Enjoy the Journey

I’ll admit it. I had absolutely no intention of telling you about the book, Simply Strategic Stuff. It’s not because I thought it would be a bad book, it’s just because I didn’t think it would be all that interesting. You see, it was more of a reading assignment for me. I am one of the deacons at our church and my pastor gave all the deacons this book by Tim Stevens and Tony Morgan, and asked us to read it. He actually gave us two books, the other being In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. Since I’d already read In a Pit . . .” I concentrated on Simply Strategic Stuff. Oh, and did I mention that the subtitle of this book is Help for Leaders Drowning in the Details of Running a Church?

My immediate thought when I got the book was “seriously, Pastor Rob, I don’t want to run the church.” But, it has really short chapters, large print, and only 200 pages so I figured why not? (That, plus I admire Pastor Rob’s leadership and he would never ask me to read a stupid book.) I am so glad I took the time for this assignment. First off, I’m even more convinced than ever that I don’t want to run a church, but besides that, these guys had a couple of really interesting insights on life in general.

Just a little side note here – you know you’ve been in church leadership too long when you walk into a new church, look around and start counting the number of chairs the worship center holds! It’s sad, but I actually did that last weekend!

My favorite part of this book comes in Chapter 46 titled, The Journey is as Important as the Destination. I love that title. How often do we concentrate so hard on what’s going to happen in the future that we forget to enjoy the present? Tim talks in this chapter about the talk he gives his kids when they are starting out on a long road trip. Here’s what he says “Here we go kids! The fun begins today. The adventure starts right now. Don’t wait until we get there to have fun. It won’t get any better than this. Let’s take our fun with us, starting this very minute!”

I wish I’d thought to tell my kids that when we were taking road trips with them. Actually, I wish I’d thought to tell myself that. My thinking was more along the lines of “let’s just see if we can get there without any bloodshed in the back seat.”

More importantly, I wish I’d always had that attitude about life in general. But we all can, and should. We can start today by determining to enjoy this spot on the journey and not wishing it away waiting for the next big trip, or promotion, or fun event.

So, do I think you need to read this book? If you are involved with church leadership, it’s definitely worth your time. If you’ve been trying to figure out why things happen the way they do at your church you might find this to be a good resource. But, if not, you can probably skip this book, but don’t forget to enjoy the journey that is your life.