Some of the highlights include: our annual game of Dictator (it's like watching / participating in a humorous version of the presidential debates), trying new things like riding ATV's and shooting a bow, having the opportunity to teach, and meeting new people. Oh, and amazing food (the Moms all worked their tails off in the kitchen--Thank you Moms!!!).
My last teaching that week was about love, about being present in another's person's life and sharing in their joy and suffering. Little did I know I would have a chance to live that out for my wife that week as she struggled through a mountain of school and stress and sickness (all while being pregnant). Most of the time there wasn't much I could specifically do for her except be there. But, that's what love does. It doesn't always fix your problems--sometimes it just goes through them with you. That's the love the Father has shown us through His Son when He took on flesh and became one of us. He shared in our suffering that we might share in His victory.
There are two specific lessons from the fall feasts that I want to record here for myself as I pursue a life in ministry:
- I am not here to dictate doctrine or control another's life. I am not here to grow another's relationship with God for them. My job is to encourage, challenge, and inspire them in their own walk so that they might grow personally in their own relationship with God.
- It's not about forming a name for myself or building my own Kingdom--it's about what I can do to serve others.
These can sometimes be hard lessons to remember (especially the second one for me), but I know that I will go so much farther if I can walk by these principles. Because if I don't, I become yet another noisy gong in this tumultuous world.
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