25 Ways to Be a Servant-Leader: Ways #1-5

From chapter 21 of the "Quest for Authentic Manhood" series in Robert Lewis's "Men's Fraternity",

1. A servant-leader includes his wife in envisioning the future.

2. A servant-leader accepts spiritual responsibility for his family.

3. A servant-leader is willing to say "I'm sorry" and "Forgive me" to his family.

4. A servant-leader discusses household responsibilities with his wife and makes sure they are fairly distributed.

5. A servant-leader seeks the consultation of his wife on all major financial decisions.

Peru gains a great one

My girlfriend, Lauren, is going to Peru for ten weeks, leaving on May 31st.

I'm really excited for Peru for three reasons:

1.) They're gaining one of the brightest, beautiful women I know for ten weeks.

I feel somewhat jealous for this, but ultimately and far-more ecstatic for them, Lauren, and the kingdom!

2.) The mountains and nature there are phenomenal.

3.) Their country's name extends itself well to cleverly-titled blogs like Peruzing!--you should check her out.

God is a mountain spring

"God has no deficiencies that I might be required to satisfy.

God has no deficiencies that I might be required to supply.

He is complete in himself.

He is overflowing with happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity.

The upshot of this is that God is a mountain spring, not a watering trough.

A mountain spring is self-replenishing. It constantly overflows and supplies others.

But a watering trough needs to be filled with a pump or a bucket brigade.

So if you want to glorify the worth of a watering trough you work hard to keep it full and useful.

But if you want to glorify the worth of a spring you do it by getting down on your hands and knees and drinking to your heart's satisfaction, until you have the refreshment and strength to go back down in the valley and tell people what you've found.

You do not glorify a mountain spring by dutifully hauling water up the path from the river below and dumping it in the spring.

What we have seen is that God is like a mountain spring, not a watering trough.

And since that is the way God is, we are not surprised to learn from Scripture that the way to please God is to come to him to get and not to give, to drink and not to water."

(John Piper, The Pleasures of God, 209)

Umpiring: Hazards of the trade

A list of the places I've been hit by a thrown, bounced, or batted baseball in the last six weeks:

1.) left hand

2.) Left shoulder

3.) Left collarbone

4.) Right calf

5.) Twice-- forehead (with a mask on)

Names and phrases, other than my given birth name, referred toward me in those same six weeks:

1.) "Wake up, blue!"

2.) Good for nothing

3.) Blind.

4.) Worthless

Tutoring trouble

I'm a tutor!
______________________________________________

Let me tell you about my first tutoring job:

There was this post on Craigslist advertising $59/ hour to tutor for two months during the summer in Blacksburg. Awesome! I applied and the guy wrote me back the next day:

"I would like to use these medium to inform you that my Son don't live in the US if you could remember i mention that in my posting, he would be flying from Japan to the US because i need to get him back home because i fear for the disaster that are happening in Japan, I want you to teach him English Langauge or (and) Mathematics for 5th grader during this period, if there is need to extend your services, an amendment would be made to your salary depending on how good you are with him. The Local Library would be your meeting place with him, he would be dropped off/picked up by his nanny during the hours of teaching.I have a financial that will handle your payment for you while i am away to pick him home.I look forward to read a detailed message from you containing the following information."

So, I was excited to teach this young tsunami victim from Japan as he eases his way into American life, asking what verbal skills he possesses and how much help he needs with his Math.

Then, I was sitting at lunch with my friend, Josh, telling him about the opportunity:

"I got a job tutoring a young dude from Japan," I devulged.
"Nice, in Blacksburg?" he asked.
"Yeah, they'll be moving here soon. The guy wants to pay me in advance, though."
"Awesome! So, are they both from Japan?"
"I think so...well, I don't know, actually."
"What did the guy say when you talked to him?"
"Umm...he said, well-- I haven't actually talked to him so much as e-mailing him," I answered. Suddenly, I knew where this line of questioning was leading, so I offered, "It does sound a bit too good to be true, right?"
Josh laughed, "It's not worth worrying about, Whoppahead!"
---

Fast-forward to the next day when I got a message from the 'dad':

"How are you doing today and thanks for the respose towards the job also my son said hi to you because i already told him about you the new tutor, i got your email with the provided informations and showing interest wanting to work as a tutor. I will like you to get updated and come to an agreement before i proceed with any further arrangement,my son and i are going to be in the city on the 13th of May and we do have our financier in the state who is going to handle the payment of your service like i told you in my previous email by issuing out a payment of $1,982 and you will have to take out your first week service advance payment which is $710 and you will be helping to buy a greendot moneypak pin which will be use for necessary arrangement for the books and other materials to teach him and you can buy the greendot moneypak pin at walmart,So i need to be sure if you are in good mood to accept with this before i let our financier to send the payment to you."

Let's review a few red-flags:

1.) No one from any significant metropolitan area has ever reffered to Blacksburg, VA as a city.
2.) Promising large sums of money without speaking to someone first is a dumb idea.
3.) The guy did not say anything specific to this area: town name, library name, or even the state name.
4.) This one's the best: this Japanese father's name?

"I am Anthony Walterman."
---

So, word to the wise: beware of scammers on internet job sites!

Bye Bye, Bud

This morning marked the final class in the illustrious career of Dr. James I. "Bud" Robertson.

In addition to being his final class, it was also the first college classroom in which I felt underdressed, as dozens of Dr. Robertson's colleagues, family, and friends came out to support him and witness his final class, wearing ties and blazers in stark contrast to the military uniforms of the CORPS members and mid-week t-shirts and shorts worn my a majority of the students.

I was there to see greatness complete a great work.

"Today caps off 57 years in the classroom for me, which is truly humbling," Dr. Robertson remarked as he began his lecture, which lasted only about 25 minutes. He went on to thank everyone for being present.

"Especially my wife," he said as he glanced up at her in the first row.

Dr. Robertson has been teaching Civil War and Reconstruction at Virginia Tech for a majority of his 57-year teaching career and has decided to retire from teaching, although his efforts as a Civil War historian will continue unimpeded with the Virginia Sesquicennial Conference at Virginia Tech later this month.

Dr. Robertson is the author of 18 major works, including Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend, which won eight national awards in 1997.

During his lecture, Dr. Robertson focused on the end of the Civil War, namely the surrender of General Lee's men to U.S. Grant and the Union. He mentioned how cordial and formal of an affair it was, the difficult but necessary reuniting of a nation.

He also shared about the importance of remembering veterans and honoring their memory, quoting Dwight Eisenhower's address at a commemorative event held in the 1930s, "there's something about these fields that stays here," referring to the Civil War battlefields that are now national treasures.

The room erupted in applause after the lecture, along with which he also applauded.

After a slide show of pictures of Civil War veterans, Dr. Robertson's closed with a short, but poignant remark:

"And that was the Civil War.
Thank you so much for being here-- God bless."