Every Monday I meet with an amazing fourth-grader. This week we began work on a model car; to see the tiny parts required me to don my reading glasses. “I know these make me look old,” I told him.

“That’s okay Mr. Dave,” he said. “You’re still cool. (pause) To me.”

So I celebrate that an old guy like me appears cool to at least one person.

As a country, America celebrates. Especially at the start of a new year, everyone can find reasons to feel positive — regardless of whether your favorite professional football team plays in big games or your political party parades into office. Consider the officially-declared possibilities for joy throughout January: National Hot Tea Month. National Soup Month. National Mentoring Month.

Everyone has a personal favorite tea flavor and can of soup, so let’s look closer at mentoring. Specifically, who needs a mentor and why should churches and attendees care?

Click here to read the rest of the article...

To give an appropriate answer is a joy; how good is a word at the right time! — Proverbs 15:23 

Estimates indicate the average adult vocabulary includes over 40,000 words. From this vast reservoir, we make thousands of combinations to articulate and share thoughts all day every day. Too frequently, though, I’m careless or random — messages flow from me like water spraying from a fractured pipe. Yet, with so many words at my disposal, surely I can do better. In fact, I am determined to do exactly that.

Why do I care so much?

Because even the simplest messages can make really big differences. And while some might seem unimportant and easy, others will remain with us for a very long time. Words can serve as wonderful gifts; they cost nothing but are potentially priceless. Especially for someone close.

Click here to read the full article.

One trillion. That’s the popular estimate for the number of pictures taken in 2015, with volume projected to reach 1.3 trillion next year.

We can thank (blame?) camera phones for our obsession with photos. Oh how simple it is to see something, anything, and snap a pic. A few shots from my recent vacation tell the story of a fun week in Arizona; the other two hundred are overkill (according to the looks on my co-workers’ faces after they ask, “How was your trip?” and I respond with, “Here, let me show you.”)

When not on vacation, my role includes frequent visits to public elementary schools and conversations with academic professionals. I’ve developed an appreciation for how well educators know children (and their families). Most students spend 35 or more hours every week at school. Churches would be wise to consider a few easy lessons to observe from local teachers, principals, and the army of others involved with educating, caring for, and yes, loving their communities’ kids.
So what images of school life should attract a church’s focus? Here, let me show you:

Click here to read the full article.

(Note: This month, David Staal turns his column over to his 23-year-old son, Scott.)

Several years ago, our family tried something new for Thanksgiving that has evolved into an authentic tradition. As November rolled around each year, we constantly heard the importance of developing a spirit of gratitude and wanted that to be true for us. Yet, there was a definite disconnect between our good intentions and our implementation.

Said another way: we didn’t do anything. The result was an unsettled feeling, so the four of us decided to take action in order to truly live out our thankful spirits. To walk the walk. Practice what we preach.

Said another way: to finally do something.

Click here to read the full article.

What a bout with cancer taught me about caring for the people I lead.

Leadership starts and stops with people. To lead well is to treat folks well.

A permanently swollen list of pressing issues, priorities, and problem-solving leaves little space for the softer sides of leading people—also known as personal attention. But must this be true? When a leader helps people feel individually cared for, a highly committed and do-whatever-it-takes culture will emerge.

I learned this to be a leadership truth, and the story starts in a physician’s office:

Click here to read the full story.

Hope is easy to share. At least that's what Karen, a retired but still energetic administrator in Iowa discovered.

She said yes to volunteer as a mentor based on two facts: first, she had time to spend an hour every week at a local elementary school, and second, that school needed more mentors than they had the year before. Apparently, there's no shortage of students who need positive adult relationships. Clearly, this woman is well-informed.

So following the application, interview process, and training, Karen received a call from the program director that a little girl at school needed a mentor. She could start right away.

This second-grade student came to school each day wearing a downcast face and refusing to acknowledge people. Even when addressed up close and personally, she offered no response. In fact, she developed deftness at avoiding all eye contact. Instead, she feigned interest in the floor, the wall, a window. After weeks of the teacher's earnest efforts - and similar determination from various specialists - making no progress, the school principal offered a suggestion: let's request a mentor to meet with her.

Click here to read the rest of the story...