Navigating changes

On Friday I began a four week course on Change Management.   As an internal consultant with Cru, most of my work is helping our leaders with some kind of change or transition.

One of Cru's ministries, the Josh McDowell Ministry, is entering into a significant period of change.

In August, Josh McDowell, (founder, author of More than a Carpenter, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and other great resources), wrote to our staff to let us know that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and is stepping back from more active ministry.  

I've been consulting with Zack Wilson, the CEO of the ministry, on many of the transitions they are making and will be making with this change.  These include a move to a multi-site/remote workforce, office changes, a refocusing of their ministry purpose and strategy, and greater integration with all Cru ministries.  We are prioritizing several projects. 

Zack is keenly aware of the impact of some of these changes for his staff and for Cru.  And he wants to be sure that the McDowells are cared for and honored well as they step into a new season of life.  I'm very impressed with the intentional way he is pursuing clarity of their mission.

Catelin, Brexit and I on Halloween

And our family is adjusting to some unexpected changes.  As you know, illness requires a reorientation of our lives.  Our daughter Catelin has begun a long journey with breast cancer that has and will require surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and more that will last over one year!  It's requiring many changes in her life to focus on her treatment.

We have a big role in providing the support she will need during these treatments.  It's caused us to adjust our calendars, find time to go with her to appointments, and just be there for her.

Change has a way of causing us to pause, reflect, consider what is most important and what God is calling us to.  It requires faith, because change means things are new and uncertain.

My friend Mike reminded me recently that God is still God.  Still all loving, all knowing, all powerful.  He has not changed.  

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."  James 1:16.

 Because of that, we can trust Him with the inevitable changes in life, even when they are hard.

Thanks for your love and support,

Recognition is nice!

We are so proud!

We have mentioned quite a few times that Dayna is a volunteer registered nurse at Shepherd's Hope as part of her Cru ministry.  Shepherd's Hope is the largest organization in the Central Florida area providing medical care to the uninsured.  They have 5 clinics and hundreds of volunteers.  

This summer Dayna was chosen as Volunteer Nurse of the year!  We are very proud of her and realize what an honor it is for her to be chosen.  It really is a great group and I'm glad Dayna is able to use her nursing skills there.

Family time

In August all of our kids, son in law and grandkids were at our house for a week. It was really great to have everyone around!

I hosted a conference!

When I became an "internal consultant/coach/project manager/etc" about 7 years ago, there hadn't been a lot of success in making that role work in Cru.  But after 6 years, my boss, Cru's CFO, asked me to facilitate the ability to provide more consulting inside Cru.  

I have had some folks begin reporting to me.  I have the small Transformation Center of Excellence team, focusing on Process Improvement, two consultants with different skillsets than me, and that's it.  

But, as we planned a time together to help us know how to do that "come alongside" role, we discovered other teams and people who are in the space of project managers, coaches, and consultants.  So, less than 2 weeks ago, we had a conference for 20 people for 1 1/2 days, and it went very well!  

One team shared that they felt underutilized, invisible, and not sure how to make a better contribution.  They were encouraged to know others were serving in similar roles.  I've had two invitations after that gathering to talk about how to better approach these kinds of engagements in Cru. 

I love working on "high leverage" projects that will impact our staff and their ability to focus on and accomplish the mission God has called us to.  Thank you for supporting us with your finances and prayers to allow us to serve as missionaries with Cru.

With love and thanks,

Cru's New President

Today Cru commissioned our 4th president, David Robbins.  Below is a video of the service, but I started it about 40 minutes in where various National Directors from around the world affirm our calling.  I found that encouraging and visionary.  Following that is David's 20 minute address if you want to hear from him.

We are encouraged by the Board of Director's selection of David Robbins and look forward to serving with him.   If you'd like to watch the entire commissioning service, you can watch it here.

Thanks for your partnership with Cru.