Right place, right time

I wasn't sure why I asked my wife to bring my copy of Abba's Heart for me to take with us to our Marriage Encounter area board meeting last night. The business of the meeting - discerning new area coordinators for the NKY-Cincinnati-Dayton region - was going to take a lot of the time of the meeting, and the discernment process doesn't provide much opportunity for input outside of its own flow. This is partly out of a desire to avoid the influences of ambition and popularity. I suppose I just wanted to let people know about this wonderful book, if the chance came up.

This was our fourth ME discernment meeting: two for circle leadership (the first of which my wife missed), and two for area coordinators (one for Dayton, one for Cincinnati). Three of these four have resulted in only one couple being willing to serve in the role being discerned. Ideally, at least two couples will be willing to serve.

We began with a period of affirmation, in which we took turns affirming each couple there for some gift we saw in them. Interestingly, at least twice when I was getting ready to affirm one of the couples, another couple affirmed them for the same thing. I noticed the couple who led the discernment taking notes to ensure that each couple present was affirmed for some gift they bring to the community. The introductory remarks gave us the opportunity to write down the challenges or reluctances that would tend to cause each of us to withhold our willingness to be discerned as coordinators. We then prayerfully turned these over to God to overcome our reservations. The current ecclesial team leaders and outgoing area coordinators discussed their own concerns with accepting their roles, and the biggest surprise blessings they encountered when they stepped out in faith. I realized that there were some words I'd recently read in Abba's Heart that seemed particularly relevant, but there was not a good opportunity to offer it in the context of the presentation. We then had a brief dialogue question, after which each couple indicated on paper whether they were willing to be discerned as area coordinators.

We were there primarily to prayerfully support the process; geographical concerns alone would have precluded us from serving in this role for this community. If we have a separate discernment later for Dayton area coordinators, we may respond differently. We were surprised when the couple leading the discernment announced that no couples had agreed to serve in this role for the Cincinnati area. They shared another passage of Scripture, and were preparing to ask us to please go off as couples and reconsider, in light of the fact that no one had stepped forward, whether we might be being called to serve after all. But before they sent us off, I now asked permission to share something briefly. It turns out that I still had the page marked, intending to share about it here when I got the chance:

God will not give us more responsibility without the grace we need, and He will be with us to accomplish the task. That is why it is exciting to work with what the Father gives us. We are never alone. We have the joy of fellowship with the Lord. As we take responsibility for our lives, we will get to know the Father and grow in our identities as His children. 

An increase in responsibility is an opportunity to depend on God. When you exercise your authority, it brings you closer to the One who gave it to you. You were created to represent God in service to others: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph 2:10)

Faithfulness releases God's power and authority through us to extend His Kingdom, and it comes through service. To be a son or daughter does not mean hiding from an increase in responsibility. It means taking one's place at the Father's right hand, serving with His authority. It means going lower in humility with Jesus to wash the feet of others. When we do the Father's will, we become more intimate with His heart for others. Whatever God has given you to do, He has also given you the authority and power to carry it out.

When we next returned, a couple had stepped forward to serve. I'd like to be able to say that we were willing, too, if we had been discerned, that we had sufficient trust in God and the community to not put us in a position we clearly understood that we shouldn't have been in, and to equip us to overcome the obstacles if we were chosen. I'd even like to think that we would trust each other enough that, in the potential upcoming discernment for our own area coordinators, we would be willing to serve. I'm not at all certain that we do. I find this disappointing, and I'm glad that someone doesn't read my blog. I don't love her any less for it, and I also don't want her to think that she's the only one with reservations.

Interestingly, in our dialogue we each invoked a familiar image. I talked about the feeling of jumping out of an airplane, and she talked about being on a high dive. And it fits us, somehow, that I did, and she doesn't. I want her to know that she won't have to jump alone.

Coming clean

Okay, I confessed my clandestine video viewing to my wife last night, so I'm not keeping secrets anymore.

It's a good thing I don't have a bunch of disposable money. I really have better things to spend it on than skydiving. I could get a lot of new kitchen work done for what my USPA A License would cost.

Shhh . . .

I probably shouldn't be hiding my video viewing from my bride . . .  

A truly blessed life

I just watched my skydiving video, which came in the mail last week. What a great experience! I had a wonderful bike ride today, down to my grandchildren's house for a short visit. I'm developing new skills in old hobbies (that reminds me: time to practice). I am blessed to help others praise and worship God in ways that lift their spirit and draws them more fully into His presence. My health is good. I have steady employment. My wife, daughters and grandchildren love me, and I love them. I have good friends who also mean the world to me.

Contented sigh.

More than all of this, God loves me and has blessed me with forgiveness, and with the Holy Spirit to dwell within me and transform me.

Thank you, Lord, for all that you have blessed me with, and most of all for the gift of your infinite self! Help me to be more cognizant of how you wish to share your gifts and your self with others through me.

More on the skydiving experience . . .

As I was climbing to our jump altitude in the late afternoon, as I looked out the door of the aircraft to the earth far below and felt the thrill of the moment, as I fell through 9000 feet of free fall, as I felt the parachute open, as I floated beneath the canopy, I just kept telling myself: "Heaven is going to be unimaginably better than even this!" (Oh, I don't know, maybe that wasn't completely coming from me?)

I think I might still be a little addicted, though. I'm checking out online ground school, learning stuff about skydiving. If I get to the point where I'm deciding to spend more money, I could be in trouble!

An (edited) FB post, for future reference

1. That moment when the wheels left the ground, and I realized I wouldn't still be on the plane when it touched back down. Very cool. 
2. That moment in front of the open door, when I wondered "What I could *possibly* have been thinking when I signed up for this? Am I *really* *doing* this?" and just that quickly, "Here goes!" 
3. Looking around at the beautiful day we had in southwestern Ohio as I fell through nearly two miles of clear sky. 
4. The satisfying pull of the harness as the 'chute filled. 
5. The float down under the canopy, with the chance to steer a bit and and look around more.
6. The chance to realize that, as awesome as that was, it's nothing compared to what heaven will be!
7. They're right: the beer just tastes better after that!

Anticipation

I'm so glad my wife reminded me that my skydiving Groupon would be expiring soon. Last year I was a little frustrated that I couldn't find a weekend in which my schedule and the weather would cooperate to allow me to redeem it, but figured I'd get plenty of opportunities this spring. Well, that hasn't exactly been the case, but the whole thing slipped from my consciousness, too. Based on my previous attempts to schedule, I'm of the impression that their schedule is completely packed on any potentially decent Saturday, so you have to schedule way in advance of knowing whether the weather will cooperate. It also tends to be pretty full on Sunday, though there's a better chance of getting in. But weekdays look way easier for availability, so today is the day!

I'm sure I'll grow increasingly nervous as we drive down, get the orientation, suit up, board the plane and approach the drop zone.  Just listing those steps along the way are bringing a grin to my face!

I'm also sure I'm going to be both exhilarated by the jump and disappointed when it's over. I've had it to look forward to for so long!

Geronimo!

A rough wake-up yesterday was no portent of the day.  It was a tiring one, but good.  Men's group was a great opportunity for me to regain my perspective. The move was accomplished about as efficiently as we could have managed, and I'm really glad we didn't have our daughter rent a truck even though we ended up with one more two-vehicle round trip than we'd have needed with one. The talk for our marriage encounter group - for which we'd only minimally prepared, but only so much preparation is really necessary when you're sharing from a book that was pretty much written for this purpose - spoke deeply to everyone there in an area in which it is too easy to allow inertia to stifle both awareness and growth. More on that later, I think.

I'm still a tired and sore old dog today, but feel pretty good about things.

And tomorrow I'm jumping out of an airplane!