Henriet's Blog

KLM Lost & Found…so adorable and clever!

My parents worked for KLM. That's how they met. We traveled a lot when my sister and I were kids…we love this fantastic airline. Now they're doing something innovative and adorable to help their passengers. Go KLM!

I love this KLM Lost & Found Video and I love KLM! Thank you for years of great memories.

Henriet Update: Video, Author Page, Goodreads, Web Site, Article & Speaking

Good things have been happening. Here are just a few of them:

• A short video featuring me answering questions about my book. It's on my YouTube Channel, my website: www.henrietschapelhouman.com, and The Story Lives' Facebook page.
• I have started an author page on Amazon.com. 
• The Story Lives is on Goodreads. It needs some recommendations! If you're on Goodreads.com will you recommend my book. It would be great to get some reviews too. :)
• HenrietSchapelhouman.com has been updated. I've added the video, the article and fixed some links. If you find anything missing on any pages, please let me know!!!
• And my most recent article, A Great Call Requires Great Character, was published in Light & Life Magazine, February 2013 Discipleship Section. Three more articles will be published on line.
• I will present two workshops at the NW Ministry Conference, March 15, 2013. Workshop 1: "Go Do Some Serious Good: 5 Easy Steps to Living Missionally" will be Friday, March 15 at 11:40 am. Workshop 2: "Missional Leadership: Be Equipped to Advance Jesus' Kingdom" will be Friday, March 15 at 2:10 pm.

Looking Forward to 2013

Saying "good-bye" to 2012

Like any year, 2012 was filled with good, great and hard things. I started the year with a post about hopes and dreams. Many things came true! Some noteworthy items of 2012 were:

• Moving my blog URL "henrietsblog.com"
• Adopting Belle, our boxer, on February 4, 2012, from NW Boxer Rescue
• Celebrating Fred and my 31st wedding anniversary
• Adopting a new puppy for Harrison and visiting my sister and her family in St. Louis
• Harrison turning 20
• Publishing my book, The Story Lives: Leading a Missional Revolution
• Camping in California
• Holding a launch party for my book in October
• Turning 50!

Looking ahead to 2013!

How can this year top last year? I have no idea but God has good plans for this year. I can't wait to see what he is going to do. He gave me a theme verse:

"Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation." Psalm 35:9

Every year I record my non-negotiables, goals, hopes and dreams in my journal. My non-negotiables are to:

• Follow God absolutely and obey, worship and adore him
• Trust Jesus and obey him
• Be filled by the Holy Spirit and controlled by him
• Wait for the Lord
• Be strong and courageous 

Some of my goals, hopes and dreams include:

• Live each day to the full
• Communicate any messages God gives me to share
• Have the book, The Story Lives, become a success
• Travel and speak

What do you hope for in 2013? Any stories to share from 2012?

50 in 50 days

That's right! I turn 50 in 50 days. Half a century, quite a sobering thought. Since I cannot stop time, I choose not to worry about the number. That's the advice Sharon Greenthal shared in her article, "How to Turn 50" in the Huffington Post. Or, as my mother likes to say, you either get older or you don't. So, here's to turning 50 in a few days!

Celebrate life!

 

    There are so many things to celebrate.

    Today I reflected on my last decade.

 

• I worked at Timberlake for 5 years as pastor of adult ministries
• God led me to attend Fuller Theological Seminary and I completed my MA in Global Leadership
• There were the Christian writers conferences at Mount Hermon, California
• Fred and I celebrated our third decade of marriage
• The house was remodeled
• I started my training business, Semper Vita Institute, as well as a nonprofit, called Semper Vita, to help Christians understand and deploy their personalities

Then there were travels, life challenges, financial struggles, great family times, the joy of driving my two-seater, and everything else. A lot of life happened in 10 years!

One of the things I'm most excited about right now is that my book, The Story Lives, was published before I turn the big 50!

I am looking forward to reminiscing about my last 50 years and dreaming about what's ahead!

2012 Hopes, Dreams and Goals

It is my New Year's Day tradition to focus on my hopes, dreams and goals. I don't make New Year's resolutions. We all know they don't work! :) Obviously not all my hopes, dreams and goals come true. At the beginning of each year I review last year's list, celebrate God's faithfulness and look forward to the New Year with a new list.

Hopes and dreams for 2012

• Among my hopes and dreams is to live each day to the full in peace, joy and hope. 
• I also want to live with margin. Life is too short to race through it without enjoying God's special surprises along the way. 
• Hopefully, we will get to travel somewhere wonderful like the Caribbean (again) or South Africa, my ultimate travel destination dream. 
• Finally, I hope to be successful in my writing, speaking (I will be presenting at the NW Ministry Conference, March 22-24 at Overlake Christian Church), and with Semper Vita Institute, my StrengthsFinder and Myers-Briggs training company. 

Goals for this year

• Make a difference
• Publish my book, "The Story Lives"
• Launch more Go Groups, a special kind of missional leadership multiplication group
• Start on my second book
• Stay in touch with family and friends
• Stay organized (apparently that's the key to success for an ENTP, my Myers-Briggs type)

Of course I can only hope to accomplish any of these if I stay close to God, follow Jesus and live according to his Spirit.

How about you? What are your plans? Do you make New Year's resolutions? Please leave a comment and share what you are looking forward to in 2012.

Thank you! Our launch was a success

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth, staffed the booth and for all those people cheering us on behind the scenes. Also a big "thank you" to all the people who have been supporting us in prayer! The launch went very well.

Tamara showing Laurie Bunnell and Tamara Buchan from Missio Lux a preview of our social software. Cindy is helping a person fill out a card.

Booth traffic and 5 lucky winners

In total we had over 200 people stop by our booth. About 150 people filled out a card for our $500 give-away. We had 5 winners each of whom won $100! We gave away Semper Vita pens and brochures to everyone who came by the booth.

Jeanne accepts her $100. She was the first to come claim her prize.

Cindy hands Dan his $100. He was the last to come claim his prize.

We gave away lots of water bottles.

Additionally, we gave away a Semper Vita water bottle to the first 100 registrants that filled out a drawing card. Our water bottles were such a hit that people were asking for them and offered to buy them. One college student took a dented one just so she could have a “cool” Semper Vita water bottl

All in all, the Semper Vita launch was a hit!

A big "thank you" to our volunteers and others

I also want to thank everyone who helped us prior to the launch. Some of us have put in thousands of hours of volunteer time to get us this far. So a heartfelt "thank you" to: Cindy, Ed, Tamara, Jeff, Ardis, Dina, Fred, and Alex. An additional "thank you" goes out to Jacqui Lott who's designed our look and to Jason Savino who is creating our website application. We could not have done it without you. Thank you for making this happen!

Live Resolutely With Purpose

Continuing the quest to live my life right, doing what's right, living a life that counts.

How am I supposed to live?

Can you believe that it's June 1 today? Summer beckons and the Western Washington weather acquiesces to that fact. We've had sunny and warm days recently. What a welcome reprieve from the rain, snow and cold that defined our fall, winter and spring! But I digress; enough about the weather.

The calendar merely reminds me that time keeps marching on. So, on my quest to live right and make my life count, what's the plan? How am I supposed to do that in the midst of my everyday regular life? I think that in the past I've wanted to get to a place where there's a lull in the activity and time to do something BIG! Well, that's never happened. I've also hoped for unusual energy, motivation or focus to accomplish that significant thing. Didn't work either. (For fellow StrengthsFinder people it should be obvious that I don't have Focus or Achiever as my Strengths. Mine are Arranger, Activator, Woo, Communication and Connectedness.) So, I begin to understand that life happens everyday and to accomplish the big things you keep working steadily on the little things. One day at a time, doing what you can (like saving) it adds up to something that counts.

Intentional daily living to reach the goal

It takes determination to stay focused on what matters regardless of the challenges along the way.

"Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you've got, be resolute, and love without stopping."

1 Corinthians 16: 13, 14, The Message.

If this is my life and I want it to matter, than I have to live my everyday life with my purpose in mind. Instead of being well-organized, disciplined, focused or driven, maybe I need to just show up and do what's next. I've been stopped by distractions, by serious challenges, by relationships that needed attention, by tiredness and who knows what else. And, time keeps marching on. Today, I will keep my eyes on Jesus and do resolutely do the next thing.

Do you have a dream?

Have you found a way to beat the distractions and stuff of life that get in the way of doing what you're meant to do?

Semper Vita at the NW Ministry Conference

We are introducing Semper Vita and presenting a workshop on missional volunteering.

A Semper Vita-based workshop

I am presenting a workshop on Friday morning, March 27, 2009 at the NW Ministry Conference. The title of my workshop? "Missional Volunteering: Let's take the church out of its box."  It will be my third (and final) workshop at this year's conference.

The NW Ministry Conference

What is the NW Ministry Conference? It's an annual conference for pastors, leaders and workers from churches and faith-based organizations. This conference is the premier event for equipping church staffs and ministry organizations. They offer workshops for pastors and leaders, worship and drama, as well as for adult, youth and children's ministries.

Two workshops for women leaders

My first two workshops are pre-conference intensives on Thursday, March 26. One is about the biblical basis for women in church leadership. It's called, "She Serves: What did Jesus really say about women in leadership?" The second is all about leadership, especially as it pertains to women leaders. It's entitled, "She Leads: Women leading in the church and in the community."

Semper Vita presents

Tamara Dull has been working hard to help me get ready. She's the mastermind behind the visual aspects of the three presentations. I couldn't have done this without her. "Thanks Tamara for helping me and Semper Vita look our best."

In addition to the presentations we will also have our official business card with new logo. Thanks to Craig McBreen and Jacqui Lott. "A big thank you to you both!"

What's Going on With the Semper Vita Blog?

Or, why haven't you written for a while?

45 days is a long time

Wow. Has it really been 45 days since we met in this space? It's hard to believe but true. You might be wondering what Semper Vita, the team and I have been up to? Some may even ask, "Are you OK?"

More than OK. We are excellent!

Though this blog has been silent, we've been hard at work. Specifically, we've poured our efforts into two initiatives. What are they?

1. We've been preparing to unveil Semper Vita and the concept of missional volunteering at the Northwest Ministry Conference. This conference is held at Overlake Christian Church, March 26-28, 2009. I will be leading workshops on Thursday and Friday.
2. We've created a sister company to handle the training. More on that Friday!

What else?

We are now ready to focus on moving Semper Vita forward. We are looking for partners both in the church world and in the non-profit realm. We need volunteers. Mostly, we need your ongoing prayer support.

The Need To Be Understood

The desire to be understood transcends all cultures and religions...It's a core need. Creating a common language to facilitate this understanding promotes community. Do you feel understood?

HT: Jill D for the inspiration.