

Top 10 Commenters:

Thank You – #11

Thank You No. 11

October 2013 – Top Posts and Commenters

Top 10 Posts:

Top 10 Commenters:

5 Ways To Reward Your Employees

5 Ways To Reward Your Employees

Cheer Each Other On

10 Essentials for Enhancing the Performance Management Process

10 Essentials for Enhancing the Performance Management Process:

Tuned In – Keeping Your Ears Open To God’s Voice

Ice Breaker – Allergies

We Can Make A Difference

Why aren’t these boys in school?

You can make a difference for kids like this. Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:

Want To Be Happier? Me too! (@DBartosik)

Want to be happier? Me too!

1. God designed us to Pursue Happiness.

2. He is the ultimate source of Happiness.

3. Pursue Him for the rest of your life.