Two Sundays ago, we left for vacation. We planned to tent camp the for 3 days and then go on to Bend to visit the grandkids. We hadn’t camped in awhile and we thought it would be enjoyable, fun and adventurous.

One of the adventurous parts was that we forgot the sleeping bags. Hahaha! We stopped at Walmart in Eugene to buy some sleeping bags and then drove to Harris Beach Campground in Brookings, Oregon. 

After hiking the familiar path to the beach and back, we built a campfire and began to reminisce many of the fun memories we made there.  We camped there all the time when the kids were little…a looooong time ago. 

And in that moment, we realized something:

Why haven’t we done this more? Why haven’t we taken the time to go on camping trips before?

Sometimes we don’t realize the value of moments like this until we’re in them – or worse, until they’ve passed.

Have you been there?

There are so many moments we miss because we get caught up in the hustle and noise of our everyday lives.

Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do and the people I serve on a daily basis, but there are simple refreshing moments like this that I’ve missed because I’ve simply put them off.

I have to keep reminding myself that if I want to make maximum impact in the lives of others and truly pour into others at a high level, I can’t pour from an empty cup.  My cup needs to be filled first.

And what better way to do that than on a camping trip alone with Dennis?

I want to encourage you: what is it that you need at this time? Is it a weekend away? Maybe just a whole day to yourself where you do nothing but relax and recharge? Is there a mentor or friend you need to call to encourage you? Is there a hike you’ve been wanting to take with your family?

Whatever it is, I encourage you to stop putting it off. Remember, your cup needs to be filled!

Fully refreshed, 

Jan

Jan McDonald
The John Maxwell Team

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This is what one biographer said of Lincoln’s leadership style. John Maxwell said that Lincoln lived the The Law of Empowerment. Lincoln’s security in himself enabled him to give his power away.

Traditionally, we are not taught to empower others, are we? What two leadership games do we play as kids?  We played King of the Hill and Follow the Leader. What was the object of King of the Hill—knock people down so you can be the leader. In Follow the Leader—We do things we KNOW that followers can’t do to separate ourselves from them and make ourselves look more powerful. The problem with these games is that to win, somebody else has to lose. These games illustrate the opposite of raising up leaders.

To empower others, we have to have a strong sense of self-worth. Are we confident? Do we believe we have value? Are we willing to take risks? On a scale of 1-10—if we rate ourselves low—we must get busy on growing personally. Personal growth involves change. If you want to lead well, whether we like change or not, we must train ourselves to embrace change and to desire it.

Effective leaders actually become change agents.

We also need to have a strong belief in people.  This is not difficult if we have grown enough to attract the best people to our organization. We can then identify the leaders, build them up and give them resources to achieve. Our belief in them creates the ability for them to trust and believe in themselves. This, in turn, causes them to be comfortable taking on more responsibility—and they do.

Theodore Roosevelt said, “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

Empowerment is powerful. It not only grows our people, but it enlarges us as leaders. It makes us better and helps us achieve more than we could ourselves. Empowering others not only grows our organization, but makes it more effective.

So go ahead, give some of your power and authority away to those that are able to take it. Give it to those that you are developing as leaders in your organization. Once you experience the joy and organizational effectiveness of empowering others, you will have a hard time NOT giving your power away.

I learned this the hard way when I was the CEO of a non-profit. When I stopped growing my leadership skills, the organization stopped growing…period.  

We are either growing or dying, there’s no middle ground. 

The Law of the Lid is explained in the first chapter of John’s book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.”  Essentially, there is a lid on a person’s leadership ability and this lid determines his level of effectiveness. The lower a person’s ability to lead, the lower the lid on his leadership ability, and the lower his effectiveness. This is shown in the charts from the book below.

The chart on the left shows a competent or productive person without leadership skills. This person can work very hard to increase his or her dedication to success through sheer effort. Effectiveness may increase, say 25%. Let’s say that person’s leadership lid is at a level 4.
 
There’s another option. Let’s say that person worked really hard to increase his/her leadership skills to maybe a 7 and look what happens in the second chart. Leadership has a multiplying effect on effectiveness.

If the leader doesn’t grow, the organization doesn’t grow. Why do they fire the coach when the football team isn’t winning? If the coach were an extremely effective leader for the team, it would be winning more games.

A person’s impact is only a fraction of what it could be without leadership ability. Your ability to cast vision for your business…to get a team of like-minded people together…to unite those people behind a common vision…to get their goals in alignment with the team goals… to get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus… is determined by how well you lead.

How is your organization growing? Think about your team for a moment–how can you tell they are like-minded ? What are you doing to grow?  Growing and implementing leadership principles in my life and in the organization resulted in immense expansion.  This might be a great goal for the rest of 2023–to increase your leadership skills and personal growth. It spills over into every area of your life and improves it. 

Right now, I’m looking for companies that want to grow.  I would enjoy facilitating a Lunch (or Breakfast) and Learn for your organization. Typically my Lunch and Learns average 30-45 minutes packed full of information, interaction, and an open question and answer session with the intent of creating a fun learning environment for building awareness. My goal is to have each of your team members walk away with at least one mind changing idea that will create a desire for motivation and self improvement.  
  

Let me help you expand your lid!

Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique.  He came out onto the stage one night for a concert hearing a huge round of applause.  He noticed that the violin in his hand was not his one-of-a-kind instrument, uniquely fashioned for him.  Embarrassed, he told the crowd that there had been some mistake and he didn’t have his own violin. He excused himself and hurried behind the curtain to grab that special violin. 

It was gone!  Someone had stolen his precious violin and left the second-hand one that he was holding in his hand.

He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and explained his predicament. Then he said, “Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul.” And he played as he had never played before, and the music that poured forth from that old violin enraptured the audience! When he was finished, the thrilled audience gave him a standing ovation. 

“It is your mission, a tested and tried one, to walk
out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul.”

Charles Richardson

Outside circumstances and conditions can have tremendous influence on our behavior and our results. When we empower those outside uncontrollable events to impact us negatively, we give away our own personal power.  How do we take back that power?  We take back that power by changing our thinking. We stop trying to manipulate and control those things/people that we can’t, and take responsibility for those things that we can. Whatever we think about grows…or my favorite axiom, “What we resist, persists.”  

We let go and tune in on the good. We sing our own song without comparing our melody to others.  We get grateful about our blessings and we do the best we can. We believe for the best. We imagine fabulous outcomes.  We look for the exceptional in everything and everybody. 

We know how to do this…we do the opposite all the time when we worry. The choice is ours.

Singing my own song, 

Jan

 P.S. If you can’t find the music in your soul, there are 2 unclaimed spots left in my new group coaching class. Click here, reserve your spot and find your song! https://www.jan-mcdonald.com/group

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Certified Leadership Team

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My dog, Truffle, is at Eva’s. It’s her favorite place besides home. I took her there because of the Water Follies in Tri-Cities this weekend. As I write this, I can hear the hydroplane boats in the distance. It’s the supersonic jets in the air show part that caused me to take her to Eva’s 35 miles away. 
 
During the last air show, Truffle and I spent the days in the closet because she was terrified. The supersonic jets shook the house and were incredibly loud. It was awful. She just sat there and shook. There was nothing I could do to alleviate her terror. It was worse than the 4th of July and New Years Eve.  I didn’t want to do that again and I know she didn’t either. 
 
Truffle is ten and a half years old. The fireworks and jets have never hurt her. You would think by now that she could tell herself, “Oh yeah, these may be loud, but they’ve never hurt me. I’ll be okay.” Then she could settle down. Nope. 
 
She doesn’t have a choice button. She can’t choose to change her thoughts or the emotions that go with them. This fear has been programmed somehow.  We just have to deal with it. 
 
There are “supersonic jets” that rear their ugly heads in my life, too. Most of the time, I crush them. There’s one…fear of financial insecurity (oh geesh, did I really type that out loud?) that can rise up AND if I am not careful, it causes anxiety and grumpiness. Every. Single. Time. 
 
Have I ever gone without anything?  Have I ever not had enough? Has God ever not provided?  NO!!! I’ve always had more than I could ask or imagine.
 
Still, when that fear shows up, if I don’t activate my choice button, I like to hide in the closet or under the bed or go to Eva’s, so to speak. 
 
 My choice button resides in that 1/4 second lag time between that subtle thought of financial insecurity and my response. I can entertain that fearful thought or choose to replace that lying fear with faith. I can choose to use the Sword of The Spirit to slash that negative BS (belief system) to smithereens.
 
I woke up with that sneaky little fear this morning. I took it to Badger (kind of like going to Eva’s) and left it out there on the mountain after hearing these Bible verses in my mind.
 
“Child, everything I have is yours. I am faithful…always.” The Sword always slashes fear to bits.
 
I’m so excited!!!! Because the times that this fear shows up are fewer and farther in between. Soon, I will habitually ignore it. So glad God gave me a choice button!! I can choose the truth of His Word over the BS in my mind!  Yay!!!!
 
Where are you using your choice button? What is a favorite verse that you like to camp on?

Choosing thoughts of abundance. 

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team

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I was teaching a workshop Friday morning on Leadership, which included the topics of priorities, self-discipline and creative problem solving. 

In the problem solving section, I mentioned that we usually look at problems as negative and anxiety producing.

What if we changed our thinking and looked at problems as opportunities, as adventures to learn something new? That mindset takes away the negative emotions and the unproductive meaning we may add to the problem. When we do that, the flight or fight response is disabled, the blood rushes back from our extremities, and we then are able to think clearly.  Solutions can then abound.

I then asked the question, “When did you grow the most in your life, when times were easy and comfy, or during trials.”  Almost every person there said, “During the trials.” Some of those answers were accompanied by eye-rolling, “that’s-a-stupid-question” smirks, and hands thrown into the air in “whatever” mode. Yep, problems can be viewed as growth opportunities. Here’s a great story:                                             

One night a group of nomads were traveling down the road when they were surrounded by a great light, and they knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance to them. Finally a voice spoke:

“Gather as many pebbles as you can. Put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night will find you glad and it will also find you sad.”

They were disappointed and angry at the message. They were given a menial task that made no sense. However, the brilliance of the visitor caused each one to go ahead and pick up a few pebbles and put them in their saddle bags.

They traveled a day’s journey and that night reached into their saddle bags. They discovered that every pebble had turned into a diamond. They were happy they had diamonds, but they were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles.

Problems can be pebbles or diamonds, depending on how we choose to see them. 

Shining my pebbles, 

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team

www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/janmcdonald

How many times have you been asked to do something you’ve never done before?  I know that stepping out of our comfort zone can be…well…terrifying. Okay, maybe not that bad, but the places that we go in our heads can be.  We often wonder, “What if I don’t do well?” “What if I fail?” “What if I really can’t do it?” “What if I look stupid?”  And “geesh, maybe you should have thought about this more and who are you to do this I mean there’s no way you’ll succeed…blah, blah, blah.”  

I have learned to change my thinking to,  “What if I nail it?”  “What if it’s an epic success?” “What if I’m the exact person for that task?” 

Well, here’s a different way to think about it. “What ifs” are not truth. Negative what ifs are just statements that our brain makes up to keep us in our comfort zone. “What ifs” are thoughts to keep us from getting hurt. We bump up against limitations that we have created in our minds.

Those self-created limitations are called the Terror Barrier.  The Terror Barrier lurks just outside the comfort zone waiting to pounce. It’s that feeling of dread or the certainty that we are doomed if we try the thing we want to attempt.  It’s that feeling a man gets when he wants to ask a woman out on a date.  It’s that feeling that we get when the boss calls us into his/her office. It’s that feeling most people get when they are asked to speak publicly.  It’s that feeling we get whenever we want to try something risky or new.
 

Here’s 3 steps to becoming a wrecking ball on your personal Terror Barrier:

1. Do it afraid. Just keep moving forward no matter how badly your feet want to stay rooted to the ground.  Refuse to let this limitation (that probably was your own creation) to control you or your future.

2.  Expect the enemy. The Terror Barrier rears its ugly head every time we want to step into territory where we haven’t previously traveled. It’s natural and normal. Simply shrug and tell yourself, “Oh, there you are again. You’re trying to keep me safe. This must mean something great for me if you are trying to stop me.”

3. Keep your eyes on the prize.  Mentally see yourself winning. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”  Focus on how good it will feel to break through–victory tastes sooooo sweet.

I think we have no idea what we are truly capable of. Today, when you are faced with the Terror Barrier, take the above 3 steps. You can do it. Smashing through that barrier is possible and remember, once you stretch that comfort zone, it never goes back to the original smaller shape.

Go and grow…BIGTIME!

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team

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I guess this all depends on the way we look at the problem. Problems are normally viewed as negative, but if we change our attitudes and view problems as possibilities and/or opportunities, everything changes. If we can weaken emotional responses, stay calm and keep our eyes open to solutions, we don’t stifle our creativity. 

Here’s a story for you on creative problem solving: 

An old gentleman lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

“Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.
Love, Papa”

A few days later he received a letter from his son:  “Dear Papa, don’t dig up that garden. That’s where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie”

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son: “Dear Papa, go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love, Vinnie.”

Now THAT is creative problem solving!

Smiling,

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Team

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This is so true, isn’t it? Our enemy is attempting to wear us out. When we think on all of the things that are going on in our world today, it can erode our joy, our hope, and even steal our peace.

When we are worn down, we are even more vulnerable to satan’s (no, his name doesn’t deserve capitalization) attacks. Those subtle thoughts can enter:

“God isn’t listening.”

“He doesn’t care.”

“Where is He in all of this?”

“If God is so good, why do bad things happen?”

satan causes desolation, barrenness, hopelessness and our hearts can feel empty in times like these.  Many times, we don’t recognize why we feel this way. 

“Feel” is the operative word. When our feelings are especially intense, they can make us believe things that aren’t actually true. When we get caught up in the wave of emotion, our thinking gets distorted, and we have a hard time staying grounded in the facts of the situation. This is why it’s really important to evaluate your feelings using some clear reasoning and self-awareness.

Our hearts may “feel” empty, but the Holy Spirit lives there, so our hearts can overflow with His power and goodness. We need to let go of everyone and everything in world mentally for a minute, so we can feel the fullness within. 

Where is your happy place? Stop what you’re doing and go back in your memory–where were you when you experienced that inexpressible joy and wonder in Jesus? Go to that place in your mind.  Feel that? Our happy place can replace our negative feelings. 

The one that comes to my mind often these days, is swimming with the turtles when I was in Maui in 2020. With the sun streaming down through the water, it was quiet, beautiful and awe inspiring. My heart was filled with God’s presence.  A sense of peace flooded my being. It was like the outside world didn’t exist. My soul felt restored. 

𝑮𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑶𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒏. Give God your anxieties and ask Him to fill your empty heart. Then be still…and know…

God makes an oasis in our deserts. This is what it true:

Isaiah 41:17-20 “When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,

20 that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

He’s waiting for you in your happy place. He wants to restore your weary soul.

In 2 Cor. 10:4 Paul refers to strongholds in the Passion Translation as “defenses behind which people hide.”

Strongholds can be good. In ancient times, strongholds were usually fortresses designed to resist attacks from enemies. They were often located on a hill or a rocky outcropping where an enemy approach could be seen from afar, so the city could attack first and potentially fend them off.

There are many verses in the Bible that talk about the Lord being our stronghold:

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Psm. 9.9
The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Prov. 18.10
You are my rock and my fortress, Psm. 31.3
For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. Psm. 61.3

This is good.  When we feel oppressed, we can run to Him for safety, protection and refuge.

However, there’s another kind of stronghold. I looked up the definition of stronghold and it reads: faulty thinking based on lies and deception. These kind of strongholds cause us to think in ways which block us from God’s best for us.
 

“Spiritual strongholds begin with a thought. One thought becomes a consideration. A consideration develops into an attitude, which leads then to action. Action repeated becomes a habit, and a habit establishes a ‘power base for the enemy,’ that is, a stronghold.”
                                                                                                                           Elizabeth Elliot

Ouch. My past drinking habits were a stronghold. When trying to hide from my anxieties surrounding all the unknowns in 2020, food and exercise became a “power base for the enemy.”  (Geesh, I typed that out loud. I hate to admit it.) Did they work? Did they bring me comfort and banish the anxiety? Momentarily…but because I just hid those thoughts and feelings, they returned…soon.  

Comfort zones may be strongholds–they keep us safe. Thoughts like “I’m too old”, ”there’s no way I could do that,” “I’ve tried every diet and none of them work, so I’m just giving up,” “The last time I loved someone, I was hurt…I’m not doing that again.” Or my favorite, “that’s just the way I am, I can’t change.” 

These all keep us safe and hidden in our own fortress of sameness and maybe keep us out of sight from God’s best for us. The strongholds that we hold in our minds can prevent the supply of the Holy Spirit’s Power from getting to us. It can cut off our communications, not only with God but with others. 

How do we overcome?

2 Cor. 10:4  tells us that our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide. We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and BREAKTHROUGH every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. (That makes me feel 10 feet tall and bullet proof!)

Identify the particular stronghold that you are thinking about now. I’m smiling, because I believe you’re thinking about one area/habit that you’d like to change. 

If you don’t know or aren’t able to identify a fortress where you like to hide–there is a feeling that accompanies a stronghold. It could be hurt, anger, anxiety or pride.  Those are just the ones that come to mind now. (Keep in mind, I’m not a Bible scholar, either.) It’s a feeling of unease because the feeling/thought is “raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God.”

1. Now that you have identified the feeling, what is the attitude and the action that you want to take?

2. TAKE THE THOUGHT CAPTIVE AND MARCH IT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

3. Run to The Lord for comfort from the accompanying feeling. Replace it with thoughts and Scripture about how you would like to show up in that moment instead.

4. Then take THAT action. Be who you desire to be. It’s in that faith move that the superabundance of power comes.

This takes practice, but it does work. I have experienced freedom–and am still practicing these steps as new fortresses get discovered. Growth is a process. Let me know if I can help!

And all of a sudden, it’s the second week in June! What the heck happened to the first half of this year?  Summer’s here, although you wouldn’t know it with the current eastside Washington state weather. However, distractions abound. 

I find it very easy to go to Mac’s Nursery and get tons of plants to make my yard gorgeous. Gardening is my valium so it makes me feel better, too. When the weather is gorgeous, I’m outdoors. Of course, there are the NBA championships…I can find a number of things that take me away from work even though I love what I do.

How about you? Are you well on your way to reaching the goals that you set for 2022?  Yeah, I’m writing this because I needed a little check up myself.

Yes, we need to slow down and relax, reflect…do the things that we love besides our work.  I realized that I needed to come up with more strategies to prioritize my goals and dreams, because I want them. 

Here is a strategy (I learned this from a coaching mentor)  that I have been using to coach individuals striving to reach goals or dreams. 

1. It’s January 2023. Close your eyes and imagine a wildly successful 2022.  What has happened? How is your life better or different? Who are you impacting? 

Why this statement and corresponding questions?  Vision literally lights up our brains and causes a positive emotional state. If we don’t have  a vision to shoot for, our subconscious will do the same things we’ve always done. I am assuming that your goal or dream is going to take some change. Change is hard. Our minds like to keep everything status quo. A vision will pull us forward.

2. Where are you stuck?  When it’s time for you to step up, do something out of your comfort zone and you don’t do it? Go to that place in your mind and ask what is holding you back?  People often stop at their fear…what are you afraid of?  Face that fear. You can, you know.  The answers to #1 will help you do just that.

3. How do you want to show up in the above situation? Once you know and face what’s holding you back, you can devise a strategy to push forward toward your goals.

4. Do the “Best Possible Future Self Exercise.” THIS is my favorite. Write what your life will look like “as if” you are already your best future self.  What do you feel like?  What do you do and/or have? Who have you become?  Writing is really powerful. It lowers our stress level and provides us clarity.  When you write that down, you’ll receive some revelations that go with your vision AND strategies to help you with where you are stuck. This will help you “advance confidently in the direction of your dreams”–your different tomorrow. 

It’s June, and before we know it, Christmas will be here.  I want us to be able to finish well. I don’t want us to get to New Year’s Eve and not be any closer to the different tomorrow we may desire.

If you need help with this, I’m just an email away. 

I believe in you,

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team

I’m waiting for a tow truck. I was so excited to help Friends of Badger Mountain maintain the trail today. I got my garden gloves, made a yummy turkey wrap, filled my water bottle with electrolytes, packed that and some chocolate into my backpack. I put on my hiking boots, went out to my car, put in the key in the ignition and the key wouldn’t turn. Oh no, not again! )The picture above is my car being towed in May 2020 because it needed a new ignition then.) 

I tried everything I knew how–jiggling the key, trying to turn the steering wheel–everything they told me on YouTube. I even prayed over it (yes, prayer has worked before.) Nothing.

Crap. Now what? 

I sat paralyzed for awhile, feeling the “why me, why today” sorry-for- myself-self-pity. I wanted to cry. 

Then I reminded myself that I teach this; I may not be able to control what happens to me, but I can control my response. I needed walk my talk.

I googled an auto repair shop. One had 7 five star reviews and I called them. They gave me the number for a tow truck and now I’m waiting.

It’s funny, (or maybe not) I didn’t know what to write about today. Here’s some steps for you should you ever need to wait for a tow truck…or something else unexpected happens to you: 

1. Take a deep breath, drop your shoulders and relax. We can’t think straight when we’re stressed. 

2. Laugh about it and maybe do some eye-rolling when you’ve done everything you can do to remedy the situation.  

3. Have a picnic. I had to do something with my turkey wrap, drink and chocolate. I went out to my back porch and feasted. 

4. Do something productive, rather than sit and stew. Not only am I writing, but I’m doing some laundry. 

5. If you are a person of faith, pray. I’m praying for the most inexpensive outcome and that they can fix it today. 

Same day car update: The tow truck driver was able to get it to start by viciously yanking on my steering wheel. After paying him a huge roadside assistance fee, I drove my car to Advanced Auto in Pasco. They had my car in the shop for about 45 minutes. The tech came out, explained to me why ignition keys won’t turn sometimes. He then told me in detail how to prevent that from happening again. My ignition looks great and so does the key. He added some graphite to make it work more smoothly. 

When I asked how much I owed them, he replied, “No charge. It was nothing.” I cried happy tears. AND step #5 works. 

Joyfully typed,

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team

Last night, I was talking to my forever best girlfriend, Darcy. We have known each other since before I sobered up–more than 30 years. It’s been 6 months (seems like forever) since we’ve been together and it made me think of our last visit…

We shared many great memories and yet, there were many things that we both wish we would have paid more attention to. We both wished we would have gotten to know our parents more. We now have questions that we wish we would’ve asked. There were opportunities that we didn’t recognize that went unnoticed.  Risks we could’ve taken might have been life-changing.  Maybe we didn’t slow our lives down often enough to really enjoy them.

Barbara Bush compared life to a train, to emphasize how today does matter:

“We get on that train at birth, and we want to cross the continent because we have in mind that somewhere out there is a station. We pass by sleepy little towns looking out the window of life’s train, grain fields and silos, level grade crossings, buses full of people on the roads beside us. We pass by cities and factories, but we don’t look at any of it because we want to get to the station…This station changes for us during life. To begin with, for most of us, it’s turning 18, getting out of high school. Then the station is that first promotion and then the station becomes getting the kids out of college, and then the station becomes retirement and then…all too late we recognize the truth–that this side of that city, whose builder is God, there really isn’t a station. The joy is in the journey and the journey is the joy. Sooner or later, you realize there is not a station and the truth of life is the trip. Read a book, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, hug a child, go fishing, laugh more. The station will come soon enough. And as you go, find a way to make life more beautiful.”

Darcy and I  had Butterfinger ice cream cones and pumpkin spice donut holes for dinner one night. We watched old sitcoms, relived the fun parts of our lives and laughed hard and long. We shed a few tears, as well.  We decided that whatever regrets we did have, we were blessed in spite of them. Go figure.

In our quiet time the next morning, Darcy read a Bible verse that she had read twice from different sources, “Behold, I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)

“What do you think God has in store for us?” she wondered out loud.  We both agreed that we would wait and watch the “new thing” unfold. We would know the “new thing” when it was revealed to us. In the meantime, we are going to enjoy the journey, because each day does matter. 

Enjoying the journey,

Jan

Jan McDonald
Maxwell Leadership Certified Team

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