My Mother, My Hero

I wish you could have met my mom. She represents much of the reason for the existence of any good qualities in me. She died four years ago, far too early in my opinion. She was only 66.

No one loved to laugh more than Sally. No one listened more actively than Sally. No one saw the good in people (sometimes when not much was present) than Sally. No one loved babies and children more than Sally. No one believed in people more than Sally. I happened to be fortunate enough to be her son.

I remember sitting at the breakfast table, as a ten-year old, reading box scores from the previous night’s ball games. Mom listened as though she cared about these teams as much as I did. She would ask me questions about Johnny Bench’s home run hit to right field, since he normally hit them to left field. I recall mom writing love notes to me and putting them in my lunch bag. I remember mom waking me up in the morning making me feel like the new day was destined to be my best one. She made growing up…fun.

Everyone wanted Sally around. She discipled young women. She served in her church. She invited people to stay in her home. She never told people how to live their life. Instead, she modeled the way for them.

Interestingly, she never finished her college degree. Starting a family was more important to her. Yet, despite the fact she lacked a degree on her wall, she was very high in emotional intelligence. Her EQ made up for what she might have lacked in IQ. She was high in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. That’s what made her so winsome with people. I have often said: success in college is about 75% IQ, 25% EQ. Success in life is about 25% IQ, 75% EQ.

I remembered my mom on Mother’s Day yesterday. I had a relaxing day with my own family, and celebrated well. Yet, I still missed calling my mom—who is my standard for mothers, and for people.

Tim

Habitudes

David Mimms leads a Habitudes group of students (high school) at a Boys and Girls Club.  He wrote:

A colleague and I are leading a group of high school students through Habitudes book three at the Cherokee Country Boys and Girls Club. We hand picked the students and have gone through books one and two already. We are just about complete with book three at the BGC. We are asking each student to come up with a business plan and are prepared to help each print business card and even help with micro loans. I will let you know how it goes. Keep up the great work and God bless you.  David

 

David Mimms (Business Owner)

Email Responses

We are presenting Habitudes™ to 7th and 8th graders in a large group setting at our Monday assemblies and then we follow up with small group (8-10 students) discussions lead by the advisory group leader. At our Monday assemblies, we have guest presenters-Head of school, middle school counselor and even the head football coach. The students love the images and the topics are generating some great dialogue.
I look forward to visiting the new site!

Susan Akers
Middle school counselor
Franklin Road Academy

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In working with high school students as a leadership advisor and counselor I found the use of “images” a perfect bridge from my generational perspective in character and leadership into the current generation. Whereas words can and often are confused within the frame of text generated by the speaker the use of images many times carry a more concrete message that is easy to convey and understand for both the teacher and student. The images utilized by Dr. Elmore are clear representations of character traits necessary for our young aspiring leaders. I fully utilize images from the Habitudes™ series in a leadership class as brain exercises to start off topical conversations as well as ways of closing topics for student feedback to gain insight to the students pre-understanding of leadership topics and to discover how well I directed the lesson and lecture on topics.


Jeff Bennett
Counselor and Leadership Advisor
Etowah High School

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Actually I am an old leader who believes in young leaders and for that reason my 28-year old son turned me on to Habitudes™. My eyes are growing dim (really) and I am unable to read as much as I would like to - Habitudes™ is perfect for me with its visuals. Tim Elmore seems to say more in a page than I have gotten out of reading some books in their entirety. It has been such a God-send for me, that I pass on information to our youth pastors, but I also use the concepts when I am teaching older groups. Because it is God, it works whether you are old or young.

L Lewis

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I came across Habitudes™ while planning the High School Leadership Conference at Auburn University and was thrilled by the emphasis on visual learning. Dr. Elmore has tapped into how my generation learns and retains valuable information through images. For the Conference, we led university and high school students through this book and the reactions were overwhelmingly positive. Habitudes™ beautifully articulates valuable principles of leadership that are applicable to daily life. This is truly one of the most effective leadership materials on the market due to its focus on small groups and developing mentors. Habitudes™ takes on the "pay it forward" effect for everyone who enjoys this insightful little book.

Margaret Kloess
Director of High School Leadership Conference

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I have the amazing privilege of mentoring several young adults who are interested in missions and have found the Habitudes™ material incredibly useful. The style and content connect well and create great opportunities for deeper dialogue and life application. We’ve also listed the Habitudes™ as a resource on a website we’ve created for those interested in exploring the possibility of missions in the future (http://map.emm.org) .

Blessings,
Marilyn Peters

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First of all, I would like to thank you for writing the "Habitudes™...". It really made a difference with the young leaders I'm discipling. What I did...i gave them each a photocopy of the lesson we are going to discuss each week. They have to read and answer the questions and come prepared for discussion. sometimes, I would ask them to pick just the most relevant point that speaks to them personally and how the Lord is maturing their characters. As a result, whatever we discussed, they are now more confident to pass on the lesson to their own group of disciples.

Joy L. Labay

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I have been using Habitudes™ in teaching my undergraduate leadership classes as a leadership lesson and devotional. The images and corresponding principles stick with the students, making them an invaluable part of my curriculum. I primarily use the video clips, without the books, and have found the DVD resource helpful.

Shawna L. Lafreniere, Ph.D.
Azusa Pacific University

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I have found the Habitudes™ series to be the best resource in raising generations of young leaders. I can make immediate connections with teenagers using the image-driven principles Tim has developed. The principle of “The Iceberg”, or being like a “laptop computer”, or the difference between “a thermometer and a thermostat” are easily taught and understood. Each image is supported by material filled with fun activities, historical and inspirational stories, biblical stories and scripture (faith based), video suggestions, and application to drill the principle deep within the student’s heart and life. Your students will keep coming back for deeper discussions and more leadership principles for their lives.

Neal Eller, Church Health Team Leader
Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

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I work with many young leaders that run youth programs, camps, mission trips,school programs, training schools and much more and we need tools to help give our leaders the best training we can, many of our leaders have little to no leadership experience. And the challenge is how can we equip them as best we can. This is were I have found Habitudes™ a great tool. It can be difficult to teach people about leadership principles if they have no experience. But with Habitudes™ we found that people can really grab hold of great leadership principles through the many wonderful lessons. I can't recommend Habitudes™ enough for your leadership training and development.

Ryan Booker

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Picture books aren’t just for preschoolers; they’re tremendously powerful for potential leaders. I own all four books and have read through the first one and have just recently started on the second. I have to say, the images that have impacted me the most are the ones that I see on a daily basis. Certainly, all of the images presented in Dr. Tim Elmore’s books are fantastic and the principles phenomenal. However, there is just something about seeing a Thermostat or Thermometer in every room I enter and being reminded of the principle that correlates with that image: That I can either set the climate, or become affected by it with the people in that room. Or, everyday turning on my Personal Laptop with the conviction that I can either fill my mind and heart with trash knowing that’s exactly what I will spit out in return, or have the integrity to view and watch appropriate things. I can go on and on. However, I hope future books continue to have images I encounter daily, so I am consistently reminded of the principles behind them and try my best, through God’s grace, to live them out. I am also hoping, in the near future, that I can go through all four books in a small group of people and have all of us fill out and complete the application exercises found at the end of each image. That way we can truly make it a habit to put into practice the principles Tim and God’s Word says.

Lance Croy
Drama Director
NorthRidge Church

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Over the past few years, Habitudes™ has become one of our main staples for training our student leaders. The images help to clarify the roles and responsibilities of a young emerging leader. We have found Habitudes™ to be helpful in preparing our leaders as they start but also in keeping them sharp as they serve. Almost without exception we start our new leaders with the lesson “passenger vs driver.” During the year we have our student leaders host visitors so we teach the lesson that reveals the difference between a host and a guest. Creatively written, Habitudes™ instruct as well as inspire our students to be creative in their own teaching.

Dwayne Carson

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We have used Habitudes™ as the centerpiece of our leadership training since the first publication of 'Book One:The Art of Self-Leadership'. In the classroom setting we have used all four books spread out over three different courses in the core curriculum of our majors in christian ministry. Students completed the books as individuals, discussed each Habitude™ in class, watched numerous videos to reinforce each principle, and were tested for competency on exams. At the grassroots level of training our campus student leaders we have used a variety of delivery systems--one on one or clusters of three students working through one Habitude™ per week for a semester, monthly events focusing on 3 or 4 Habitudes™ taught thematically with discussion and video reinforcement, giving copies of a particular Habitude™ volume each semester to every student leader while allowing their particular leadership team to decide the best means of processing the book by an agreed upon deadline date, or single day training events focusing on a single volume or thematic medley of Habitudes™. Personally, I have taught Habitudes™ at church with young adult leaders, in small groups for high school or collegiate leaders, as part of our quarterly leadership huddles for churchwide positional leaders, and in my ongoing group of mentees meeting with me weekly in an informal setting. One of my personal mentees is a highly successful high school football coach in our community. Two years ago Steve and I came up with a plan to train all of his Fellowship of Christian Athlete students in volumes 1, 2, and 3 of Habitudes™. A few hundred books later, they are still growing strong! Of all the tools I have used in my thirty years of training young leaders, Habitudes™ is the most consistently effective. I love their flexibility and 'stickiness'...they are virtually unforgettable!

Tracy Reynolds
Emmanuel College

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We are using Habitudes™ along with a one year Bible reading plan with all the students we are discipling at Middle Georgia College through the BCM. We are just beginning this process, but the goal is that those students who go through the process with a discipler/coach will be able to turn around and disciple/coach someone else through the process as well. Getting students immersed in the Word of God is our primary focus and the Habitudes™ add to the process very nicely as we focus on making disciples by equipping leaders for the cause of Christ.

Tracey A. Deavers
Campus Minister, BCM
Middle Georgia College

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We use Habitudes™ for some of our Freshman Seminar classes and our athletic teams. I also used it for a devotional with the Student Government Association last year and with my office staff. Good stuff.

Clark Carter
Campus Minister at Charleston Southern University