Drew Boswell

a place for us to share ideas, talk about life, and learn together.

First Flight Lesson

So today’s my birthday and Kimberly completely surprised with a wonderful gift. She set up childcare and took me on a surprise “date.” After we finished breaking down and putting away church, dropping the kids off, and grabbing a quick bite for lunch we found ourselves at the Frederick airport.

She had arranged for me to take my first flying lesson (and only lesson

unless we can come up with $8,000). The lesson began with pre-flight training. We went around the plane and checked everything from the air pressure of the tires, to fuel levels, to instruments and various buttons and gadgets.

I learned how to “taxi” the plane to the runway, and the flight instructor actually let me take off, and (almost)

land the plane. Kimberly screamed when we felt the feeling of actual flight upon takeoff. She told me later that she couldn’t see who was actually flying – all she could see were my hands on the yoke. We flew around the Frederick area but to be honest I didn’t do much sight seeing. I was focused on about five things at once (keeping the nose and wings lined up correctly to the horizon, controlling the thrust, and watching for other planes in the area . . .etc. We saw our old town home in Spring Ridge and the Lake Linganore Lake.

It was the coolest thing that I have done in along time – thank you Kimberly (and kids) for a great birthday.

PS-if you are going to take your first flight lesson . . . don’t wear flip-flops.

Road Hazards

Never put the words “uneventful” in a blog/facebook entry before the trip is completely over. On the way back from vacation one hour south of Roanoke, VA (where my wife and her family are from) the van began to spew red liquid, smoke, and would go no further than the gas station we limped into.

The van had begun to make some funny noises that to the untrained mechanics ear sounded “a little funny” but nothing to be concerned about – boy were we wrong. We went into the gas station and asked if a mechanic’s shop was close by and within 20 minutes there was an elderly gentlemen looking under our hood. His news was not good and the quote he gave was $1,500.

We opted to pay him $200 to tow us to Roanoke, VA for Kimberly’s uncle David (aka “Hoo Pop”) gracefully agreed to help us. This kind man also saw our family of six and figured very quickly that we were not all going to climb into his tow truck. So he graciously and without charge offered to let us borrow his brand new extended cab (which I drove) to lead him to Salem, VA where David’s shop is located.

“We”[1] originally thought it was simply low transmission fluid levels, but after changing it and filling it back up as we headed back the next afternoon it began to spew fluid and smoke again. So we headed back to Roanoke and spent the night. David ended up completely pulling out the entire transmission, fixing a leaking “grey seal” and “overdrive belt” located inside.[2] I needed to go back home to work, and Kimberly and the kids stayed for several days until the work was completed (a total of eight days).

Our family is so thankful to God for getting us all back together in one piece and not having to take out a second mortgage on the house to fix Ole’ Blue. Also, we are thankful for family that came to our rescue. David took eight days from his summer vacation to fix our car and we are so thankful for this gracious act of love towards our family.

So the uneventful vacation became eventful — but what would vacation be if it were only calm, relaxing, and peaceful.

[1] I stood with my hands on my hips peering into the hodgepodge of wires and metallic moving parts trying to act like I knew what these parts were. Nodding in agreement with the prognosis.

[2] I put these things in quotes because I have no idea what they are or what they do.



Communicating Successfully

One of the greatest challenges many leaders face is effective communication between the leader and those whom he leads. We live in a technological world of constant communication with cell phones, texts, twitter and facebook. We can know what you ate for dinner, but do we know what truly motivates your soul? We understand that you have changed a part of our organization, but do you understand how this change affects my family?
It is difficult to translate a new concept across multiple layers of organization, different ages, life experiences, etc… that includes passion, explanation, vision, and reasons for this “new direction.” Everyone has the ability to take something that is said and add his or her own “understanding” to the communicated items.
So not only does the leader have to communicate an idea, but he must also try and predict how others may respond and adjust the communication accordingly. So as we enter into a discussion regarding communication let’s start with a definition: “Communication is the process we go through to convey understanding from one person or group to another (Genesis 11, Matthew 13:51, Mark 8:13-21.)”
Generally there is a process that one goes through to pass on this understanding:
1. Develop a clear concept of the idea or feeling to be communicated.
2. Choose the right words and actions to convey the idea or feeling.
3. Become aware of the surrounding communication barriers and work at minimizing them.
4. Absorb the transmitted information by listening to the words and observing the actions.
5. Translate the words and actions.
6. Develop correct ideas and/or feelings.
But in any organization there is always the potential or eventual conflict that results from either poorly communicated ideas, or persons who add in too much of their own information to the communication and the end result is conflict.
Organizational Conflict
“Open and hostile opposition occurring as a result of differing viewpoints.” It is possible to have a “disagreement” without hostility. But this definition involves hostility. Our focus today will focus on how to deal with conflicts directly resulting from conflicting communication.

Negative Results
• Conflict comes from our own selfish desires and passions (James 4:1)
• Conflict causes us to fabricate and magnify faults and weaknesses in others (Ad Hominem).
• Conflict creates division within the organization (will you participate?)
• Conflict causes us to expend our energies on non-productive activities (Romans 12:18).
Positive Results
• Disagreement can lead to individual and organizational growth (Proverbs 27:17).
• Disagreement can reveal the need for change (Proverbs 18:15).
• Disagreement can help make us more tolerant of opposing views (Proverbs 23:12).
So the business meeting didn’t go the way you thought, you have received an e-mail from an angry person in your organization, or certain people won’t return your phones calls – there it is conflict staring you right in the face. So how do we deal with it?
Methods of Dealing with Conflict
1. Avoid it, retreating from it. You can always just run away.
2. Attempting to avoid it by circumventing major issues and focusing on minor issues. You find yourself saying things like, “we are meeting tonight to discuss the brand name of the toilet paper in the stalls.”
3. Dealing without side issues.
4. Identifying the real issues of the conflict and working your way through them to a satisfactory resolution.
Yes, you guess it – this is the right answer (not the easy answer). It takes experience, spiritual discernment, and understanding of sinful human nature to sometimes identify the “real” issues of the conflict. Believe it or not, people will not always tell you why they are angry (they may not even know why), won’t come to meetings, aren’t returning e-mails, etc… So the challenge is get past the false issues and move into the true root of the conflict.
Scriptural Approach to Confrontation
1. Make Sure that you are dealing with facts, not guesses or hearsay (Deuteronomy 19:15).
2. Always make the initial confrontation in private between you and the person involved (Proverbs 25:9-10; Matthew 18:15).
3. When you try to resolve the conflict privately if the other person involved refuses to resolve the problem, take someone with you and try again (Matthew 18:16). The goal is restoration.
4. If the person continues to resist resolving the conflict, you may need to dissolve the relationship (Matthew 18:17). But this is another chance for the person to repent.
• The biblical picture of “restoration” is one of setting a broken bone. It is painful but the ultimate goal is healing and putting things back as they should be. Also, be aware that you may not always be the one setting the bone – it might be you who are in need of having their legs broken and reset. Ouch.
• In leadership, people are always important. Therefore, seeking to restore relationships should always be a top priority. Sometimes it ends well, sometimes it doesn’t – but you must do all that is within your ability to restore the relationship.

Note: the basic premise of this article was borrowed from class notes of Dr. Ken Coley at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in a class entitled Church Management and Administration in 1998.

Communicating Successfully

One of the greatest challenges many leaders face is effective communication between the leader and those whom he leads. We live in a technological world of constant communication with cell phones, texts, twitter and facebook. We can know what you ate for dinner, but do we know what truly motivates your soul? We understand that you have changed a part of our organization, but do you understand how this change affects my family?

It is difficult to translate a new concept across multiple layers of organization, different ages, life experiences, etc… that includes passion, explanation, vision, and reasons for this “new direction.” Everyone has the ability to take something that is said and add his or her own “understanding” to the communicated items.

So not only does the leader have to communicate an idea, but he must also try and predict how others may respond and adjust the communication accordingly. So as we enter into a discussion regarding communication let’s start with a definition: “Communication is the process we go through to convey understanding from one person or group to another (Genesis 11, Matthew 13:51, Mark 8:13-21.)”

Generally there is a process that one goes through to pass on this understanding:
1.    Develop a clear concept of the idea or feeling to be communicated.
2.    Choose the right words and actions to convey the idea or feeling.
3.    Become aware of the surrounding communication barriers and work at minimizing them.
4.    Absorb the transmitted information by listening to the words and observing the actions.
5.    Translate the words and actions.
6.    Develop correct ideas and/or feelings.

But in any organization there is always the potential or eventual conflict that results from either poorly communicated ideas, or persons who add in too much of their own information to the communication and the end result is conflict.

Organizational Conflict
“Open and hostile opposition occurring as a result of differing viewpoints.” It is possible to have a “disagreement” without hostility. But this definition involves hostility.  Our focus today will focus on how to deal with conflicts directly resulting from conflicting communication.

Negative Results
•    Conflict comes from our own selfish desires and passions (James 4:1)
•    Conflict causes us to fabricate and magnify faults and weaknesses in others (Ad Hominem).
•    Conflict creates division within the organization (will you participate?)
•    Conflict causes us to expend our energies on non-productive activities (Romans 12:18).

Positive Results
•    Disagreement can lead to individual and organizational growth (Proverbs 27:17).
•    Disagreement can reveal the need for change (Proverbs 18:15).
•    Disagreement can help make us more tolerant of opposing views (Proverbs 23:12).

So the business meeting didn’t go the way you thought, you have received an e-mail from an angry person in your organization, or certain people won’t return your phones calls – there it is conflict staring you right in the face. So how do we deal with it?

Methods of Dealing with Conflict
1.    Avoid it, retreating from it.  You can always just run away.
2.    Attempting to avoid it by circumventing major issues and focusing on minor issues.  You find yourself saying things like, “we are meeting tonight to discuss the brand name of the toilet paper in the stalls.”
3.    Dealing without side issues.
4.    Identifying the real issues of the conflict and working your way through them to a satisfactory resolution.

Yes, you guess it – this is the right answer (not the easy answer). It takes experience, spiritual discernment, and understanding of sinful human nature to sometimes identify the “real” issues of the conflict. Believe it or not, people will not always tell you why they are angry (they may not even know why), won’t come to meetings, aren’t returning e-mails, etc… So the challenge is get past the false issues and move into the true root of the conflict.

Scriptural Approach to Confrontation
1.    Make Sure that you are dealing with facts, not guesses or hearsay (Deuteronomy 19:15).
2.    Always make the initial confrontation in private between you and the person involved (Proverbs 25:9-10; Matthew 18:15).
3.    When you try to resolve the conflict privately if the other person involved refuses to resolve the problem, take someone with you and try again (Matthew 18:16). The goal is restoration.
4.    If the person continues to resist resolving the conflict, you may need to dissolve the relationship (Matthew 18:17). But this is another chance for the person to repent.

•    The biblical picture of “restoration” is one of setting a broken bone. It is painful but the ultimate goal is healing and putting things back as they should be.  Also, be aware that you may not always be the one setting the bone – it might be you who are in need of having their legs broken and reset. Ouch.

•    In leadership, people are always important. Therefore, seeking to restore relationships should always be a top priority.  Sometimes it ends well, sometimes it doesn’t – but you must do all that is within your ability to restore the relationship.

Note: the basic premise of this article was borrowed from class notes of Dr. Ken Coley at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in a class entitled Church Management and Administration in 1998.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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