Your Prayers Are Needed
Our family has experienced several large obstacles over the past few months. Some of these you know about, such as the death of my grandmother and the struggle to find what is causing one of my daughters to feel sick all the time. Other obstacles we have not shared very publicly, and it is sufficient to say that there are some issues that have brought a load of stress upon our family. I cannot say more about these at the moment, other than to ask you to pray.
Even when things seem bleak and difficult, we can know that God is right there with us, and he has things in his control, whether we can see it or not. To that end, I would ask you to pray for us as we walk these paths. Here are a few thoughts on how you can join us in prayer:
Pray for strength.
Pray that we can trust God through it all.
Pray for his guidance to be evident.
Pray that our stress and worry can be lessened.
Thanks for lifting my family up.
Christians do not create truth. The Truth creates the Christian.
How Successful People Lead by John C. Maxwell (Nashville, TN: Center Street, 2013)
Leadership can be difficult for some. Over the years, I have experienced ups and downs when it comes to my own leadership abilities. A lot of it has do to with where I am personally, I think, and how I am either growing or not growing. When I do have seasons of better leadership success, I too often don’t stop to examine why this might be the case. But fortunately, someone has.
John Maxwell has written a small book detailing the leadership skills of successful people. He looks at the “5 Levels of Leadership,” a topic that he has taught more than any other, and shows how the successful leader has an intimate knowledge of this hierarchy of leadership ability. And I can recognize my own leadership growth in the structure he lays out in this brief book.
It’s a short and easy book to read, giving the basic overview of the 5 Levels, and whetting your appetite for more. From here, the supply of information Maxwell has written on leadership is nearly inexhaustible, and you can learn a lot just by reading his books. And if that isn’t enough, you can pick up even more knowledge from partnering with the John Maxwell Company for a deeper leadership training experience.
But How Successful People Lead is an excellent place to begin. I highly recommend you pick up a copy and read it. You can get it from Amazon for next to nothing, so go grab a copy now.
He who crowned the heavens with stars was Himself crowned with thorns.
To fear God is to have such a holy awe of God upon our hearts, that we dare not sin.
I only seek in my old age to perfect that which I had not before thoroughly learned in my youth, because my sins were a hindrance to me.
Success 101 by John C. Maxwell (Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2008)
One of my favorite areas of personal growth and improvement is the area of leadership. Several years ago, I was introduced to the leadership works of John Maxwell when I attended an InJoy conference, and have been hooked on his books ever since. Last fall, I had to opportunity to pick up several of his titles that I didn’t already possess, and have been reading through them this year.
Three or four of them are on the topic of success, and this one, Success 101, is succinct and easy to read. It also has a plethora of usable insights and quotes that I know will come to mind as I need them, and as I grow in this area.
I highly recommend you read some of John Maxwell’s works, and you can pick this one up at Amazon for just a few dollars.
