Leadership Tips & Training Inspiration for the Derailed Leader

I can't say I am sad that 2003 is now over and a new year has finally arrived. After Thanksgiving I began receiving emails and phone calls from discouraged leaders. They wanted to throw in the towel. They had all gotten off track and felt like failures. Surely God couldn't use them any longer! They had all kinds of reasons to quit: gained weight, family crisis, health issues, members not progressing, and the list goes on. They were all derailed and ready to stay grounded! The enemy was rejoicing over them so loudly that they could not hear what the Lord was telling them. Can you relate?

God relates with our struggle and has given us His truth in His Word to help us as leaders to get back on track. Micah could relate with our feelings of failure and disappointment when he wrote, "Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me." Micah 7:8 We may be down, but we will get up! We are the ones that got off track, but the good news is that we are also the ones that can get back on track!

God will light the way! When we decide to get up and just do the next right thing, God will then do His part. Once we believe God and look for His light, He will provide the strength to get back on track. Psalm18: 28-29 provides some much needed truth for those who have been derailed:  "For Thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God illumines my darkness. For by Thee I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall."

I have gained much inspiration and encouragement through one of our networking leaders, Joe Ann Winkler. I recently emailed her and asked her to share with me how she got back on track, how she was able to persevere and how it had affected her leadership. She has given me permission to share her answers with you.   May her story supply you with the hope and encouragement you need to get back on track in 2004, and in turn inspire those who are following your lead!

    Nancy,

    The two main reasons that got me back on track was I read the book "Back on Track," and I noticed at the Summit that you, Kay and Carole had all lost weight by following the Back on Track program, so I wanted to do it, too. It sounded like a great commitment, except that exercise was part of it. Usually when exercise was part of the plan, I would just say, "That lets me out."

    I had a hard time just getting around the house walking and experienced many falls. I wanted to do this so badly I started praying, without much faith, that the

    Lord would let me walk for exercise. I prayed that prayer for a couple weeks, and then the Lord told me to get out and walk what I could. I walked down the driveway. I did this for several days, then walked across the street as we don't have sidewalks on our side. I walked not quite half way down the block and back. I started trying the whole block and Jack stood in the front yard watching, in case I would fall. I just kept increasing it and asked God to give me a mile. The day I walked a mile I was so excited I could hardly stand it. I praised God, and then He revealed to me that I was walking through Him and all the praise and glory belonged to Him. I am very careful to let everyone know it is not I but the Lord walking through me. 

    I started using these morning walks as prayer time. We moved to the Mall where it is all level and safer for me. On my first round I pray for those that I know who are sick. The second round I pray for the First Place staff and all the leaders of First Place around the world. The third round I pray for each member of my First Place group. The fourth and fifth round I pray for my children and grandchildren. That takes two rounds, as we have a big family, and the sixth round is for individuals I know who need prayer. I am walking between two and two and one-half miles each morning. I am so excited in the morning when the alarm goes off that I jump out of bed and get ready to go! Jack is so slow that I am waiting at the door at 6:00 a.m. ready to get going.

    I do have a lot of pain as my artificial hip, which I received in 1977, was glued in and extra glue was put in to extend my leg to the same length as my other one. It has come unglued and is loose now, so it is very painful. They cannot do anything about it, because if they break the glue, it will also break bones.

    I have learned to live with it. I also have a curvature of the spine in the shape of an "S" that draws me to one side and causes a lot of back pain, along with the normal pain of MS. When I start walking, if the pain gets bad, I have a bench in the Mall that I call my "prayer bench."   I just sit down and ask God to remove the pain from me so I can walk to His glory, and he has not failed me once. I get up and go again, pain free. I know Satan does not like that, so he sends blisters on my feet. After missing a week of walking once, I found I can wear 3 socks on the foot with the blisters and they don't even hurt.

    My group knows my walking is done through God, and they marvel at how good I am doing and encourage me. I have lost weight (33 pounds) and they remark on that a lot. As a leader, I tell them we have a God of the Impossible and anything they want to do to God's glory they will be able to do. I am a better leader because of what God is doing for me, and He will do it for them if they just trust Him. I wear my Triple Dare bracelet when I walk to remind me to Believe God and to Trust God, and then Obey God. I know now that if God wants me to do something, I am going to do it. After walking, I am still stumbling around at home and can't walk into a store, but have to use a wheelchair. What a testimony I have for the grace of God.

    Jack is so proud of what I am doing he tells everyone. While I walk, he sits in the food court at the mall. I start my walk at the food court and when I finish, I do what I call my Victory Lap. The other day I sneaked a flag from home and on my Victory lap I carried this flag like they do in the Olympics. Jack about fell out of his chair, laughing. Also, I have not had a fall since starting walking through God. God is so faithful and I love Him more everyday.

    Love you,
    Joe Ann

    P.S. I forgot to tell you that when I was at the Summit I was on ten prescription pills. Today I am on one for my thyroid. My Cholesterol and blood pressure are fine and I don't need those pills anymore. God is so good.

Lead On!

Nancy Taylor
Leadership Training Director



Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.