Not that Good.

“You are good…BUT not that good. That’s why you need a team.”

Ptr. Joey Bonifacio of Victory Church – Fort Bonifacio

A title of a book on Leadership by Gofee and Jones
and I have not read this book. Ha!

This line got stuck in my head in a really good way. Every time I accomplish something good at work I always tell myself these exact words. It is my way of giving myself a pat on the back and keeping my feet on the ground. I hope I have never shown anything that would suggest otherwise.

I did not graduate from any Black Belt Leadership Trainings so I may not be the most reliable person to talk about being a leader. The only credibility you could rely on in me is my age and experience. I have spent enough time to be both a leader and a follower in many different ways. I have experienced different leaderships and I have risen and fallen as a leader too. I have met so many bosses - some I directly report to and some I only get to observe from afar. I have learned a lot of so many good things from each of them and I always take virtual notes. However, I have also seen some challenges. I have seen one who always breaks a promise, one who does not spend enough time to attend to the needs of his people, one who shouts faults yet whispers praises, one whose first project after promotion was to find his own office no matter what it takes, one who only remembers people when needed but seems to limit own vision in celebrations, one whose emotions you need to babysit all the time BUT the worst kind? - the one who never looks back far enough to see every single people who made and continue to make every single success possible; the one who never looks up or down.

Yes, "... you are not that good that's why you need a team".

The "Team" is not just composed of the people you share coffee with during breaks, the ones you exchange emails with or the big wigs. If you widen your horizon, you'll be surprised with how big your "Team" really is. Your "Team" is composed of different "Teams" - from the team of the man who inspects your bag before entering the office door to ensure security of your workplace, the lady who replaces the tissue papers in the rest rooms, the man whose expertise in IT helps you solve technical issues, the quiet man in charge of quality control who dives deeper into the real score than you can, the lady who trains your people from the first to the last word they need to say, to the man who can't join your team late night outs because of his family but has delivered numbers the best he can, down to the team of that girl who graduated with a field of expertise that is way different from what she is doing for you now but gives her best to give the numbers you want. Your "Team" are not numbers. They are not statistics.

Yes, ... that's why you need a "Team" because you can't do it on your own.  

We all can't do it on our own. I wish all leaders live by this principle.

I thank God for my team and all the other teams I have worked with. Just like what Oprah said, "I am only as good as the people I work with."

I am Beautiful.

I have recently started my journey through the Book of Exodus. With an imagination like mine, it feels like watching a movie. Starting from where I left off the last time I read Chapter 25. I stopped at Chapter 26 because nothing really made sense to me. I skipped the chapters I thought say of the same things and went for the next “happening”. I was reading Chapter 32 when something inside me said I should go back. Go back to Chapter 26!

I don't know why I did but I did.

Patiently I read and absorbed every word and was surprisingly amazed by every single description it gave of what Moses should do to prepare a tabernacle.

Let’s rewind a bit. Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of the slavery from Egypt. After Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, He received instructions on how to prepare the tabernacle, offerings, vests and rituals that God wants them to do in order to please Him. God gave very specific instructions for the grand things down to the minutest detail. I highly suggest you read them from Exodus to get a full view but here are a few examples:

“Have them make a chest of acacia wood – 2 ½ cubits long, a cubit and ½ wide, and a cubit and ½ high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.”

“Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be of one piece with it.”

“Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand.”

“Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim worked into them by a skilled craftsman.”

“At these two corners they must be double from the bottom all the way to the top, and fitted into a single ring; both shall be like that. So there will be 8 frames and 16 silver bases – two under each frame.”

I was awed by the meticulous eyes of my Father on art and beauty. He does not want to rush things just to get it done. He carefully looks at every detail and turns a simple thing into an adorable piece. I thought, if He can give these instructions to Moses to the dot for Moses to come up with the best tabernacle and offerings that will please His eyes, what more beauty and greatness can His own hands bring?

I looked at the mirror and noticed my long black hair, my thick eyebrows, my not-so-pointed funny nose, my heart-shaped lips, my heart-shaped face and my small soft ears. I looked at my hands and noticed how small they are, almost like a kid’s. I smiled at the thought that I crave for ice cream “more” when I am sad or about to cry, that I love to dance and write and take photos. I pouted on the fact that I can’t swim despite so many attempts to learn. You see, I may not be the most beautiful woman in the world. In fact, I may not be beautiful at all in the eyes of anyone. I may not pass the standards of Hollywood or Cosmopolitan,  not even halfway!

…BUT I was fearfully, carefully and wonderfully made by my Father in Heaven therefore I AM BEAUTIFUL!

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are beautiful. I know that full well.”

Psalm 139: 13-14

EVENTS: LoveLife



Photo from Victory Philippines.

Love is a topic we all love talking about on radio stations, TV shows, and in our favorite songs. “All we need is love,” one song goes. But what is the kind of love that really fulfills and satisfies us?

Starting this February, we invite you to join us in our new series: “LoveLife.” This series will help us gain the right perspective of love, sex, and marriage founded on God’s Word, and develop godly convictions that would result in a life that pleases God.

Here are the weekly topics:

Week One: Love
Week Two: Marriage
Week Three: Sex

Join us at a Victory location nearest you! Victory, a church in the Philippines, meets in fifteen different locations in Metro Manila and forty-five different locations in the provinces. Check out our national directory. You may also get the latest updates on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Invite your family, friends, and colleagues to join us! See you at our services!

Reference: www.victory.org.ph (Posted on January 26, 2011 by Karess Rubrico)

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Watch the cool teaser video in Facebook :

http://www.facebook.com/search.php?q=vip+mandaluyong&init=spell&tas=0.3162402882562492#!/video/video.php?v=10150097469744030&oid=78160982502&comments

Fall in love this love month!