Lessons in a Disciplined Life
Dan & I worked for an inner city ministry for ten years in New Jersey. While we were there we had the privilege of working for a gentleman who was one of those men that are natural born leaders. He had been the field director for the Middle East for The Navigators for 20 years, General Secretary of the World Evangelical Fellowship, and President of the American Leprosy Mission among others. Each organization he worked for grew and flourished under his leadership.
We were so privileged to have him as our mentor and we learned a tremendous amount from him for 10 years. I still try to live by many of the lessons he taught even though I'm at home because they apply to every area of life. I've always felt that I wanted my life to have meaning and purpose, so that's why I strive to do my best at all I do. Of course, I fall short quite regularly but with the Lord's help, I keep pressing on.
We still keep in touch with Waldron and even though he is in his 80s, he still is living a life that is fruitful! He is active in ministry and he just wrote his 5th book.
Some of these were deliberately taught to us and others we learned through observation of his life. They are not in any particular order. I'm sure there are a million more things.
Here are some of the lessons we learned:
♥ Consistent, time with the Lord. You cannot achieve a disciplined life without that!
♥ Live simply - don't let your life be about "things". It's people that matter.
♥ Do things with excellence. People judge you or your organization by their first impressions. For example, if you are going to make a flyer for something, do it well. Don't just slap it up!
♥ Keep your word. If you say you are going to do something - do it!
♥ Save for a rainy day. He was very disciplined in this. He would always save some of his money.
♥ If you borrow something, return it in better shape than you received it. If he borrowed a car, he would fill it up with gas (even if it wasn't full to begin with) and wash it.
♥ A place for everything and everything in it's place. Be organized and put things where they belong when you are finished.
♥ Follow a schedule. If you allot 30 minutes of computer time, stick with it. Don't let 30 become 130!
♥ Be willing to learn new things. So many people refuse to try anything new or learn anything new and they stagnate. He learned to use computers in his 60s and his knowledge far passes mine!
♥ Be punctual. Don't keep people waiting.
♥ Stay in good, physical shape. He was hit by a truck while riding his bicycle when he was 70. There were tons of broken bones and internal injuries. One of the reasons he bounced back so quickly was because he was in such good shape.
♥ Study the scriptures for yourself. Don't just take others word for it. So many people just look at devotionals or read books about the Bible instead of actually reading the Bible!
♥ Discipleship is the key to new Christians. He was an excellent evangelist and lead many people to the Lord but he didn't leave it there. He actually took these men and discipled them. He met with them weekly and tackled the hard issues with them. In fact, when he was in the Middle East, he discipled 10-12 men and every single one of them are major leaders in their countries now.
♥ Have a plan. Don't just wing it! He always had a plan and a direction for each day. Things come up to interrupt from time to time, but if you have a plan you will accomplish more than without it.
These are excellent things for us all to put into practice! There were so many more things that Dan & I learned from him. We are so blessed that the Lord placed him in our lives!
We were so privileged to have him as our mentor and we learned a tremendous amount from him for 10 years. I still try to live by many of the lessons he taught even though I'm at home because they apply to every area of life. I've always felt that I wanted my life to have meaning and purpose, so that's why I strive to do my best at all I do. Of course, I fall short quite regularly but with the Lord's help, I keep pressing on.
We still keep in touch with Waldron and even though he is in his 80s, he still is living a life that is fruitful! He is active in ministry and he just wrote his 5th book.
Some of these were deliberately taught to us and others we learned through observation of his life. They are not in any particular order. I'm sure there are a million more things.
Here are some of the lessons we learned:
♥ Consistent, time with the Lord. You cannot achieve a disciplined life without that!
♥ Live simply - don't let your life be about "things". It's people that matter.
♥ Do things with excellence. People judge you or your organization by their first impressions. For example, if you are going to make a flyer for something, do it well. Don't just slap it up!
♥ Keep your word. If you say you are going to do something - do it!
♥ Save for a rainy day. He was very disciplined in this. He would always save some of his money.
♥ If you borrow something, return it in better shape than you received it. If he borrowed a car, he would fill it up with gas (even if it wasn't full to begin with) and wash it.
♥ A place for everything and everything in it's place. Be organized and put things where they belong when you are finished.
♥ Follow a schedule. If you allot 30 minutes of computer time, stick with it. Don't let 30 become 130!
♥ Be willing to learn new things. So many people refuse to try anything new or learn anything new and they stagnate. He learned to use computers in his 60s and his knowledge far passes mine!
♥ Be punctual. Don't keep people waiting.
♥ Stay in good, physical shape. He was hit by a truck while riding his bicycle when he was 70. There were tons of broken bones and internal injuries. One of the reasons he bounced back so quickly was because he was in such good shape.
♥ Study the scriptures for yourself. Don't just take others word for it. So many people just look at devotionals or read books about the Bible instead of actually reading the Bible!
♥ Discipleship is the key to new Christians. He was an excellent evangelist and lead many people to the Lord but he didn't leave it there. He actually took these men and discipled them. He met with them weekly and tackled the hard issues with them. In fact, when he was in the Middle East, he discipled 10-12 men and every single one of them are major leaders in their countries now.
♥ Have a plan. Don't just wing it! He always had a plan and a direction for each day. Things come up to interrupt from time to time, but if you have a plan you will accomplish more than without it.
These are excellent things for us all to put into practice! There were so many more things that Dan & I learned from him. We are so blessed that the Lord placed him in our lives!
Sounds like a wonderful man Terri.
ReplyDeleteTerri,
ReplyDeleteYou and Dan were very blessed to know Waldron and I know that you learned a lot from him. It shows in your life and you are a testiment to what you learned from him. You do him honor as does Dan also.
Love,
Mom