Tell me the truth!

Coming out of the ocean, I ran up the beach and met my friend Pam.  I didn’t know as I was walking up to her that an unsightly “thing” was hanging out of my left nostril .

Pam didn’t know what to do.  So, she said nothing.  She kept talking to me, hoping that by chance I might notice and wipe it away.  I did not, and so we kept talking with this “thing” sitting under my nose.

After about 5 minutes, Dayna joined us, and immediately said, “Hey, you have a big “thing” under your nose!”  

“Pam! How could you not say something?”  

Pam said. “After the first minute passed, it just got too awkward to say anything about it!”

It can be hard to tell someone something they need to hear.  In fact, we often don’t even tell truth that would be pretty easy to tell, like telling someone they have done a good job. 

A few years ago I helped create a process that asked Cru supervisors to have conversations with each staff to establish expectations and give helpful feedback on how they did.  It sounds simple, but it just had not been happening much. One staff member said, “I’ve been on staff 24 years and no one has ever given me feedback on my role.”

The process works so that the final conversations take place during the month of May.  All over our HQ, you could see staff sitting together talking about their jobs and their growth.  It is a beautiful thing to see. 

It’s not perfect, but it’s becoming more the norm that our staff are getting feedback.  It helps us as Cru be better stewards of those He has raised up…everyone’s role matters.  It’s one of the things with Cru I’m most pleased to have been a part of because it helps us be more effective in all we do.

Thanks for your partnership,

Be careful what you joke about

Thirty Years of Memories
As we celebrate 30 years with Cru, we are sharing fun stories that have happened during that time.

Our office team moved to a more open cubicle design.  My desk was at the end of a row and  was open to the walkway.  As people turned the corner, they’d often walk right through my office.  As the director, I wanted to model adjusting to the open plan by taking the most "exposed" desk area.

The whole open concept was new to all of us, so I talked to the whole team that we'd need to get use to it, and we would have have "office norms," like not going up and talking to anyone just because you see them.   

And then, as a joke, I announced that another office norm would be that we don’t walk through people’s desk areas.  Since no one else had my same desk setup, I was obviously sending a clear message!

This is what I found when I got back to my desk that afternoon.

Thirty Years of Memories

As we celebrate 30 years with Cru, we are recalling some of the significant or funny moments we've experienced.

At church on Sunday, Catelin led the class as we talked about miracles. Throughout the years, we have seen God's hand provide in very specific ways as we stepped out with Cru.

As a young family in Minnesota, we worked with Cru's high school ministry.  Our landlords told us we needed to move out of our little duplex.  I was filled with anxiety about about where we would because we didn't have much notice.

As we drove by a house right next to the high school where we were ministering, Dayna pointed out a moving truck being loaded.  She wanted us to ask about it.

I said, "Look, it is the last day of the month, and they are moving out.  Tomorrow the new renters will move in.  Let's just go."

But Dayna told me to stop the car and she got out and walked up and talked to the people there.  

It was available, more than twice as big, for less rent, and a perfect location.  I mean, Catelin's bedroom window looked out over the football field of the high school.  I had to take 8 steps to be on school property.

A miracle?  It sure felt like it to me.  Another example of God’s surprising provision for us over all these years.