yourheroquest.com

yourheroquest.com now has all blogs for Hero Quest.  Check it out.  Audio, written, speeches, training, tools, its all there for you.

My personal progress August 4-11, 2012

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 1120 (5 pg a day)	On page 1120
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 1344 (6 pg a day)	On page 1344
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Scripture memory	70 passages July/Aug	40
Running	35 miles a week	25
Running 2012 Overall	1212 miles by 12/12/12	564
Crunches	1000 a week	1000
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	7
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	2
Social Events	3 a quarter	2
Guy Time	10 X a quarter	4
Self Exam	3 a week	2
Book Reading	1 Book a week	0
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	15
Paid Speaking	3 a quarter	2
Date with Cara	3 a quarter	2
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

This will be the last week that I will be posting my blogs here.  Starting next week you will find this blog and so much more on yourheroquest.com.  The website already is up and running so check it out.  There are resources that you can download for free to help your journey toward becoming a hero.  My hope is to also begin including audio blogs.  Listen in to learn more about how to live heroically.
This week was not bad as far as my goals go.  I really didn't meet most of them but did make some progress in getting my motivation back.  Look for big numbers and real growth next week.
It is my hope to not only raise my standards of success but to encourage others to do the same.  Many of the ladies that I work with at the shelter simply have accepted the lies that they have been told.  These include that they are ugly, stupid, can't work, will always fail and a whole host of other derogatory names that they have been called over the years.  The reality is that these women are incredible in so many ways and I hope through conversations, through the audio blogs and in any way that I can to communicate that they are of great value.

Hero Quest Chapter 3 Part 6

Somewhere he had heard that if you look at your dreams at least twelve times a day that your odds of accomplishing them would go up.  He also took opportunity to read through some Scripture cards that he had on a small ring.  Again, these red lights were simply opportunities to refresh him, and remind him of where he was going.  While inside, John was still a little nervous about whatever Jesus had been warning him about. A smile spread unexpectedly on his face. 

“Today I will get to see miracles!  Today I will see God act and move in awesome and unexpected ways…”  Now where did that come from?”  Sheepishly John looked around at the cars also stopped at the light to make sure that no one else heard him and think him too strange.  John breathed in deeply when he parked the car at the Shelter and braced himself for whatever lay ahead.

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            Sarah examined herself in the shower.  “Where did these marks come from? They look like spider bites or something. Weird.”  It was early, too early to be up and about.  But Sarah was now working for Mike.  The evening was most profitable but it was also filled with dangers.  She had her kids to think about.  Liberally, she applied make up.  The kids could stay with their dad.  He should be here soon.

Sarah picked out the perfect dress for working and went in search of her kids.  As she walked through the mounds of people still sleeping she felt a slight panic at not knowing where the kids were.  Her anxiety was about to peak into an angry outburst when a sleepy woman grabbed her. 

“They were eating my cereal and they woke me up.  They are in the basement, the little brats.”  Sarah glared at the woman.  After calling her a few names she punched her in the face.  That seemed to wake her right up and in moments the whole house was alive with chants and excitement.  Nothing gets the house going like a good girl fight.  Sarah gave the woman a few kicks for good measure and then went to retrieve her precious children from the basement. 

Real life at the Shelter this past week!

Weekly highlights

Monday July 30:   One of our guests was disruptive in small group this evening.  She decided that she was too ill too be in the small group when she was confronted with the behavior.  She did pull it together after the conversation.  A woman who is on our overflow list tried a couple of times to check in to overflow hoping that new staff or guest assistants would miss her on our list, but was turned away both times.        

Tuesday July 31:   One of our guests is struggling due to the fact that the father of her child is not really taking care of the child.  She is only allowed visits so this is difficult for her.

Wednesday August 1:    Lots of drama after small group tonight.  There was much emotion.  One of the challenges of the group was a young lady who had relapsed was a distraction.  Ultimately she was invited to use phase II (dinner, bed, breakfast but no place to leave stuff for the day)  By morning though she was offered overflow only.

Thursday August 2:    One of our moms who has been in and out of the shelter several times over the past few months was out of the room and her two year old daughter was left alone.  When the mom was confronted she said that she didn’t know that she had to keep her daughter with her.  Knowing that she has been at the shelter enough to know the policy we knew that she was not telling the truth.  During each of her stays she played the “I didn’t know card” on multiple occasions so this time she was asked to leave.  She has phase II or overflow available to her.

Friday August 3:  Two ambulances in less than 30 minutes.  One of our singles was caught stealing food (Two large bags of shelter food) so was asked to leave.  This single had a propensity for drama so she was already on the verge of being asked to leave and this just made it more concrete.          

Weekend:  Multiple hospital visits by our guests.  Some of our guests are working through the challenges of getting to and from work as well as child care while they work.

General comments: Overall this week was filled with drama and emotion but much that is too unconcrete to fully document.  Pray for the ladies of the shelter that God would work in their hearts.         

    

Current Crisis Shelter Purpose Statement:

 The Crisis Shelter for Women and Children exists to increase the impact of our ministries of rescue, recovery and restoration by partnering with staff, volunteers and donors.  We will do this by meeting basic needs in a safe, clean, temporary shelter, with instruction and guidance for life transformation in a healing environment

My personal progres July 29- August 4, 2012

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 1085 (5 pg a day)	On page 1086
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 1302 (6 pg a day)	On page 1306
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Scripture memory	40 passages by July 31	30
Running	35 miles a week	26
Running 2012 Overall	1212 miles by 12/12/12	539
Crunches	1000 a week	2000
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	7
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	0
Social Events	3 a quarter	2
Guy Time	10 X a quarter	4
Self Exam	3 a week	3
Book Reading	1 Book a week	2
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	14
Paid Speaking	3 a quarter	0
Date with Cara	3 a quarter	2
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

I feel like I am starting to get caught up on many of my goals for the year.  I read two books this week.  One reinforced my own belief that in order to continue to be a leader you must never stop growing.  The other was on strategy and it is shaping my thinking toward where I take the Shelter as well as my Hero Quest dreams.
I have had difficulty waking up in the morning this week.  Maybe I am losing a bit of motivation or maybe my body is just tired.  It could also be the fact that all three of my kids and even my wife have been sick this week so my body is fighting off the germs that are floating around.  Regardless I am going to need to pick it up pretty soon if I am going to pull off all of my goals.

Hero Quest Chapter 3 Part 5

Sunflowers and bright colors greeted guests all around the small cozy dining room.  Quietly, each woman poured herself a cup of coffee and carefully looked through the variety of cereal.  Some looked through the glass doors of the fridge at the fruit.  Others made toast or simply grabbed a donut and hurried out to the smoking area.  Most mornings were like this, little conversation; but peaceful security all around them.  Two women hurried through all dressed for the day.  They had appointments or jobs.  Most were still in pajamas.  They did not seem to feel the cold.  Someone shared a story and there was laughter. 

Darlene set out the mop bucket and the cleaning rags so that chores could begin on time.  She was a little behind due to the short dramatic conversations and prayer requests for court appearances, for boyfriends in jail and demands for better movies to be played on the in house video system.  Darlene quickly moved through the morning chores while it was quiet so that she would be able to give attention to whoever would want it later in the day.

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It usually took ten minutes to get to work, but this morning it seemed to take forever.  John stopped at each red light.  A big diesel truck in front of him was blowing fumes into his economic little car and made him choke just a bit.  All of the red lights on this road used to drive John nuts.  But now he used that time to read through his dream card.  Silently he read, “Run a marathon, be a defender of women, write a book, be a professional speaker, reflect Christ and celebrate 50 years of marriage.  John took every opportunity to remind himself of his dreams. 

Somewhere he had heard that if you look at your dreams at least twelve times a day that your odds of accomplishing them would go up.  He also took opportunity to read through some Scripture cards that he had on a small ring.  Again, these red lights were simply opportunities to refresh him, and remind him of where he was going.  While inside, John was still a little nervous about whatever Jesus had been warning him about. A smile spread unexpectedly on his face. 

The latest from the Shelter July 23-29 2012

Weekly highlights

Monday July 23:  One of the singles was in an uproar.  As we investigated it became apparent that the issues had more to do with the fact that most of the room were younger ladies with the exception of one senior citizen.  We made a couple of adjustments to room assignments and much of the drama went away.  One of our newer moms began exhibiting an extremely negative attitude and then began staff shopping.  Upon investigation this was the same thing that happened during her previous stay.  She was not open to conversation so was asked to leave on Tuesday.          

Tuesday July 24:      

Wednesday July 25:  We said farewell to staff member Jerry Bishop.  Our number of singles skyrocketed throughout the day so we opened another singles room.  It was an interesting day of excuses for why folks didn’t need to look for jobs, do modules, or do chores.  The day was very emotional as a couple of our guests happen to be around people that had died during the day in separate incidents.  

Thursday July 26:    We had lots of drama around laundry today.  It was very interesting how each of the ladies could only see things through their own eyes and were not able to see how their choices were putting others behind schedule or stopping them from doing laundry.

Friday July 27:  One of our moms through a tantrum about going to church.  She also has not done modules and keeps saying that nobody tells her anything.  These items were told to her at check-in, during orientation, in writing and verbally.         

Weekend:   There were an incredible number of check-ins and check-outs over the weekend.  One event of note.  Our guest assistants did a fabulous job working with a tense situation that included the police and Child Protective Services.    

General comments:  Transition of staff has gone very well.  We are still working through a few small bumps but these are all minor.      

    

Current Crisis Shelter Purpose Statement:

 The Crisis Shelter for Women and Children exists to increase the impact of our ministries of rescue, recovery and restoration by partnering with staff, volunteers and donors.  We will do this by meeting basic needs in a safe, clean, temporary shelter, with instruction and guidance for life transformation in a healing environment.

Progress on my goals July 22-28, 2012

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 1050 (5 pg a day)	On page 1050
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 1260 (6 pg a day)	On page 1260
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Scripture memory	40 passages by July 31	30
Running	35 miles a week	26
Running 2012 Overall	1212 miles by 12/12/12	513
Crunches	1000 a week	1000
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	7
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	1
Social Events	3 a quarter	2
Guy Time	10 X a quarter	4
Self Exam	3 a week	2
Book Reading	1 Book a week	1
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	14
Paid Speaking	3 a quarter	0
Date with Cara	3 a quarter	2
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

At a personal level this was an amazing week.  I did fall short on my running miles but it was not a bad week overall.  I plan on adding more to my fitness this week with the inspiration of the Olympics I should be able to do more.  I dream of completing an Ironman in 2014.  I wonder if I can create the discipline to pull that off?  On a Spiritual level I have been touched by God.  He speaks to my heart and challanges me.  Up until now I have been mentored by great men of God.  Now He is calling me to become a mentor to younger men.  I long to see real men rise up and live to the Glory of God.  Real men who are disciplined world changers. 
I will be working this week on my next books.  Your Hero Quest will be a how to become a real world hero.  Heroic Courage will call men and women to overcome fear and impact their world.  Heroic Parenting will call parents to push through what might be the greatest challange of their lives.  Soon I will be making some adjustments to my blog as well as my web site to reflect this passion for helping to create heroes.

Hero Quest Chapter 3 Part 4

After an hour or so of prayer John went and made breakfast and got Corrina’s coffee going.  Dread filled him as he considered the words of Jesus.  “What am I doing?  I should take a sick day,” he thought to himself.  Then he shook his head.  He would face the challenge, whatever it might be.  He decided that he would learn whatever lesson God had for him and move on.  He also realized that he would not be able to exercise today.  That extra hour of sleep had wiped out that possibility.  He felt a twinge of guilt. But he also knew just like this fear was not from God, neither was this guilt. 

He would face the challenge.  He would not give up, he would not surrender.  The pep talk going in his head resounded with words from hundreds of inspiring books and movies.  He would not back down from a challenge, whether he could see what the challenge was or not.  John Hero would not hide out at home.  He would overcome his anxiety.  He would get to work and face his enemy.

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            All the kids knew is that they were hungry, and all of the adults in the place didn’t seem to notice them.  Michelle, the oldest at four, took the lead.  Quietly, Michelle showed her little brother and sister to the kitchen.  Michelle searched each cabinet carefully hoping that they would not creak.  She remembered once being beaten for waking her mom up and she was determined not to make that mistake again.  Michelle thought carefully as she examined each box.  How she wished that she was able to read.  All of these boxes looked alike.  Certainly one of these would have food in them.  Methodically she pulled out a bag with cereal in it.  She opened it and gave some to little Anton, age two.  His eyes brightened with the taste of food.  Handful after handful went into the bag, and then into his mouth.  It had been a long couple of days for him.  Susie, who had just turned three, looked at the bag and saw a bug crawling among the oat cereal and screamed. 

Footsteps pounded from around the house.  The kids were caught up in an angry swirl, and the cereal bag was ripped from Anton’s hand.  A moment later all three kids, with blustery, swollen, tear-filled eyes, found themselves in a basement bedroom.  The dirty laundry all around them was the only furniture.  Michelle was silent as she heard the door lock at the top of the stairs.  Darkness filled most of the room.  When all was again quiet, Michelle comforted her siblings as a good mother would.

Real Life at the Shelter July 16-22 2012

Weekly highlights

Monday July 16:  Seven of our ladies experienced their first day at work this morning and all came back very excited.   One of our guests, who a few weeks ago had shown herself to be unsafe for regular shelter and had been utilizing our phase II, (Bed from 5pm-8am, dinner, breakfast, evening small groups, ladies here take things with them when they leave)   found housing and was very grateful for the experience of staying with us.         

Tuesday July 17:  One of our guests became suicidal.  911 was called.  When the fire truck arrived (Spokane always sends a fire truck with ambulances)  she panicked and took off down the street.  Later it was confirmed that the fire department had found her and treated her.  It turns out that this guest had escaped from the mental hospital so she is now back where she can get some help.   

Wednesday July 18:   One of our overflow guests (mattress on the floor from 10pm-6 am) was working hard to go around the few rules that we have for that program.  She was put on that list as well.  One of our guests went to court over the phone at the shelter today.  Wow modern technology is amazing!

Thursday July 19:   Thursday was an emotional night as several of the ladies examined their hearts and entered into deep conversations with staff and volunteers.   

Friday July 20:   The trafficking victim that we had worked with several weeks ago stopped by to say hello and let us know that she is doing ok.   

Weekend:   Lots of little dramas in each of the rooms.  Many tensions among the ladies.

General comments:  This week we will complete transitioning the staff.  We now have a full staff to include a part time employee (Kathleen) will work Monday – Friday from 10 pm-2am nightly to train our guest assistants.   

    

Current Crisis Shelter Purpose Statement:

 The Crisis Shelter for Women and Children exists to increase the impact of our ministries of rescue, recovery and restoration by partnering with staff, volunteers and donors.  We will do this by meeting basic needs in a safe, clean, temporary shelter, with instruction and guidance for life transformation in a healing environment.

My personal progress July 15-21, 2012

	Target	Actually Done
Leadership Bible	Be on page 1015 (5 pg a day)	On page 1016
Faith in Action Bible	Be on page 1674 (6 pg a day)	On page 1676
Message Read Through	7 Days youversion program	On track
Scripture memory	40 passages by July 31	30
Running	35 miles a week	18
Running 2012 Overall	1212 miles by 12/12/12	487
Crunches	1000 a week	1000
Floss	7 times a week	7 Days
Face Cleaning/Lotions	7 times a week	7
I Like Book	7 times a week	7
Modules	2 a week	3
Social Events	3 a quarter	2
Guy Time	10 X a quarter	3
Self Exam	3 a week	3
Book Reading	1 Book a week	2
Evening Prayer Meeting	26 times a year	13
Paid Speaking	3 a quarter	0
Date with Cara	3 a quarter	2
Date with Rachel	1 a quarter	0

I wake up this week remembering that I am a solider at heart.  God has called me to be part of a great mission and I love it.  Even when I fall short (like in running miles this week) I am a son of the King of Kings and He has called me to fight along side of Him.  I am not to fight in front of Him or behind Him but instead right beside Him.  As the Scripture says, "Make the most of you time for the days are evil."  I will take advantage of every moment to love, to connect, to learn, to grow and to get healthy.  My passion is growing again.  Look for some changes and additions in the days to come as a result.
I read two books this week.  One was about the great warrior Hannibal.  It reminded me of many of the things that I must do as a  leader.  It gave me cautions about getting to comfortable and lax.  Again the days are evil, I must be about my Father's business.  I must be actively resting in the presence of the Lord, discovering where He is working and go do that.  I must have a Kingdom vision and pursue it despite all risks and despite all nay saying.  The future belongs to the King.