hope

been thinking about the next letter to my kids, it’s going to be on hope.

As I’ve been thinking about this stuff, I’ve been reading through my favorite books and passages in scripture. As I was reading through Isaiah, it was so dry and silent for me for the first 40 chapters… the kind of quiet times that feel like a batting slump…and then I hit Isaiah 40:31 

“…those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.”

It was a good one, I needed some strength and I needed some hope. I need to keep thinking about it and what it means for the soul.

On the pod cast today, there was a question: “What’s been a ministry highlight?” A dim despair descended upon me… it’s been a summer of ADMINISTRATION…I’ve been too disconnected from my decentralized team… I’ve been really focused on the church budget (thank you Lord for it being over). It’s been a dry 10 weeks.

It’s been crazy doing ministry (mostly) alone for the last year and four months. The person I reported to was always available, but he had lots of things on his plate. All of this is going to change soon, as I’ve been granted a few positions, and there’s a new intern. The regional ministry is going to grow from me (plus the voices in my head) to me and three others (one part time). That’s like a large crowd! Far smaller than HSM, at it’s largest was 16 people…but that ministry was a lot more hands on…

back to hope: things are turning around the season of solo ministry is going to disappear… I’m hoping I’ll get to focus on more of what I’m shaped for.