To be honest, that is nothing new. I feel like I live my whole life in some form of distraction or another.
But before I get into that, I wanted to share some pictures with you of what our summer has been like.
We've snap chatted.
We've gone to the beach.
We've been swimming.
Technically this is the pool at the beach house where we were staying but we've pooled it up other places as well.
We've gardened. Some more willingly than others.
We've cooked. A lot. And by "we" I mean "I".
We've suffered from Olympic hangovers.
Although, God bless the Olympics. Watching hours and hours of sporting events has kept my kids from killing each other.
We've started football practice.
I can't even with this picture. So.Handsome.
Also, we've been a whole lot of ridiculous. Forgive us, it's the only way we know how to be.
Back to distraction.
For some unknown reason I had a flashback during the beginning of worship this morning. Back to the first time I willingly stood up in front of people to share something that was on my heart. It was in church and I was around 11 years old. I remember it was winter and I was wearing my favorite snowman earrings and my softball jacket. I looked something like this:
The elementary years were not kind to me.
Oh.My.Goodness. I'm laughing so hard right now. Feel free to join me.
Ok, everyone catch their breath? Good. Let's continue.
So I thought about my first time speaking to a group and what I looked like. And I mentally started writing this cute Facebook post to go with this picture. Something about how everything has to start somewhere even though it might be uncomfortable looking and more than a little awkward.
And then.
Then Pastor Brian started his sermon and I was on the edge of my seat. Razor focused. Something I don't even know how to be normally.
It was one of those rare mornings where the people in my pew were quiet and nobody was touching me or each other. I didn't have to give the stink eye to anyone or subtly reach over and pinch someone back to attention. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Brian's sermon was titled "Reimagining Our Reach". He talked about meetings Weaverland's ministry team has been having. How they have been looking at data compiled from a survey our congregation was invited to take. How they are asking questions on how we can be more effective in our outreach to our community.
This past week I've been reimagining my own reach, although I did not have such a nice title for it.
I'm not quite ready to name it for you yet but I'm about to step into a new leadership role. A role that I feel severely under qualified for. Straight up, I'm scared to death.
This week I've been a part of emails where I've seen my name attached to "Ministry Chair" and I felt freaked out. But there have been too many "coincidences" for this to be anything other than the leading of God.
There have been a couple of times this summer when Jake wanted to try something new but was kind of afraid too. On those occasions I've said to him "Jake, a lot of times something that is fun and exciting is a little scary too. Sometimes we need to do things scared." And now Jesus is saying the same thing to me.
So that is where I am at. Not knowing how this thing will look but trusting the One who does.
Knowing that it might be a little uncomfortable and awkward but also knowing that everything has to start somewhere.
So, if you think of me in the coming weeks I'd love to be covered in your prayers. Prayers for wisdom and creativity and continued excitement. Prayers against doubt and disbelief.
I want to honor Jesus thru all my uncomfortable scared awkwardness.
