An article in USA Today featured an interview with conductor Lorin Maazel. His tips for leading -
- Earn respect. Remember how difficult it was to follow someone you couldn't
respect.
- Strike a balance between confidence and humility.
- Don't be nice to curry favor. Be nice just to be nice.
- Speak when you have something valuable to say. Otherwise, shut up.
- To lead, energize.
- Don't demand perfection. Demand passion.

I like the last one the best.

I've really appreciated all the "appreciation" we have received this month. The best card.......(front) You're someone I can confide in. (inside) I stole this card. Thanks to everyone.

I have enjoyed all the cards and letters we have received this month. We love this church so much and they do a great job of making us feel loved too.

Well, I am currently fighting a full blown head cold. I have tried tea with lots of lemon and honey but it has had little effect. I started taking my vitamins again but Kim says its a little late now. I also try to get lots of rest and drink lots of fluids. I hate colds but with a family of 6 it seems they are inevitable.

Great day at church yesterday! It is great to see people so excited to worship. It also looks like some of your youth group ideas are going to pan out which is good.

The one thing I didn't like was having to shut the blinds to see the video clip. It kind of puts a damper on a bright sunny day. We really need to start thinking about a bigger projector.

Once again I've let this go for a long time without blogging. Maybe life was going to good. We had a couple of great worship services the last few weeks and then tanked it last Sunday. The music wasn't very good and I think everyone would have been better off with a few more hours sleep.

At times like this it is easy to get discouraged but I try to look at the big picture and see what God is doing. It is amazing how He works in times like this. It is a good reminder that it is all about Him and not about how talented we think we are. I get frustrated, thinking we can do so much better, which we can. But it is a short jump from that mind set to thinking that when things are going great it is simply because of what we have done instead of what God has done.