Somethin's Happenin Here

(Praise God!)

For the first time in a while, I've been BUSY.  Not pretend-busy, not finding things to do here and there, but legitemately, dawn-to-dusk (or mid-morning to late evening...) busy.  It all started almost two weeks ago-- and yes, it's been an excuse for sparse blogging.  I've continued meeting with people doing ministry here in the city, and those meetings have transitioned from lots of "Hi, What do you do?" conversations into "Let's talk more about ____" discussions.  That is deeply reassuring and hopeful to me.  Baby steps and opening doors.

Then, as blogged about last week, I spent a day in Ensenada, Mexico.  The next day, I met up with a former Trek student (going to Mexico City this summer as Trek staff!) and then went into team meeting mode.  Thursday through Saturday were Urban Mosaic meeting and training days, so the 4 other guys on our team with Geoff and me rolled in from Seattle and greater L.A.  It was wonderful to finally put faces with names, to hang out, learn more about Appreciative Inquiry as a congregational change process, and grapple with team identity, purpose, and performance.

Yeah, that mouthful about congregational change appreciative WHAT?  =)  Basically, Appreciative Inquiry is a very intentionally positive way of going about change-- applicable to any institution.  We see Biblical principles all over it, because it finds and affirms what is right and good in an organization (Philippians 4:8, as a relevant support).  It's a lot like doing community development based on assets or evaluating a person by his/ her strengths.  Fleshing out our reading with hands-on understanding and dialogue brought out the potential delights and difficulties of using the methodology in a church setting.

Then, after a day of sabbath rest, a new week roared into action with a day-long conference with Luis Palau CityFest folks, followed by some other good, God-infused meetings.  And now it feels right to take a few days to stay on top of emails and administrative joys.  Oh Lord, be my guide...!