Month: June 2017

“I heard a song playing, brought by the wind
I got myself lost then I found You again.”

The listlessness of last week is hanging over me like a heavy shroud; I had just come down from the (literal, not medical!) high of the Colorado mountains, and tried to fix and paint some fences at Freedom Reins Ranch – but got rained out.  The ultimate lack of meaningful activity led me to sort of get lost in thoughts; some good, others not.  It’s so human to let negative thoughts, thoughts from the enemy, implant themselves at the forefront of our minds and spirits.  These thoughts can cloud reality and distract us from the myriad blessings, whispers of truth, and ever-present glory of God’s creation around us.

This is where the book I’m reading, Beautiful Outlaw, has really shined a much-needed light into my soul.  Jesus, the Savior of mankind and the physical manifestation of God among us, was human.  Fully God.  But also fully human.

Just like me.  Just like you.

You may be wondering how it took thirty(ish!) years for me to come to this seemingly simple realization – but for a great deal of my life Jesus was fully God.  And that’s it.  An abstract third of a Trinity I didn’t understand.  A benign painting on the wall at church.  A man I thought I knew, but with whom I’d never had a personal relationship – because you’re not supposed to have a relationship with a deity.

John Eldredge has such a modest but direct way of speaking directly to the core of an issue: in this case, “religion’s” taming of the wildly generous, wildly loving, but altogether wild humanity of Jesus.  This man – the Son of Man – incited riots in temples, openly challenged authorities (often with incredibly sharp wit if you read carefully), and loved with absolute reckless abandon.  He hung out with fishermen (this has always been a favorite piece of the story for me) and shared meals with criminals and tax collectors.  He never passed up an opportunity to speak truth.  He entered a world at war and moved with calculated, passionate intensity.  He yearned for the comfort of his friends in moments of loneliness at Gethsemane, when the gravity of what he was about to endure weighed heavily on him.  Just like nothing about us humans is one-dimensional, nothing about Jesus was one-dimensional.

Like us, Jesus experienced the full breadth of human emotions – anger, joy, sadness, passion, love, loneliness.  The difference is, Jesus felt them without all the baggage of sin.  He felt them perfectly.  Righteously.  He stepped up where we fall short.  He didn’t let the cup pass.  He finished the fight.

So the least I can do is finish painting a fence this week.  And try to learn from the man who wants to be more in my life than just a benign painting on the wall at church.

Last night my family and I made it home from an amazing week of 2300 miles through beautiful New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. We saw 5 National Parks in two states. We drove over the Colorado River more times than I can remember in a total of three different states. We drove down the road that Forrest Gump ended his famous run on. My son and I walked (yes, walked) down a river in Zion National Park (which was probably the best park of all of them-yes, more so than the Grand Canyon-which was amazing as well!). We saw lots of snow. We saw lots of sand. We saw HUGE rocks! We saw Arches! We saw canyons! We walked and walked and walked!! We ate and ate and ate! We stood in four states at one time! We experienced life together as a family! It was wonderful!

It might have been my all time favorite trip (at least top 5). I can’t wait to go on another trip like this one.

My friends and co-workers, I want to encourage you to take a trip like this one day. Go outside! Experience God’s beautiful creation! Take the back roads! Look down 5000 feet to the river below! Climb hills! Walk down trails! Walk in rivers with your kids! Put lots of sunscreen on! Stop at lookout points! Take pictures!

Take it all in!

I’m so thankful for my family and our trip!

• Being that my first day of sabbatical fell on a Thursday, it was weird to be working and suddenly stop in the middle of the week for a month. However, I got some much needed rest on my first day. The mid-day nap was awesome and I spent some great quality time with my family.

My second day seems more “productive” as I had a longer time to spend in God’s Word reading about Paul’s charge for us to train ourselves daily in the Scriptures much like a runner training to compete in a race. And I physically got to the gym for weight lifting and ran 2 miles! Plus my doctor’s visit on May 31st revealed that I had gained 13 pounds since last years visit! Well, this is a great time to get my diet back on track. With 4 kids to keep up with, I have to stay healthy. It’s still hard to believe that I have 28 more days but maybe it will sink in by Monday morning when I am not driving down the road to visit a funeral home. God bless!

Welchy aka Chris Welch

It’s pretty hard to believe that my sabbatical is over. It went by so incredibly fast, which I kind of assumed would happen. I think one of my favorite parts of being on sabbatical was getting to explain to people what I was doing and how amazing my company is for allowing me to experience this. Everyone is just amazed (and jealous, of course) of the opportunities that FD has given me, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Now that I’m back in the office, I’m really surprised at how easy it was to get back into the groove of things! I was a little anxious the last few days of my sabbatical just worrying that I would have forgotten all sorts of things while I was gone. Luckily, that wasn’t the case, and I can assure that all of our agents will still get paid their well-earned commissions. 😉

I’ve also realized how much I missed so many people in the office! I have been so blessed to create some really wonderful and close relationships with coworkers. So many people have stopped by my desk to welcome me back and ask questions about my sabbatical, and that has just made me feel very special and loved.

My sabbatical was just an overall fantastic experience, and I look forward to doing it again in 7 years.

The second week of my sabbatical was fast and furious,  I thought no more wedding….I was wrong.  It took Vera and me a few more days to sort, pack and deliver all of the wedding items.  No more weddings for me! The other two daughters will have to elope.

  Yard work is something that brings me a lot of joy. Working outside in my yard gives me a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, and is very therapeutic. It is hard work, but it is well worth it to see a good looking yard.  I have trimmed my trees, some friend’s trees, and a tree in the community garden. I have also mowed my yard along with three of my neighbor’s yards.  The neighborhood is looking good! There is more work that I want to accomplish in the area, I cannot wait to see what week three has in store.

I read several books while on Sabbatical and one that made me hungry for more was titled: The Servant – A Simple Story About The True Essence Of Leadership by James C. Hunter.    The principles of this book are not new and something we have heard several times.  They don’t demand special talents or abilities: they are simply based on strengthening the bonds of respect, responsibility, and caring for other people.  That is something we strive for here at FDLIC.  Great organizations are made up of great leaders,not necessarily in top leadership positions but because the top leader has put other leaders in place to grow and develop other leaders.  A company full of leaders, each taking personal responsibility for the success of the team and their individual influences on the customer and on each other.  Quoting:  “A place where everyone is engaged and fully committed – not 50/50 but 100/100 and yes even 110/110 when it is needed. ”

Another great take away was “not asking who is the leader here or are you a leader” but “are you effective?”  Wow – think about that for a minute “are you effective?”  not only at work but in relationships, our work for God, in everything we pick up and become a part of?  That has been something I have been asking myself in several areas of my life and if the answer is “not really or maybe”, then I need to evaluate what I am doing and why.  I need to believe I have left something better than the way I found it.

Vince Lombardi said ” I don’t necessarily have to like my players and associates, but as the leader, I must love them.  Love is loyalty, love is teamwork, love respects the dignity of the individual.  This is the strength of any organization.”  Well, I do like most people I come in contact with and enjoy the people I am around but understanding the meaning of this was educational.  When Jesus speaks of love in the New Testament, the word agape is used, a love of behavior and choice, not a love of feeling.”  This was just some of the things that really spoke to me. Commanding we love and then “feeling it” hummm… but then understanding that love is not always that simple.    Love and Leadership:   Look at this chart:

Authority and Leadership                                                        AGAPE Love

• Honest, trustworthy                                                     Patience
• Good role model                                                            Kindness
• Caring                                                                              Humility
• Committed                                                                     Respectfulness
• Good listener                                                                 Selflessness
• Held people accountable                                            Forgiveness
• Treated people with respect                                      Honesty
• Gave people encouragement                                     Commitment
• Postiive, enthusiastic attitude
• Appreciated people

if you look up each of the definitions of the AGAPE Love words, they are what is described on the authority and leadership side.  Look up the verse 1 Corinthians 13-4:8.    Made sense and it was straight from the Word.  Lots of takeaways in this book and I recommend its reading.

Workday at Reva’s

Just an update on my service project – This is Reva, she is 80 years old and an amazing lady. My family has adopted her as our “honorary granny” and she is on board with it. We are working around her house and land and when I say “we” I mean she is right there with us. Sometimes we have to run her inside so she will rest – but then she brings out refreshments so resting is not in her DNA. We are continuing to repair her car port and trimming trees around her house, spraying sticker weeds, etc. God knew we were both needing someone one to fill a spot of loneliness and put us together. Very thankful for a Loving God and feeling blessed!

Well, I am back. It has been a great month of new discoveries and insights. The first day of my sabbatical was tough. Trying to establish new habits and making sure I use my time off wisely was a challenge. However, one thing I failed to prepare for was the difficulty of coming back and maintaining those habits I developed over the last month. I spent so much time creating my sabbatical plan but didn’t spend any time thinking through my post-sabbatical plan.

It is not often that we get to stop and take paid time to refocus on the things that are the most important in our lives. So, when an opportunity like this presents itself, we should take every chance to make sure our time does not go to waste. Whether you have already come back from your sabbatical or are waiting to go, I encourage everyone to prayerfully consider what you want to happen when you return. If you worked to spend quality time with your family, what will you do the rest of the year to maintain sabbatical level quality time? If you spent time volunteering, what other volunteer opportunities can you be a part of? Will you fall into the same pre-sabbatical routine or will you use this month as an opportunity to build habits that will continually refresh and recharge you the rest of the year?

The sabbatical month is fantastic in so many ways. It can also be an excuse if we are not careful. The battle raging in my head goes as follows, “There was extra time in my sabbatical month to involve myself with spiritual things and volunteer opportunities. I won’t be able to continue this when I go back to work.”

This is simply just not the case. It is true that I have less time now but what is stopping me from continuing aspects of what I did during my sabbatical month? Reflecting upon this question, I realized there is really nothing stopping me but my own time-consuming bad habits (social media, Netflix, etc.). Eliminating or extremely reducing a few bad habits has the potential to free up significant amounts of time. I came up with a plan to help me accomplish this.

My post-sabbatical plan is as follows:

1. I will attempt to read the whole bible in 90 days which amounts to around 16 chapters a day. I believe this will be the best way to continue the work I did during my sabbatical of maintaining consistent and healthy spiritual habits.
2. My wife and I will continue to build relationships with people in our lives by stepping out of our comfort zone to meet new people and spend time with friendships we have neglected over the last year.
3. Less screen time. Social media and checking updates became a constant “itch” I had to constantly scratch. It was irritating and I knew it wasn’t helpful but I still had to do it. I have taken some steps at removing these obstacles to spend more quality time with my family.

These are small steps but I believe they will be incredibly helpful in helping me to maintain healthy habits for continual spiritual growth throughout the year. If you do not have a plan for continuing the work you start during your sabbatical, I ask that you would consider taking the time to do so.