Giving God a Buck
I've volunteered to help out with Elmbrook's Middle School Mosaic Ministry http://www.elmbrook.org/students/middle-school.aspx on Tuesday evenings. They were desperate for leaders, and well I fit the bill for desperation, I guess. I had kind of resolved to quit leading after Boys Club last year, but was floundering a bit with not feeling right not doing anything. I was being incredibly selfish and self-righteous about "having served for four years" in Boys Club. "Look what I've done. Aren't I a good person?" All the while, feeling a restlessness with having both my kids and my wife still involved in some form of ministry.
And so it hit me last week Thursday. I was feeling especially dumpy about the whole thing on my bike on the way to work. About a third of the way to work, I get a fairly clear signal from God, or the Holy Spirit or whatever that I NEED to do something. It was a bit like Jesus was on the handlebars or something. Back when I was a kid, we used to call giving someone a ride on the handlebars, or the seat, or in extreme cases on the luggage rack, a "buck".
"Give me a buck to the store?" someone would ask.
"Sure, seat or handlebars?"
Handlebars were always the preference of the driver because that would assure him/her of getting the seat to themselves. I can tell you the handlebars are the less preferred by the rider for sure. You talk about a perilous seat. If you fall forward, you get "tired". Backward and you lands on the bar of the bike. Neither has a very happy ending.
So there I was, giving Jesus a buck on the handlebars, or so it seemed. How else would it have been that clear to me? I think he was gracious enough to get off and walk up Barstow Hill. :-)
Anyhow, so I get to work and Donna had e-mailed me that Brandon the Middle School pastor was looking for leaders. Well, if the combination of the two situations in the morning wasn't enough for me to find clarity as to what I should do, nothing would.
I e-mailed Brandon that day, he called me back today, and I start tomorrow night. My only reservation about leading is that I would prefer not to lead Ben's group. This is because I led his group for four years, and I think he might be more inclined to open up and/or grow in his faith if it's coming from someone else for the next few years. It's not that I don't like being around him, I just think he needs some autonomy without my oversight.
This week will be crazy. We've got something going every night from tomorrow through Sunday. Some people love that kind of schedule. Me, not really. I need some down time, much like my kids do. We all operate best on 3 days a week of social anything. The rest of the time we want/need/love to be at home together as a family. (Ben is the lone exception to this. He's more like a 5 day social being.
That's about all that I have in me for a Monday. If I get a second to myself the rest of the week, I'll try and post a "Hey". Until then I'll be blogging off...
And so it hit me last week Thursday. I was feeling especially dumpy about the whole thing on my bike on the way to work. About a third of the way to work, I get a fairly clear signal from God, or the Holy Spirit or whatever that I NEED to do something. It was a bit like Jesus was on the handlebars or something. Back when I was a kid, we used to call giving someone a ride on the handlebars, or the seat, or in extreme cases on the luggage rack, a "buck".
"Give me a buck to the store?" someone would ask.
"Sure, seat or handlebars?"
Handlebars were always the preference of the driver because that would assure him/her of getting the seat to themselves. I can tell you the handlebars are the less preferred by the rider for sure. You talk about a perilous seat. If you fall forward, you get "tired". Backward and you lands on the bar of the bike. Neither has a very happy ending.
So there I was, giving Jesus a buck on the handlebars, or so it seemed. How else would it have been that clear to me? I think he was gracious enough to get off and walk up Barstow Hill. :-)
Anyhow, so I get to work and Donna had e-mailed me that Brandon the Middle School pastor was looking for leaders. Well, if the combination of the two situations in the morning wasn't enough for me to find clarity as to what I should do, nothing would.
I e-mailed Brandon that day, he called me back today, and I start tomorrow night. My only reservation about leading is that I would prefer not to lead Ben's group. This is because I led his group for four years, and I think he might be more inclined to open up and/or grow in his faith if it's coming from someone else for the next few years. It's not that I don't like being around him, I just think he needs some autonomy without my oversight.
This week will be crazy. We've got something going every night from tomorrow through Sunday. Some people love that kind of schedule. Me, not really. I need some down time, much like my kids do. We all operate best on 3 days a week of social anything. The rest of the time we want/need/love to be at home together as a family. (Ben is the lone exception to this. He's more like a 5 day social being.
That's about all that I have in me for a Monday. If I get a second to myself the rest of the week, I'll try and post a "Hey". Until then I'll be blogging off...
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