by Elizabeth | Feb 5, 2011 | Learning Story
Just this week, a friend emailed me this “redemption song.” Little did she know the story this song holds for me. Many many years ago, I had a friend who loved this song. Peggy and I became friends in a small group Bible study. Her husband was often traveling, and my husband was often working as a resident on Sundays, so we sat together in church. I’ll never forget standing next to Peggy, tall, lovely songbird, as she sang this hymn. She told me it was her favorite, and it became my favorite too.
Then, one day, Peggy was murdered. She was suddenly, violently, taken from us. It was a harsh season of questioning. Our pastor, Bob Cargo, preached a powerful sermon that has helped me through other inexplicably bizarre stories. He said, “The question is not ‘why’ but ‘who’.” (I should probably expound on this another day.)
Back to the hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.” In that season, I listened to this song over and over. I could hear Peggy singing it in my head. I never came to understand Peggy’s death. But I did come slowly, slowly to be able to say, “Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well with my soul.'”
Listen to the song and think about it. Do you have stories that fit this song?
by Elizabeth | Feb 4, 2011 | Learning Story
“Caleb interrupted, called for silence before Moses and said, ‘Let’s go up and take the land – now. We can do it.’
But the others said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.’ They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other – it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants. Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we are grasshoppers. “ Numbers 13: 30-33. For the full temper tantrum, read through 14:1-5.
“Joshua, son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, members of the scouting party, ripped their clothes, and addressed the assembled People of Israel. ‘The land we walked through and scouted out is a very good land—very good indeed. If God is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land that flows, as they say, with milk and honey. And he’ll give it to us. Just don’t rebel against God! And don’t be afraid of those people. Why, we’ll have them for lunch! They have no protection and God is on our side. Don’t be afraid of them!”
10-12 But, up in arms now, the entire community was talking of hurling stones at them. Joshua 14:6-12
Leadership is about seeing the power of redemption in the midst of difficult, terrifying, or even seemingly impossible circumstances. This little interaction among the Israelite community demonstrates the challenges of leadership clearly. Joshua and Caleb heard the call of God to go into this Promised Land, saw the beauty of the land, knew the power of their Saving God, and urged the others to pursue the God-written dream.
As we see, though, even when leaders have the faith and hope to move into the impossible calling God gives us, others in community may not agree with them. They may even hate them and start to talk about hurling stones. Listen to what Eugene Peterson says about Numbers 13:
“Faith has to do with marrying the Invisible and the Visible. When we engage in an act of faith as Caleb did, we give up insisting that head knowledge is our primary means of understanding. Faith isn’t a conclusion we come to simply on the basis of what we see. It’s a conclusion we come to on the basis of who God is. And that fusing of the Visible with the Invisible gives us a different way of looking at the world around us. It’s often said that living by faith is a risky way to live. What isn’t so often said is that living by sight has risks, too. Even greater risks. As the story of Joshua and Caleb unfolds in the next chapter, we find that the greater danger wasn’t living by faith but living by unbelief, the way the rest of the nation lived.” Eugene Peterson, Conversations
The fact is, as Christians, we are all called to the kind of leadership as an act of faith that Joshua and Caleb demonstrated. The real question is, are we living by faith in who God is, or by fear that we are not enough?
by Elizabeth | Feb 2, 2011 | Learning Story
Yesterday I attempted to answer the question, “What does Living Story Coaching have in common with Dan Magill, the legendary 90-year-old coach of Georgia?” Here is the rest of the answer.
4. Dan Magill coached the individual, not just the game of tennis. He drew out the strengths in each player and called them to play their game.
Living Story Coaching can help people as they reflect deeply on their unique gifts, passions, strengths, struggles, and redemption (vision) and consider what that means for how they live their lives (mission).
5. Coach Magill called his players to account. He was no softy coach. Players were expected to practice hard and play hard, to bring their best in play, sportsmanship, and respect for the game. If they didn’t do what they were asked, they didn’t play.
Living Story Coaching won’t be a nagging parent, a scolding teacher, or a screaming football coach. We will, however, create a space for clients to be accountable. We are designed to grow in the context of community. That’s why working with someone who is ‘for you’ in every way draws you to make significant changes.
by Elizabeth | Jan 29, 2011 | Learning Story
(A continuation in the short series on revisiting Athens. See yesterday’s post for more.)
Seriously. After enjoying a tasty lunch at the Last Resort Grill downtown, Kip and I decided to wander over to the quad and revisit the Library proposal spot. I had forgotten that there was a concrete bench between those columns where we used to sit for study breaks.
When we arrived, Kip took one look and said, “It’s gone.” His memory is turning out to be so much better than mine when it comes to Athens. I had forgotten there were benches between the columns.
I looked left, and thought that was the spot, but he said, “No, there used to be one right THERE” – and he pointed to an opening which now leads to a handicapped ramp. Yes, times they have a-changed. We sighed, took our seats on the ‘wrong’ bench, where at least we had sat many times, and had our picture taken.
If I were listening to this story, I would have questions:
“Why did Kip give me my ring at the library?”
He had already proposed, and his mother had helped him take a family diamond and have it reset for me. He was so excited when he picked it up that afternoon that he couldn’t wait to give it to me. Everyone in my family knows that is one of my husband’s sweet ways — he gets so excited about a surprise he can’t usually wait to give it to the person. Or he hints about it so much they easily figure out what the surprise is.
“Why did you get married while you were still in college?”
Well, other than the really obvious answer: we were head over heels in love and we didn’t want to wait…He knew he was going to medical school, and we figured there would be no good time to get married during those four years, so we opted to get married before our senior year and spend lots of time together building a foundation for the stressful years to come.
“Would I recommend this strategy to everyone?” (This one’s for our kids!:)
We’ve always told our kids and their friends that we were very blessed to have scholarships and parental contributions for living expenses, so we didn’t have the stress of working, going to school, and marriage. But — we would also say — over our 28 years, we have recognized that the beginning of our marriage was based on the core concept that we were one another’s ‘rescue,’ not really such a great foundation for a healthy marriage. God has redeemed and worked in that, and truly, we stand in awe at what He has done to preserve and grow our marriage.
There are more questions we have been asked, or we have asked, but now it’s your turn. Two things for you to consider:
1. Revisit a story of a decision you made. Did it turn out to be a good one or a bad one? As you look at your current story, can you see the traces of God’s handwriting in that story?
2. Consider perspective in a story. Have you ever returned to a place only to find it either – gone, or – very changed, or – the same but entirely different than you remembered it? How did you respond?
by Elizabeth | Jan 28, 2011 | Learning Story
My husband and I are driving to Athens (Georgia, not Greece), for one of those events, dreaded or desirable, depending on how much weight you’ve gained or hair you’ve lost in the past 30something years – a reunion. We’ve lived in Florida, a good 8 hours away from campus for many years, and we haven’t made the trek back in 15 years.
It is no surprise that revisiting a place brings up all sorts of stories. I’m cataloguing these stories in terms of places we will visit: my first apartment there, Kip’s apartment, the science library where we first began to get to know one another studying as lab partners for biweekly Bio 102 exams, the column in front of the library where he proposed to me (yes, we were nerds), and our first apartment together (we were married before our senior year in college)…
Each place connects me with a story…
For example:
“My first apartment there”: The fact is, I don’t remember much about it. It was a generic collegiate apartment complex out on Atlanta Highway, a five mile drive to school. Three other students I had never met lived there and were advertising for a fourth…I found the notice on a bulletin board, looked at the apartment, and took it. I didn’t have much choice, because I had just decided to transfer from UNC to UGA in August before my sophomore year…school started September 5.
but wait…that takes me to another place…by the pool at Windy Gap where I heard God speak to me clearly and undeniably, “If you go back to North Carolina, you’re only going down, spiritually, emotionally, and academically.” The freshman year had been rough, but that’s another story. I decided to go to UGA on the basis of that one sentence from God and three other factors:
In-state tuition and scholarship money,
the Honors Program accepted me,
and
It was only temporary. (In my plan, I was headed back to UNC, Carolina heaven, after one year of ‘getting my act together.’)
I packed, I moved into the generic apartment complex, found that my roommates were very nice people (yes, even the one who, when asked what her part-time job was, said, “I sell drugs.” It’s a testimony to either my naivete or my sweet innocence that for many months I thought she meant she was a pharmaceutical rep☺).
That’s enough for one day. We’ll see where this journey takes me. Right now, I’m wondering about you. What if you were to visit an important place in your life? What are some of the places you would visit? What stories are connected to them? Do these stories remind you of other stories?
The Discovering Your Story retreat is all about allowing time to think through questions like these – not only about where we’ve been but also about where we are now and where we’re going. If you have never given yourself the opportunity to think through some of these questions about your life, now is a great time to do it.
by Elizabeth | Jan 25, 2011 | Learning Story
Following up on last week’s post on Moses’ argument with God…
Here is what Eugene Peterson says about that story:
Moses is presented as singularly ill-equipped for the task he is called to do. He stands before us not as a finished sculpture, modeling leadership qualities for us to follow, but rather as a rough-cut stone, hewn from the same quarry from which our own humanity was hewn. Which raises a question: Why was the work of salvation entrusted to someone like that? Or why has it been entrusted to someone like us, for that matter?
But maybe that’s the point. Salvation is God’s work, not ours. Incompetence may be the essential qualification, lest we presumptuously start taking over something we have no way of comprehending, let alone controlling. Our sight is limited, our steps tentative. That is how we best traverse the landscape of faith — humbly rather than capably.
What do you think? How does being ill-equipped make us good candidates to bring the message of the gospel?
