Rethink, Stretch & DREAM…

How can I promote our CR so that more people will know and hear about this amazing ministry? 

As Assimilation Coaches this is the big question isn’t it? While there are many ways to do this, I want to challenge you as an A coach to examine your ability to rethink, dream, stretch as a team. How often does your team dream? When is the last time you and your team just got away and dreamed big about the future of your CR? Maybe you have gotten stuck in your existing way of thinking, promoting and communicating this great ministry. Maybe it is time to rethink how you get the word out.

Take a look at this great scripture:

“God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes.”  Ephesians 3:20

 Here are a few things we can do to help get us out of the rut we may be in as leaders and/or a ministry:

1. Get your team to  “Think outside the box”.

Why are you doing things the way you always have in promoting your ministry? One of the greatest challenges we can face as leaders is to fall into the general lingo of “that’s the way we have always done it.”Sometimes it is good to change things up.  It may be taking existing literature and giving it a fresh look.  Maybe a different colored sheet the info is on.

We had one of our leaders give a great idea of sharing literature with dentist offices.

“What?! We have never done that before! That isn’t a recovery house or a treatment center.”

Maybe a grocery store bulletin board. What if we got some on air time at a local radio station “non Christian” “What?! You can’t do that.” 

Again, “why”? Don’t let the “that is the way we have always done it before.” mentality get in the way of living out God’s dreams for you in your life. Maybe you start thinking about how you can take literature to places you never dreamed of sharing info with. Think outside the box and watch your team blossom.  

     2. Try having a brainstorming planning meeting with you and your whole team away from the church. Some of the greatest ideas have come out of those relaxed times over lunch at a cabin or park together with your team. The point is, get them brain storming. Remember, nothing is off limits.  Make sure your brainstorming time is set up with safe results. Meaning, nothing is a bad idea.  Even if it sounds crazy, get it out on paper cause it may either be a long term goal or may spur other great ideas. 

Many great ideas have come from several ideas that didn’t work? Many more than those that did work.

       3. Take a look at each ministry/team: Does your T.E.A.M. have an environment with the freedom to fail? If everyone is stifled with a fear of failure, no good ideas will come from your TEAM. Is it a group effort on everything going on or are there only a handful of people making all the decisions? Make sure all your teammates know they have a voice and that you desire to hear the good and the bad that is seen. Important to note howver that each team member must have a solution as a possibilkity when making an observation of a flaw inthe ministry.

    4. Be flexible and change: As TEAM members it is so important that we do several things:

             a.  Identify the strengths as a TEAM. Waht are we doing right as a minsitry? What are our    strengths? Let's celebrate those and give God teh glory for choosing to use us in that.

             b.   What is an area we need to improve in? What are our weaknesses? Don't look at this as a negative. This is a part of our growth in any ministry whether you ahve jsut started or have been going for 10 years. Pointing out weaknesses has great wisdom and helps us as a ministry not become complacent. We do this as aa team here at least once a year at aretreat. It helps us see where we need to go from here.           

            c. From the weaknesses we identified together as a TEAM, what will the challengesand opportunities, or goals will be moving forward. There is nothing wrong with having weaknesses, it is wrong however to recognize weaknesses and yet bury our head in the sand not correcting those weaknesses. It is important to be specific and even set names to who will do what tasks. Remember, not every idea will work but we don't know unless we try it.

Happy rethinking, dreaming and stretching.

Rodney Holmstrom, CR National Assimilation Coach

Childlike Wonder

When we take our grandchildren on "Cousin Camp" vacation, we plan activities for different days.  One of the activities is a nature walk where we go through the woods to find treasures that we discover laying around.

Childlike wonder...it's a beautiful thing to watch as they notice things we as adults normally rush by...collecting different kinds of leaves, picking up rocks examining each one, digging for worms & squealing with delight when they see one wiggling...& the list goes on.

I was helping one of our grandsons build a snowman recently & watching him make tunnels through the snow, catching snowflakes in his mouth, throwing snow at Mamie (me) & was amazed at how it looked in my hair.  Then he exclaimed, "Let's build a snowman!" Then it came time for the finishing touches.  There weren't any branches around for Frosty's arms except for the new tree they planted in their front yard...the only tree in their front yard. 

I carefully broke off 2 tiny sticks for Frosty's arms.  Solomon was so proud of our creation with his raisin eyes & a pickle for his nose.  Next day our daughter called me & said, "Guess what Solomon did?  He broke off the whole tree to make bigger arms for Frosty! The wonder of a child...you can't help but smile!

And when I think about this childlike wonder & what makes me smile...it's not only the memories of my children & now the experiences with my grandchildren...but also the children God sends us in recovery.  Grown men & women who are experiencing new things for the first time, emotions that have been frozen for years, relationships being restored, being able to laugh for just the simplest of things or for no reason at all...just having fun with others in recovery....childlike wonder!

King David praises God in Psalm 8 for God's awesome creation.  Vs. 2 says, "Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs that drown out enemy talk, & silence atheist babble." Did you get that? The praise of children drowns out the enemy! So how important is my praise in spiritual warfare to drown out the lies of the evil one?!

Satan's best attack is to have discouragement come knocking at our door to pull us away from time with our God & allow doubt to move in.  We need to slow down & take time to praise God, take a child out in nature & watch how they respond to God's creation, watch a new child in recovery praise God in worship.  I love to journal the wonderful things He has done.  When we continually praise Him for the hope we have...the enemy is defeated!

Childlike wonder...I am reminded of the child that was born for us...the baby that changed everything!  Isa. 9:2,6-7 (MSG),

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. For those who lived in a land of deep shadows---light! sunbursts of light!  For a child has been born for us!"

Share a story of wonder you have experienced with a child or somebody new in recovery.

What steps do you take when discouragement comes knocking at your door?

Mary~National Encourager Coach

Taking the Bait?

Being leaders in Celebrate Recovery, we are going to offend somebody unintentionally & be offended by somebody else at times.  What should you do when you get offended?

Rick Renner has an interesting article in "Sparkling Gems" on how we should act when we are offended. One scholar translated Luke 17:1, "It is simply unthinkable that you would allow yourself to dream that you could live this life without an opportunity to become offended."

The Greek word for offense is skandalon from which we get the word scandal. This is a powerful picture!  Skandalon originally described the small piece of wood that was used to keep the door of an animal trap propped open.  A piece of food was placed inside the trap to lure the animal inside.  When the animal entered the trap and accidentally bumped the skandalon, or the small piece of wood, the skandalon collapsed, causing the trap door to slam shut & the animal to be caught inside with no way to escape.  We've had raccoons sneak into our henhouse & kill our chickens.  So we know all too well the skandalon!  It works like a charm.

In Luke 17:1, Jesus used the word skandalon to warn us about events that happen in life with the potential to trip us up. Sometimes Satan baits us with something---drawing us into a trap in which he knows we'll be offended.  When we bump into a moment of offense, the trap slams down shut---and like an animal that is trapped in a cage and can't get out, we suddenly find ourselves caught in a miserable situation, trapped in negative emotions!

An offense usually occurs when you see, hear, or experience a behavior that is so different from what you expected that it causes you to be shaken in your soul.  You may be so stunned by this failed expectation that you get distracted and lose your footing emotionally.  Your shock turns into disappointment, then turns into offense.  We've all experienced it, because people come from different backgrounds, wake up in bad moods, have a bad day at work, may not feel physically well and the list goes on.

We must strive to communicate with people in a way they can understand what we are trying to say.  You will be surprised how many times they don't get it, what you are saying or meant to say.  People hear things through the filter of a host of hurts, hang-ups, & habits they've lived & their interpretation of our actions and words may be different from our original intention.

As leaders in CR, we are held to a higher standard to bring healing and restoration whenever misunderstanding and offense occurs.  If you learn that you have offended someone else, go to them immediately and take the mature path and ask for forgiveness.  Don't get defensive, just apologize and move forward.  The devil doesn't like anything better than to cause strife between people. It's a great scheme of his to stifle service in CR by distracting us with offenses. 

It is more important to be a peacemaker than to prove who is right or wrong.  Let's be leaders working towards healing and restoration in our lives and the people God places in our paths!

Because of Him,

Mary  

Are you a Wind Blocker or Wind Walker?

We talk at the Summit about a huge WAVE in Celebrate Recovery.  Did you know that it is a scientific fact that 26 waves a minute come to shore over & over? They never stop!

To have a wave though, there has to be a wind behind it.  And CR's wave's wind is the Holy Spirit!  There is a revival going on in America & it is a huge wave of people who are ministers of reconciliation!  People who are passionate about sharing the hope that is only found in Jesus Christ.  And that is you, Encourager Coaches, along with the rest of our CR Forever Family!

We may be from different cities all over the U.S. and the world. But you know what?  We, as believers in Jesus Christ, will live in the same hometown, God's hometown, Zion! But we are on a journey right now.  We are missionaries for Jesus Christ spreading the word of hope to bring another hurting soul into God's family until Jesus returns!

Ps. 87 says, "The word's getting out on Zion:  Men & women right and left born again through Jesus Christ!  God registers your name in His book:  This one, this one, and this one---born again, right here!"  We are a people belonging to God. We are brothers and sisters in a huge Forever  Family headed to Zion!

At times there will be discouragement along the way…they are Wind Blockers.  People who are negative, grumblers, living in denial, don't get the big picture.  They don't see what we see!  

Here's who we you are...we are Wind Walkers!  We are sold out to the Lord & serve with all our hearts, souls, minds, & with all our strength.

So with arms strong, minds open, & hearts soft we ride the WAVE in anticipation of what God is going to do through us in this 20th year Anniversary of Celebrate Recovery!

Mary ~ National E Coach

a small act of kindness

"This only is charity, to do all, all that we can."
- John Donne

How I found myself completely spent in chasing a renegade rolling grocery item in the middle of a huge Wal Mart parking lot dragging a fully loaded cart behind me while limping with one crutch on a surgically repaired knee is... well, a little hard to explain. 

I guess in the 3 days following my ACL surgery I had quickly contracted, what seemed to me to be, an almost lethal case of cabin fever.  Doctor's orders or not, I couldn't bear the thought of spending one more minute on my living room couch staring at the crack in the ceiling (by the way, I REALLY need to fix that!).

So, I snuck out.  I decided to do a little shopping. 

First mistake:  I knew I couldn't manage a cart with both crutches so I left one crutch at home.

Second mistake:  I didn't stick to my 3-item grocery list.  In fact I think I bought everything but those three items.

Third, fourth, and fifth mistake:  Going to a West Virginia Wal Mart on a Saturday!

Before I knew what hit me, I began to realize that maybe folks who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on education to become experts in the medical field generally should be listened to regarding a recovery "time-line".  I was a one-crutch trainwreck of pain and sweat when I finally got my purchases out those sliding doors.

Saturdays at Wal Mart means that you either do the 45 minute circling buzzard routine looking for a parking spot, or you place your vehicle in another time zone from the store.  Needless to say, by the time I got within sight of my van I was completely spent... and when the top bag slipped off the cart spilling it's treasures all over the parking lot, I thought, yup-  Worst. Day. Ever.

And then two angels showed up.  A couple, smiling and exuding life and joy and perfect humility in service quickly swooped into action, not only picking up the fallen items, but insisted on packing the groceries into the van and taking the cart back to it's stall.  Then they were gone.

It was so fast.  It was so simple... and it was so transformative that I have yet to shake the effects of it.

I just want to encourage you to be on the look out for folks out there limping through life, those who are too stubborn to ask for help, those whose entire outlook on life can be completely enlightened with one small act of kindness.

"Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way… in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love."  2 Corinthians 6:4,6

John Eklund, National "E"