Resilience

I like the word.

I became more familiar with the word when listening to a dialogue between Gordon MacDonald and Bill Hybels. Gordon identified - In the great race of life, there are some Christ-followers who stand out from all the rest. I call them the resilent ones. The further they run, the stronger they get. They seem to possess these spiritual qualities:

• They are committed to finishing strong
• They run inspired by a big-picture view of life
• They run free of the weight of the past
• They run confidently, trained to go the distance
• They run in the company of the "happy few"

I listened to this dialogue several months back, soon after the Sabbatical had been approved but uniquely as I struggled with whether it was really a good idea or the right timing or . . . Listening to this sealed the deal for me that it was right and it was now. Since then, I picked up Gordon's book entitled, A Resilent Life, specifically to bring with me on this journey. I read much of it over the weekend - it's making a deep impact.

One of the tasks he suggests is taking a sabbatical (even if you can't get away like me, he suggests slowing down your life to evaluate) and doing a self-study. He offers the idea of evaluating your life in 5-year increments (0-5, 6-10, etc.) around 3 Important Factors:

• Key People who have influenced me - for good or ill
• Critical Events that have changed me - happy or sad, and
• Major Ideas that guided me - noble or ignoble
  

I started that experience last Saturday . . . I was amazed at the people, events and ideas I remembered - and the impact they have made on me . . . some negatively and many more positively.

I came away with a profound sense of the Hope that comes from God's Grace - the reality of the grace I have experienced and the need for more grace for the journey of the past in preparing for the journey of the future.

Thanks for your prayers regarding this as I spend time alone in this part of the Sabbatical journey.