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26 November 2012

Baby Steps on the Plane

I'm assuming that the people who read this blog most likely also receive our newsletter. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this last issue of the Long Lifeline announced plans to eventually return to Hungary and continue ministry.

The last two years have been rough ones for us, but at the end of the day one truth remains; the passion, the same passion that I came out of the shower with 8 years ago is still there. In all honesty there are a lot of questions that have to be answered, plans that have to be ironed out, doors that have to be opened, but at the end of the day the objective remains the same. We plan on returning to Hungary.

The how's and when's still have to be precisely worked out for two reasons:
   1.  Grant hasn't yet reached all of his milestones for therapy. He is doing very well and the therapists seem        
        please with his progress, but he still has to finish strong.
   2.  I promised OMS that I would see this project in leadership development through to the end, and I need
        to honor that commitment. So I continue putting together the program.

The other side of returning is funding. Honestly we did lost a substantial amount of support when we returned from Hungary. Most of it was policy related and not personally, we understand that, but most people don't just save your place in line when it comes to support. There are other great missionaries with great opportunities, so our support has already been re-pledged to others.

All of the financial pieces really bring into focus the idea of tent-making. In some ways this would be ideal, working to supplant part of our support. But at the same time, there are drawbacks there as well. Knowing which route to take is really one of trusting God and allowing him to open the right door. Regardless, we don't doubt the destination. The time frame and support, our son's needs, all of these things while they remain a little hazy will be worked out in the right time. We're hoping around a year, but that timing is unknown completely for now.

Thank you dear reader, for being a part of this journey, you are more important than you know.

God Bless,
Jonathan


24 October 2012

Happenings...

As missionaries one of the biggest challenges for us personally has been in leaving behind the life of perceived financial security and stepping out in faith for our support. It really has been a blessing though as God has taught us much about trusting and relying on Him. Our faith has been expanded by all the little miracles and ways that God has provided.

There are many different ways in which missionaries raise their support and it's great that we have many tools in the toolbox for sharing God's direction in our lives and the important visions that he's laid on our hearts. I think though that the greatest lesson I've learned through deputation has been that deputation IS ministry. Traveling with 3 kids can wear you out, logging so many miles on our van can really kill your resale value, but  I can't tell you how many times we've been blessed and encouraged through the opportunities we've had to share at churches.

We've been traveling a lot lately and in the last 2 1/2 months I've spent 30 days in the Pennsylvania and New York region casting visions and asking the Lord to raise up our support. But during this time we've met amazing people that have been blessed as we have by sharing with them. We've shared with youth and young adults about missions and have heard back reports of kids still talking about our time with them. I had the opportunity to laugh, share, and even cry with people in PA. I was able to cast a vision for missions in NY. While we are raising support to continue our ministry at home and abroad, we appreciate how God uses this time of deputation to minister not only to us, but those whom we speak to. 

Fund raising IS ministry.

This next year we have to raise more support and will continue to travel and share to groups from one to a thousand about the tremendous ways God is leading us. Please pray for us as we travel that we would be safe and that He would speak through us. If God may be calling you to support our ministry through faith promise, please drop us an email at long4hungary@aol.com.

Onward and Upward,
The Longs

10 September 2012

Leadership in the Face of Fear

"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon." Judges 7:17,18

I remember the first fight that I ever got into. I was in fifth grade and can only say that it did not go my way. First off, her name was Nicole. I know, I know, I got beat up by a girl, but the first thing you must know is that she was like 6', 220 in fifth grade, and secondly, I never fought back. Dad has always warned me about what would happen to me if I hit a girl, so I just stood there in the corner of the playground at Sandstone Elementary in Billings, MT and took my pummeling for the penalty of losing her mechanical pencil she loaned me. The fight ended when I finally blurted out that I would buy her a new one. Weeks later I found out she actually liked me....women have a funny way of expressing interest sometimes.

I had been afraid. She had warned me earlier in the day that she would be waiting for me. I thought about telling a teacher, but embarrassment kept me from saying anything. I certainly wasn't going to tell my other guy friends. So I made my way out the back doors that I usually left, hoping that somehow she wouldn't be there, scared to death, feeling impending doom. She was there.

Have you ever felt like that? Maybe it wasn't a freakishly large girl, but rather a task that you had to or a speech you had to give. What it was, it's gnawing at your gut, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, under prepared, facing certain doom.

Early this week I was re-reading some portions in Judges that I've been thinking about in regards to the difference leadership makes in others. As I read through the account of Gideon, I tried to identify, not so much with Gideon, but the other 300 men he was leading. The account reminds me of another character leading 300 men, Leonidas, though this account ends differently.

Imagine that you're part of a 32,000 man army, getting ready to do battle with the Midianites. This wasn't clean 'war-movie' battle either, this would be a stab or be stabbed battle, with spears flying and blood everywhere. Where people get mixed up and the next fatal blow could come unforeseen from behind. Oh yeah, you're facing an army of 135,000 in front of you. You're outnumbered 4 - 1.

Then, just when you thought that was bad, Gideon says that anyone who is afraid can leave, and 22,000 of your fellow soldiers go home. Did you hear him right? He's going to let 22,000 men leave his already badly outnumbered army. You're outnumbered 13.5 - 1.

Then Gideon takes you all down to the water for a drink, and you and 299 other guys drink the water lifting it to your mouths. You're not animals you know. Suddenly everyone else is sent home, and it's you and those same 299 guys that Gideon is going into battle with. You're outnumbered 450 - 1.

Those kinds of odds are enough to send the bravest men running for the hills. But that's not what happens. What happens is God delivers the Midianites into the hands of Gideon, and an army of 300 defeats an army of 135,000 and sends them running for the hills mingled with the cries of "for the Lord and for Gideon."

Gideon wasn't perfect. He himself struggled with inadequacy, struggled with confidence to make such a maneuver. But once God put his head straight, he never looked back. Apparently neither did the 300 men following him. Clearly the Lord taught a lesson to the Israelites about where true might comes from, but He clearly also worked through Gideon, and his men who had confidence in him. God raises up earthly leaders to accomplish his goals and lead his men.

Are you the kind of leader that inspires your men and women to trust God no matter the odds? Do they trust you? Do the trust the vision God has given you? Like Gideon's army some will be too afraid, some will not be suited or prepared, but if God has given you a vision, He will accomplish it for you and through you, no matter the odds.


05 September 2012

Millennial's Defined

Apologies for the delay. Over the last two months we've been traveling and working through some changes with setting up house in Greenwood. The blog fell to the back of the list. Not an excuse, just an explanation.

Dates vary, but if you were born after 1978 you are considered to be a millennial. If you were born before this time, than chances are you work with, or perhaps manage millennial employees. To the baby-boomer generation millennial employees seem to be high-maintenance, needy employees, while to the millennial, the baby-boomer seems to be stuck in their ways, and frankly, 'old fashioned'.

Regardless of what the generations think of each other, the reality is that a generational hand-off is coming. The world is facing the largest retirement boom in the next ten years, and that little 'brat' down in sales will probably be running a company some day, but will it be your company? Only if you can face a few truths.

1. The era of going to work for GM for 30 years is over. Today, Millennial age workers are more mobile than ever in the history of the world, and that mobility includes their employment. Once you hire someone, it's not a slam dunk. The recruitment process continues to keep that employee with your company. It's cheaper to keep a happy employee, than continually hire new ones to replace the ones you are not satisfying.

2.  Filling your leadership pipeline is not purely an issue of experience. Experience and wisdom are clearly linked, but people often equate experience with solid leadership, and experience has proven many times to be a poor indicator of leadership. If you're going to have a leadership pipeline that will meet your needs, it won't come from simply keeping employees, but INTENTIONALLY developing them for those roles in the future. Oh, and guess what, intentional development is one of those things that will help you keep your employees, because millennial workers don't just want it, they demand it, and they will find another company or organization to get it.

Here's the deal. Religious workers aren't any different. I heard recently a statistic that 80 percent of pastoral trained workers will not be working in their field of training in five years. On the missions side of things, I can sit here and easily outnumber my fingers with the number of 30 somethings that I know who have left mission agencies for one reason or another and have either left altogether, or gone to a different agency.

The reality is that mission agencies have to do a good job of managing and leading our people. God may call people to missions, but it's less often that we hear that He's called them to an organization, and there are more organizations out there than ever. If a millennial feels that their impact is muted with one organization, or that they aren't progressing forward, they can, and will leave.

So here are three suggestions for leading millennials in missions or business.

1.  Communicate - They are the Facebook generation. A recent poll of 1000 millennials found that 60% expected to hear from their boss once a day. A top reason that 90% did not expect to be with their organization in 10 years was because of a 'lack of communication.'

2. Win their favor, but don't cross the line from advocate to friend. - Millennials will have many friends, but only one boss. The chief reasons millennials will stay at a company is also the chief reason they leave.....the boss. People most often stay for somebody, or leave because of somebody. This also goes back to communication because millennials expect their boss to be close and in the know, but their boss, not their buddy.

3.  Millennials need several things to work on. - Believe it or not it's estimated the millennials are 10X better multi-taskers than the previous generation. Forcing a millennial to work in the same manner as you do will drive them nuts. They are impatient, but quick learners. They will take orders well, but don't care for mindless busy work. They are team oriented and don't see themselves as independent agents.

These are some practical tips for that are pretty well documented all over the internet and generally agreed upon. As a mission agency, we are working to be better at leading and developing our younger employees, because they will be OMS in the future.

Hopefully we will have some things to announce in the near future. I will be taking this blog from a 'leadership' orientation, back towards a ministry orientation and would like to transition is as a tool for regular updates on what we're up to beyond just the Emerging Leadership Initiative. More to come!!

Jonathan






19 June 2012

The Emerging Leader

'Emerging Leadership' is a new buzz topic these days. When I first began working on developing the Emerging Leadership Program for OMS, I had barely scratched the surface on what's been written on the topic. I've since found that emerging leadership is becoming a hot topic at many of today's companies. I recently talked with a representative who worked for a subsidiary of one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies that expressed that they were grappling with the topic in his office just that same week.

As cultures change, companies and even non-profit organizations are forced to adjust their human resource and sometimes even corporate strategies to deal with the differences in cultures. A large cultural shift took place between the 'Greatest Generation' to mid Gen X, and again between mid-Gen X and the Millennial generations.

So how do we define an emerging leader today? Let's start with a look around the business or non-profit world for other definitions of emerging leaders, and then I will share with you mine.

Some organisations define emerging leaders by age. They make the assumption that all of the people working for the organization are leaders, or capable of leading, therefore the defining factor is built on the age of the person. A year ago, during a private conversation with the president of the Banana Republic clothing store company, a colleague of mine asked about the types of employees that he is looking for. "First and foremost, I'm looking for leaders." he replied. But is everyone that works at Banana Republic, or any organization a leader? Would that organization be healthy?


Other organizations are suggest that age is not a factor, but that the gift of leadership is 'emerging'. It was suggested during a recent conversation that a 60 year old man could change positions that allowed him to use his leadership skills and therefore would be 'emerging' as a leader.


I have a hard time buying into this line of thinking though because everyone has a need to work within their gifting. It's hard to imagine that a person could go through a career as a genuine leader, and not have had that skill or attribute recognized or revealed itself prior to this experience. Spending ones life as someone gifted in another area, only to find out that you've had the gift of leadership all along, and were unaware of it until its emergence years later seems unlikely to me. Leadership is a quality that generally self-identifies whether the leader is aware of it or not. 


I found yet another organization that used the term 'emerging leader' to represent any individual who had donated $1000 and contribute 20 hours of volunteer time. Clearly this is a misuse of the term in my mind, but this non-profit is one of the largest in the United States, so perhaps they know something I don't. How about this, why doesn't everyone who is reading this send me $1000 dollars, and donate 20 hours of your time to OMS and we'll see if the term fits.


The reality I think is that all the answers above are correct in some way. I think that emerging leaders are leaders first, by this I mean that they have the natural gift to lead, motivate and inspire people toward a common goal. Secondly, their leadership gifts are in an 'emerging state', which isn't necessarily bound by age, but I tend to believe that that vast majority of individuals whose leadership gifts are 'emerging' will be identified probably by their mid 30's, some much younger than that.

The point of this is that emerging leaders are men and women who have been gifted with a natural leadership ability that currently is in it's raw or emerging state. These young men and women are in need of development to become tomorrow's leaders, and that begins with an intentional, well thought out plan that consists of a combination of both teaching and refining professional skills, and personal growth development.

This is what we're developing at OMS.

In my next blog post I will tackle the agreed upon characteristics of emerging leaders and how they are different from their parents and grand-parents generation of leaders.

God Bless,
Jonathan

Apologies for Delay

Back in 2008 I had the joy of experiencing a gallbladder attack. This gut wrenching experience left we with a tremendous soreness, and while the Dr's couldn't say for certain my gallbladder was failing (based on tests), they wanted to yank it out. 

I was reluctant to have my gallbladder pulled with a 'smoking gun', so I elected to live on with the occasional pain until a week ago last Friday when testing confirmed it was indeed diseased and had to come out. I am happy to report that I'm doing fine, and healed enough at least to sit at my desk and be productive.

Now back to the blog....

-Jonathan

18 June 2012

Family Life

Greetings (from Corinne, this time!)
I wanted to take a moment and to say "THANK YOU" for all the prayers and questions regarding Grant and his therapy. Quickly, I will say that we are seeing huge progress being made in several areas of his life. However, we have lots of challenges still. Because this blog has been designed to keep you updated on our ministry, I have been hesitant to write post after post about our kids or things going on in our family life. SO... I have decided to start a separate blog to contain all of those personal rambles. The Long Lifeline blog page will continue to function as a ministry update (with primary writing by Jonathan) and To Live a Long Life will be a place to keep updated on our family and our kids (primarily written by Corinne). We welcome you to check it out and follow Grant and our journey there.

God Bless,
Corinne, Mommy/Missionary

29 May 2012

What is Leadership

I had a recent conversation in which the goal was to accurately define leadership. This is a harder task than it may seem at first because leadership is often a subject on which most people have their own definition. This doesn't make them right or wrong, but simply suggests that everyone has experienced leadership, good or bad, and has come away with their own modified definition.

On this particular afternoon the question of defining what leadership is, turned quickly to defining what leadership isn't. One person shared that leadership is not consensus taking. "It's not putting your finger in the air and seeing what people want to do," they said emphatically,"anyone can take a poll, that's not leadership."

Most of the group nods their heads.

Sometimes it's easier to say what something isn't, than to define it. So for about 20 minutes are little motley group shared experiences with leadership, frustrations and victories, but mostly talked about what leadership is not.

So what is leadership? I will give you my definition. You don't even need a pen to write this down...it's one word.

Influence.

Leaders have a natural ability to influence others. This isn't born of position because many people in 'leadership' positions today, across both the non-profit and for-profit worlds, aren't leaders at all. A job title doesn't make you anything. 

I asked someone recently about how you can identify a leader. They responded, "put five people in a room and give them a project. In fifteen minutes you'll know who your leader is." They are the one who in very short order will have people looking to them for direction. It happens naturally and you know what...everyone is happy with it. Leadership is a gift, and it's just one of many. Others who bring different skills to the party look to leaders. When someone has confidence in their leadership, when they know that they are serving their needs and have given them the greatest opportunity for success, they thrive great things happen.

I can put a gun to someone's head and demand their wallet, but this isn't influence it's coercion. Some people lead this way, using fear and intimidation to achieve their goals. But pure leadership draws in people, it creates something that people flock to, want to be a part of. Real leadership will have real followers. John Maxwell once wrote in his book 'The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership', "He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is taking a walk." Robert Greenleaf, the creator of the Servant Leadership concept has said that the 'only test of leadership is the evidence of followers."

Leaders have followers, otherwise your not leading. In our society where leaders are often celebrated its tempting for people to try and take on the mantle or convince themselves that they are leading when in fact they aren't exercising anything of the sort.

Every person brings unique and important skills to the party, and humility should be a hallmark of leadership. Good employees should recognize their own skills, and good leaders should praise and value those skills. It's when everyone is working in their strengths that great things are accomplished. 





15 May 2012

What is emerging leadership?

Take a moment and Google 'leadership'. Go ahead, I'll wait. I know right....594,000,000 results.  Amazing! Leadership is one of the most talked about, and I thought often misunderstood topics. Thousands of books, millions of seminar hours, blogs (ahem), websites, have been dedicated to the subject of what leadership is, what good leadership looks like, and who leaders are.

Now imagine adding another dimension.  'Emerging.' What is an emerging leader?  It doesn't seem that there is all that much consensus on that either. Some focus on the 'emerging', others on the 'leader'.  Others ignore both and come up with crazy definitions that are clearly focused only on using a popular term to market themselves. One large non-profit organization that most everyone in the US knows has defined 'emerging leader' as someone who donates more than $1000 dollars and volunteers 20 hours of their time. If anyone of you would like to become 'Emerging Leaders' in my financial support, I'll be happy to sign you up! Fantastic!

The next two blog posts will be focused on the subject of Emerging Leadership. First, what is Leadership? Then Secondly, what is an Emerging Leader?  I understand that this is just another drop in the leadership ocean and I'm sure that everyone could provide their opinion or take, but I will try and synthesize together my research into one consistent definition. Just understand that like all 594,000,000 other thoughts out there on leadership, that this is my take on it.

    

08 May 2012

Introducing ELI

I would like to introduce you to ELI, or the Emerging Leadership Initiative.  OMS has launched this initiative with a recognition that God has blessed us with a generation of new leaders coming through our doors every day. As a 111 year old organization, we know that OMS is bigger than any single generation, and if OMS is to exist in another 111 years it will be because we've successfully managed the transition of the mantle of leadership between generations.

With every generation comes different opportunities and challenges. Each generation is unique and leadership must find a way to engage each successive generation in a creative and relevant manner while holding fast to the core values that have built the organization. 

With this in mind ELI was designed as an initiative to address the needs of emerging leaders today and help train and equip new leadership to step into vital roles as OMS continues growing. Last year OMS realized over 600,000 decisions for Christ, and almost 6,000 churches planted. Tremendous results but we want more, and to get there we understand we'll need the right people, in the right places, doing the right things.

Over the next couple years I have been given an opportunity to work with top leadership and create a development plan to help refine our raw and not-so-raw leadership to rise and meet the challenges that OMS will face in the coming years.  What an awesome opportunity.

I will of course be discussing leadership and development, as well as Hungary and foreign ministry regularly on this blog.  I would appreciate your prayers and support as we begin this awesome initiative.

God Bless,
Jonathan Long

05 April 2012

Can you hear me now?

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the cellular phone commercials that made this phrase popular. If you have ever owned a cell phone or used a cell phone in a rural area, you may have found yourself using the phrase as you move from spot to spot trying to gain reception. It can be immensely frustrating when you are trying to communicate something important and your call keeps being dropped.

I have to admit, sometimes I find myself asking God the same question. After days or weeks of unanswered prayers, it is easy to become discouraged and find yourself searching for a better connection. If God could hear me, why hasn't he answered me? 

Just a few weeks ago our little NoƩmi was born and following her birth I began to have very high blood pressure. The doctor assured me that within a few weeks or months, my blood pressure should return to it's normal level, but in the meantime I was placed on medication and told to "rest as much as you can." Well, any mother knows "rest" is virtually impossible with a newborn and two small children at home, but on the couch I lay. I felt pretty exhausted and miserable and when Jonathan had to travel away for a mission conference, I felt horribly discouraged. I was praying each day (many times a day) that God would heal me from the high blood pressure, so I could get back to a more normal activity level and to meet the needs of my family. But day after day, it seemed to creep higher and higher despite an increase in medication.

Jonathan called me on Saturday evening after the services at the mission conference and told me he had shared with the congregation about my health and they had anointed him in my absence. Hearing this gave me a bit of hope that maybe God would move in some fashion, but Sunday morning I woke up to even higher numbers. Sunday we also asked our small group at church to pray (incidentally, we have been doing a study on prayer in the group) and again I thought "Ok, God. Can you hear me now?" Monday came and went with no change. Tuesday morning was my scheduled check up with the doctor. When I arrived at the office, I was so surprised to hear my blood pressure was completely normal - Praise God!

It may seem like a small and insignificant answer to prayer to some people, but it was HUGE to me. Beginning that very day, I started to feel more like myself and was able to start returning to my normal routine. God answered everyone's prayers with a miracle in my life. I'm not sure why He chose to answer their prayers on a Tuesday morning at the doctors office instead of the many days before that I had knelt before Him at home, but I know that I was able to share this testimony with those others that prayed for my healing and it has been a great encouragement to everyone.

In thinking of the cell phone call, it occurred to me that some times I am on the other end of the line...I hear the other person emphatically repeating "Can you hear me now?" Often I am even responding "YES! I can hear you!" I realized that God is on the other end of the line telling me the same thing! I CAN HEAR YOU!!  I just have to trust He is there and He is listening.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)

Being heard,
Corinne

16 March 2012

Our special delivery

The Long Family is so excited to announce our special delivery has arrived! We welcomed... 


NoƩmi Grace Long
3/5/12 @ 7:58pm
9 lbs, 1 oz.
20 1/4 inches


The labor and delivery was uncomplicated and quick and NoĆ©mi is perfect. Her big brothers are completely in love with their little sister! She seems to be very laid back and doesn't cry or fuss much at all. She even sleeps through the loud squeals and commotion that come with 6 and 3 year old siblings! 

Corinne's recovery has been good, but she could use her prayers as she deals with high blood pressure following delivery. It has required her to be much less active than she would prefer and we are praying that the issue resolves quickly.

We appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, and well wishes from each and every one of you, and look forward to sharing more photos with you in our next newsletter.

Proud Parents,
Jonathan and Corinne

20 February 2012

Life in the Circus

On February 29th, 1960, Cartoonist Bil Keane began drawing his iconic cartoon strip "The Family Circus".  Now syndicated in over 1500 newspapers and media outlets world-wide, Keene's funny glimpses into a fairly normal, yet funny, family are now the widest reaching cartoon strip in the world.  His son Jeff, who is featured in the daily strip has taken on the role as artist now, so its safe to say that the Circus will go on.

I've always described the missionary life as a circus.  Not in a derogatory way, of course, but in the manner in which life is lived.  The circus life is one of constant variety, weeks filled with big changes, and always something going on in Center Ring.  Constantly changing geography, languages, cultures, ways of communicating messages typify this life.

I grew up this way.  I'm 32 years old now and I still feel an alarm clock going off in my head every year or two telling me it's time to pack up and go someplace completely different, much to the chagrin of my wife. I got very used to saying goodbye to friends, making new ones quickly, and only putting down enough roots to survive, but not so much that you can't dig them back up again.  I was very much the carnie in school as a kid as I was the only one in my high school that had traveled to over 20 different countries, experienced a variety of exciting adventures, and I quickly understood that other kids couldn't relate, so why try.  

Please don't misunderstand me though, I don't regret a bit of it.  I've sometimes heard from others that we should somehow be pitied for all the change and travel, but I don't view it that way at all.  Firstly, I didn't know anything else, so that was normal to me.  Secondly, I have had the opportunity to see things that people inside and outside the church dream of.  I've been to twenty something countries on three different continents, I've seen revival break out, and experienced miracles and wonders.  Sure I didn't go to school with the same kids K-12, but honestly....most days...I kinda pitied them.  I think for kids, they'll think what you tell them.  I'm sure if my parents had told us that we were somehow missing out, we probably would have thought it so, but as my parents never did, I have never come to that conclusion on my own.

I think in a way maybe this is why many missionary kids come back to missions.  It's as though God has hard wired us for this life. Six months ago I was a funded missionary living and ministering with my family in Europe.  Today, I'm an under-funded missionary living in a former parsonage in Noblesville, IN, working in an area that while within my skill set, and what appears to be God's will, is not directly related to my ministry in Hungary.  If I were 'normal' this sudden change probably would have been far more devastating than it was, but to me, this is life.  The show must go on.

My activities today include networking and fundraising in an attempt to shore up our support base.  I'm working at OMS headquarters to create a development plan for missionaries, specifically emerging leaders.  I'm getting ready to welcome my Daughter into the world in the next couple weeks or so.  I feel like there is so much going on, and you know what, I'm fine with it.  This is the circus life.  This is my life.

God makes us all for a reason, and the life experiences as I mentioned in my previous blog are not wasted.  There's a role to be played and He needs carnie's like us to play an important part in it.  

From the Center Ring,
Jonathan

07 February 2012

Nothing is Wasted

I remember writing an essay in elementary school.  As a 6th grader in Billings, MT we naturally studied a good deal of native american history, and we as a class had been assigned essays focusing on different elements in an indians life.  I can no longer remember exactly the topic I was assigned, but I recall writing and being fascinated by the fact that the indians didn't seem to waste anything.  When a buffalo was killed the pelts were turned to blankets, the meat of course eaten, and even the internal organs were used for various purposes.  Years later I saw a needle that was used for sowing made out of buffalo bone.  Indians were truly masters at using everything at their disposal.

So to it is with God.

One of the reasons that I have confidence in our direction is that I have seen God's coordination of events in our lives.  Several years ago I was quickly and accidentally thrust into leadership of the young adult program (YAM) at our church.  We worked hard at it and it was fairly successful ministry.  At the time I had no idea why I was in the role I found myself in, but years later I sat back and realized that the time I spent with the young adults laid a foundation for the next steps in my life.

Prior to YAM, I had never done public speaking.  As a missionary I soon found myself speaking publicly on many occasions, often drawing on things that I had learned working with the Yammer's.  When we arrived in Hungary and founded our Young Adult and Youth Programs, I drew extensively on my experience from my church.  75% of our program was similar to the program we had run stateside.

Later when I began to work on my MBA, my experience speaking publicly in both YAM and on the fund raising trail helped me excel in my speaking opportunities and develop a decent reputation as a public speaker.

It's so much easier to see God's hand in things when you're looking backwards.  Standing in Hungary looking at the various tasks we had, my leadership in YAM suddenly came into focus.  So many things became obvious.  I could suddenly see how my experiences in Hungary in 1993-94 were a part of our ministry.  I could see how my time in leadership of young adults ministries were not only for those young adults, but helped me know how to work in Hungary.

Today I look back and I realize that the MBA that God led me to in Hungary (answering three fleeces and making it obvious), played into where I am right now.  We are engaged in the questions of leadership and management, personal and professional development of our missionaries, and I realize what the MBA was all about (and I suspect far more than I even realize now).  Had I not gone through that time in my life, I would have been ill prepared and most likely not even working in the capacity that I am now.  How encouraging it is to find areas of your life that you didn't realize were so intentionally placed.  The string through my life continues.

So today, if you find yourself doing something for God that doesn't seem to make much sense or you feel isn't worthwhile.  Hold on, you can't see the big picture now, but in this world, when we yield all to God, Nothing is Wasted.

10 January 2012

New Year, New Direction, New Life

Happy 2012.  I don't know about you but I'm still not used to writing 2012 yet.  Traditionally a New Year brings a lot of optimism and 'resolutions' with it.  Health goals, financial goals, spiritual goals, and the like are launched in early January with a hope and prayer of change.  As I think about the future and directions, it occurs to me that we have some amazing things to look forward to in the first quarter of this year, and these things actually will happen, unlike giving up ice cream for example.

If you read our newsletters than you already know of some of the new changes going on this year in the Long ministry.  Grant has been diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, and while this is saddening, we praise God that it hasn't been accompanied by Autism or severe ADD which I have recently learned is often the case.  He has begun therapies with three different therapists, and we are already seeing progress.  We will update you from time to time on this blog.

As many of you know, Corinne and I are expecting our third child this Feb/Mar, and unlike our first two, this one is a girl.  As you can imagine this has brought on a lot of excitement, and suddenly I'm seeing t-shirts with dinosaurs and motorcycles giving way to pink dresses.  After two boys it seems odd shopping the other side of the aisle.  We're very excited about welcoming our baby girl soon, though for some strange reason I'm a little nervous as well.  I understand boys, I've been one....well....my whole life.  Girls are new territory, uncertain territory.  I think to some extent I know that what everyone tells me is true and that I'll soon be wrapped around a very small little finger, and maybe that adds a little nervousness as well.



New place, new life, oh....and a new role.  As you also know if you read our newsletters, I will be working with OMS leadership to develop a plan for identifying, developing and fitting leaders within OMS' 58 fields.  This position is right up my alley of interests and I'm super excited to see how I can help our organization become even better at how we manager our resources and people, which will translate to results.  In the short term we'll also be raising funds as we are not fully funded.  We also plan to return back overseas and will have to raise additional funds for that as well.  M

So as you can see, we have a lot going on this first quarter of 2012.  It's an exciting time in the Long Family and we are going to endeavor to update you through this blog on a weekly basis.  So please stay tuned to the Long Lifeline.

Jumping in to 2012,
Jonathan for the Longs