Precipitation

Happy New Year! 

I have had to write two references for two people for completely different things in the last 10 days. One reference actually asked me to comment on the candidates major strengths and their major weaknesses. That was tough, I hadn’t noticed many major weaknesses when they worked with me. Of course there were some, and like most of us, often our major strengths can also be our major weaknesses.

Precipitation is the same. When it is cold enough precipitation becomes snow. A major strength if you run a business in the mountains in the ski season.

But if the temperature rises, then snow becomes rain, and the precipitation becomes a weakness as it washes away all the snow faster even than just a temperature rise without precipitation.

Whether precipitation is a good thing or a bad thing during the ski season depends on the temperature – external circumstances. Our strengths and weaknesses are like that too. They depend on the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Winston Churchill had strengths that made him one of the greatest leaders ……during war-time but peace-time was a different story. 

I have just been skiing (thanks to a generous god-mother and my parents) so we have been taking a keen interest in the weather. Precipitation has been forecast but it is of course the external environment, the temperature, that will determine if the water-laden clouds are going to release their contents as snow or rain. Skier’s heaven or hell?

I have now been a full time volunteer for Mercy Ships for 4 years. And as I reflect on my time and my leadership, I think that for the most part, my external circumstances thus far, have allowed my strengths to flourish. I am thankful for that and pray it continues.

But I also ask myself the question, what temperature am I setting for others? Am I allowing their strengths to flourish too? Just like water-laden clouds, the people I lead are laden-full of talents.  So as a leader I want to set the temperature so they can release their talents like thick chunky snow flakes, that bring a taste of heaven to earth.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year, and may you find yourself in circumstances that enable you to grow and flourish and may you help others to do the same.

Decorating the christmas tree

The ship has had Christmas decorations up for 2 weeks already. It was Saturday November 30^th that was decoration day, and the place is beautiful. There is something about Christmas decorations that seem to lift your spirits. We have christmas trees in virtually every space on the ship. In the reception area, the cafe, the mid-ships long, the dining room. You name it - there is a tree!

My cabin-mate and I have a very small tree in our cabin. It lacks lights, but it has the borbles, some small figures and an angel on the top. In my mind, there is always– what goes at the top of the tree, an angel or a star? I say, ‘In my mind there is always a debate’ because in reality I don’t have a choice. On the ship all I have is an angel, and when I lived in England, all I had was a star! Does it matter?

DO you have multi-coloured lights, or plain white ones? Do you put tinsel on or not? Some people have a colour scheme – gold and silver, or red and green for example. So many choices.

 

As I ponder how to decorate  (or clothe) the Christmas tree, I have also been mediating on the following scripture which tells me what I should clothe myself with:

Colossians 3: 12 - 15 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Few would disagree that the historical figure of Jesus had these clothes on: ‘compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience’. That He lived a life characterized by love. As his follower I want to do the same. I know I fall short often, but just like my clothes get dirty and need washing and ironing, so does my life. So this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and we talk about ‘peace on earth’ , I want to keep putting on clean clothes - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, love and forgiveness. Then I don’t need to get worried or stressed; angry or offended; because peace will fill my heart instead and I will find myself with a thankful attitude.

SO as you decorate your Christmas tree, and admire the trees and other decorations you see around, consider how you are decorating your life, what clothes you are wearing?

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas.

Thanksgiving

A friend once told me that if you thought of 10 reasons to be thankful everyday that could, actually, overcome depression.

I am thankful for many things and one thing is that I work for a truly international organisation. Mercy Ships HQ (known as the IOC = International Operations Centre), is in Texas, USA; but we have a Mercy Ships Global Association based in Switzerland which supports approximately 17 National Offices around the world. And on the ship we have around 400 crew usually representing 35-40 different countries. What a privilege to be part of such a community.

On board the ship, we deliberately don’t celebrate individual countries national holidays because with so many countries represented, we would be having a holiday virtually every week! Not good for business! However, this time of year (October / November) is in many countries and cultures associated with harvest and a time of thanksgiving. We are right now in the middle of the two different dates for Canadian and US Thanksgiving. And as a ship we have been reflecting on thanksgiving for a week. To acknowledge what we colloquially term ‘our ship family’  - that means our friends who become like family while we are away from our natural families, we have recently had a week of ‘FriendsGiving’. FriendsGiving is a new Mercy Ships term for thanksgiving. We have left notes on one another’s doors to tell them how thankful we are for them and their influence in our lives; we have had a wall poster in the café where we have written 1000 reasons to be thankful; we have simple had a week of being intentionally thankful.

So I couldn’t let this month’s blog slip by without telling all of you how thankful I am for each and everyone of you and the way you have impacted my life. From teachers who encouraged me at school; to medical bosses who inspired me as a junior doctor; to colleagues who continued to model leadership and courage in the workplace of the NHS. Parents who sacrificed and continue to serve me and this work I do now; family who have always been there for me; friends who support and encourage me and walk through the tough times;  church leaders and church family who pray and support me ,……the list is endless…..without all of you, I wouldn’t be who I am today and I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing serving the poor and needy and trying to empower the surgical workforce in Madagascar and beyond, to bring hope and transformation to their own health systems.

I have often said that I feel people support me in 3 main ways, professionally, emotionally / spiritually and financially. SO I am grateful to each of you in this season of thanksgiving and the ways you each support me. As a way of showing you how much we can do together, below are 3 slides of all that you have made possible ……so thank you from me and thank you from the many people here whose lives have been literally transformed. I hope you can find 10 reasons to be thankful today.

Reasons to be thankful - training:

Reasons to be thankful - patient encounters: