Small Things

Kari is out of town this week visiting her parents and dropping off the dog so the mutt doesn't have to stay at the vet's for several nights. We should all be as pampered as that dog...

Even so, her vacation gave me the opportunity to play golf yesterday evening with a buddy. Actually, after not having played in a month or so, I have played twice in the last four days.

Saturday, I played pretty well. Yesterday, not so much. 

While I was chasing balls all over the course, I had plenty of time to think about how golf is a great metaphor for life, ministry, and leadership in a lot of ways. The one most on my mind yesterday was the difference between greatness and desperation. 

The difference between a great golf shot and a terrible golf shot is about one centimeter, and a degree or two. If I hit the ball in the sweet spot of the club at the right angle, the ball goes where I want and I have a good day. If I miss by a centimeter or less, or leave the club face a degree or two too open, I have a day like I had yesterday. The problem is: I'm swinging the club at a pretty high rate of speed, and those details are hard to control.

Same thing in life, ministry and leadership. Life happens, ministry happens, and leadership happens at a high rate of speed; but the real difference between greatness and desperation is extraordinarily small. 

Choose a great leader. If you start looking for similarities between him/her and us, you'll find that at our core we have a lot in common. The difference is, most leaders do the small things exceptionally and consistently well.