A good man does not ask what is the way in which he must walk, or in which is the most pleasant walking, but what is the right way, the way in which he should walk. – Matthew Henry

They never said it would be easy. Leadership is hard. It always has been and always will be. Leading schools in a pandemic may be one of the harder leadership challenges. This is especially so in acountry sharply divided into political tribes and saturated with an entitled, “me first” perspective.

As we entered another difficult school year, I want to offer words of encouragement and perhaps some useful perspective as you are faced with hard decisions and hard reactions.

You will face criticism …

A member of our team was approached with an amusing question. Her younger son asked why we celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and even Grandparent’s Day … but not “Kid’s Day” in America.

Not wanting to sound bitter or patronizing, she simply replied that _every day_ is a day to celebrate awesome kids, but sometimes we as parents need a pat on the back from time to time.

Do you, as a leader, ever feel like this? Could you use a fist bump every now and then?

I know I’ve been there.

I want to share a powerful method we’ve seen work again and again for leaders. I believe it will help you focus in the year as you look ahead to the next ten to twelve months.

Focus on establishing a group of highest priority prospects for you and your ministry this year.

We are not saying to abandon the meetings, planned communications, and other various things you’re doing to connect with people. If it’s working – keep doing it. However, as your organization grows its giving, the tendency is to leave people where they were when you last “saw” them. What we want to do instead is challenge you to focus in with a handful of people and take them deeper in your organization’s journey toward your vision.

We can see this same discipline to prioritize how time is spent with specific people in the life of Christ. He did not heal every person He came across. He spoke to the multitudes. Look closely at the Scriptures and you see there is also a bit of a structure, a hierarchy, in how He related to people. He had the multitudes. He also had the seventy-two He recruited and sent out, those He hand selected. For an even higher priority, He had the twelve; within the twelve, He had three in whom He invested specific and unique individual time.

You can feel and see it, things are warmer and brighter—meteorologically and mentally!

The cold gray of winter is behind us replaced by blue skies, warm days, bouquets of flowers, yards sprouting to life, and trees clothed in green, filled with the chorus of singing birds.

We also sense the gradual fading of the dark pandemic winter. As vaccines roll out there is hope for the glad return to normal when once again we can see smiling faces unobscured by masks, feel the warm embrace of friends, and enjoy stadiums filled with cheerful and cheering fans …

As a team, we at Development and Leadership Coaching believe as much in the health of the people as we do their ministries.

I want to share a few thoughts with you, whether for yourself or a colleague. This if for those who are dealing with an episode of significant anxiety or depressive thoughts.

Planning Byproduct

Anxiety and overwhelm leading to depressive tendencies are a natural byproduct of good planning.

Prior to having a plan we tend to be reactive. Now having a plan brings clarity about an imagined future which can cause a huge amount of anxiety and depressive tendencies because we start to count the cost and measure ourselves against the goals.

The disciplines of prayer, journaling, and focusing on handling each day with excellence one day at a time become much more important.

Self Care is NOT Selfish …

The world is beset by conspiracy theories. Prominent conspiracies circulating include:

• The QAnon conspiracy centered on a supposed cabal of celebrity sex traffickers and “the deep state.” This conspiracy theory, void of any evidence, is the work of an 4Chan poster named Q who claims to be a government employee with top-secret security clearance.

• The allegation that big box e-retailer Wayfair is engaged in human trafficking by way of home cabinetry.

• The assertion that 5G millimeter-wave spectrum used to transmit internet data to handheld devices interferes with the body’s natural chemistry making people sick with COVID-19.

• The claim that Bill Gates wants to embed microchips into the human body through vaccines.

• Conspiracy theorists like David Icke and InfoWars’ Alex Jones, claim that COVID-19 doesn’t exist but is a plot by the globalist elite to take away our freedoms.

The First Conspiracy Theory

To say I’ve seen a lot in my 95 years is an understatement.

Those of us who are dang-near a century old have a few stories to tell. Just ask us. If you asked me a year ago if I’d seen it all, I would have said yes.

After all, I’ve lived through WWII, the Great Depression, Vietnam, 9/11 and multiple recessions. I’ve seen civil riots, natural disasters and decades of political discord. I watched Americans moon walk (including Michael Jackson) and the evolution of space-age computers. I dodged the Asian flu, swine flu, HIV and Ebola.

As a career educator and coach, I’ve built countless athletic programs, mentored and coached thousands, from college to Olympic-level. I’ve been married for a total of 60 years and outlived both wives. I’ve had my share of loves and losses, to include children.

Despite my challenges, I’m one of the more optimistic people you’ll meet. I carpe diem and encourage others to do the same. (Evan Oswald, 2021)

We need more of Evan’s spirit of optimism! Covid is contagious. So is optimism.

There is too much anger, conflict, cynicism, stress, and fear in our lives, schools, and country. This is not how the Lord expects us to live. As leaders we have the duty to model and cultivate a biblically informed optimistic spirit in our lives and in our schools “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” — 2 Ti 1:7

Do you know the primary thing that holds you back from accomplishing your vision?

It’s also the very same thing that can really move you forward.

It’s YOU.

The reason why this is true so much of the time is because YOU are often the primary person that God is going to be using to accomplish the great work that you are doing.

I want to share my heart and the reason for writing this long blog post. This political season offers a singular opportunity to teach by word and example what it means to engage the world and to change it for Christ. But changing the world requires that our good ends are accompanied by good means and good character.

We want our young people to care about politics, to wrestle with tough issues. We want them to learn to seek the welfare of the City of Man while they pursue the City of God. This is, in many respects, the heart and soul of Christian education—preparing young people to take biblical principles and learn to apply them with humility and respect to practical day-to-day realities. We want them, by God’s grace, to make a difference in our schools, our communities and our nation by being different from the world around them.

We want them to experience the warmth and joy of Christian community rather than the heat and hurt of tribalism. We want them to care about their character, their Christian witness, and people more than their politics. We want them to embrace the truth that people are more important to God than our politics and that Christian character is more important to God than our party or our candidate.

Setting the Table