What's Your Mission? (next post 4/1)

For some reason the idea of legacy has been swimming all around in my mind lately. It's funny because for almost three years a huge part of my job has been participating in and leading discussions from the wonderful Legacy Builders discipleship series. I don't really know why it's taken me all this time to really begin to care what happens to my family generations from now; probably I've been too selfish to care. But I've heard a few comments from others and had a few new ideas of my own and now I'm spending some real time thinking about what the lives of the great-great grandchildren of my four sons might be like. I'm thinking about what I can be doing now to help those people I will never meet in this life become all that God wants them to be. And as I think through this, one word has come up over and over: MISSION.

We've all seen mission statements. Jerry Maguire stayed up all night writing one. FCA has one that I know well and love. Even in the aforementioned Legacy Builders study, the members of the group are encouraged to write a mission statement for themselves. I've gone along with the idea, written something down about loving God, loving my family and working hard. But for some reason, I've never come up with anything that really stuck.

I've been reading Better Dads, Stronger Sons by Rick Johnson, and the book is filled with really good, Biblical insight into the power of Dads to influence their sons. This is not a new idea of course, and as I read I've been thinking that while the father/son relationship is certainly unique, there are principles of leadership that apply more or less across the board. So if it's good for a company to have a mission statement, then it's probably good for a family, school, or athletic program to have one as well. At the same time, the value of the mission statement itself is minimal if the members of the group are unfamiliar with it or uninspired by it.

In thinking through what kind of men my sons and I ought to be, I've been working on a first draft of a mission statement for the men in our family. So far I've come up with this:

As a Krzykowski man, I will:

- Treat others with kindness and respect

- Protect the weak, both with my words and my actions

- Be courteous, polite and clean

- Do my best to allow God to eliminate any gaps between my public and private lives

- Refuse to be mastered by fear, and trust God always

- Change the world forever by being a man of honor

As I look at that list, I know there's overlap between some of the points. I know it doesn't read like a traditional mission statement, but I really like lists and bullet points. (Hopefully my children and their descendants will feel the same way.) We're definitely early in the process; I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to go about incorporating the mission statement into everyday family life. But I can't help but wonder, what if these ideas could last in my family and beyond for generations, even centuries?

I could take a similar approach to coaching a team. No doubt it's a little different with athletes, having only a few months or a few years instead of 18-20 years to instill the values and build the mission into them. But there's also no doubt that there is a tremendous opportunity to be used to create something great in the lives of people that could literally last forever. As a coach, what is this team/program about? Why do we exist? What do we want our athletes to take with them into their adult lives, and how do we achieve that result? Seems like it's worth thinking about.

80's Lyric

I'm on a mission, you better just listen

To my rhymes 'cause I'm all about dissin'

- Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock (1988)

Little Things (next post 3/18)

Adversity makes us stronger. The lesson isn't a tough one to grasp intellectually. It stands to reason that going through things that are difficult makes us better equipped to deal with life. We gain perspective, we develop patience and mental toughness. I've thought about this and written about this plenty over the past year. But a few days ago I had a new spin put on the idea for me. We were talking in a group about doing what's commanded in James chapter 1, "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds", and Romans 5, "we rejoice in our sufferings". We all agreed that being able to joyfully handle adversity is a learned behavior, something God develops in us over a period of time, usually years. We talked about some of the really tough stuff we've all dealt with in our lives.

But then one of the guys in the group threw this out there. He talked about how in his experience, we tend to focus on the major issues and really, really difficult situations in our lives when we think about this idea. And while there's no doubt that major tragedy is included in the adversity discussion, little annoyances are covered too. In my own life, I tend to want to give God the big stuff and handle the little stuff on my own. I realize He gave us brains and abilities to handle situations, and we certainly have a role to play in the process. But what I'm talking about is my tendency to think I'm the one who is in control when I'm trying to fix what I consider a small problem. I want to be the one responsible for making things right. I don't often even think to pray or ask for guidance from God unless the situation is one I consider big enough to bug Him with. On the other hand, I'm usually more than happy to get frustrated or "vent" to whoever happens to be within earshot. It happened again just a couple days ago. Some minor logistical issue at work had me complaining to myself and a coworker about how things needed to change. I never even asked God to help fix it.

The problem with that attitude is it's a clear indication that I don't realize how completely dependent I am upon Him for absolutely every single thing in my entire life. I can't provide my next breath. So to think that He wouldn't want me to at least acknowledge His ability and desire to provide guidance or even intervene is just silly. Absolutely silly. Learning to trust Him and grow through life's 'minor' issues can help develop the maturity and perseverance that we're looking for just as well as the big, major stuff that comes our way.

80's Lyric

Being without you, was all a big mistake

Instead of getting any easier, it's the hardest thing to take

I'm addicted to you, baby

You're a hard habit to break

- Chicago (1984)