Never would have guessed

Life takes many unexpected twists and turns.  In high school I would have never imagined that I would go to college, study outdoor leadership, and then see it open so many unexpected experiences -- from putting people on zip-lines in Wisconsin to teaching beginner climbers how to climb rocks in SE Europe.  I would have never thought that me -- a quiet and fairly simple person -- would soon be frequently stepping outside of my comfort zone in so many different ways.  Whether standing in front of a group of 5th graders and teaching them how to use a compass or training volunteers and leading numerous team-building activities at a camp tucked away in the mountains.  If you would have told me that I was going to be doing these things, I probably would have said, "I don't think so; you're thinking of the wrong person."  While I still do not feel completely "comfortable" doing these things, they do eventually get a little easier with time.  I still feel a bit nervous before leading activities and I do not feel that it really comes "naturally" to me; I have to work at it.  At the same time I have learned some valuable lessons along the way and am still learning.  Personally I feel a lot more "comfortable" doing behind-the-scenes projects, like preparing music for meetings or designing and building low ropes course elements.  Many times we do not have the choice to only do what comes naturally to us.  The camp's ropes course would have been useless unless someone would train and lead groups through the team-building experiences.  Since there was no one else who was there to do it, I was put into the position to train and lead.  In the end it was a great joy to see people enjoying it afterward.  These are just some reflections and I am not sure how to really summarize these things, except that you never know where things are going in life.  The Father has a lot in store that you do not know about and probably would not ever guess.  Some of these things are pretty amazing.  Some are pretty difficult.  Sometimes the are both at the same time.  Yet, I guess my hope is that as each of us looks ahead, that we are ready to learn and grow through whatever comes and to do it with a joyful and expectant attitude.  We can expect things to be good, even if they are mixed with sorrow because we follow a Shepherd who is good and watches over his sheep through it all.