My job requires that I be around a lot of people. There are different levels of people that are in my life – family, close friends, friends, acquaintances, people I know and people that know me but I may not know them. I suppose if I counted all the people it would go into the hundreds. I’d like to see those people move up on my levels. I try to figure out ways to get to know people better.
What do you do to get to know people better?
It’s difficult to get to know people that are hubris.
Our house is constantly busy all week. People coming and going. Kids have friends. Friends have friends. Social Workers, birth to three worker, older kids & dogs all visit through out the week.
So… On Sunday afternoons from noon to 4 is an “all quiet” time.
What do Sunday’s look like in your house?
Space Shuttle Challenger – twenty five years ago
I was watching the launch as I saw the Challenger split into several pieces. I listened to the announcer, then silence. America quit breathing for those few seconds. The nation was comforted by President Reagan’s speech, instead of the planned State of the Union speech.
President Reagan’s speech that night:
Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But, we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight; we’ve never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.
For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with joy.” They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths.
They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them…
There’s a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, “He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.” Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”
Do you remember that day? What were you doing when you heard?
The church needs to inosulate.
Word of the day – inosculate
I’m opening a can of worms. I was asked what my view on gays was. I responded that I believe that sex inside of marriage between a man and woman is what the Bible teaches and that I have a Biblical view. The person who asked me quickly assumed by my statement that I was against gays. I wondered about that. The definition of against is: in opposition of or hostility to. I know people that are gay and I’ve accepted them into my life and my church. I don’t consider myself hostile to gays. I just don’t agree with them. I don’t agree with the Muslem belief but I’m not agaisnt them.
Can you disagree with someone and still not be agaisnt them?
(I’m not wanting comments on whether you agree with homosexuality or not.)
I am dogmatic when it comes to my belief on marriage.
State of the Union address: I like some of the things he said and some things I didn’t. Some of it sounded conservative, some liberal, most democratic. In the words of Jay Leno, “Obama is driving all over the road.” Obama did give a clue that he was going to increase taxes when he said spending cuts will not be enough. I am tired of hearing about taxing the wealthiest of Americans. Guess who will have to pay for tax increases on the wealthy? The Middle and Lower class. I was especially insulted when my President changed the definition of the word love and when he classified gays with Christians, Hindus and Moslems. Last time I checked gay is not a religion. I did like how he lifted up America – about time.
What was your thoughts of the State of the Union Address?
With my headache today, I don’t think I’ll be a great gregarious person.
I don’t want to be serious today. I’m going to live in my imagination. My superpower imagination will take me in flight. When I was a boy I had many dreams I could fly and fly I did. I will fly today.
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
God has given me an auspicious life. I appreciate Him for that.
Green Bay or Steelers to win in the Superbowl? or do you care?
I am not a quizotic type person. I like to live in reality.
What do I want out of today? The question I asked myself this morning.
Here are some of my desires of today:
Gain Biblical Knowledge
Connect with people
Help Children gain biblical knowledge
Fall asleep watching football
Help Foster Children have the best visit today with their Great Aunt
What are your desires of today?
I’m in a group called “Signet”. We want to be challenged in our leadership roles. The first book we’re studying is Relational Intelligence. Here is the 1st Chapter:
I chuckled as the author told of a dating story and his deep desire to connect with her, but didn’t know how. He said the wrong thing at the wrong time and blew it. The relationship ended. I suspect we all can relate and tell our own stories, at least I could.
The author spent the 1st chapter advertising the need to have Relational Intelligence. He posed this question: “What if cultivating smarter relationships became a more integral part of how we approach leading others?” “Relationships have a direct correlation to the quality of our lives,” a statement from the author.
Although I didn’t completely agree with the author in an illustration he gave, I do see the need to be smarter with relationships. Here’s his illustration: When he got out of college he searched for a job that he could established a relational connection with his boss. He gave up his first opportunity for a different position, in which he did relationally connect with his boss. I suppose that is idealistic but I’m not sure it’s realistic. I looked back on my life and there were bosses I couldn’t connect to but I felt God wanted me in that place for my spiritual development.
Relationships are the virus of influence. I like how the author used the word virus in a good spread of influence. I have the potential to infect people, either in a positive or negative way. I was challenged to have good spiritual health because viruses spread out.
I appreciated the last part of this chapter. The author introduced a tool to measure relational quotient or as he refers to it: RQ
Web site to measure RQ: http://relationalintelligence.info/
My Score:
RQ Score: 76
Your Normalized RQ Score represents your relational intelligence measured on a scale from 1 to 100. This number is an absolute rating and has no correlation to the general population.
What does my score mean?
My greatest area was self awareness
After going through this book I will take this again and find out if and how much I’ve improved.
