Day - 6 Clean Your Car

Today, at the top of my "New Launch Checklist," is Clean the Car.   In fact, I plan to have Clean the Car at the top of my checklist every Monday for the next 100 days.

Here is what I am learning:  The startup takes everything you got (and then some.)  It’s like launching a rocket.  So much more energy is expended in getting the ship off the ground than there ever is in keeping the ship in orbit. It takes a lot to get things moving.  It takes more than you ever realized to break free of the gravitational pull that wants to keep you where you have always been.

So what does that have to do with cleaning your car?

Well, because the launch takes so much energy and focus, other things in my life have had to take a back burner for a minute.  Case in point, my car.  It is a mess – inside and out, the visible effects of 12 weeks of pouring everything I have got into this launch.  There are papers and water bottles and books and garbage all over the floor.  The dash is grimy and console is pretty gross and the outside is dusty and dirty from months of neglect.  It’s quite a site. Truth be told, I am embarrassed to take anybody anywhere in my car.

So, in midst of everything it takes to launch a new church, I am learning that I have to build in disciplines that connect me to the rest of my life, to the bigger picture in which all of this is happening.  Cleaning my car is just a simple way to make sure I am not completely losing myself in the immensity of this project.  

Cleaning my car will help me take inventory of my life and get a fresh perspective on the start of the week.  

It will clear out the clutter, both literally and spiritually, that gets in the way of staying focused.  

And it will remind me that I have a life beyond this launch! (And a great life at that, with a great wife and awesome kids!)  

Funny how cleaning your car reminds you of those things….I will take the reminder any way it comes.

Here’s to Clean the Car Day!