DO YOU EFFECTIVELY LOVE AND INFLUENCE THE PEOPLE YOU WORK WITH?

I want to do more than just show up to work and collect a pay check. I want to be more than the status quo. I want the people around me to be more effective, feel more encouraged and happy, and ultimately be drawn closer to God as a result of my having been there. As such, I'm always trying to find better ways to connect with and influence the people I work and spend time with. Several weeks ago, I heard something that made me think about it from a different perspective. Instead of considering how I could best influence those around me, I thought "who are the people that have influenced me the most and why?" Perhaps I could identify what those people did or said that made such a difference for me and use it to try to make a difference in the lives of others.

COULD YOUR DIET BE A WAY TO MINISTER AT WORK? MINE WAS

Recently I have felt like God has been challenging me to be a better servant leader but am not always sure how to actually be one. I have one person who works under me as my assistant. This week I had one opportunity to serve her in a unique way. I found out that she was trying to get into "clean eating," something I have been doing for years. I sent her a couple recipes and encouraged her in her efforts. While this didn't really relate to our job, it was one small way to improve our relationship and gave me a chance to serve her in a way that was meaningful to her.

4 WAYS TO RIGHTALIGN YOUR "WAY TOO CRAZY" LIFE

My wife and I are busy. We have 3 little kids at home (5, 2, and 3 months), we move coast to coast at least once every 18 months (7 moves in 8 years of marriage), my work hours are not typical (active duty US Navy), my wife is an avid runner (marathons, triathlons, trail runs, etc), and we like people (church, Navy, neighbors, etc). As a result of all that, we tell ourselves almost nightly that something has to give.  But what is that something?  

WHY WHAT YOU SAY MATTERS MORE THAN YOU THINK

Many of my regrets in life have not been what I didn't say, but what I did say (this is especially true within my marriage). I work on a ship offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The expression "cuss like a sailor" is pretty accurate; sailors tend to say a lot of bad things. I have often been guilty of not being encouraging, uplifting, or edifying in my speech towards and around others.

WHY YOU SHOULDN'T ARGUE WITH 12 YEAR OLDS

Earlier this week I hired a couple of high schoolers and their 12 year old brother to help me clean and paint part of the house I'm rehabbing. They did a great job and we made some good progress toward finishing the house so I can put it on the market.

But I also got the opportunity to "re-learn" a lesson that I thought I already knew. The 12 year old said something that I didn't think was correct and when I tried to inform him of how and why he was wrong, he simply stated that I was the one who was wrong and that he was right. I wish I could say that I let it go at that and moved on, but I kept trying to win the argument. How I got sucked into this "yes it is...no it isn't" argument with a 12 year old is beyond me.  

HAVE YOU SCHEDULED YOUR APPOINTMENT WITH GOD?

For most of my career, I had anything but a predictable work schedule. I might work day shift one day, night shift the next, and then back to day shift. Sometimes I would wake up long before the sun came up. Other days I would still be awake from the night before when the new day dawned. For too long I let my work schedule and the lack of a routine be an excuse that explained my inability to consistently spend dedicated time with God and His Word each day. "If I just had a predictable routine," I would say to myself, "THEN, I would carve out some time for God and be consistent in the Word."

HOW TO LOVE PEOPLE BY NOT HAVING ALL THE ANSWERS

I've been reading a John Maxwell book about leadership and asking questions. One of the take-aways from the book is that people generally enjoy being asked about their opinions rather than having someone else's ideas forced upon them. It reminded me of times when people in authority over me have taken the time to ask me what I thought about certain things-it actually made me appreciate and respect them more, rather than the other way around.

HOW YOUR STORY CAN MOTIVATE AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS

Last week one of my Christian co-workerstold me about how God had been working in his life at work. He had a discussion about what Christmas means to him with one of the people in his class (a muslim international exchange student). The man went on to ask him to share one story from the Bible. My friend shared a short story from the New Testiment. After that, the muslim man asked my friend to share one Bible story with him every day. Since then, my friend has faithfully shared a story with him daily. The muslim man went on to get a Bible in Arabic so he could read for himself. He has not become a Christian yet but it is clear that God is working in his life. I was excited and encouraged to hear his story and thanked him for sharing it.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO KEEP BUGGING GOD IN PRAYER

I sit at work / school with the same ten people everyday for grad school at the Air Force Command and Staff College. We are about half way through the year and have gotten to know each other pretty well. I have been thinking a lot about how to be a good ambassador of Christ to the group. Recently, I decided to start praying for each of them individually. I put each person's name on a separate notecard and try to pray over one of them daily.  

FOUR VERSES USEFUL FOR EVERYDAY MINISTRY

When I started kindergarten at a small Christian school (a long time ago), I was forced to start memorizing scripture verses. It wasn't too bad at first but by the time I was in 7th grade I was forced to memorize whole chapters. I hated it. 

Most of us don't like taking the time or effort to memorize verses. 

But as I got older, and wasn't being forced to do it anymore, I began memorizing verses that were meaningful to me on my own.   

HOW TO HAVE RELIGIOUS CONVERSATIONS WITHOUT BEING AWKWARD

I used to be extremely uncomfortable with how to share my faith with co-workers (or anyone, for that matter) or even how to bring up the topic of religion. I was afraid of talking about religion because I thought people might have a closed-of or even hostile response. But I also knew that as a Christian, I am supposed to be a bold ambassador for Christ. Still, it took a lot of courage for me to do it...and when I did do it, it felt clumsy and awkward.

Since those days, I have learned that I'm not the only one; many Christians struggle with how to evangelize. It shouldn't be so hard to talk about something we believe is true and life giving.  Nevertheless, it is very difficult for most of us.

TOO SCARED (BUT KNOW I SHOULDN'T BE) TO SHARE JESUS

Last Christmas I spoke with a girl I met about evangelism and being a Christian in the workplace. She told me that she travels a lot and doesn't feel like she has had opportunities to share her faith in Jesus with anyone at work. However, she does make it a point to share her faith when she travels. I was fascinated and challenged by what she had said. By contrast, when I fly/travel I usually make it a point to fall asleep as soon as possible and am sometimes annoyed if the person next to me wants to talk.

WHY TO MAKE YOUR TIME COUNT (EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO)

I'm a navy man, living in an Air Force town for one year where I don't have any close friendships while I am doing grad school (Air Command and Staff College-ACSC). While I will likely only be here another seven months or so, its hard not to see my time here as very temporary and therefore not worth the investment of my time and effort to build new relationships.  

HOW TO BE A CHRISTIAN AT WORK WITHOUT FRATERNIZING

When I started doing Bible studies with people from work, I was concerned that I might be engaging in the activity that everyone emphatically said to stay away from: FRATERNIZATION (frat). One document from my workplace says this about frat: personal relationships between officer and enlisted members which are unduly familiar, do not respect differences in grade or rank, and are prejudicial to good order and discipline are prohibited. Your workplace may have similar policies or expectations for personal relationships between co-workers. 

WHEN ITS RIGHT TO CREATE TENSION IN THE WORKPLACE

I was sitting in my office working on my computer when one of my co-workers came over and started discussing some work projects with me. As the conversation went on, I began to suspect that he was being deceptive about some of the details he mentioned. When I asked him about it, the conversation quickly turned into a confrontation. The argument got heated and then ended with neither of us conceding fault.

I usually feel bad when I get verbally upset or frustrated with people and am quit often at fault in some way. As usual, after our conflict, I started feeling really bad about how upset I got and the fact that I so stubbornly stood up to what he was trying to do.

But then I felt like God told me "don't feel bad about standing up for the truth." I had never had this thought before but it occurred to me that I had in fact stood up to his deceptive half truths simply because he was not being truthful.

One Simple Technique That Will Improve Your Effectiveness

In my job and life in general, I think a lot about how to influence people and how to communicate with them so they not only hear what I communicate, but actually do something about it. Recently I