The Great Pendalum

Thanks Lami for your Wise Words.

If I had to come up with a title for my life so far it would have to be : The Great Pendalum. We have been this way and that. We've swung from one extreme to the other in ministry, from withdrawing to diving in with both feet, to being too quick to react and waiting prayerfully on God. So it goes when you're working it out.

I crave steadiness - that happy place right in the middle - wonderful, peaceful, comfortable balance. Where all is just right: not too much, not too little, not too tired, not too bored, not too difficult, not too easy - just balance.

I have to say again here, the book I'm reading Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World has just been a wonderful read, and so very very applicable to this time in my life. The author said it best:

"Being balanced is not so much a matter of staying in perfect equilibrium as it is a matter of finding the right rhythm for our lives."

In my weight loss quest, my group leader congradulated me on my success so far and asked what advice I could offer to those just starting out. And while I could give you a list of things that I do or resources that have helped me along the way, I just blanked at that moment. All I could come up with was: I'm still working it out.

And those 5 words summed it all up for me. I was successful, yes, but I have a long way to go still. What worked for me a few weeks ago, or a few days ago, may not be what's best for me today, or tomorrow if I want to continue closer to reaching my goal.

And in ministry and in my spiritual walk and relationship with Christ, I find I'm forever working it out. I would love to be able to say that I have it all figured out and here's the formula to hang in that balance. But I don't. And I'm pretty sure I never will.

It's that rhythm the author talks about, that swinging between one spectrum to the other that makes all this working it out, work! Depending on the season of my life, the situation I'm in, I know that a little tweaking to my alone time (w/ God), or an adjustment to my ministry time will help me stay in motion toward the goal that we all press toward.

I love when that light bulb hangs over my head.

Some more fav's from the book to share:

"Jesus was the most balanced individual the world has ever known. In fact, that is part of why he came - to show us how to manage the tricky balance between work and worship, between what we do and what we are."

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27

"Holy Sweat, is the active melding of the spiritual and the earthy, the holy and the physical, a profound paradox that lies at the very heart of this life we call Christian."