Investments

Investments. Money stashed in stocks, bonds, or treasury notes, or even CDs and savings accounts. As important as monetary investments may be, they pale in comparison to how I invest  my life. Such an investment might be a cause I'm passionate about or perhaps even the reason I chose a particular career path.

 This past week Dean and I were able to attend a simulcast entitled Global Leadership Summit which was put together and implemented by Willow Creek Association, an arm of a huge church not too far from Chicago, IL. It was an excellent way to spend most of two days, well worth the time and the fee.

Our personal realm of leadership is not as widespread as in earlier years, but it seems to me that one's circle of influence continues until the day we leave planet Earth. Therefore, in at least one sphere or other, it appears that we all have a leadership role.

One speaker from Nairobi Kenya exhorted us all to pour our lives into (invest) the generation that is now growing up. That could mean someone at least 20-35 years younger than yourself. Those individuals are the future and “the future is now.”

The speaker quoted from Psalm 71:18 where David requests, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.” That kind of investment is one which extends beyond the investor’s death and, if the vision continues, will not expire until the end of time.

Many years ago I saw this type of investment when a young family on staff at Campus Ventures at the University of Wyoming invited our older son to live with them for a year in order to experience their family life and ministry. At the time I would have called that a sacrifice but they called it an investment. The fruits of their investment are now evident.

The Global Leadership Summit is an annual event but the outcomes from those who participated must surely make a daily difference in their world. It’s definitely an event to watch for and participate in come 2014.