taking the next step...

somewhere in the middle of a conversation with a friend last night...we got to talking about a team building exercise that i "had" to partake of when i was working in corporate america many many years ago...

so for some reason...it just wasn't a surprise...when this morning...one of the daily devotions i read was about the same thing...it put a smile on my face...Godly reminders...

so...i am not really into putting myself into a position that causes fear...probably the reason i have never really been thrilled about roller coasters...rides in general...or horror movies..just not my idea of fun...

i remember when we were told about this joyous occasion...a weekend away in an undisclosed area...for team building activitites...oh joy! i definately was not thrilled...to say the least...but being that i was in a position of supervisor over 50+ people...i had to be somewhat excited...and bring my team with that same energy...

i'm sure i failed...

there are two specific exercises that have stayed with me through the years...

the first was simple enough...at least that is what i remember them saying...fall backwards into a group of people (your team) trusting that they would catch you...of course there were lots of jokes going back and forth...me being the boss...payback..etc...yeah...funny...

it was all about trust...there are times where we just can't do it on our own...are we going to trust those in our lives to catch us? it was liberating...realizing that we are not in this walk of life alone...at least we don't have to be...

the other exercise that had a huge impact on me was the climbing of the telephone pole...yeah...not on my list of things to accomplish...i remember climbing it...i remember the times i stopped...i remember the dialogue inside my head...what am i doing? this is crazy...i made it 3/4 of the way...which is alot more than i expected...i've "already" pushed through...i can stop now and still know that i went farther than i expected...

but then something happened...the voices in my head were quieted by the yelling from down below...my team members...yelling..."you can do it...you are almost there..." i remember stopping for a few minutes when i got to the top...it seemed like hours...there was the final move...i needed to step onto the top of the pole...and balance myself...and enjoy the view...enjoy the sense of huge accomplishment of walking through fear...

and then i did it! i took that final step...stood on top of this telephone pole..and felt like i had conquered the world...my legs were shaking...my heart was pounding...it was absolutely incredible...

it was the encouragement of my team...believing in me...believing in my strength...

what i learned that day...is that taking the next step is not always easy...but i also learned...that i am capable of alot more than i give myself credit for sometimes...and it is not because of who i am...but completely and solely based on who i belong to...it is because of who my God is...

as i was sharing with my friend last night...we talked about fear and how it can paralyze you...as i got off the phone...what i knew was that we were both going through similar seasons in our life...but we both knew...that not only were we there for each other...to catch each other's falls but also to encourage each other...and more than that...we knew that we were praying for each other...and that God was definately working in each of our lives...it was encouraging to see the tiny steps we had both taken to walk through the fear...and the fact that we were already seeing the view...although not completely clear...it was definately in sight...