Oink Oink Cough Cough

Did you hear that "oinking" sound? It was coming from my house. Yep, I had the flu!

Now it may or may not have been swine flu, but it was flu. Hit me hard Thursday night but I am back at work today.

I actually missed church Sunday. The first time I can remember missing because I was sick and certainly the first time I have missed since we launched Midtowne.

But things went off without a hitch in my absence. That's good stuff.

I have learned several things in my illness as related to my role here at Midtowne. I learned that it can be done without me. We can't build churches on people or personalities. It has to be built on a love for God and a love for people. My absence helped me see that we are doing OK in that area.

I also learned that the people at Midtowne will always step up when needed. With a cold, rainy Sunday and lots of illness in the community, people still showed up and stepped up to fill in where needed. We had more volunteers out than ever before yet we had more people willing serve than we wound up needing.

One other thing. I learned that different is good. So far, I have not had anyone tell me that they liked the way I do things better (or less) than the way Dave lead us on Sunday. That's a very good thing. It's not about me. It's not about a style or a personality. Dave and I are very different and different is good. It's not a matter of good or bad, better or worse, it's just different, period.

So What?

Leadership is not following a person, it's following a purpose. Yes, there has to be a person to carry the banner of the purpose. A person to teach, train, equip and encourage the team, but when it all comes down, you better make sure you are leading people to a purpose and not to a person.

Glad to be back but glad to know that I can be gone. I love this place, its leadership, and people. But mostly, I love our Purpose and the One who is the inspiration and gets the glory for it.