Integrity

Came across a blog on leadership that had these great challenging words .. I offer them to you for your consideration.

What is integrity? And why is it important for leaders? The word “integrity” comes from the word “integer” - remember those whole numbers in math? To have integrity means to be whole.

When we are whole leaders, we practice what we preach. Leaders whose inner and external lives are consistent have a greater impact, whatever their arena. This applies to our physical, emotional and spiritual lives. A leader who eats decently has energy to get through the day. A leader who is emotionally aware recognizes the range of emotions in himself and can express them appropriately. A leader who preaches the value of spiritual life knows she needs to have one herself.

When we are whole leaders, we have clear boundaries. We know what we will and won’t do. We are able to say a clear “yes” and “no” to obligations. We are less vulnerable to being manipulated. We are not hypersensitive to criticism, because we know it’s not necessarily about us. All this is much easier said than done, of course. Just the other day I took on a new responsibility I had said I wouldn’t do. Perhaps none of us are completely whole.

I was reminded recently about an applied mathematician I met once. I wrote about this years ago, and I think it’s worth saying again. He explained to me that while people usually think things break suddenly, that is not necessarily true. When something breaks, it is part of a process: microcracks begin, and then join together to make macrocracks, and ultimately a fracture occurs. This is more likely to happen under stress (for example, heat), which reduces the flexibility of structural materials.

At times of heightened anxiety (read, now), we are more vulnerable to “stress fractures” in our integrity - whether it’s making an ethical compromise, neglecting time to rest or pray, or saying yes to yet one more unnecessary obligation or difficult individual. Watch out for signs of cracks in your own life and leadership. Notice the decisions you are making every day so they can support wholeness on every level.

People are different than structures, because we can heal. Most of us have been broken in some ways, small and large. And when we are paying attention to ourselves, we are more likely to catch the small fractures so they don’t become a huge collapse in our integrity.

Here are some questions to consider as you assess your own wholeness as a leader:

1. When is the last time I spent time alone to reflect on my life?
2. Am I doing anything to support my physical health?
3. What am I telling people to do that I don’t do myself?
4. Do I do what I say I will do?
5. Am I too available? Or not available enough?

Have a Great Day

David

Ten Rules of Dating

A few weeks ago, a very wonderful man asked my daughter to spend the rest of their lives together ... thinking back where it all started, I remember coming these funny following rules of dating ... Enjoy

Rule One: If you pull into my driveway and honk you'd better be delivering a package, because you're sure not picking anyone up.

Rule Two: You do not touch my daughter in front of me. You may glance at her, so long as you do not peer at anything below her neck. If you cannot keep your eyes or hands off of my daughter's body, I will remove them.

Rule Three: I am aware that it is considered fashionable for boys of your age to wear their trousers so loosely that they appear to be falling off their hips. Please don't take this as an insult, but you and all of your friends are complete idiots. Still, I want to be fair and open minded about this issue, so I propose this compromise: You may come to the door with your underwear showing and your pants ten sizes to big, and I will not object. However, in order to ensure that your clothes do not, in fact come off during the course of you date with my daughter, I will take my electric nail gun and fasten your trousers securely in place to your waist.

Rule Four: I'm sure you've been told that in today's world, sex without utilizing a "Barrier method" of some kind can kill you. Let me elaborate; when it comes to sex, I am the barrier, and I WILL kill you.

Rule Five: It is usually understood that in order for us to get to know each other, we should talk about sports, politics, and other issues of the day. Please do not do this. The only information I require from you is an indication of when you expect to have my daughter safely back at my house, and the only word I need from you on this subject is: "early".

Rule Six: I have no doubt you are a popular fellow, with many opportunities to date other girls. This is fine with me as long as it is okay with my daughter. Otherwise, once you have gone out with my little girl, you will continue to date no one but her until she is finished with you. If you make her cry, I will make you cry.

Rule Seven: As you stand in my front hallway, waiting for my daughter to appear, and more than an hour goes by, do not sigh and fidget. If you want to be on time for the movie, you should not be dating. My daughter is putting on her makeup, a process than can take longer than painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Instead of just standing there, why don't you do something useful, like change the oil in my car?

Rule Eight: The following places are not appropriate for a date with my daughter: Places where there are beds, sofas, or anything softer than a wooden stool. Places where there is darkness. Places where there is dancing, holding hands, or happiness. Places where the ambient temperature is warm enough to induce my daughter to wear shorts, tank tops, midriff T-shirts, or anything other than overalls, a sweater, and a goose down parka -- zipped up to her throat. Movies with a strong romantic or sexual theme are to be avoided; movies which feature chain saws are okay. Hockey games are okay. Old folks homes are better.

Rule Nine: Do not lie to me. I may appear to be a potbellied, balding, middle-aged, dim-witted has-been. But on issues relating to my daughter, I am the all-knowing, merciless god of your universe. If I ask you where you are going and with whom, you have one chance to tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. Do not trifle with me.

Rule Ten: Be afraid. Be very afraid. It takes very little for me to mistake the sound of your car in the driveway for a chopper coming in over a rice paddy near Hanoi. When the Agent Orange starts acting up, the voices in my head frequently tell me to clean the guns as I wait for you to bring my daughter home. As soon as you pull into the driveway you should exit the car with both hands in plain sight. Speak the perimeter password, announce in a clear voice that you have brought my daughter home safely and early, then return to your car -- there is no need for you to come inside. The camouflaged face at the window will be mine.

Have a Great Day

David

Singing and Cents

A few years ago, our Pastor of leads in the area of worship approached me with an Idea about combining worship and helping our local nonprofits out. Out of that conversation ... our ALM (a little bit more) concerts were born. In a few weeks, we will be doing our eighth concert. This time around, we are helping out Good news health clinic. The following is a article written about the clinic.

Good News Health Clinic

A couple weeks ago, Clyde Olar, 24, a Romanian immigrant, was fixing a wall outside his home, using a tile saw to cut a stone so it would fit into the structure.

That’s when a piece of rock flew off the stone and struck him in his left eye, which swelled up, according to his American-born wife, Priscilla, 20.

Although the husband and wife are employed, they don’t have health insurance and delayed having Clyde’s eye checked due to lack of money.

However, a relative referred them to the Good News Community Health Center in Rockwood, which treats folks without health insurance.

Patients pay $10 per visit, a fee they also can pay through community service — volunteering at a food cupboard, for example — if they don’t have the money.

Clyde had his eye checked out at Good News and was referred to an eye specialist, the couple says. As they sat in the clinic after their visit, with their 9-month-old daughter, Giselle, the couple noted their gratitude to Dr. Robert “Bob” C. Sayson, the clinic’s director.

“He’s just such a great guy,” Priscilla says. “He’s a man of God.”

Caution to the wind

Sayson, known as “Dr. Bob” to his patients, is humbled by any praise.

“I should really say this is the Lord’s clinic, not mine,” he says, noting he and his wife, Alice, decided to live on their savings and devote their lives to the poor back in 2007 when Good News opened.

“If we take care of God’s poor, won’t he take care of us?” he says, noting the nonprofit clinic relies on donations and more than 40 volunteers to exist.

Sayson brings a wealth of experience to his position. The Filipino native has medical experience in his homeland as well as China, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, and practiced internal medicine in Gresham from 1991 to 2006 before opening Good News in 2007.

Sayson notes his experiences working with the poor abroad, as well as with Compassion Rockwood, an annual health-care outreach event supported by many East County churches and organizations, inspired him to establish Good News.

Although the center is faith-based — its emblem shows the cross of Jesus between those of the two thieves crucified with him — its staff treats “Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Pagans” as well as Christians and nonbelievers, the doctor says with a smile.

“We always respect people of other faiths,” he says, noting the clinic’s patients include the homeless, the unemployed and the working poor.
Body and soul

Kristine (who asked that her last name not be used) has just finished up another appointment with the staff at Good News, and notes she’s recovering from addiction to cocaine.

She’s needs medication to deal with such ailments as severe migraines and anxiety and has seen other doctors over the years, but prefers Sayson because he doesn’t just prescribe medication — he spends time talking to her about her life.

“He’s just so gentle, and he doesn’t judge, and he’s just really easy to talk to,” she says. “We got to talk about where I was, what I’m going through, what I need — and I got a flu shot, all for $10!” Sayson carefully prescribes medication, she adds, noting addicts like her can actually wind up falling back into substance abuse if their doctors aren’t diligent about monitoring their use of prescription drugs.

“This is a healthy relationship for me,” she says with a smile.

Before, after

Talk to the folks who volunteer at the center, and they repeatedly note the deep sense of satisfaction they get from seeing homeless people regain their sense of dignity, the poor their sense of security and the anxious their sense of peace.

Barb Carlson, who attends Sayson’s church, Good Shepherd Community in Boring, spends time at the clinic walking patients through the steps they need to take to improve their health — losing weight, quitting smoking, that kind of thing. She is always moved by the financial plight of the patients.

“The tremendous cost of medical bills would make it literally impossible for them to get the help they need without this place being here,” she says.

She adds she delights in making the drive to volunteer here each week.

“This is probably the most loving, supportive environment that I have been in,” she says. “It’s pleasant to be here. It doesn’t feel like work.”

Jerilyn Rathke, nurse volunteer coordinator, enjoys seeing lives transformed and recalls one former patient who was homeless and looked it when he came into the center his first time. Weeks later, she ran into him at a local store.

“I could not believe how healthy looking he was,” she says. “He just looked so happy.”

“I wish we could take before-after pictures,” Leah Anderson, one of the center’s office managers, adds. “Because it’s so amazing how people’s lives change — not just their appearance, but everything about them.”

Good News Community Health Center, 18000 S.E. Stark St. / 503-489-0567 / goodnewschc.org

So, come and join us help another great place out and worship our lord.

Date: October 16
Time: 7:30 pm
Place 27132 SE Stark Street Troutdale Oregon 97060

Have a Great day