On the job, you are often expected to keep your emotions under control. Act, don’t react. Don’t let others push your buttons. Don’t let a bias dictate your decision. Be deductive and logical. While all of this good advice has its place, there are also ‘red flag moments’ where listening to your emotion, that ‘check in your gut’, can keep you or a fellow officer safe.
   
In his article Red Flag Decision Making, Paul Naeger wrote, “If our brains come across something and categorizes it as a ‘red flag’ we will be notified through thoughts and feelings...This ‘red flag’ alerts us to pay attention.” On the job, paying attention to a ‘red flag’ could literally save your life.
   
In his book, Better Decisions Fewer Regrets, author Andy Stanley points out in everyday life we get these ‘red flags’ and they form a tension...a tension which deserves our attention. He suggests, “If something bothers you, let it bother you. Embrace it. Pay attention to the tension. What begins as an uneasy feeling is often supported later with reason. Information. Insight. But if you don’t pause, you won’t see it.” (Chapter 4)
   
This is one of the questions we should ask ourselves when making a decision, when trying to make a good decision that will make life less hard: Is there a tension that deserves my attention? If yes, don’t ignore it. Figure it out. Work it out or go another way...there’s a reason you got a ‘red flag’.
   
My prayer for you this week is for STRONG ‘red flags’ on the job that will warn you and keep you safe. May God’s supernatural protection watch over you. And in your everyday life, may you pay attention to the tension, make wise decisions and make life easier for yourself. 
   
Your service is appreciated,
 Pastor Rob

Thoughts and examples taken from Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets: 
5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move by Andy Stanley 
I am giving away a copy of this book. If you would like to be entered in the drawing, go to the comment section here, leave your name and email and simply say, "I want to be in the book drawing".

Make Life Less Hard Series
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Part 5

I conducted a Celebration of Life service for a church member and friend of mine this past week. As I prepared for the service, I talked to family members and asked for stories that I could weave into my remarks because that is what the day was about...telling my friend’s story.
   
Have you ever thought about your life being a story; a story you are writing one decision at a time? Looking at questions to ask in order to make life less hard, a  good question to ask is, “What story do I want to tell?” At YOUR funeral people are going to tell stories about your life. Hopefully, they will tell the “good” stories, but from what kind of stories are you giving them to choose?
   
Maybe looking at life as a story can help us make wiser decisions when we’re tempted to react quickly because of a strong emotion such as anger. “Chapter 33: My daughter and I were never close after that. I blew up, she got mad and we never got past it”. Or maybe give us a much-needed pause in a financial decision, “Chapter 42: I saw that boat and knew I HAD to have it right then. It took me YEARS to get out of debt.” Or maybe it would help when we have to make hard, every day decisions after facing a tragedy. “Chapter 50: Being without a job for 10 months was terrible and terribly difficult, but I budgeted wisely, kept knocking on doors and eventually ended up with a job more satisfying than the one I had before.” What decision wouldn’t benefit from a long-term perspective? “Is this going to be a chapter of my life’s story that I will want to tell my grand kids?” 
   
As I pray for you this week, I’m praying you have GOOD stories to tell (and to be told about you) because of the GOOD decisions you make, and may your life be less hard because of it!

Your service is appreciated,
Pastor Rob

Thoughts and examples taken from Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets: 
5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move by Andy Stanley 
I am giving away a copy of this book. If you would like to be entered in the drawing, go to the comment section here, leave your name and email and simply say, "I want to be in the book drawing".

Make Life Less Hard Series
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Part 5

One can never be a leader worth following if one can’t lead themselves well. For me, one of the biggest challenges in trying to lead myself is my gullibility. I believe almost anything...anything that I tell myself! 
   
Why is it so easy to lie to ourselves?  What do we get for lying to ourselves? Bad decisions. And what do enough bad decisions, stacked on top of one another lead to? A hard life!
   
There is a connection between good questions and good decisions. Often times we know the intelligent thing to do, but knowing the right thing to do is no guarantee we will do it. Sometimes asking a question gives us pause enough to figure out if we want to DO right or just KNOW the right thing to do. 
   
Clay Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School, said, “Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go. It hits your mind and bounces right off. You have to ask the question-you have to want to know-in order to open up the space for the answer to fit.”
   
To steer away from a hard life of bad decisions, a good question to ask is, “Am I being honest with myself...really?” How do I know if I’m being honest with myself? Here’s a hint: I rarely have to sell myself on a good idea, on the right thing to do, on the healthy thing to do, on the responsible thing to do. Rationalization ought to be a warning sign. If I am rationalizing a purchase, a relationship or a habit, it is a great time to ask, “Why am I doing this?” and then when I answer that question, follow up with, “Am I being honest with myself...really”?
   
On the job, you ask questions every day to make good decisions.  What is the best way to handle this situation? For what do I need to watch out? How can I figure out if they are telling me the truth? My prayer for you on the job this week is that your questions lead to decisions which keep you safe. On the personal front, may you ask questions that make your life easier: “Am I being honest with myself...really?”
   
Your service is appreciated,
Pastor Rob

Thoughts and examples taken from Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets: 
5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move by Andy Stanley 
I am giving away a copy of this book. If you would like to be entered in the drawing, go to the comment section here, leave your name and email and simply say, "I want to be in the book drawing".

Make Life Less Hard Series
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Part 5

I don’t want to be a day late and a dollar short, but I know that yesterday was National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. I was not able to attend briefings yesterday, but I am here today (and every Monday) because I believe at least once a week you should hear somebody say, “Thank you for serving our City. What you do is important, you are appreciated...and you are awesome!”

I imagine you would expect a “less-than-thoughtful” response from those who ride in your back seat, but I would like to leave you with a thought today for any time you are frustrated or wonder, “Why do I keep doing this?” when you are faced with the anti-cop narrative in the media, social media, etc. When I hear/read that garbage, I think about when I am researching a purchase on Amazon and comparing items. I always read the reviews, and I usually pick the item that has an average 4 to 4.5 star review. There are times I read a couple negative reviews in a row and start to move on. But then I look again and notice 3,000+ reviews with an average 4.5 stars. I keep reading, and sure enough there are a LOT of people with solid examples of why the product is excellent. And I am reminded, no matter how good something is (a product, customer service, etc) there will ALWAYS be people who are unhappy. And something that I have learned about many unhappy people who complain: they are unhappy as a person which makes them unhappy about most everything. And unhappy people often shout the loudest. It doesn’t make them the majority (they rarely are), but they make themselves heard. I’ve since learned not to overlook PAGES of positive reviews because of one or two loud, unhappy people.

All of this to say, if you hear from some loud, unhappy people this week, please remember they are NOT the majority. You ARE appreciated for what you do, you are needed, citizens in your City are thankful for you and MANY of us are praying for you.
 
We will not scream and shout, but neither will we be silent. Thank you for serving our City. You are appreciated, Pastor Rob