War, Peace, and Easter

I am not a pacifist.

I believe that war is sometimes necessary in a fallen world.

As I think of my ancestors, I remember the multitude of men who fought and who even died in military service. My Grandfather Lloyd Babb was a decorated soldier who did tours of duty in World War 2, Korea, and two in Vietnam. I think I justly feel some pride at his ability and willingness to serve in this way.

However, war can also be terrible. I think of my 3rd great grandfather Levi Parks Keith. He served in the Illinois Cavalry in the Civil War. He, like many others, succumbed, not to bullets or cannon, but to disease. In the midst of the Civil War, Levi grew ill. Here is how my cousin described the story as it came down to her:

My father related a story told him by his father, James Mason Keith. Grandpa said the only memory he ever had of his father was when he lay on his death bed. Levi was sick in Missouri and wanted to come home. They put him on a train for Crothersville, IN. This was the winter of 1863. The family met him with a wagon, filled with hay and lots of quilts, and took him home to Paris, Jennings Co., IN. This is how Grandpa remembered him, and this is where he died on 2 Jan. 1864.

Levi left behind four young children and his wife Charlotte. This is so often the legacy of war.

If you research your ancestry, one thing you will quickly find is that you don’t have to go very far back in time to find farmers. Most of my ancestors were farmers of one sort or another. Even those who weren’t farmers farmed.

There is a whole different glory in farming than there is in war, but there is a glory nonetheless. I was reminded of this recently as I labored to remove a small stump of a relatively small tree from my yard. It was hard, grueling work. It made me appreciate what my ancestors had done in clearing this continent for productive farming. Continue reading “War, Peace, and Easter”

Your Best Days Are Ahead of You

How much can you grow? How much could you improve if you really worked at it?

Many of us think that our days of growth are behind us. We think we’ve mastered most of the things we can master. We think we’ve learned most of what we need to learn.

True, we might not say it, but that’s our operating assumption. We don’t think of ourselves as people who have a lot of growing to do.

I’m going to recount an embarrassing story that illustrates these points. Around 2012, I spent some time studying leadership principles. I enjoyed that study, and I learned a lot.

By 2014, I felt (this is the embarrassing part) that I had learned most of what I needed to learn from the leadership gurus. My learning was over in that area.

Earlier that year, I had reserved my spot at a satellite campus presentation of the Global Leadership Summit. By July, I was not excited about it because I felt that I wouldn’t learn that much from it.

Well, I was wrong. That year, I listened to Susan Cain talk about introverts and leadership and Joseph Grenny talk about how to have crucial conversations. Both of these talks (and later the books) introduced me to extremely important concepts that I’ve continued to incorporate into my life and ministry. Continue reading “Your Best Days Are Ahead of You”