Mike Henderson

12 Reminders From Recent Road Trip

This past week part of our family took about a 2,000 mile road trip.  We were able to see my parents and grandmother in Charleston, SC.  Then we went to Florida to visit with Carol's sister and her family in Orlando.

While traveling and visiting and meeting with a group of pastors in Orlando I was reminded of 12 things.  The writer Samuel Johnson said, "People need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed."

With that thought in mind I wrote down 12 lessons, or reminders from our recent trip:

1. Road trips are more fun and relaxing than flying.

2. Stress tends to increase the waist line.

3. Marriages fall apart with regularity; whether after 7 years or 25 years.

4. As a society we tend to ignore God's design of working for six days and resting, re-creating, and reflecting on Him one day a week.

5. Addictions are hard to overcome; hence, the word addiction.

6. Some people are allowing their past to destroy their present and their future.

7. Parenting is never done.  As long as you have children, you will be parenting to some degree.

8. Years go by quickly.

9. What you don't know can hurt you and cost you.

10. Seek out experiences, not things.

11. Some things you love to do others loathe and vice versa.

12. Relationships are HUGE!

Unfair Branding

In a nutshell branding is how you the consumer defines a particular product or business.

If I mention the word Coke you immediately think of a great tasting soft drink drunk by millions world wide.  OK, I'm not a drinker of soft drinks, but I know Coke may very well be the most extablished brand in the world.  It has its fans, as became clear during the days of the New Coke fiasco.

The purpose of branding is to encourage the consumer to have a positive emotional response and use or purchase the product.

Coke is always the same, whether you buy it in Virginia or California or Kenya, East Africa.

However, that is not always the case for other brands.  Personally, I am not a fan of the local IHOP.  But a few years ago while traveling to the West Coast we spent the night in Van Horn, Texas.  The motel did offer what they called a "Continental Breakfast."  For the record that phrase must have multiple definitions.  Perhaps the hotel was focusing  on the 'continental' part, because it certainly did not fit in the category of breakfast.

So we left the motel the following morning on the hungry side.  But we were only about 100 miles outside of El Paso, Texas.  With a speed limit of 80, we were just over an hour away from a good breakfast.

As we arrived in El Paso, because of my bias toward the local IHOP, I was not looking for one.  However, that is exactly where we stopped.

Guess what?  Huge lesson here.  We had one of our best and most memorable meals that morning.  In fact, it set the tone for the day.  That day we traveled over 800 miles and just had an all around great day.  Had I let my personal "unfair" biases interfere the day could have turned out much differently.

Here are a couple of thoughts I have.  (Of course, these also apply to other organizations as well).

1.  There are many people who have had a bad experience at a particular church and prefer to simply avoid church altogether. 

2.  People have unfair biases, which can lead to an unfair branding.

3.  Occasionally people give church another chance and check one out.

4.  The previous 'bad' experience may have really not been 'bad,' just different which to the person was considered bad.

5.  Every week someone may walk through the doors of New Hope giving church one more try.

6.  It's critical that every week we seek to provide a great experience whether it be in the way we greet people, offer someone a cup of coffee, provide a smooth check-in for the kids, have excellent music, or deliver a well-communicated message.

7.  I don't want to get unbalanced in my thinking.  (For instance, I use a Mac while my son Adam hates Macs.  He is a PC guy.  Does that make Mac a terrible product?  Absolutely not).

8.  I want to always live with the assumption that we have one shot, that every week we must be ready to deliver a great experience.

Because that is what people will remember.  And that will determine whether or not they have a positive or an unfair bias.  As the number of people add up, the brand begins to take shape.  The challenge is to avoid "unfair branding."

 

 

As You Travel the Journey Gets Clearer

As we travel through life one truth stands out.  We are terrible interpreters of current circumstances.  Several years ago while traveling to Yellowstone National Park our transmission went out in downtown Denver right on the interstate.  We spent the next two days doing much of nothing and somewhat fussing about our circumstances.

Finally we were on our way and spent a couple days in Yellowstone.  While there we were able to see a grizzly which we found is very rare.  We talked to people who had come every year for twenty five years and had never seen one.  So we felt fortunate to have seen one.  Maybe having our transmission go out was a good thing, or perhaps a God thing.  However, at the time we considered it to be a bad thing.  So much for our ability to properly interpret our current circumstances.

After wrapping up our time in Yellowstone we drove out the east entrance.  Guess what came walking right down the middle of the highway?  Yes, you guessed it.  Another grizzly.  Except this time we just stopped and he came walking straight at us right on the double lines in the middle of the road.  He proceded to walk right by our vehicle.  We could have reached out the window and touched him he was so close.

About this time the transmission problem was looking more and more like a blessing from God.  Now this is not an unusual experience at all.  In fact, it's quite common.

I want to give you four verses to read from the life of Jacob.  We begin at the point where he makes a commitment to give one tenth of his income back to God.  (Genesis 28:22)

Let's move a little farther into his journey.  Let me say that it's a great story that you will have to take the time to read sometime.  I simply want to point out that God blessed Jacob incredibly, plus God blessed his father-in-law on account of his walk with God. (Genesis 30:27)

But Jacob was not immune from problems you must read the story in Genesis 37.  In a nutshell, his son Joseph was betrayed by his siblings and sold into slavery.  Of course, they lied and told their father that wild animals killed him.

Long story short, after about twenty years, Jacob gets the truth and finds his son Jacob alive in Egypt.  However, when talking with Pharaoh Jacob had a somewhat pessimistic attitude. (Genesis 47:9)

A few years later as Jacob approaches his death bed he is able to see much, much clearer.  His words in Genesis 48:15 reveal that as he looked back over his journey, he now realized that God had been with him every day of his life.

So remember this.  Your journey is not over yet.  And you have most likely misinterpreted any unfavorable circumstances you have encountered. 

Let me assure you, as you continue, your journey the picture will get clearer.

Cruises

One of the ways Carol and I have found to get away and spend some time alone, as well as to get refreshed is to take a cruise.

I am sure cruises are not for everyone, but every couple needs time away and together. For us we like to travel, see various places, snorkel, and just exist in our own little world.

Even though we are surrounded by others we are by ourselves.

We live in a very busy society and I don't think most couples realize how much their relationship could use time away.

Our first cruise was to celebrate 20 years. This was our fourth to celebrate 26. Getting away once a year like this could become a habit.

To top it off Carol watched Monday Night Football with me on the top deck on the outdoor bigscreen!

Thankful for Companionship

While there is always much to be thankful for I wanted to focus on just one thing: companionship.

First of all, being a Christ follower brings a companionship that is hard to always quantify.  Jesus is always there and you can pray constantly throughout the day.  He provides strength, grace, and wisdom as we go through life.

Another companionship that I am thankful for is my parents and family.  With Carol out of town until Wednesday night, I took the kids, Heather, Adam, Savannah, and Gabe (Rachel is at college) over to my parents for dinner.  My parents are in town just of the holidays, but my mom had us over for dinner and we had a great time.

But at the top is Carol.  After 26 years of marriage companionship is huge.  LIfe is certainly different when she is gone which is not much.  However, she has made two trips to Philadelphia to accompany her sister who is undergoing cancer treatments.  So she has been gone about 10 days over the last two weeks.

Needless to say life would not be good if one of us traveled for a living.  Now we love to travel...together!  In fact we are getting ready to go away for a week.  Many ask "Where are you going?"

To me the destination is not that important.  The big deal is that we are together.  In fact, we are going places we have already been to.  It does not matter.  Companionship is the key.

So this thanksgiving season I am so thankful for companionship.