Immersion Worship

The more perceptive amongst you will notice that I’ve not blogged in a few weeks. It’s not because I’m forgetful. Nor am I given to simply abandoning a blog on a whim to pursue the superficial or mindlessly entertaining. I have more respect for the two or three of you who actually read this blog than that. Or something.

No, my silence has been deliberate. It’s just been one of those seasons over the last few weeks when it’s just been time for me to shut my pie hole for a while. I even took a self-imposed Twitter break for a few days. Unheard of.

There’s much that I could have said, and I’m honestly bursting with some ideas for the old blog, but with Rhonda losing her job and me having a crazy few weeks at work, it’s been good to just stop and listen to whatever I can hear for a while. Mostly, that has been the ’still small voice’ telling me to change a few things. Like not watching as much TV or finally getting around to reading some of the pile of books I have stacked up in my office at home or making good on some of the things I’ve been saying I was going to do with my team etc.

The silence has become deafening. It’s time to talk again.

Sorry for the interruption, folks. Service has now resumed. How are you?

I read a book not so long ago about the true story of a guy who survived a plane crash in the middle of a mountain range. He had to find his own way back to civilization since he was so remote he knew that he and his fellow survivors would never be found.

There is one part of the book that describes how he had to climb out of a valley and over the top of a very high mountain, but the knowledge that freedom was on the other side gave him the determination to make it. The only problem was that when he got to the top of that mountain, he looked down the other side only to see another valley and another mountain to climb beyond that.

That’s where Rhonda and I find ourselves today. After all the bad stuff that happened earlier this year (Rhonda getting in to a car accident and needing surgery, my mum dying, my dad having a stroke, my job security all but evaporating, and the financial concerns that come with all of that), we found ourselves at the top of the mountain. I got a fantastic new job, God provided for the financial impact of the car accident and the surgery, my dad’s rehabilitation going well etc. At the top of this mountain, we were expecting to see a clear path on the other side.

What we see now is another valley that we must walk through.

On Wednesday morning this week, my wife was let go from her job at Starbucks Coffee Company in another round of corporate redundancy lay-offs. She’d already survived two rounds but didn’t escape the third round of cuts. At a time when the global economy is in meltdown, this was a really hard pill to swallow.

Since then I’ve realized that my outlook has been all wrong. When did God ever promise us an easy ride, or only one set of mountains of conquer? This morning I am actually feeling very positive about these changes. Starbucks was never our source. The company that I work for is not our source. I’m not tied to the world’s economy. God is my source and I operate entirely inside His economy.

Sure there will be changes. Dish Network will go. Cellphone packages will changes. Even the amount we drive will be reduced. But isn’t that just sensible stewardship? In fact, I’m hoping that these changes will disconnect me a little more; less TV, less time with a cellphone stuck to my face, less concern about being entertained. Instead, I hope to replace it with more time with my wife, more reading, more growing, more learning, more stretching, more being challenged.

Thank you, Starbucks, for putting us in a position where we will see God do some massive things.

Thank you, God, for being true to Your word and taking care of what we need, not what we want.