'We Can Do This'
Theme of the Week: Monday, October 6
Monday, October 6, 2003
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Key Bible Verses: "But don't begin until you count the cost … Otherwise …" (Luke 14:28, 29). Bonus Reading:Luke 14:28-30
Standing under the brick arches of McDonald Hall, it was hard to remember that 12 years before I'd sat cringing in a chapel service as the rain dripped from the roof directly onto our guest speaker!
It was my first year as president at a small college so poor it couldn't afford to repair its roofs. I was charged with writing an institutional plan stating what it would take to survive. My criticism seemed grossly unkind to the many who'd sacrificed for so long to keep the dream alive. But we had to face our reality in order to focus our efforts. We identified 12 barriers to our survival, agreeing that any one of them was potentially fatal if not reversed.
I feared complete demoralization, with key people resigning, donors despairing, and—a collegiate funeral. But an English professor took me aside and said, "It really helps to look this all straight in the face, give it names, and know what we have to do to succeed. We aren't too tired. Now that we see it, I believe we can do this."
He was right. Twelve years later, Fresno Pacific was ranked fourth by U.S. News & World Report for overall best value among western regional universities.
—Richard Kriegbaum in Leadership Prayers
My Response: What reality must I face up to if I'm to move with courage?
Thought to Apply: The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
—Abraham Lincoln (16th U.S. President)
Adapted from Leadership Prayers (Tyndale, 1998) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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