Learning to Run

One-one thousand…two-one thousand…three-one thousand… I count while I run to keep my pace. I feel my clumsy feet hit the feet with each word. I breathe heavy and feel like I am going to die but finally my time is up and I can literally gasp for relief. Betcha didn’t know that I was a runner, did ya?
For the last three weeks, I have been learning how to run. Yes, I have run short distances before and I played games as a child that required running, but not like this. In three short weeks I have progressed from absolutely no running to running for three minutes! It sounds so small; try it if you don’t believe me! It’s hard! The first time is the easiest but when you do it in cycles (walk, run, walk, run, etc.) for 30 minutes, each running session gets harder no matter how long or short it may be.

Running takes focus and determination, especially if you aren’t that good at it yet. The more focused I become the easier it is to “go the distance” and the less clumsy my feet become, but get me started thinking about how tired I am or how much I would rather be inside taking a shower and suddenly everything changes! In an instant I am breathing harder, sweating more, tripping over my feet more, and wanting to quit.
For the first time in my life, I think I fully understand what Paul was saying to the Galatians…

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?” Galatians 5:7

They were running smooth and steady and growing in their Christian walks, but then they got distracted and lost their focus. They began to let their minds wander and they confused fact for fiction. Soon they were tripping up in their walks and making silly mistakes. Some of them even quit trying all together. As Christians, we must focus on what’s important so we may run a good race. We want to please Christ and finish strong. We can’t let the world cut in and distract us or we will not obey the truth.

Run a good race! Keep your focus! Follow Christ!

What a joy to be able to say…
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Bread Making Ministry

Today as I sit and think about all the things that God has done in my life, I see that Jimmy and I are extremely blessed. We praise the Lord over the successes we have had in both our personal lives and ministries. We praise God for the struggles that we have lived through that have shaped who we are today. I must even praise God for my failures that show His true measure of grace.

What Make's a Great Ministry?
When people ask how you make a ministry successful, I tell them about our “bread making” ministry. No, we don’t literally bake bread. Hang on for a minute and let me explain to you what I mean…

What is a "Bread Making" Ministry?
All my young life, I would go to my grandmother’s house, and one of the things we would do was bake sour dough bread. The secret to making amazing sour dough bread is the starter. A starter is a small portion of bread dough that is reserved to start a new batch of bread. You must feed it to keep it alive and when the time comes it will be ready to perform. When you make a new batch of bread, you get out your starter and mix it with all the new ingredients for this batch of bread. It becomes completely absorbed into this new dough. Before making your bread, you must reserve a portion of it for your next starter. This bread and this starter are even better than the last because they both contain portions of the new ingredients and the faithful old starter that you have been diligent to feed and nurture. A dead starter cannot be revived nor can it be used to make new bread. Yet the bread that comes from this starter is better every batch because it blends all the different batches of bread you have ever made into one incredible loaf. That’s how we do ministry.

Our "Bread Making" Ministry
Even before I came into the picture, this was how Jimmy would do ministry. He received his very first “starter” when he was in college learning the skills he needed to feed the ministry. Then he made his first “batch” of youth ministry bread when he did a summer internship at a church in Columbia, Missouri. As he moved on to Fritch, Texas he expanded his bread making repertoire. When Jimmy moved to Fulton, Missouri, and we first met, I also had the privilege of being exposed to “starter” members that he had collected along his ministry path. Some of the people he brought along with him from previous ministries were Jeremy, Jeff, Dave, Troy, Chrissy, Penny, Bethany, Mandy, and others. They were able to do things together that they were never able to do alone. Jimmy met Jeremy when he was his youth minister in Texas. I met Jeremy at Millersburg when he came to help Jimmy with our first ever DNOW. Jeremy met his wife Hannah when we all worked together doing ministry in DeSoto, Missouri. Last night Jeremy, Hannah, and their children all came and helped Jimmy and I prepare our students for this weekends Disciple Now. Our kids are going to be the best “bread” yet because they have been exposed to the best “starter” so far.

Do You Get It?
I hope you get what I am saying. This principle can be used in any ministry and in life. Nurture the friends and relationships you have made along the way. Bring your “starter” of people, relationships, and experiences into your current life and ministry to make things even better! Learn to build from the strong foundation that you have been building all these years and someday the people you minister too will hopefully do even greater ministry than you! Wouldn’t that be amazing?!

My RED ALERT for You
WARNING: The quality of your starter will affect the quality of the “bread” that is made from it. Use wisdom and discretion when choosing the relationships and standards that you choose to expose your ministry to.

Mentioning Mentoring

A few days ago, I was working in our home office when I heard my husband talking on the phone. It turns out that Jimmy was talking to one of “his boys”, the term he uses to affectionately refer to the group of young men he has invested the most in over the years. These are the students who have benefited most from the type of mentoring we discussed in “TIME and LOVE the Languages of Discipleship”. They spent well over an hour on the phone talking about life, what God is doing in their lives, the struggles he was having, and other things. I frequently hear these kinds of conversations in our home and I did not pay too much attention to what was being said, but my ears did perk up at one key statement that made me stop and think…

“I’m 34 years old and have been in the ministry for more than 10 years, but I still have older men in my life who mentor me and aren’t afraid to tell me if I am making wrong decisions in life or in ministry…” Jimmy openly shared.

The Apostle Paul on Mentoring
This simple statement made me take pause. It also brought to mind something the apostle Paul once said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:12-14). Even Paul, who did SO many great things for Christ, did not consider himself to be perfect. He had men in his life that taught him what it meant to be a Christian and to serve Christ. Why do you think he partnered with Barnabas on his first two mission trips? He needed someone to work with him who had been a Christian for a while and “knew the ropes” so to speak. Paul also goes on to encourage the believers to “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” (Phil. 3:17).

Thoughts to Ponder
* Do you have someone in your life that is mentoring you?
* Do you consider yourself to be at a point that you no longer need someone to “tell you how to do things” and don’t feel you need a mentor?
* What does your attitude toward mentoring say about you and your ministry?
* How does your attitude toward being mentored affect how you mentor others?

Closing Remarks
Mentors may come and go in your life, but I personally believe you always need to have people in your life who are older, wiser, more experienced, and who aren’t afraid to get in your face about the important issues (if needed). The best mentoring relationships often grow naturally. Instead of spending all of your time seeking out the perfect mentor, spend time in prayer asking God to send this person into your life, develop relationships with people who are mentor material, and be willing to accept the leadership and challenges they will bring when your mentor comes on the scene. They may have been there all along and you just didn’t know it or just didn’t care.