Life is built out of the quality of your thoughts and ideas. I like to collect thoughts, others and mine. Sometimes I don’t remember which are mine and which are someone else’s. I figure unless I am really deliberately plagiarizing they shouldn’t have been thinking around me to begin with.

Here are some new ideas I have been struck with this week. They aren’t profound but they have a little life in them. They are good leadership thoughts or personal growth thoughts. You choose how they fit.

My first thought comes right out of the book of Proverbs. The writer tells us to look at the ant and learn from his ways (Prov. 6:6). I was reading a book on nine traits of successful people and one of the chapters was about this theme. I shared a common experience with the author. I owned an ant farm when I was a youngster. If you never owned one they were a clear plastic frame with white sand in it. You bought the ant colony and placed them in the farm. You could then watch them dig and carry and build tunnels. They looked so happy at it.

I nearly wiped out the farm when I caught some red ants in the back yard and introduced them to the farm. A ferocious fight ensued. Eventually the red ants were out-numbered and proceeded to be food for the original tribe.

If you watch ants you will notice they build amazing structures one little grain of sand at a time. The just go step-by-step building as they go. Investing in your life works best this way. A life is built like an ant hill one grain at a time.

I was lazing back in my office chair thinking about how God provides for a life. And how you know when God has really taken you on as his friend. I thought about the great attempts I had made in life at achieving significant things. I concluded the best things that ever happened to me were not the things I had tried to do but rather those things that had been prepared for me.

The best things in life are prepared for you not by you.

Is the conflict really worth it? That’s a question I have been asking myself the last twenty years. A friend of my says, “Doug don’t get crucified on a toothpick wait for the cross.” I actually like conflict. Not as much as I used to. But I like a strong exchange of thought and opinion. Not everyone does so I have to measure it out carefully.

But I keep thinking change is a good thing. But if it’s not done the right way it often just isn’t worth it. Is tossing the old carpet that ten people bought and sacrificed for ten years ago worth it? Or should you take a few steps to pull it off.

I think Pastors should have far more authority than most churches will give them. Churches that grow and are most effective are predominately run as oligarchies. This word means the rule of the qualified few. I have found despite a great deal of maneuvering room a good leaders learns to pick the fights. Parents that are peaceful happy parents learn to pick the fights too.

I have asked myself several times this week. Is it really worth it? Should I save my energy? Maybe they’ll forget anyway.

Doing nothing is some times the hardest thing to do. Sometimes the most effortful work is just waiting. I have thought that some of the hardest exercises of faith mean just not saying anything or doing anything. Quietly praying, smiling and believing just may be the heavy lifting for the hour.

I am a reformed worry-wart. Like all addictions it reemerges sometimes. Worry and fear always cause a lot of kinetic activity on my part. I just have urges to do things, send emails and call people. But then the best things that ever happen are those times when I am too tired to worry and things just happen anyway.

I sat through a prayer meeting once and I had a light go on toward the end. I thought, “these people are trying to get God as worried as they are.” I made a list today of all the things I need to work harder at doing nothing at. Of course this is likely not a good idea for lazy people but it works great for workaholic worry-warts.

The final thought that penetrated me this week was stimulated by something another friend said. We were discussing leadership and specifically how treacherous it is when a leader has to be liked by all. My friend said, “being a leader means upsetting the right people not the wrong ones.” The lights went on. I often just get people upset with me randomly. I think I need to learn to be selective and deliberate about it. I came up with two or three people that I need to have upset with me. They need it. And the work I am trying to advance does too.

So there is my little list of thoughts from the boiler room. They might make some great material for a few sermons. But I probably will have more thoughts by then. I am reading a book right now that has handed me two killer ideas already. I am storing them up for you for a later date.