Equip, Delight, Encourage–In Real Life
The tag line for this blog, as you see above is: “Equip - Delight - Encourage.” Twenty years ago, they would have been morphed into a useless (and, probably, mostly meaningless) mission statement. To my good fortune and great blessing, they took on a far less structured, but more meaningful form. I choose those three words more than 11 years ago, and they capture much of who I am, in all of life.
I worked these out during a weekend-long retreat I took during a particular career crisis in my life (the dissolution of the department of which I was a part). I used the book The Path by Laurie Beth Jones, along with a wonderful little book by Dale Dauten, The Max Strategy, to help me wrestle through some of these issues. Incidentally, when you look at the size to price ratio of these two books, you are likely to object–the price to quality ratio makes them a bargain even at full list price. I can’t say I agreed with everything in these books, but I will say that I found them very helpful–keep in mind that you should always read with a critical eye or two.
These words show up on my screen-saver, on this blog, on my Great Ridge Group business cards, and various other places in my life. They are a constant reminder that I must be about the work to which God has called me.
I decided against doing a series, highlighting each of these concepts. The whole thing bothered me from the beginning, and seems a bit self-serving. I’ll tell you what, I’ll try to live them out, and you hold me to them.