We can learn a lot about life and health from professional athletes. Athletes realize the vital importance of recovery and rest. Let me explain.

For the rest of us… With iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, texting, wifi, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ (the lost could go on), let’s just say it is tough to unplug and rest up. The average worker/dad/wife/person “checks in” every hour or so in the evening and throughout the weekend, rarely turning off the world and unplugging from the expected rat race. Heck, you can even trade foreign stocks in the middle of the night if you feel the need!

The side-effects of staying plugged in are endless: poor health, exhaustion, anxiety, depression. This list goes on as well.

There is so much value in disciplining one’s self to turn off the every day and be renewed. Just look at the professional athlete. Recovery is a HUGE part of maintaining performance and success over the long haul. Athletes that learn to rest and recover after extensive training build muscle, renew their tired minds, and ultimately come back for the next training session stronger, fresher and ready to perform. Athletes that don’t learn to recover well overtrain, get hurt or burn out.

So if you are tired all the time, burned out, anxious or having a hard time recovering, maybe you need to draw a line in the sand. Maybe you need to learn from the pros about the importance of rest and recovery. Maybe you need to unplug!

How do you recover? What tips do you have for unplugging and restoring your energy levels?

We all know leaders with a “my way or the highway” mentality. Check out my friend’s shirt that he wore the other day…

Do you know anyone that leads or defines teamwork this way? Why doesn’t this style of leadership work very well?

Scripture is filled with the promises of God for those who look to and depend on him. I was reading Ezekiel recently and read about four promises for leaders who are connected to God. It’s so easy to go and do ministry on our own, with our own efforts, intellect and strength. This scripture serves as a great reminder of what God will do when we are connected to him!

I’ll make a covenant of peace with them. I’ll banish fierce animals from the country so the sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. Ez. 34:25

Protection- He will protect you and keep you safe from the enemy, no doubt. With his covering, you can go and live and lead. But only with his protection.

I’ll make them and everything around my hill a blessing. I’ll send down plenty of rain in season-showers of blessings! Ez. 34:26

Blessing- When you are serving God and being patient and waiting on him, he will make you and everything around you a blessing. He will use you and your church a beacon of light in a cold dark world. Not only will you impact people far from him, but even those associated with your church will be a blessing to others.

He will send his blessings on you in season. Notice the text doesn’t say in season AND ALWAYS out of season I will bless you and your ministry with the same amounts of impact. I’m the proper season, the season he deems appropriate, God will bring his rain, his blessing, to your efforts. Funny thing about the rain too, it doesn’t take it’s lead from the soil. The ground doesn’t say, “Ok clouds, I am ready for you. I’m really dry now and it’s time for you to rain.” No, the rain rains when it wants to rain. That is when it rains.

The tress in the orchard will bear fruit, the ground will produce, they’ll feel content and safe on their land... Ez 34:27a

Impact- They will bear fruit. First comes the protection, then the rain and then the fruit bearing impact. Sometimes, we expect the fruit first, before the rain. We want to see ministry success, numerical growth and tons of life change. But… It has not yet rained. We have not yet received the proper blessing. We haven’t waited on God to show up and do what only he can do. We are the dry soil, the dry, cracked soil, yelling, “Why is there no fruit?” What a wild question, especially since we haven’t allowed God to do his part, to move on our behalf, with his protection, in season, and with his blessings.

They will realize that I am their God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters. Ez 34:27b

Freedom- To What are you enslaved oh leader? The image of success? Pridefully always having your way? Being noticed and needed? God promises that he will free you from your slavery and allow you to live a life of freedom in him.

So why is it so difficult to remember the promises that God has for us?  Love to hear your thoughts. Which of these areas is the most difficult for you to remember and why?

Our 1 year old baby Molly just took her first steps while she was at her Bunny and Pop’s house in Oklahoma. Check it out- I have a feeling she’ll be taking a few more…

Molly, may God guide you in every step and use you to be a significant influencer in his kingdom some day. Anyone else have a prayer they would like to pray for baby Molly or advice for a dad of a 1 year old and 4 year old? ? Let me know in the comments below…

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When life throws you a curve ball, an unexpected event or circumstance, your real character emerges. How you react to adversity, conflict, and trials say MUCH about who you truly are. The temptations during trials are many: complain, worry, dodge responsibility, quit or withdraw.

I don’t know what season of life you are in right now or what trials you may be experiencing in your family, workplace, community or church. I don’t know where you are and what you are going through.

I do know this: you have a choice to make. You can complain, gripe and moan (victim mentality) or you can rise up, persevere, lead strong and overcome (victor mentality). You may or may not be able to change your situation right now. You can ALWAYS change your perspective, your attitude, the lense through which you see things.

Your character, who you are when no one is looking, is being stretched and grown. Your real character, who you are when things don’t go the way you want them to go, is being refined. The result of your “character refinement” is so much more important than any amount of your comfort level. Embrace your situation with humility and know that you are being prepared for things tomorrow that you simply can’t understand today.

Why is it easy to have a victim mentality during trials instead of a victor or overcomer mentality? What tips do you have for embracing challenging times and developing one’s character?

Everyone has different sources of inspiration. For some
it is people. Others are inspired by going places or reading certain things. Some are inspired by art or movies or a sunset. Inspiration is a BIG deal and fills us up spiritually, emotionally, relationally and even physically.  The most impacting individuals in history were able to create, lead and innovate all because they were inspired to do so.

So….What Inspires YOU? We are all unique and have different sources of inspiration. Let’s hear em!

We know a lot of people in leadership that want to be in the #1 spot: lead their own team, call their own shots, run their own business, you name it. But how many folks do you hear say, “Man, I really want to be the #2 guy (OK, go ahead and get a laugh at thinking of the other #2.  I on the other hand, am too mature to make that joke) !”  Not many, right?

Well, I’ve been in both places: I was the #1 guy for over 5 years in business and real estate.  I’ve been the #2 guy for several years in ministry (or #3 or #4 depending how you look at it).  I believe these two things are true about being the #2:

The #2 guy can have BIG influence. Leading “up” can sometimes take more skill than leading down.  When one is leading from positional authority (leading down), it’s easier to rely on the title to get things done (“This is the way its going to be.”)  When I ran my own company, if I didn’t like the way someone performed, I could just let them go.  Leading up is a different ball game (as is leading laterally).  Being the #2 guy (leading up) requires the ability to work through conflict and contribute to the greater cause.  The leader must truly know how to influence, win trust, inspire and contribute as a team player.

The #2 guy has an opportunity for BIG growth. This is especially true if the #1 guy on the team has BIG experience.  The #2 guy can pick up a lifetime of wisdom and skill, simply by watching, listening and learning!  The #2 guy can have an opportunity to grow in a safe environment and be given the room to both succeed and fail.  It takes both to truly grow!  I currently have a #1 with BIG experience and am growing in a BIG way!

So what about you? Are you a #2 fighting to be that #1?  Perhaps you should consider the opportunity you have for BIG influence and BIG growth!  Seize the moment for all that it’s worth and know that you can contribute in significant ways!  What are some other benefits to being the #2 guy (OK, one last laugh- haha)? Love to hear your thoughts in the comments! – Chad

New to TheWayItCouldBe.com? This is a site promoting cultural impact through personal and spiritual transformation. Post topics include creativity, family, faith, culture, social media and leadership. Feel free to browse around by category. If you dig the site, you can subscribe for free email updates by simply entering your email address in the sidebar out to the right.

We all know church leaders are a big target around the world. What better way to deprive the world of hope that to destroy the lives of leaders in the local church. Every day, we see called men and women of God stepping out of church work, falling to moral failure or taking general spiritual hits from the enemy. The big ones show up on the news, the rest of them show up in our cities and churches and impact the lives of thousands. In every instance of spiritual attack, there is one place where the battle begins: the heart.

If our spiritual enemy can get even a foothold, we give way and render ourselves wide open for a full on attack. Jesus waits for us to trust and call on him, then use our brains to protect our hearts. Protecting our hearts is not something we SHOULD do, it is something we MUST do. There is too much at stake in our relationship with Christ, in our families and in our churches. Here are 5 Ways to Protect the Heart of a Leader.

Protect your heart from discouragement. The other day, I watched a python squeeze a rat. The rat didn’t die instantly, but rather slowly as the air was forced out of it’s little rat lungs. Discouragement is the python of death in ministry, slowly squeezing the life out of you until you breathe no more. Spend a week in ministry and tell me you don’t get discouraged. GETTING discouraged happens and is pretty normal, but STAYING discouraged is a slippery slope that leads to destruction. Discouragement is often tough to recognize, and can go easily unchecked. Get the Scriptures in your head and in your heart and don’t be discouraged.

Decide today: I will not give in to discouragement, no matter what.
Instead: I will take courage, I will seek boldness and I will be encouraged.

Protect your heart from envy or jealousy. The grass is always greener and the other pastor or church never has any problems…until you dig a little deeper. I’ve seen pastors of all types visit LifeChurch.tv and leave thinking, “Man, if I could only have that band or that sound system or that facility, we could really have some impact.” I know it, because people actually say it out loud. The truth is that God has put you WHERE you are with WHAT you have for WHO he has called you to lead and serve.

Decide today: I will not be jealous in ANY way, no matter what.
Instead: I will thank God for who and what he has provided!

Protect your heart from pride. Pride is the ugly monster that sleeps for years and then jumps up and tears apart a church in a month. Pride dodges real accountability. Pride makes excuses. Pride thinks, “That would never be me.” Pride comes before the fall and is found in every type of sin. Don’t be filled with pride. Seek humility and seek humility until you find it. Then seek it more.

Decide today: I will not give into pride, no matter what.
Instead: I will choose to humble myself like Christ every day.

Protect your heart from being divisive. Relationships on teams can get rough at times. We must learn to go for unity on our teams. It starts with our closest team members and branches out from there. If we can’t find unity among a few, we will never achieve it in our church and in our cities. This doesn’t mean we can’t give feedback and disagree. It does mean we do so in a spirit of love, honor and honesty.

Decide today: I will not be divisive with my team and in my church, no matter what.
Instead: I will fight for unity, even if it means giving up my wants and desires.

Protect your heart as a father, mother, husband or wife. No success at church is worth failure at home. No church is too important for a leader to lose their family. God has called us to lead our families first. I would argue that leading our families are our greatest calling in life, before the success of the church. If we can’t be trusted with the few he has given, how or why should he entrust us with more? Don’t make excuses. Set healthy boundaries. Make your family a priority.

Decide today: I will not place my ministry as a priority over my family.
Instead: I will honor God by honor those closest to me and leading them well.

TheWayItCouldBe.com is a site promoting cultural impact through personal and spiritual transformation. Post topics include family, faith, leadership and other stuff. Feel free to browse around by category. If you dig the site, you can subscribe for free email updates by simply entering your email address in the sidebar out to the right

Check out this video of what the LifeChurch.tv Fort Worth campus did with At The Movies this year! Tour of our building including an English Fort, 18″ Waterfall, 60′ pirate ship and more…

What do you think?? Hope you’ll check it out if you are in the DFW area this July! A BIG thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who made this happen to reach people for Christ…

Repost from earlier in the year: TheWayItCouldBe.com is all about sharing the love! It’s time to Show Us Your Stuff- promote your own blog or website!  What a great chance to connect with other TheWayItCouldBe.com readers and find some swanky new blogs to follow.

The rules: We’ll just be promoting positive sites- promote your blog, business, website, music site, book site, friend’s site, pastor’s site… (you get the idea). This linking software will add the links to this post for others to easily check them out. The sweet deal is that you can promote your stuff and see cool sites from other good people!  Show Us Your Stuff!

All you have to do are these 3 things!

1. Fill out your info just like this.  Seriously, just like this:
Your Name: Chad Missildine – TheWayItCouldBe  Your URL: http://thewayitcouldbe.com.
2. Leave a comment in the comment section and tell us a little about yourself or what you’re promoting.
3. Share “Show Us Your Stuff” w/ others via Twitter & Facebook.  It could look like this:  Show Us Your Stuff! Promote Your Blog Today Here: http://bit.ly/dM2MLy via @chadmissildine

A BIG thanks to @scottwilliams at BigIsTheNewSmall.com for the idea… Don’t forget to Check Your Motives…. here are 5 Ways To Be Selfless on Twitter & Facebook!