Be Flexible… This morning I have been thinking about the importance of learning to be flexible when it comes to our plans. Good leaders and good managers always work from a plan but what happens when things don’t go as planned? Positive thinking must always be balanced with the reality of real problems and challenges to our best intentioned plans. Effective leaders understand that being flexible helps one to work through whatever the problem may be without getting bent out of shape. A good plan is to go into a new venture or project understanding that something will at some point go wrong. So the flexible person adjusts the plan to fit the new circumstances. This simply means that this week something will not go as planned in some area of your work or personal life. When things don’t go as planned you always have the choice to demonstrate flexibility and creativity. You can complain or you can create a new plan based on new circumstances. So make up your mind this week to be flexible. The people you work with will notice that kind of an attitude and you will be happier.Many Blessings, Alvin  

The Mission is supported through the generosity of many, many people and organizations, for which we are eternally grateful.  One of the ways we show our gratitude is by watching very carefully how we spend our resources, and then by creating transparent reporting so that everyone can see our faithfulness.  Each year we have an independent accounting firm audit our finances and policies to ensure that we are operating in the highest ethical standard.  Our Audit, which is a clean report, will be presented to the board this evening.  Any donor or employee wishing to study the audit can call to set up an appointment.  Also, our financials from 2007 are posted on the website for further review. DC  

Just a bit of inside news:  I’m in Spokane Wednesday to meet with other CEO/Exec. Directors from Rescue Missions of the Pacific Northwest.  There will be leaders from Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Yakima, British Columbia and elsewhere to discuss how we can cooperate to make the Assoc. of Gospel Rescue Mission’s more useful to local missions.  Also on my agenda is talking up Tacoma for the national AGRM conference in 2012, which will be our 100th anniversary, to anyone who will listen.  We’ve been talking to them about this possibility for some time, but it seems like momentum has shifted towards having the national conferences in larger cities.  We’ll keep making our case.  At any rate, its an honor to represent TRM in any meeting.  David

Mar, our wonderful Director of Institutional Philanthropy, underwent a medical procedure to take care of a blockage in one of his arteries.  All went well but please keep Mar on your prayer list as he recovers.  He is planning on returning to work sometime next week.  Please post any encouragement for Mar…dc

The Tacoma Rescue Mission has approved the merger of Need a Break Ministries and now the Need a Break board of directors will need to approve the merger to make it official.  Need a Break will become a division of TRM and will become a part of our donation center services.  Need a Break Services is a young Christian ministry that provides basic services to people who are impoverished and on the verge of homelessness.  These services could be things as simple as organizing a work crew to help them with household challenges, fixing a broken car, building a ramp for a wheelchair, etc.  For more information on the ministry, please go to www.needabreak.org

Essentially, I see the strength of the merger as an opportunity to get some first-class teammates for TRM and expand our Donor Center ministry to make sure that we are fully utilizing all of our in-kind resources to help the community.

 More information to come

David 

Happy Monday Everyone!  One of the important values here at the Tacoma Rescue Mission is passion.  We need passion for the work we do here at the mission. When you think about it, the job that we do is as sacred as a marriage. To be effective in any work requires an attitude of love for the work to be done. Since our purpose is to help others become their best through the power and grace of Jesus Christ we can rest assured that real passion is the result of such a noble purpose. Take so time today to ponder the following question: are you passionate about what you do?  When your work is done as unto God passion will be the fruit of such labor. Let’s seek to be good examples of people who not only do our work as unto God but with real passion.  Many Blessings, Alvin

The Tacoma Rescue Mission has agreed to become a partner with Savers Inc., the corporation that runs the Value Village chain of thrift stores.  As an organization, our first priority with all donated clothing remains to make certain that our homeless and impoverished clients receive the clothing they need to stay warm.  This partnership will allow us to sell any clothing overage to Savers Inc. and put the revenue directly into the services of the Tacoma Rescue Mission.  Thanks to Alvin Helms, Kathy Austin, and Bob Killmer for their work in bringing this partnership to fruition.  DC 

Happy Monday Everyone! What is your definition of leadership? There are many ways to define different aspects of leadership. Perhaps the best definition that I have heard is by John Maxwell. Maxwell says that leadership is very simple to define. He says:”leadership is influence.” So how does a person gain influence? We gain influence by adding value to the people around us. This is the principle of living an others focused life as opposed to a self focused life. You might think of it this way: effective leaders get over themselves so they can reach over and help others. Let’s think of some ways that we can add value to those in our circle of influence this week. Many blessings, Alvin

Hopefully a few of you have begun to see the Tacoma Rescue Mission on the side of the link light rail in downtown Tacoma.  For those of you who haven’t, here it is.  DC  

Two beloved TRM staff who met while both serving as Youth Coordinators married yesterday in Portland, Oregon.  I was honored to do the ceremony and it was absolutely beautiful.  Please post best wishes to Mr. and Mrs. James and Katy Leet.  DC