Today I munched tasty Greek food with my leadership team and staff, fifteen of us overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, California.
It’s a gorgeous spot — sculpted sand cliffs, beautiful sand beaches, peak breaks, a lovely little cove, sleeping seals, snorklers, divers, surfers and tourists from all over the world.
We talked about all the cool innovations we had initiated at the church this year, and all the new stuff we had in mind for the second half of the year. It is crazy fun how much we have done, and how much we have planned for the near future.
1 Peter 1:5 speaks of building on “reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love.” In our team, we have all this and more.
When all is said and done in an organization like ours, it isn’t all about the innovation and change, although innovation is fun, and necessary and very, very healthy, to keep things moving forward in a God-honoring way. But it is really all about the reverent wonder, for God and each other.
It is a reverent wonder to work with such amazing people. They are beautiful, and they make these some of the best years of our lives.
Warm affection — I have that for each one of them.
With several of them I ventured to Nicaragua. With one I share a love of art, with another a passion for ideas, with another a fun, laughing, teasing warmth, to several I am an empowering mentor. One of them is one of the safest people I have ever known, another one of the most loyal, another is one of the kindest most empathetic persons possible. Another I have known since she was a child, another was the best man in my wedding, another is a financial guru of my ilk — responsible.
We must not overlook the value of such relationships. Perhaps we don’t see how good such relationships are, until we lose them. Several members of our team will move next year. That’s the kind of world we live in, transient, mobile, changing, metamorphic. We shed people; I don’t want to.
I like to find them, and keep them. Good luck with that. We won’t keep them all, and yet, nothing is lost from what has been found. Each one completes us, each one adds to us, each one is a wonder, each one a treasure, given by God, for the time we have them.
Warm affection — you can’t beat it, even if it is just for now.
Generous love — nothing is better!
I can’t wait to see what and who is next!
Thrive! 