{"id":1446,"date":"2010-01-10T22:25:54","date_gmt":"2010-01-11T02:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=1446"},"modified":"2010-01-09T22:41:04","modified_gmt":"2010-01-10T02:41:04","slug":"book-review-leading-on-empty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=1446","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Leading on Empty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Leading-Empty-Refilling-Renewing-Passion\/dp\/0764203509\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1263085283&amp;sr=1-1  \" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1447\" title=\"leadingonempty1\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/leadingonempty1-252x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"252\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/leadingonempty1-252x300.jpg 252w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/leadingonempty1.jpg 415w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I really enjoyed\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Leading-Empty-Refilling-Renewing-Passion\/dp\/0764203509\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1263085283&amp;sr=1-1\" target=\"_blank\">Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion<\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.enewhope.org\/aboutus\/pastorwayne\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wayne Cordeiro<\/a>. \u00a0He pastors <a href=\"http:\/\/www.enewhope.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">New Hope<\/a> church in Honolulu, Hawaii. \u00a0I have seen a lot of people tweeting about reading this book and it seemed interesting. \u00a0I was a bit confused about how someone who pastors a church in Hawaii could be dealing with the stress usually associated with leading on empty, but Cordeiro did a great job up front identifying with anyone that has ever been in a position where other people or circumstances tend to dictate their schedule.<\/p>\n<p>Have you ever felt your schedule spiral out of control to the point that your priorities are completely out of whack and you don&#8217;t even know where to start to right the ship? \u00a0Then, this book is definitely for you. \u00a0I can honestly say that I have never been in as desperate a situation as Cordeiro shares, but I recognize that at any point, I could be headed that way. \u00a0I have trouble saying no. \u00a0If I&#8217;m not careful, I will major on the minors and miss out on some great opportunities that God has put in my path.<\/p>\n<p>If you have a vacation or a long weekend coming up, you should pick up this book and make it a part of your plan to relax and recharge. \u00a0Here are some of my takeaways that I highlighted while reading:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;We don&#8217;t forget that we are Christians. We forget that we are<span> <\/span>human, and that one oversight alone can debilitate the potential<span> <\/span>of our future.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li> &#8220;Suffering will change us, but not necessarily for the better.<span> <\/span>We have to choose that. And it was the choosing that made all<span> <\/span>the difference for me.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;It is a gift to be able to launch an inspiring<span> <\/span>vision. But unless you manage it along the<span> <\/span>way, it can turn on you, and soon the voracious<span> <\/span>appetite of the vision consumes you.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Gradually<span> <\/span>my creativity began to flag and I found it easier to imitate<span> <\/span>rather than innovate. I was backing away from the very things<span> <\/span>that used to challenge and invigorate me.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;But one of the true marks of a veteran is not how he catches a<span> <\/span>wave, but whether he knows when and how to get off the wave.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;A slightly skewed view of life may be undetectable and benign<span> <\/span>in the beginning, but it will become increasingly corrosive later<span> <\/span>on. There are things built into the psyches of those of us bent on<span> <\/span>making our lives count for eternity that can later cause diminishing<span> <\/span>returns.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;To finish strong, you must learn to rejuvenate your spirit<span> <\/span>early in your ministry.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Sooner or later every long-distance runner encounters the<span> <\/span>wall. Regardless of how well-trained the athlete, he will meet it<span> <\/span>one day, and he will meet it head on.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Like a powerful undertow, life has its<span> <\/span>own entropy, a constant tide that pulls<span> <\/span>ever so gently but ever so consistently.<span> <\/span>As time lapses and our defenses get<span> <\/span>weary, we can be caught in a tidal wave<span> <\/span>of emotions with neurochemical reactions.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;You might feel important and necessary for the moment, but<span> <\/span>that fleeting sense of self-importance has a price you will not be<span> <\/span>able to afford.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The emotional debt may demand everything you have, and<span> <\/span>that which once thrilled you now stands as your accuser.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Solitude is<span> <\/span>a chosen separation for refining your soul. Isolation is what you<span> <\/span>crave when you neglect the first.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;The ability to precisely define reality<span> <\/span>is the starting point for any hope for equilibrium.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Learning the difference<span> <\/span>between a concern and a responsibility may save your ministry, your<span> <\/span>family, and your sanity.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Is life any less precious because we don&#8217;t know how much<span> <\/span>of it we have left?&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Your<span> <\/span>choice of what is most important will shape your soul.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;We won&#8217;t be held accountable for how much we have done,<span> <\/span>but for how much we have done of what He has asked us to do.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;In the spirit of the good monk&#8217;s words, one of the best things<span> <\/span>I have done in my life is to establish values before I have had\u00a0to make major decisions. There must be certain pilings driven<span> <\/span>so deeply into my soul that in times of crisis they will serve as<span> <\/span>immovable, unquestionable anchors of my life. Without these,<span> <\/span>everything is up for grabs and every value challenged.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;In other words, I don&#8217;t want to kill myself by overproducing<span> <\/span>or doing anything without the quality that God and His people<span> <\/span>deserve. And I also want to leave time to recharge. So I had to establish some guardrails and make some restrictions in my life.<span> <\/span>The only one who can do that in your life is you? It is not a<span> <\/span>board decision or your response to a spouse&#8217;s complaints. It has<span> <\/span>to be you!&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;In a relay race, the baton isn&#8217;t transferred when the lead<span> <\/span>runner is staggering and exhausted. He is at the top of his stride<span> <\/span>when he reaches the other runner in the box.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;When we rest at predesignated intervals, we are reminding\u00a0ourselves that ultimately God controls the outcomes, not me or<span> <\/span>all of my wonderful efforts. It&#8217;s good for us to wean ourselves off<span> <\/span>the need to be needed. For many of us, that will be the beginning<span> <\/span>of health.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;A<span> <\/span>good amount of solitude and counsel are required to gain accurate\u00a0assessment on the analysis side, but don&#8217;t camp there. You\u00a0won&#8217;t tie up all the loose ends-not now, and maybe with some<span> <\/span>strands, not ever.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Hope is a picture of a preferred future that does not diminish<span> <\/span>or tarnish with the changing moods of life. It is that vision you<span> <\/span>wrote down when you were clear-headed and close to Christ. It<span> <\/span>is what would delight God and be the optimum plan for your<span> <\/span>life and future.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;In each of these assessments, truth is irreducible. Truth is the<span> <\/span>foremost axiom of personal development.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Your greatest source of motivation is finding untapped potential<span> <\/span>yet within you. You see, your future is not what lies ahead of<span> <\/span>you. It is what lies within you.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I really enjoyed\u00a0Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion by Wayne Cordeiro. \u00a0He pastors New Hope church in Honolulu, Hawaii. \u00a0I have seen a lot of people tweeting about reading this book and it seemed interesting. \u00a0I was a bit confused about how someone who pastors a church in Hawaii could be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}