Redeem the Time… because it flies!

You may remember that old talk show theme song “10 Years come and gone so fast”  It’s true as you get older time seems to fly by even faster!

I recently had a birthday… For me birthdays don’t have the pomp and circumstance they did when I was a kid – cake and that new trike!  As I’ve grown up they have become a time of thoughtful reflection.  Birthdays are a marker… an entire year has flown by.  For me they have become a time to take a bit of an inventory of life.  What has one achieved?  Am I where I thought I would be?  Doing what I thought I’d be doing?  If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be living in east Texas I would have probably laughed out loud at you.  If you had said that I would be the director of America’s Premier Youth Event, I probably would have rolled my eyes after all I was a business man focused on my career in an industry I loved.  And I was good – no scratch that, I was great at what I did.    I had always been  involved in ministry, before going to school to major in Systems & Administration I actually went to a Bible College right after high school where I studied ministry.  In Proverbs 16:9 it says “Many are the ways of a mans heart, but the Lord directs his steps”  Looking back it is amazing how the blending of business acumen and ministry leadership has uniquely placed me for the role I am fulfilling now.

Here I am today, living in east Texas, in full time ministry.  I’ve held numerous roles at Teen Mania but, I’ve only been the Executive Director of ATF for a few months now, but what I do is not a job.  Not to me.  Not by any stretch of the imagination.  It’s a precious calling!  I think if it ever became just a job – I’d leave.  This IS ministry, but I have not lost by business acumen either.  As I and my team immerse ourselves in understanding youth culture, in how best to effectively reach and minister to the young people all over North America and around the world, in how to better serve the local church and have the backs of youth pastors, leaders and parents all across the country.  We are rigorously preparing for this coming year in ATF.  I am challenging my team with concepts like exceptional Customer Service and outstanding Ministry.  We are implementing new systems and I’m soliciting feedback directly from youth leaders, pastors and teenagers themselves on how we can improve and how we can better serve.   How can we become exceptional in every single aspect of ministry?  I don’t want to just talk about being strategic, I’m pushing our team to implement and execute our operations at a very high level.  I am excited about what ATF will look like over the next few months and years!

But this blog entry is about thoughtful reflection, so back on point. –  There is no place like being in the center of God’s will and plan!  I’m enjoying the journey… walking by Faith!  As you trust in the Lord you can rest assured He WILL direct your path!  We can often put making important changes or decisions off until ‘later’ it could be as simple as eating right, exercising or maybe something more major like the actual direction of your life.  One thing I know for sure, “putting off until tomorrow” can have you singing that 10 years come and gone so fast song, the next line in that song is “I may as well have been dreaming.”  Sieze your dream!-  My challenge to you is the same for my team:  Redeem the time!   We can’t be afraid of being ‘doers’… when we step out He will direct our path!

By the way if you are wondering, I had an amazing birthday, my first as a dad.   I also want to thank my awesome staff who all marched into our “daily moring huddle” meeting with cake and singing!   We all play like we don’t like it, but deep down there is a kid who want’s a piece of cake and a trike!  Of course, today I’ll take an ML 320 over a trike but that’s another story!

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