Hey Everyone,
As leaders, we are excellent at the grind. We know how to cast vision, mix the mortar, and build the structure. But if we never stop to look at what we’ve built or take a pause to celebrate, the mission becomes a machine. All work and no play eventually causes the people around us to lose the vision.
1 Story of Impact
This week, our small town of Pella, Iowa (population 10,000), will swell to welcome nearly 200,000 people over three days for Tulip Time.
This festival is deeply woven into our family history, as my mother and both of my aunts served as Tulip Queens. In May 2008, when Catie and I had our first child, Abbie, we strapped her into a tiny Dutch costume at two months old for her very first parade.
Fast forward eighteen years: Abbie will walk those same streets this week representing our community as a member of the Royal Tulip Court, one of five high school seniors selected as ambassadors.
Spending eighteen years loving, challenging, growing, and investing in your kids yields a heavy, beautiful, mixed bag of emotions. I hold many titles in my life, but I am the only person on earth she will ever call “Dad”—a profound responsibility no one else can carry.
Heading into this week, however, the stress was mounting as we faced logistics to manage, schedules to keep, and a hundred things that needed to happen. Catie and I sat down the other night and made a hard pivot, looking at each other and deciding to make this week a celebration. We intentionally invited the joy in, choosing to look for the good, celebrate our daughter, and take a moment to celebrate ourselves as parents.
My Dutch heritage, and frankly, many driven leadership circles, hold a subtle, unspoken rule that you shouldn’t celebrate too much. We tell ourselves that sitting in the moment and being happy about how far we’ve come will look prideful, or it implies we are taking our foot off the gas.
That is a lie.
Celebrations aren’t a distraction from the work; they bring life to the full. Joy withers and bitterness sets in without them, and bitterness is the exact opposite of what it means to be People for Impact.
3 Points to Ponder
- The Discipline of Joy: Joy is rarely an accident; it is a choice. Catie and I had to actively choose to celebrate rather than surrender to the stress of the logistics. Where in your life or leadership are you currently “managing the stress” of a milestone instead of inviting the joy in?
- The Lie of the Next: Driven people are always looking at the next mountain. We achieve a goal, cross a finish line, or raise a child to adulthood, and immediately ask, “What’s next?” What recent victory or milestone have you glossed over because you refused to stop, be where your feet are planted, and celebrate?
- The Uniquely Appointed Roles. I am a CEO, a founder, and a leader, but there are only two people who call me Dad. We all have roles that no one else can fill. Are you giving your best energy to the unique, irreplaceable roles God has given you, or are you sacrificing them for titles anyone could hold?
2 Quotes to Share
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” — Henri Nouwen
“A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” — Ecclesiastes 3:4
In the month of May, many of us hit major milestones: graduations, transitions, and parenting moments. Take the time to celebrate. Truly allow yourself to feel it and be where your feet are planted. It is a gift from your Heavenly Father with no strings attached.
Feel free to reply and share—I read every response.
Live with impact,
Tim
