Hello, friends!
There's an old adage that those who can, do, and those who can't, coach. Apparently, I'm not very good at doing much because for as long as I can remember, I've been a coach.
Coaching is one of those things that comes naturally to me. I'm sure it's a combination of my personality, my passions, and maybe even a gifting or two. I was talking with my small group at church a few weeks back and we were talking about our purposes in life. Our purpose is who God made us to be, regardless of our vocation. For me, what really jumped out is that I think I'm here to coach. What I love, more than anything else, is helping you get to where you want to go. I'd like to think that my personality lends itself well to coaching; I don't get too high or two low and am always looking for ways of improvement. I love thinking through game plans and I love empowerment. This year, as part of my new role, I've had the pleasure of coaching somewhere around a dozen staff in various MPD ventures and it has been a joy seeing folk grow in their MPD.
Empowerment is a big part of my coaching style. What I want more than anything else is to help YOU get to where YOU want to go. Of course, I have my preferences and I'd like to think that I have some knowledge and skill, especially in MPD. But for me, it's more important that you own where you're going than me telling you the best place to go. I don't know if that makes me a good coach or not, but it seems like folk appreciate the sense of agency.
As I'm finishing up a year of coaching, I'm so thankful for the staff who I've had the pleasure of coaching and the strides that they've made in their MPD. One of the things that I ask staff to do in each our weekly calls is for them to rate their MPD work over the past week on a scale from 1-10. At the beginning of the year, staff consistently putting their work in the 4-6 range. Staff were doing some work but weren't particularly proud of it and they knew there weren't doing as much as they could. These past few weeks, all scores have consistently been in the 8-10 range. I even had one staff give himself a "6" and I made him change it to a "9" because he was selling himself short.
Honestly, I have no idea if I'm a good MPD coach or not. Staff seem to be responding well and I think I'm helping but it's mostly anecdotal, but I'd like to think that I'm making an impact. After next week, I'll take a few weeks off of coaching specifically to get ready for the next year of MPD coaching. Then, I'll get a chance to re-evaluate and hope that I can make things just a little bit better. After all, what kind of coach would I be if I couldn't coach myself?
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
And now, a word from Megan!
Hello, friends!
I love being married. I also love working alongside Megan with InterVarsity. Our roles don't overlap a ton but it's such a joy knowing that when I talk about work, Megan knows exactly what I mean. Another benefit is that she can pick up the InterVarsity slack for me when I'm a little bit swamped... like today!
Friends, I was fighting a good case of writer's block yesterday. I didn't really have a good topic for a blog post but I knew I wanted to get one done. What do I find in my inbox? The following blog post from Megan. The LORD answers prayers! =0).
So, without further ado, a few words from my lovely wife.
As a part of my role as the regional international student ministry coordinator, I have the privilege of directing my favorite conference of the year, the International Getaway. The first International Getaway started in 2010 and only included St. Louis and Lawrence, Kansas schools. Since then we have expanded to include campuses from across Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and one from Indiana. The Getaway is like a vacation away in the middle of Missouri after a full school year. In the mornings we have family group Bible studies where students can look deeper at who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. Then all afternoon we get to play outdoors doing a high ropes course, caving, boating, hiking, playing archery tag. In the evenings we have worship and a large group Bible study discussion that is lead by staff and student leaders. Following that are more fun activities like an International trivia night, cultural showcase, and campfire. Each year we see students lives change as they dig deep into what it means to follow God and build relationships with one another.
Preparing for the International Getaway has reminded me a lot of Mark 2: 1-12 when the friends bring the paralytic man to Jesus. They couldn't get through the crowd to go into to Jesus and because they believed that Jesus could heal their friend, they broke down the roof to get their friend in. Friends, staff and student leaders are much like those friends. They/we know that Jesus is the only one that can heal us and make us new so they are relentlessly inviting students to come to the International Getaway to meet Him. Would you pray for staff and myself as we enter the final weeks before the International Getaway? There are so many barriers that prevent students from coming - spiritual warfare, cost, time commitments, fear, and questions of the unknown. Please pray that these students say "yes" to come and have their lives transformed. We are praying for 60 students!
Have an excellent day!
~Megan (and Adam)
I love being married. I also love working alongside Megan with InterVarsity. Our roles don't overlap a ton but it's such a joy knowing that when I talk about work, Megan knows exactly what I mean. Another benefit is that she can pick up the InterVarsity slack for me when I'm a little bit swamped... like today!
Friends, I was fighting a good case of writer's block yesterday. I didn't really have a good topic for a blog post but I knew I wanted to get one done. What do I find in my inbox? The following blog post from Megan. The LORD answers prayers! =0).
So, without further ado, a few words from my lovely wife.
As a part of my role as the regional international student ministry coordinator, I have the privilege of directing my favorite conference of the year, the International Getaway. The first International Getaway started in 2010 and only included St. Louis and Lawrence, Kansas schools. Since then we have expanded to include campuses from across Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and one from Indiana. The Getaway is like a vacation away in the middle of Missouri after a full school year. In the mornings we have family group Bible studies where students can look deeper at who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. Then all afternoon we get to play outdoors doing a high ropes course, caving, boating, hiking, playing archery tag. In the evenings we have worship and a large group Bible study discussion that is lead by staff and student leaders. Following that are more fun activities like an International trivia night, cultural showcase, and campfire. Each year we see students lives change as they dig deep into what it means to follow God and build relationships with one another.
Preparing for the International Getaway has reminded me a lot of Mark 2: 1-12 when the friends bring the paralytic man to Jesus. They couldn't get through the crowd to go into to Jesus and because they believed that Jesus could heal their friend, they broke down the roof to get their friend in. Friends, staff and student leaders are much like those friends. They/we know that Jesus is the only one that can heal us and make us new so they are relentlessly inviting students to come to the International Getaway to meet Him. Would you pray for staff and myself as we enter the final weeks before the International Getaway? There are so many barriers that prevent students from coming - spiritual warfare, cost, time commitments, fear, and questions of the unknown. Please pray that these students say "yes" to come and have their lives transformed. We are praying for 60 students!
Have an excellent day!
~Megan (and Adam)
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Drinking from a firehose...
Hello, friends!
A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of hosting our new staff hires from around the Region in Omaha for our first ever, Regional MPD 101.
When staff are first hired, the normal process is that they begin the process of MPD immediately in the Spring, with the hopes that they will be fully funded before the start of the next school year. MPD is a new concept for most staff, so the first thing that needs to happen is they need to be trained up in how MPD actually works. In the past, this responsibility has fallen to the hiring supervisors (usually the Area Directors). While this system has the advantage of flexibility in scheduling for the new staff hires, it also means that the training isn't standardized and, as in the case of this year's class, new hires can feel a little isolated if they're the only new hire in their Area. It also puts an extra burden on the Area Directors, and their lives are hard enough already.
Given all the potential benefits, and the fact that in Region has an actual MPD Coordinator who can devote his entire attention to a weekend worth of training (read: me), we decided to try Regional MPD 101 and see how it goes. As the title of this blog suggests, it was a lot.
For the record, overall, things went great. The staff were all super engaged, we didn't have any logistical issues in terms of getting folk to Omaha, we got through all the material, and everyone had a good time. It absolutely went well enough for me to say that we should try doing it again. But, much like drinking from a firehose, for everyone involved, it was... a LOT.
Let's start with the new staff. Our new staff team is great. I'm super excited for them. We had one staff from each state in our Region, which was fun, unintended symmetry, and they all fed off one another's energy. I love hanging out with new staff because everything is new and exciting for them. They responded to all the training well and we had a few breakthroughs too in terms of how to view MPD in the grander scheme of the work we do. But, let's not pretend that a full weekend of training isn't a big deal. From 3pm Friday until 4pm Sunday, the staff took in a lot of information about the ins and outs of MPD.
It wasn't just the staff who had a lot of content to consume. I also had a lot of content to deliver. This goes beyond just the training. Since I was "hosting" this, I was in charge of finding housing, buying food, and making sure that all the logistics were covered. Since this was a weekend deal, I also had a full week of work on the front end. We made it but I definitely slept well Sunday night when it was all over.
Finally, we can't forget that Megan had to take in a lot too. She wasn't at the training but with me gone the whole weekend, that meant she had the kids all weekend. Thankfully, my mom came into town to visit, so there was an extra set of hands for helping. Still, Grandma is different from having Daddy there. I arranged the weekend so we could at least have the family join us for dinner, which hopefully alleviated some of the pressure on Megan. But, I know it was a still a lot of work and I'm so thankful that Megan was OK with me doing this.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of hosting our new staff hires from around the Region in Omaha for our first ever, Regional MPD 101.
When staff are first hired, the normal process is that they begin the process of MPD immediately in the Spring, with the hopes that they will be fully funded before the start of the next school year. MPD is a new concept for most staff, so the first thing that needs to happen is they need to be trained up in how MPD actually works. In the past, this responsibility has fallen to the hiring supervisors (usually the Area Directors). While this system has the advantage of flexibility in scheduling for the new staff hires, it also means that the training isn't standardized and, as in the case of this year's class, new hires can feel a little isolated if they're the only new hire in their Area. It also puts an extra burden on the Area Directors, and their lives are hard enough already.
Given all the potential benefits, and the fact that in Region has an actual MPD Coordinator who can devote his entire attention to a weekend worth of training (read: me), we decided to try Regional MPD 101 and see how it goes. As the title of this blog suggests, it was a lot.
For the record, overall, things went great. The staff were all super engaged, we didn't have any logistical issues in terms of getting folk to Omaha, we got through all the material, and everyone had a good time. It absolutely went well enough for me to say that we should try doing it again. But, much like drinking from a firehose, for everyone involved, it was... a LOT.
Let's start with the new staff. Our new staff team is great. I'm super excited for them. We had one staff from each state in our Region, which was fun, unintended symmetry, and they all fed off one another's energy. I love hanging out with new staff because everything is new and exciting for them. They responded to all the training well and we had a few breakthroughs too in terms of how to view MPD in the grander scheme of the work we do. But, let's not pretend that a full weekend of training isn't a big deal. From 3pm Friday until 4pm Sunday, the staff took in a lot of information about the ins and outs of MPD.
It wasn't just the staff who had a lot of content to consume. I also had a lot of content to deliver. This goes beyond just the training. Since I was "hosting" this, I was in charge of finding housing, buying food, and making sure that all the logistics were covered. Since this was a weekend deal, I also had a full week of work on the front end. We made it but I definitely slept well Sunday night when it was all over.
Finally, we can't forget that Megan had to take in a lot too. She wasn't at the training but with me gone the whole weekend, that meant she had the kids all weekend. Thankfully, my mom came into town to visit, so there was an extra set of hands for helping. Still, Grandma is different from having Daddy there. I arranged the weekend so we could at least have the family join us for dinner, which hopefully alleviated some of the pressure on Megan. But, I know it was a still a lot of work and I'm so thankful that Megan was OK with me doing this.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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