Porch time in Montana

Anyone who knows me very well knows my favorite state. Montana. Big Sky Country. The axiom is very apropos. If you drive on Montana Hwy 12 along the Elk Horn mountains you will understand very quickly how it got its name.This time, we are staying a few days at the Sacajawea Hotel & Inn. 

The inn has been in existence for over 110 years. We enjoy our breakfast and early morning coffee on their front porch. In the summer, Montana has its warm days but cooler nights and mornings. Named for the famous Indian Lewis & Clarke used to translate with the Shoshone Indians, the history is rich at the hotel.

Located in Three Forks, Montana,  the hotel is situated near the confluence of three rivers that make up the Missouri River; Gallatin, Madison & Jefferson.

The American west is rich in Sacajawean history. In the winter of 1804-1805, famed explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark interviewed several trappers seeking interpreters for their western journey up the Missouri River planned for the spring. Knowing they would encounter the Shoshone Indians at the headwaters, they agreed to hire Toussaint Charbonneau after learning of his wife, Sacagawea, who knew the language. After the couple moved into the expedition’s fort, Sacajawea was nick-named “Janey”.  She was pregnant and gave birth to Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. The baby was given a nickname by the explorers as well “Little Pompy”

Poling and pulling against the current heading westward, history records Sacajawea rescued journal entries and records of Lewis and Clark and was honored with a river in her name on May 20, 1805. 

The hotel? It’s amazing! Located in Three Forks areas, fingerprints of the Lewis and Clark Trail are scattered all around. It is at the headwaters of the Missouri River, where Sacajawea was reunited with her brother and brokered safe passage for the explorers. Only years following American western tale, the Sacajawea Hotel was constructed in 1910.

Built by John Q. Adams, who was a purchasing agent for the Milwaukee Railroad, the hotel was built as a rest stop for passengers and train crews. The main building at the hotel is the Madison House. It has a Victorian flair with all the western feel you can imagine. 

The owners of the hotel have seen many challenging economic seasons, in fact, in 2001, the Sacajawea was boarded up. However, in 2009, the Folkvords, a third-generation Montana farming family, purchased the Hotel.

The hotel has 29 luxury guest rooms, a couple bars (yes western feeling type), a wedding venue, and the Pompey Grill.

Liz and I have stayed here many times. We enjoy the quiet 2053 populated town. We always visit the confluence of the three rivers. But probably my favorite thing is waking up at daylight and drinking my first cup of coffee on the huge porch.

I'll have to thank my Montana family Dan Pate and Leah Welsh for bringing us here on our first visit to Big Sky country.

Authority...an easily abused power

When authority is abused through micromanagement, intimidation or verbal and or nonverbal threats, people/teams tend to shut down; inevitably they become unproductive.

Authority is a fragile gift; usually given from people who have trusted you to act on their behalf. Giving authority, or sharing authority can create business/team momentum. Using authority to micromanage usually destroys momentum.

Authority requires trust. It requires people having goals that are team-oriented, not "me" oriented. Growing a thriving team requires good communication. It requires team members focused on a group goal. Its members must be positive and provide an equal contribution. Thriving teams support its members. They are not self-serving.

Team building is a skillset that leaders are looking for. The antithesis of team building is team destruction. As I read a local news outlet regarding less than critical goals in our community, I couldn't help but think maybe some of our local people in authority positions should have a little self-reflection focusing on some of these thoughts. There is nothing more beautiful than a team that understands group goals. It has the power to make us flourish as individuals and as teams.

Life and death.

Life and death

James said

 ^“Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.” He had just finished the analogy of a horse being controlled by a small bit

James, the brother of Jesus was very direct in this chapter talking about the power of the tongue. He used two metaphors that could be related to by the land minded people and the sea driven individuals. He wrote that mankind is not perfect and will stumble. I’m sure having a deity as a brother, he understood quite well the difference in a perfect life and not.

Andy Stanley said about this scripture and the tongue as it related to the human body, it is a “small part, big influence”. It has the power to control your destiny. Words that are spoken can create relationships, fights, wars, contracts, divorce and a host of decisions. Speaking/engaging the wrong person can change your trajectory. Once words are out of the mouth, it’s like toothpaste out of the tube; it can’t go back in.  And the reality is, the tongue is one of hardest things to tame. Like a small match, it has the ability to create an entire forest fire. Forest fires are often accidental, but the unfortunate thing is, once a forest fire has erupted, all that is left is scorched earth. Jesus himself said in Matthew “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person”. The writer in Proverbs said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” So, the equation of what comes out of the mouth starts with what we put into the heart.

The connectivity of the heart and the mouth are like a ship engine and its utter. Like the small utter on a ship, the tongue has the power to control your destiny, the direction of your life.  And usually when a negative word is uttered, it takes multiple positive words to counter-balance the weight of a single negative word. When a ship sails in the wrong direction, it takes a significant course correction for the destiny of the ship to be righted.

So, coming from a person who is an extravert and who has never minded talking, I am personally going to try better and take to heart the advice of James in his first chapter where he said “be quick to listen and slow to speak.

Remember what the writer in Proverbs 18 said, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Think about the power you wield.

Don't stand around!

Ecclesiastes 11:4 Revised Standard Version ⁴ He who observes the wind will not sow; and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

I think it's safe to say when an instructor begins his class with words from Solomon, you can probably be prepared for wise counsel.

Solomon is a writer in the Old Testament and was an incredibly wealthy and wise king. His fame in the Old Testament is only rivaled by his father, David, who defeated a mighty giant, Goliath. Many people use the book of Proverbs for life decisions and directions. 

NAA Instructor, Auctioneer, and farmer, Mark Manley from Georgia, opened his presentation to CAI Class III at the Indiana University Alumni Hall with the above 3000 +/- year old writing. It was a refreshing start to my day and a thought provoking idea. 
He began his thoughts related to work ethic. What do you do with your day?

Wise counsel always points you in the right direction. I'll challenge you with another writing from Solomon found in Proverbs 15:22 "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." Coming from the wisest counsel in the world, I think that my/our/your future plans, whatever they are, should be considered with a trusted team. Trusted advisors can steer you in the right direction. 

Congratulations to the 2019 CAI Class. Don't let the clouds in the sky get in the way of your future!

Trust

Grandmaw lived with us my entire childhood. She would rise early daily. On the mornings I would awaken early to go hunting or otherwise, she would already be up beginning her daily routine of homemade biscuits and bacon or sausage.

She ran the classic white german sided country store that was in walking distance to the house. During rainstorms, you could hear the pitter patter of the metal roof.  By 7 am, she would start her short journey to open up where many locals would be waiting on her. As I look back, I realize this small trek was part of her exercise routine. At the store, she sold cokes (for northerners, that means Pepsis, Coke-Colas, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper and Cheer wine), nabs (peanut butter and cheese crackers), tobacco products, flour, Crisco, bread, potted meat, Vienna sausages, and sardines just to mention the best sellers. The store was heated by a wood stove. The front of the store had a counter with what we would now call an old-timey cash register. It was filled with enough cash and change to handle daily transactions. Grandmaw would usually be around the stove in the winter or she would have a chair pulled up to the quilting rack needling the beautiful patterns like the lone star

pattern.

Regulars would come in the store to purchase their staples and sit around the stove to warm up. When it was time to go, my grandmother would exercise trust with so many of the customers she knew. She would allow them to make their own change. She had relationships with these people to enter her “circle of cash”, her money drawer and put in the 50 cents for a drink or dollar and withdraw the change. I would always ask her “Grandmaw, do you really trust people to make the right change or worse yet, steal from you. She would tell me, “Know who you allow in your money drawer." With those that she considered in her “circle”, she would never really concern herself with people taking from her.

I am reminded of that with a mentor of mine in the auction industry. Early on in my real estate auction career, I brought a farm to him (a competitor, and friend), and we conducted a significant joint venture transaction together. We later did another transaction which a result of that original auction. He and I never had a written agreement, it was strictly a gentlemen’s agreement. You could say we opened the cash register up to make change.

I asked Grandmaw if she thought anyone ever stole from her. She said she was certain it happened but said those people probably needed the money worse than she did. The list of values I learned from the country store continue to teach me things. Trust is an important one. Allow people in your life you can trust, and live a life whereby they can trust you. I still call my auctioneer friend my mentor and still call him occasionally to talk auctions, real estate and sometimes just life. He's one person I know my grandmother would have allowed to make his own change.