Get out of the Boat

Alas, it is Friday, hooray!  This week has been an interesting one.  On Sunday and Monday night, I had the chance to attend a retreat at another local parish, featuring Catholic composer and musician, Steve Angrisano.  It was just a couple of hours each night, but the time was filled with laughter, song, reflection, and call to action.  One thing that sticks with me is a book he shared, called "If you want to walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat".  He read an excerpt, and I will be looking the book up on Amazon.  The basic premise, of course, is that it is up to us to take that "leap of faith" to give God the opportunity to show us all that He can do in our lives.  If we sit comfortably, we'll be comfortable, but nothing will change.  To achieve greatness, we must be willing to leap.  

A similar message was shared on Thursday evening, at a partnership dinner for a local women's center.  The Elizabeth New Life Center is a charity that helps women who find themselves in unwanted pregnancies to be able to make a better more heart friendly choice than abortion.  There was a woman there who had 5 boys, and when she got pregnant with the 6th, she knew she would not be able to provide him a good life, so the ENLC helped her to put him up for open adoption.  She can still see him and he is thriving.  She was present at the banquet and everybody stood and applauded her courage and strength.  There was a keynote speaker, and he shared the analogy "If you want to do great things, you've got to get off your donkey".  He was using this analogy to compel us to give generously to the organization, but, is is essentially the same idea.  We have to make the first move.  We have to make room for God to show up for us.

It's interesting to me that this message has come at me twice this past week.  God knows that I can be a bit dense.  Like, it takes some serious screaming and pushing to get me to do the right thing sometimes.  A lot of people question, "What does God want from me?".  And so do I, but often times, the moment I open my heart to the answer, I realize it's been there in big bold print the entire time.  My comfort zone (the boat, if you will), is to remain in the background.  I would like to just live my life unnoticed.  That way, if I happen to mess up (and I will), it will impact just a few people instead of a bunch.  But what seems abundantly clear to me now more than ever is that I was not made to hide in the background.  

Guys, this is where I need your prayers.  Because I really don't know if I have what it takes.  Will I always make the best decisions?  Will I treat people with 100% respect and dignity at all times?  Will I make a positive impact?  Pray with me that we can find the courage to get out of the boat this season.  That we can successfully tell our fear to "take a hike" and that God can work his power and beauty within us. Until next time, dear readers.