Growing

OK! The first Growing Leaders training session has come and gone on Saturday. Well, gone meaning that it's in the past, but hopefully not gone from our hearts and minds. Some of my thoughts about it:

Gratitude - to my heavenly Father. It felt, at least to me, that the Spirit was there, guiding, leading and speaking to us. And what a wonderful, fantastic group! For a minister of the gospel, a genuine God-ward response from the ones who receive the ministry is the most heart-warming of all things. I think I am going to love the ten months of this program. By the way, it didn't feel like a program. It felt more like a mini-retreat with all the best-loved elements of a time set aside for God: worship, prayer, study, meditation, fellowship, food, etc.

Anticipation - Of a work that God is doing with us. I think that the material is very good. It is especially appropriate that our first few sessions focus on the character and call of a leader. It looks like God is moving this group of individuals towards deepened maturity in Christ. I can hardly contain my excitement at the prospect of God building his kingdom through those who are available to him. This is a bunch through whom God can change the world! Really!

Community - finally knowing what life together in Christ is all about. I do not remember a time when a group of forty brothers and sisters got together monthly for a common experience. Even less has such learning been set into a monthly mentoring relationship - each participant in twos each month. This program is for our heads and for our hearts. If nothing else happens, I believe that we will come out of this with a heightened sense of community. We will know one another a little better, we will all have a shared understanding of leadership which informs our interaction, and we will have deepened friendships in Christ.

That's just a little of the exhilaration I feel. I'll talk about the challenging content later.