Eric

God’s Response to Our Desires

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I have heard two understandings of the verse above. One sounds potentially like “God’s a genie in a bottle ready to give me my wishes”, while the other has a risk of sounding like God is in the business of controlling His children. I believe both understandings of this are accurate but have to be avoided in the extreme.

The first understanding of this which I’ve heard is that if we focus on God, seek the things which are on His heart, then He will shape our minds and hearts to desire things which are consistent with that. So He literally gives us our desires versus the things we desire. This understanding rings true for me in my experience, but in my opinion it is only one side.

The other understanding is that God cares about the things that we desire and He will give us those things. It’s easy to take this to an extreme and give Christians a bad reputation by talking like whatever our selfish hearts want, God is going to give it to us. I don’t believe that’s a fair representation of God however.

I believe the truth lies in a balance of these two ideas. God does know the things which are special to us and wants to bless us even as we would do for our own children. He also adjusts our desires from time to time to line up with His, especially in areas where we may not fully comprehend His will.

Whether you’re patiently waiting for Him to fulfill your desires OR questioning if He might be planning to adjust them instead, it’s safe to trust God with the honest feelings of your heart. He knows them anyway, so be honest with Him; you might be surprised how he responds.

Leaving a Legacy

Earlier this week, our nation was saddened by the death of S. Truett Cathy, the man who started the Chick-Fil-A restaurant chain I raved about here last week. It was a coincidence that I wrote this last week, not knowing that he was sick in the hospital at the time. But I can’t help but think about how timely my post is to reflect on the legacy of this great man.

“I’d like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order. We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things have not changed, and the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.” – Truett Cathy

The very DNA of the Chick-Fil-A organization, as well as the not-for-profit WinShape Foundation, was shaped by Mr. Cathy’s desire to do good in this world, as a reflection of his Christian values. Scripture charges us as Christ-followers to be a light to the world, in order to give glory to God. Whether it’s in ministry or business, in public or in private, we should live in such a way that the legacy we leave behind when we leave this world would be celebrated.

One of Stephen Covey’s “seven habits” is to “Begin with the end in mind”. This is true on a small scale, like when you’re planning a fixed-term project, but it’s also true on the grand scale. It may be a little morbid to reflect on what the world will be like when we’re gone, but taking some time to really consider how you want to be remembered can and should help shape the decisions you make today.

I don’t think there’s any question, at least from my spectator’s view of his family and company, that Mr. Cathy lived out the priorities he identified above. My heart and prayers are with the extended Cathy and Chick-Fil-A families during this season.

3 lessons learned from the “poultry restaurant”

Since before my children were born, my wife and I have had a strong fondness for Chick-Fil-A. But since we’ve had kids, it’s become one of the food groups, and a frequent choice for family nights out. We even had to give it a code name (“the poultry restaurant”) when we were discussing it to keep the girls from knowing what was being considered; once they knew it was an option, saying no wasn’t a choice without severe drama.

lessons learned from Chick-Fil-A

One day, I started thinking about how this brand has created so much customer loyalty in my family and in my peer group. Here are a few of the valuable business lessons learned from watching this company:

  1. TEAM TRAINING IS CRITICAL. As a young children’s pastor, my target audience for kids workers was frequently the young teens of our church. I noticed that even though Chick-Fil-A was pulling from the same talent pool as most other fast-food chains, their associates just seem to behave differently. And to deliver a higher level of customer service in so many cases. I had an opportunity to sit down with a local restaurant operator regarding this observation and he shared with me their onboarding process for new team members. I believe that they gain a lot of ground due to the amount of time they invest in training new team members, and who handles it (top leadership, not lower level managers).
  2. RELATIONSHIP IS EVERYTHING. Many of the team members at our local store know my whole family’s names and use them. Recently, my family and I were there for dinner and one of the managers asked my wife detailed questions about our vacation and how school was going. All questions based on her observations because she and my wife became friends on Facebook, after having no connection other than the restaurant. She could choose to keep it completely professional, but my experience with this company is the exact opposite. Very few large chains can establish that level of customer connection, but I see this over and over again with this team.
  3. EVERY DETAIL COUNTS. From the bathroom environments to the condiment station to team wardrobes, every Chick-Fil-A I’ve ever walked into delivers a top-notch presentation. In some chains, you may see high quality presented in one store based on a particular manager or operator. But in this chain, my experience has been 100%. (I’m sure there might be a few that aren’t perfect, but I haven’t found them yet.) Company wide, it is clear that this company holds itself to a high standard in this area.

As I identified these principles, I began to ask myself how I could apply these lessons learned in my work in the not-for-profit AND for-profit arenas:

  • Where could our team get better through training?
  • Do I place a high enough premium on relationship with the teams that I lead, both volunteer and paid?
  • Do I think through the details that are necessary to deliver high quality over and over again?

Do you have any lessons learned in unlikely environments?

P.S. I didn’t receive any compensation for doling out this high praise! 🙂