Confidence, Credibility, Competence

Probably the most visible thing I do is preach. I love to teach. It is a huge responsibility but one that brings me great joy.

Soooo . . . letting go of teaching for an entire summer is - EASY - when I am so Confident in our Teaching Team. They have a great level of Credibility and Competence. The unity we experience, the joy and energy we share in preparing; the deep understanding of and love for the congregation we serve make letting go of this responsibility for this season a delight!

Pastor Peter Yoshonis and Pastor Dave Horne will be carrying the bulk of the teaching times. They are delivering two summer series that we all assisted in developing. These series will have year-long impact on us.

At SLWC we strive to be about Developing People. The Teaching Team is a wonderful example of this mission fulfilled.

Please be in prayer for this team:

• Weekly preparation in the midst of their regular responsibilities
• Anointing from the Holy Spirit
• Deeper Mission Engagement (this is not a static or "holding on" time but a time of growth and progress

It's going to be a great summer in the Word!

Renewal in Israel

I am just preparing to board a flight to come home from Israel - a trip that indeed was a Spiritual Odyssey.

There is something about this land that renews your heart and passion for Jesus and for the intensity of the love He offers. I found that renewing love in the sense of deep community I observed in how the ancients lived. They were close in proximity. They were together in travel and in work and in spiritual activities - in all of life.

I found the renewing love in the places of consuming passion and compassion - the journey to Gethsemane - where the final alignment was made to give his life and love for all of us - and for me. I found the renewing love in the place where after his mockery trial, he was beaten. In the place where He willing allowed the cross to be placed on Him and He on it.

His overwhelming love deeply renewed me - not only because I was here - but uniquely because I was here.

The trip has been a gift of heart preparation for the 101 days ahead - that begin in just one week.

101 Days of Prayer

This Sabbatical is 101 days long.

I will genuinely need prayer for each day. Many have already committed to pray - some even to fast - for me while I am gone.

If you want, pick a day (or days) between May 25 and September 4. Then simply e-mail my assistant what day you want.

srizzio@slwc.org

If it's available she will sign you up and send you a reminder and specific requests.

Thanks for being a part of this Sabbatical experience through prayer.

Life Batteries . . . Again

We all have a battery supply we run off of . . . (see previous post). What happens when the battery is low? How do you get the battery "charged up?"

With car batteries, if the battery is dead or low you have a couple of choices:

• You can jumpstart it - some tow trucks even have a "super charger" they can hook up that jolts it back to life
• You can trickle charge it - hooking up a slow charger (6-24 hours) of trickle of electricity

Most of us jumpstart or super charge our batteries back to life - we take a drive or go out to dinner or a ball game or hook up with replenishing friends or get away for a weekend or do something entirely different than what has often caused the drain.

For the most part this works - for a while. Unfortuneately high numbers of repeated jumpstarts can actually damage a battery and make it weaker. It's true in our lives as well. We can often fall into a pattern of enduring and holding on until the next jumpstart - If I can just make it to Friday! If I can hold on until our getaway! If I could just get to the course. I'll be ok if I can just get to the mall!

Trickle charge might be a lot better solution - but it's not easy to adapt to - it's slower. It often requires waiting. Sometimes it doesn't even seem like anything is happening - it's like a crockpot! Trickle charging forces us to:

• consider deeper causes for battery drain
• take assertive action in addressing damaging patterns
• discover grace to accept and embrace drains you cannot control
• say no to others and to opportunities
• slow down and say YES to people and things that matter more and most
• live more intentionally

If your battery is low, jumpstarting can be ok, but trickle might be the only true re-charge for your life.

For me, I realized that the battery had been low enough for long enough that unless I found a way to trickle charge I might be irreparibly damaged for the Master's use.

So I have a Sabbatical starting in just 17 days (actually, it sort of begins with a tour of Israel with Gwen and the Teaching Team that begins today).

Amazing Change!

Isn't it amazing how quickly they change!

Our Granddaughter Evee at just under 2 weeks old. . .