June 18, 2006 – Happy Father’s Day
In 1998, I read a book called The Making of a Leader, by Bobby Clinton. In the book, Clinton looks at Christian leaders in the Bible, church history, and contemporary times, and parses out common phases and lessons leaders go through. I decided after I had finished the book that I would try to apply its principles as thoroughly as possible to my own leadership development. Specifically, I mapped out my whole life to date, trying to apportion various milestones and lessons into the various categories Clinton spelled out. When I was done, I had before me a better understanding of the unique way God had made me, a clearer sense of all the ways God was at work in my life not only to bless me as a person but to equip me as a leader.
Every year, I return to my original notes from this exercise, and add a year’s worth of new experiences and lessons to them. And having recently searching for and found a new job, I have been especially contemplative as it relates to what drives me, what I am qualified to do, what I want to accomplish with my days.
I share this today because the more I think about it, the more I realize how influential my father has been in who I am. Even though he is not a follower of Jesus (yet), his values have been deeply embedded into my worldview, to the point that I cannot hardly think of a thing that moves me as a human being that wasn’t somehow influenced by his example.
For example, I hate waste. Whether it is money (i.e. thriftiness), time (i.e. productiveness), or people (i.e. empowering the disenfranchised), it pains me when something is carelessly wasted. I learned that from my dad, from whom I observed zero wasting of money, time, or people.
Or take my insistence on a “right way” of doing things. Whether it’s a work assignment, a school paper, or washing the dishes, I cannot not do it in a way that I believe is proper. This too I learned from my father’s example, who always communicated to me the “right way” of doing things, every once in awhile with his words, and always with his actions.
Even my need to document is from him. Finances, calendar events, even vacations were always meticulously recorded. Now you know why I always ask for a receipt.
So while we may disagree on some of life’s biggest issues, still I count him as one of the most influential people in my life, one of the people I have most patterned the way I conduct myself as a person. To Ba, Happy Father’s Day.
In 1998, I read a book called The Making of a Leader, by Bobby Clinton. In the book, Clinton looks at Christian leaders in the Bible, church history, and contemporary times, and parses out common phases and lessons leaders go through. I decided after I had finished the book that I would try to apply its principles as thoroughly as possible to my own leadership development. Specifically, I mapped out my whole life to date, trying to apportion various milestones and lessons into the various categories Clinton spelled out. When I was done, I had before me a better understanding of the unique way God had made me, a clearer sense of all the ways God was at work in my life not only to bless me as a person but to equip me as a leader.
Every year, I return to my original notes from this exercise, and add a year’s worth of new experiences and lessons to them. And having recently searching for and found a new job, I have been especially contemplative as it relates to what drives me, what I am qualified to do, what I want to accomplish with my days.
I share this today because the more I think about it, the more I realize how influential my father has been in who I am. Even though he is not a follower of Jesus (yet), his values have been deeply embedded into my worldview, to the point that I cannot hardly think of a thing that moves me as a human being that wasn’t somehow influenced by his example.
For example, I hate waste. Whether it is money (i.e. thriftiness), time (i.e. productiveness), or people (i.e. empowering the disenfranchised), it pains me when something is carelessly wasted. I learned that from my dad, from whom I observed zero wasting of money, time, or people.
Or take my insistence on a “right way” of doing things. Whether it’s a work assignment, a school paper, or washing the dishes, I cannot not do it in a way that I believe is proper. This too I learned from my father’s example, who always communicated to me the “right way” of doing things, every once in awhile with his words, and always with his actions.
Even my need to document is from him. Finances, calendar events, even vacations were always meticulously recorded. Now you know why I always ask for a receipt.
So while we may disagree on some of life’s biggest issues, still I count him as one of the most influential people in my life, one of the people I have most patterned the way I conduct myself as a person. To Ba, Happy Father’s Day.
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