Have You Missed Your Cue?

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Rick

Lately I have been missing my cue in a variety of ways. A person at church catches me walking down the hall and begins a conversation with me. I do not know who this person is and as we are conversing I think to myself I need to stop and just ask what their name is. I’m getting ready and waiting for a lull in the conversation and then it’s over. We stopped talking, said catch you later, and I never asked their name. I missed my cue!

I recently saw a lady from a class I taught while she was shopping with her family. Her husband never came to the class with her. She was a great student and now I had the opportunity to meet her husband and kids. She spotted me in the store and walked over to introduce her husband. We exchanged greetings and I was polite and said I was glad to meet him. I then pushed my basket off to more shopping. Ok! I could have asked about her kids and spent a few more minutes visiting with her family. It was probably my only chance since she was not a church member in my class and I did not have contact info on her. I sure missed that cue to be a little friendlier!

So is this an age problem? As we get older do we find ourselves paying less attention to the situation at hand and thus missing cues? Maybe you are older like me and thinking you do the same as I do. Maybe you are young and are saying you never miss cues! It is very frustrating though and I have to work on this!

Recently I was asked to play guitar for one song on Sunday morning with the choir and orchestra. We had rehearsed one time but I rehearsed many times at home on the song. The intro for the start of the song is the guitar which meant I start the song. So, on Sunday morning for the performance I was in my chair, guitar in hand, and my hand making the right starting chord ready to go. The next thing I know the song is already going and the choir started singing. But I did not start it! I missed my cue! It’s not rocket science here, just strum a few chords and do the intro!

Men, you will identify with this missed cue! I have to really be on my guard for this commonly missed cue. It is where you are with your wife and meet some people wherever you are that YOU know and you forget to introduce your wife and move on. Your cue was to introduce your wife to your friends before you move on. I was in a hurry and it just slipped my mind. I missed the cue!

So, what cues have you missed? Can you identify with mine?

Here are a few tips that have helped me not miss some cues.

  • Make sure you understand the timing of the cue that is coming and be ready
  • Stop and focus on what you are doing that has a cue coming
  • Don’t make a big deal when you miss a cue, most will not even realize you missed it
  • Relax and slow down
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Loose the Ball and Chain already!

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Rick

I hope you read this and are encouraged instead of thinking that I am bragging. If I brag it would be on Jesus anyway. There is something in our society that the so many people wrestle with daily and have a hard time getting rid of. DEBT! It is everywhere and it is choking God’s people and keeping them from being generous givers. Dave Ramsey said something like this once; I believe every Christian wants to give, but they can’t because of debt. Our society has been tricked into believing that debt is the norm and that a credit score is lifeblood! Actually a credit score is your debt score! The more debt you have the higher your score. It’s a never ending circle…to obtain debt you have to have a high credit score and to have a high credit score you have to have debt.

I believed that philosophy most my life and it does not work! My wife and I have always tried to be good stewards with money but have certainly made a lot of mistakes and bad decisions since we have been married. Needless to say, we put ourselves in a bad position financially. We were making it but it was all on credit cards and living from check to check with no savings. Sound familiar! Sadly that scenario is common place today.

In 2005 we started doing something about it. We led small groups in our home on financial training; I became a trained counselor with Crown Financial Ministries; I started leading Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey; trying to figure money out. In 2009 the light came on that we HAVE to make a change. So we took to heart Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course while leading it for the third time. I must be a little slow!

I knew what to do but just didn’t have the discipline to actually do it. When the light came on for my wife and I we got busy. We cut up all credit cards; everyone said you cannot live without a credit card! We have for 2 years without a hiccup! We rent cars; go on trips, order on line, and pay cash for everything we do. Everyone said don’t cut up the credit cards or your credit score will drop way down. We cut them all up and our score didn’t change. We started a savings account. Everyone said why bother save, the interest rates are too low. We found 1.43% and have a savings for minor emergencies. We have paid off over $40k in unsecured debt and car loans, except the house, in just 2 years.

It can be done! You can get debt free! FPU does work! It takes time! You can do it! Dave was right! Start now! Don’t put it off! We put every dollar available toward debt for two years and scrimped and saved and paid cash and did without credit and now will reap the benefits. FINALLY we will start telling our money what to do instead it telling us what to do. We will soon be sending out our dollars to work for us. Our money can now make us more money, help others in need, take care of emergencies, be for fun, or whatever.

That is how generous givers are born! That is how you can get set free of the ball and chain of debt. Yes, we are almost free with only a small amount left to pay off. Then I will one of the thousands that call Dave Ramsey on the radio show and yell; I’M DEBT FREE! I can ‘t wait!

Comments? Thoughts?

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Am I Old Fashion?

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Rick

Could it be possible that we become old fashion and not even realize it? Could we all of a sudden look around and see that what we do is out of date? Am I out of date? Am I not with the times? Tell me it’s not true please!

I am 56 years old and have a 4G Android mobile phone loaded with all the bells and whistles in technology; I have two blog sites, I manage two web sites, and use lots of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Digsby, Skype, QIK, Linkedin, Vimeo, and more. Some of you reading this don’t even know what some of those apps are!I do most my Internet stuff from my mobile phone as I go. So, I couldn’t be old fashion technology wise could I?

I drive a 2004 BMW MINI Cooper and wear Oakley sunglasses (well maybe Oakley knock offs) and wear pleated dress slacks and button down collar dress shirts pressed and my pants go all the way to the bottom of my shoe. So, I couldn’t be old fashion there!

So why is it that the people I work around complain and moan and groan that i use forms for everything? IS THAT OLD FASHION NOW?

If you want to borrow money at the bank what do fill out? If you want to open a savings account what do you fill out first? If you want to rent a car what do you complete and submit? If you want to tell the IRS how many exemptions you have for taxes what do you fill out? If you want to make a purchase for your church tax exempt what do they require you fill out first? When you go to a new doctor for the first time what are you filling out for 30 minutes?If you want to send your kid to church camp what do you have to fill out to consent to sending them?

FORMS people! You have to fill out forms whether you want to or not. We are NOT a paperless society and may never will be. Every organization operates with some type of forms. In the beginning God create the heavens and the earth and the earth was formless and void AND THERE WAS CHAOS! Without FORMS you have chaos. It’s a fact of life!

You have to document business and not just do it in your head! It is the paper trail to document you even did business. It’s proof you conducted business! Is that old fashion?

So, tell me is requiring forms to conduct business out of date now? I manage and operate a church with a $3mil dollar annual budget. Do you think i should not use forms in church business? I manage and operate over 200k square feet of building space. Should I not use forms to get things done?

Your comments?

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Your Web: Static or Interactive

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Rick

Those two terms have been around for many years. So lets take a re-look at what they mean. Most companies have a web site by now and you see a lot of people with personal web sites or blogs. But have you taken a good look at your site lately? Just having a web site is edgy and bold, but you have to maintain them and stay current with technology. That changes daily!

There are so many new applications for your web site and blog that it can be overwhelming. It is very time consuming to keep up with the new stuff coming out that could make your web site better. The buzz word for many years for webs is “interactive”! There are static sites and interactive sites. Static sites are full of information with lots of print and reading to do. Interactive sites have pull down menus, check boxes, surveys, video, links, and stuff to do while you are there. Now factor in the overload of information you can access with all this new technology! Most people want to get in and get out quick. Most people don’t hang around a web site for very long, unless it is interactive and keeps their interest. Static sites are not reaching people with the information they want because it takes too long to read all the print. In fact, I believe that print is on it’s way out as a viable method of getting information out to people no days.

I heard a statement from a tech guru at a conference about three years ago that stated “Email is dead”. I thought he was crazy back then but now i see his point. I get more text messages, pictures, and videos, on my cell phone that anything. I like that! It is quick text messages that get people connected. They don’t want to read long emails anymore!

It is the same thing now with web sites. People don’t want to show up at your site to read long articles and read tons of information. They want active sites that intrigue them and stimulate them to stay and get connected. They want visually stimulating sites with quality pictures and video clips. I love the sites that once you open them there is a video clip of someone orientating you to the site. It is like a live person guiding you along the way. That is awesome and I will stay on that site longer.

There are hundreds of models of web site templates and content management web sites to choose from. Let me share one that I believe is one of the best out there. It was designed for a 65 year old person could log in and manage the content without a manual or book. It is edgy and very interactive.It’s called Cloversites and it is great!

You can test it out and demo it for free here. Click here!

Do yourself and the people you are trying to reach a favor and make your web site interactive and fun. Your comments and suggestions welcome!

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TOUCH-LESS EVERYTHING

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Rick

Have you noticed that over the past year  that all the restrooms are going to touch-less everything. I went to the Mens room at an upscale restaurant the other day and the light switch came on as I entered. The urinal automatically flushed as I walked away. The soap dispenser was touch-less as I just ran my hand under it and soap came out. Then all you do is wave your hands under the faucet and water appears. Then to finalize your trip to the Mens room just wave your hands in front of the towel dispenser and there you have it. I never touched anything! Pretty cool right?

A few weeks ago I attended a conference in Washington DC for the week. A groups of us took a walking trip to downtown and there we ate dinner downtown. It was not a fancy place but kind of a mall with food courts. Upon arriving I decided I had better wash up before eating. So off to the Mens room! Even there the toilets flushed automatically! I lathered up my hands well and then began waving my hands under the faucet back and forth and NO WATER! Great I thought; they give you soap but no water. I waved my hands serveral times in frustration until finally the gentleman standing at the sink next to me says, “Lift the handle!”

Well, not everything in THAT Mens room was touch-less! Have a blessed day!

Comments! Similar situations with you?

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