My Ministry Pogo Stick

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  

 --Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

Our team retreat has been rescheduled to Friday, so my thoughts have returned to composing a succinct statement of my ministry burden or passion.  


First, I don't really even like calling it a burden, because it makes my calling sound like drudgery, like ankle weights.  I picture myself hauling a ball-and-chain through a mud bog. But when I think about my calling, I feel the opposite sensation.  I feel like I'm jumping up and down on a pogo stick.  Anyone who's attended one of the orientation weeks I've facilitated could probably say I seem like I'm jumping up and down on a pogo stick for most of the week.  I have so much fun (and coffee) I'm full of enthusiasm and energy (and caffeine).  So I think I'd really rather call it a ministry pogo stick.


So I can say that if I could state my calling, or my passion, or my pogo stick in terms of my favorite questions to ask people, it would come out something like this:


"What do you think God is trying to teach you/show you in this situation?"
or
"How is God working on you right now?"


These questions have tons of variations and always lead to other questions, but these are really the main areas that I just love to talk about/read about/think about/pray about, etc.  


What these two questions really lead to is how God is pushing the person (almost always a woman, so we'll say it's a "she") to become a little more like the person God wants her to be in whatever area He's working on--right?  So if there's some way I can ask a question or point to a certain passage of the Bible or pray for the person, in order to help the person through the process of growth, which is almost always painful (let's be honest), that's worth everything.  That is really something worth giving my life for.  


So I think what I really get excited about is helping other Christians in the process of maturing, obeying, and determining God's calling and plan for their lives.  


Reading that makes me feel like I'm jumping up and down on a pogo stick.


In His service,
Stephanie

What Are You Willing to Give Your Life For?

Our team is having a retreat on Friday.  As part of our preparation, my boss has asked each of us to write out a statement of our ministry burden or passion.  I printed out the worksheets she provided, and as I was looking over the first page (truthfully, to set it aside and get back to it later) something made me stop in my tracks, and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.  The worksheet said, "A ministry burden or passion is something you'd be willing to give your life for."

Willing to give my life for?

I put the piece of paper down, but that sentence kept circling around in my head all day.  I did some other work, I put together a video presentation, I spent some time this evening pulling weeds, I worked on a knitting project, but the whole time I just kept asking myself, "What ministry am I willing to give my life for?  What is that important to me?"

There were other sentences on that page that described what a ministry burden or passion is.  "...a God-given concern," "...something you are willing to sacrifice for," "...something that really motivates you."  All of those and the others were helpful and descriptive.  But I'm not ruminating over any of those.  Those make it easy to write a statement of my ministry burden or passion.  But when I think about what ministry I'd be willing to give my life for, I suddenly develop writer's block and have no idea what kind of ministry I'm excited about.

I would give my life in obedience to the Lord, so in that sense, I suppose whatever ministry He's called me to is one I'd be willing to give my life for.  But unfortunately, my statement has to be more specific than merely writing "Jesus, and everything that involves" on this piece of paper and calling it done.

I'll keep working on it.  Stay tuned for the final product.

In His Service,
Stephanie