"No factor is more critical to the success of an organization than the vitality of the people within it. All else flows from it. Creativity, attentiveness, hope, love, endurance and a hundred other traits essential to success rise naturally from a thriving soul. In this – and only in this – can we embody the vision we seek to effect in the world."
- Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) Strategic Plan for Thriving Souls
Personal health (emotional, spiritual, physical, etc.) feed into all areas of life, relationship, organization, and missional impact. You can not give what you do not have. From the wellspring of life, I want the fruits of the spirit to flow through me (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control).
In order to become healthier I have to reclaim what the enemy has attempted to kill, steal, and destroy in me - which is the truth about God and the truth about myself. God is Good. I am Beloved. Unconditionally. That means I need to venture back with God to the places of wounding, where lies embedded, and allow God to extract those splinters. It will be painful, but we only look back in the rear-view mirror so we can keep moving forward in greater freedom. Healing people heal people. And unresolved hurts, in one way or another, hurts others.
You don't wake up one day being someone you have not been becoming.
How did Jesus lean-in to health? In a word, With. How did Jesus spend time With God? In Silence, Solitude, and Stillness. When we rhythm our lives With God, we return to a place of peace and belovedness that heals us and allows us to encounter a chaotic world. As we rhythm WITH, we bring with us the glory of seeing goodness in others, until that light fades by the world and we need a fill-up, our tank is low. We then commune With God again to reclaim our Belovedness and share it with others.
Because we are always messy we need like-hearted warriors alongside us (relationships) and guides to show us the way (resources) to stay accountable to the good we want to maintain and grow in our lives (rhythms).
The context of our days is war. If we don't know this, we're disoriented and vulnerable. Our enemy, day and night, seeks to kill, steal, and destroy our intimacy and connection to God, thus, our souls. To see life through this lens is to realize that Kingdom Comes, first, in our own hearts, with restores our identity. From that restful, oriented, and settled spirit, we are dangerous to bear healing light for our neighbor. Love.
In my journey, I've found some amazing resources that led me to like-hearted relationships, that have helped me to establish grounding rhythms that breathe life into my days. I don't seek to be perfect with my rhythms, that'd be legalistic. I merely seek to be connected to God and be curious and acutely aware of that life-giving connection as I adventure on.
Resources: (leave your favorite resources in the comments below)
Podcasts:
Books:
Videos: (playlists to come)
Relationships:
Personal:
Wife - leaning-in to the sanctification and edification process = unconditional love + graceful awareness of unhealthy patterns. Support, encouragement, and care in helping to be more free.
Kids - Extending the Unconditional Love of God into the hearts, minds, and bodies of my kids. To know they are loved regardless of behavior. Teach and model ways of loving people around them.
Friends - Honest processing of past and present. Weep and celebrate together. Going on physical adventures and sharing in missional journeys of bearing light into all areas of influence, family, work, friend community, and the least of these.
Mentors - Constellation mentoring. Asking specific people to mentor me in areas of life I see excellence in them.
Mentees - The one's I rhythmically connect with to help orient and settle their souls and integrate into the family as an extended member.
"Unlike me" - This talk, by leader John Rush, reminds us to seek, integrate, and recline with others who are different from us. As we do so, we realize the differences that divide us are overcome through Love and that we can stand on the margins of society until the margins don't exist.
Professional:
Mentors - Constellation mentoring. Asking specific people to mentor me in areas of life where I see excellence in them. I.e, marriage, parenting, leadership, business, friendships, humility, etc.
Spiritual Director/ Leadership Coach - Andrew grounds me in wisdom, hope perspective, a place to process, and a tethering back to God's working and leading in my life.
Spiritual:
The Triune God
Communion of cheerleading relationships who have transitioned.
Rhythms: To be teased out and added to in all dimensions of health
Daily Rituals:
Wake-up: give God my whole self before I lift my head, drink a glass water, write down what happened yesterday, pray for today, read for 3-5 minutes, push-ups.
Entering work-mode: put on pin, little prayer for the work ahead, song to ramp up and orient
Mid-day: Pause App
Exiting work-mode: take off pin, Win at Home First song, head on steering wheel to pass baton, phone in the drawer till kids go to bed
To Sleep: Lord‘s Prayer
Weekly Rituals:
Observe the Sabbath: very low use of technology, focused on God, fun, adventure, calmness.
Elevate heart-rate 2-3 times a week (exercise)
Monthly Rituals:
Date with Kendra
Spiritual Direction/Coaching Session
Spend time with friends
Quarterly Rituals:
Review financial status
Annual Rituals:
1 day away with God in Solitude, Silence, and Stillness
More to come. Did this quickly. Hope this encourages you. Feel free to comment below with thoughts, questions, or your resources, relationships, and rhythms you want to share.
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