Three Reasons Why I Tend to be a Scrooge...

Now is the time of the year where people begin playing Christmas music and talking about the holidays and what-not. This is also the time of year where at some point in the conversation it gets revealed that I'm not the biggest fan of Christmas. Actually, I could care less if it was Christmas. Friends usually respond with a sense of disbelief when I divulge my apathy towards this season.

Please don't get me wrong, I am a strong Christian and believe in the power of the Gospel; I just hate what this season has become about. It is no longer about Christ and the fulfillment of scripture, but about these things:


Commercialism -- "tendency to turn everything into objects, images, and services sold for the purpose of generating profit. There is also a tendency for intangible things such as happiness, beauty, or health to be given a monetary value and to be spoken of as commodities. Commercialism can also refer to the domination of things by business/corporate interests, or the exploitation of intangible things for private gain."

Conflict--So many people have family issues that holidays are a rough time. Families no longer get together to invest in and love one another. They (might) get together because that's what is supposed to be done, not because they genuinely care about each other. I've seen this first hand.

Craziness--The Christmas season turns into pure craziness. Whether it's families rushing from place to place or insane parents waiting in line for days to spend hundreds of dollars for their child's gift from "Santa."


I know that sounds a little weird and unnatural, but it's not that I don't love Christ, I just hate what Christmas has become.

Here is the real story from Luke 2:13-20...

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The 100 Workout...

I stumbled across this workout the other day and decided to try it since it's chilly and raining outside. This is a great workout to do in a small place like a dorm room or small apartment (like mine). It only takes about 20-25 minutes. Here are the exercises:

100 Jumping Jacks
90 Crunches (I did different types of crunches)
80 Squats
70 Leg Lifts
60 Jumping Jacks
50 Crunches
40 Squats
30 Leg Lifts
20 Jumping Jacks
10 Minutes of Running

It was a pretty good workout. Not the most intense cardio workout, but great strength training. I'm going to try to do this every day in addition to my usual workout routine. I'll definitely do it on days when I'm strapped for time. Comment below on your thoughts and let me know if you try it!

Leadership is a Balancing Act...

Have you ever handled a situation differently than you anticipated? Were you more relaxed than expected? More rigid?

In the past year, I have been placed in several leadership roles that have challenged me. They grew me. They made me a stronger leader and a better communicator. Ok, I may have shed a few tears at times, but I grew :) I feel like I talk a lot about CentriKid, but that's where I am in my life. Right now, most of my life experiences focus around camp/LifeWay/directing, etc. This summer at camp I thought I knew the type if leader I would be. If you know me very well, you know that I pay attention to details, follow the rules, over analyze on occasion. Sprinkle in a few other Type-A personality characteristics and you have something similar to me. Fun? Not always. Effective? Mostly. But I'm not here to tell you about my personality; I'm here to tell you about how I didn't lead the way I had anticipated.

I was surprisingly more relaxed and relational than I thought I'd be. Sure, I still had high expectations for camp, CK1, and myself, but I realized that just because something worked the way I did it didn't mean it was the only way. And just because something was important to me, didn't mean it was important to 32 other people. I learned to pick my battles and to be a stickler for the "essential/big" things, but to stay flexible on the small stuff. I don't want you to think that I've got this all figured out. Trust me, I was NOT (and still am not) a balanced leader when I first met my CentriKid team. I was like a teacher (guess my degree stuck with me). I was horrible! After a few cycles of camp, I began to loosen up a bit, and really invest in those around me. Thinking about it, this is still hard for me. I have to make a conscious effort to not be so task-oriented and to just love people and love getting to know them and encourage them.

Long story short, I quickly figured out that a leader gets farther from getting to know people, not just getting things done. If people know your heart and the intentions behind your actions and requests, they are going to be more likely to follow you, trustingly. This is one thing if many that I'm still learning about leadership, but it's one thing that I love putting into practice.

What is your leadership style? Does it match your personality?

Be in the 3%...

Two coworkers and I have been "book-clubbing" it. We're going through the book "21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership." It's been great to get to learn and discuss leadership. This is something that I could use a lot of improvement in. Yes, experience and knowledge are great, but there's a ton more I'm learning about leadership. One thing that JE, Jen, and I have spent quite a bit of effort thinking and discussing is goal-setting (something none of us are particularly gifted in). Even with us being challenged by this, we know how pivotal it can be to set goals. I learned recently that only 3% of people actually set goals and strive for them. Even with this fact, I resisted "official" goal-setting for a long time. Actually, I just gave in about an hour ago. JE and Jen began a book this past weekend where they outline their goals and journal daily about how they are striving to reach that goal. Confession: I've had the book, too, but didn't fill it out (until tonight). Further confession: I'm not much of a goals person. I'm not saying I'm not driven, because I am. But I'm not a dreamer; I'm a realist. I think rationally. So I like to set deadlines... not goals. But, alas, I gave in to peer pressure and filled out the book tonight. I made 4 goals that I'm going to strive daily to work my way towards. Rome wasn't built in a day, right? My goals aren't anything crazy like be president or become a millionaire, but they are things that are incredibly important to me.

Here are my 4 goals:
- Work out 5 days per week: Working out is important to me. It used to be easy. Being a college athlete, my workouts were always scheduled for me-- not anymore. I'm gonna step up!
- Read something everyday: This doesn't necessarily mean a "book," but anything, a blog, a magazine article, etc. I want to increase my knowledge and my perspective on life.
- Save money during my internship: I don't make a lot of money, but I do want to come out of my internship more financially stable than I was when I moved here to Nashville. Just call me Ms. Frugal!
- Grow in spiritual leadership and knowledge: There's no way to quantify this goal, but oh well. It's still a goal! I am going to become more intentional in growing my faith and my knowledge of the Gospel. I want this to transfer into my life and spiritual leadership. I want this to reflect in my CentriKid Camps team next summer. This is my weakest part of leadership, and I want to fix that!

So, here's where YOU come into play. I need your help in holding me accountable to these--ALL OF THEM!!! Ask me about them . Ask how I'm growing. Ask what I'm learning. YOU have my permission to ask me and give me a kick in the tail (proverbially, of course) if I need one. I know I can't do it on my own, so help me out.