What a crazy week! We started the week out with the announcement of Jon & Kate’s divorce on Monday and watched as Michael Jackson died on Friday. In between was Ed McMahon’s death, the Mark Sanford scandal, and Farrah Fawcett’s death. I don’t think I can take anymore!! Just tragedy after tragedy- so sad to watch.
There are many different things that comes to mind when you think of Michael Jackson, but one thing is for sure is the man had incredible talent. As Filipe and I were watching the news friday evening, they were showing clips of some of his music videos. Filipe leaned over to me and said, “he sure was passionate about his music”. That is for sure!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpTQCQEFhg&hl=en&fs=1&]
That’s right! Baby #3 is on the way!!!
We are very excited, and maybe a little (or a lot!) nervous. Sometimes life happens because we plan for it and sometimes God plans for us. This case would fall into the latter, but either way I couldn’t be more excited. I’m reminded that no matter how much we think we are in control- it is God who controls our lives, and- in this case especially- is the creator of life.
Yesterday was my first doctor appointment and it went really well. I spent about a week researching all the doctors/midwives/hospitals around here. I found a group of midwives (which is surprisingly rare in the Bay area) who work under a group of doctors and deliver in a hospital. After meeting with one of the midwives yesterday, we feel really good about the decision- and she is a Christian who goes to one of the local churches in the area who help us at South Bay.
During the appointment, we were able to see the tiny heartbeat. There was something about seeing it that made me really believe this is happening. So, I am 8 weeks, and the due date is around January 25th.
The verse that has been going through my mind over and over lately is Jeremiah 29:11 “‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
I’m trusting that even though my life feels crazy enough- God knows what He is doing and isn’t going to give me anything I can’t handle.
As promised, here is a little insight about my previous readings. Today, Lencioni.
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
I loved this book! I’ve been wanting to read Lencioni for quite a while now, but wasn’t sure what to expect in the light vs. heavy reading department. I was very pleased with how easy and simple it was to understand. When books are written for business leaders I tend to feel a little “out of my league”, but that was so not the case with Lencioni. This book is based on 5 dysfunctions in how we related with one another as we work in teams. He uses a fable to show how this relates to real life, but the coolest part of it was that the fable was set at a Tech company here in the Silicon Valley (apparently Lencioni lives nearby). Even though it was fiction, it was cool to read about what could be a similar real life experience in 1 of the hundreds of tech companies all around us here in the valley.
The 5 Dysfunctions
Absence of Trust
Fear of Conflict
Lack of Commitment
Avoidance of Accountability
Inattention to Results
These 5 dysfunctions are displayed in the form of a pyramid (with absence of trust being at the bottom) and the rest building on top of one another. If you are looking around and not liking the results of your team/organization, or whatever- then there is likely some underlying issues as to why your not getting them. It can be easy to overlook the results and justify the reasons for them (someone else has more people, money, skills, or experience) but, if we are working together, toward a common goal, then we could easily improve our results just by focusing on our team skills.
I see the “fear of conflict” as a huge one for many people. We’ve been conditioned to think that conflict (of any kind) is unhealthy, but it’s not! Look at how much conflict Jesus was involved in while on this earth? The conflict he brought out is essentially what nailed him to the cross. We live in a society that is afraid to point out weaknesses or flaws. I have a really hard time saying something I know will cause a conflict. But, as a team member, then it’s to the best interest of the team to deal with conflict in a healthy way. In the book, there is a line that I thought was quite funny. The CEO talking to her employees about this dysfunction said, “Let me assure you that from now on, every staff meeting we have will be loaded with conflict.” The best teams are not the ones in perfect harmony, they are the ones who can deal with conflict well.
