Off the Shelf

Wow!  Two blog posts in a row.  After a month of not finding the time to write I am trying to get a little back in the groove.  I have definitely missed my time of writing.  I wonder if anyone missed reading.

Tomorrow I am teaching a workshop on Christian Education at our base church.  And bigger than the fact that I am teaching tomorrow, is the fact that I am teaching it in Spanish!  Oh my!  It is going to take a miracle to survive the day.  I alternate between being excited to finally be doing something with my language and scared to death.  At one moment I am scared to death no one will show up and the next minute I am afraid someone will show up.

This week I was in a three day training conference on how to be a Life Coach and how to incorporate that skill in my ministry.  It was a great week and I can't wait to apply what I learned.  Anyone wanna volunteer to be my first "coachee?"  But as I was leaving today the instructor was telling me he would be praying for me tomorrow and we were talking about the emotions I was experiencing.

It has been difficult to describe the emotions of being reduced to toddler stage language in a place where there is so much that needs to be done.  But he summed up.  It was the feel of "being put on the shelf."  That was it!  So much of this past 18 months I have felt like I have been sitting on the shelf.  My language skills were so low (and continue to need lots of work) that there was nothing "productive" that I was being used for.  All around me were co-workers overwhelmed with all that needed to be done and I was sitting on the shelf.  At times I felt like dust was gathering and maybe had been forgotten.  At other times I felt like maybe the shelf was getting so full something (meaning someone) might need to be packed away. Its been a hard season of "sitting on the shelf" and as I move closer to my Spanish proficiency exam I am beginning to have that feeling of "being picked up and examined" and it brings both excitement and fears.  What will life look like off the shelf?

Tomorrow is a chance to temporarily come off the shelf and is a gift.  I think it will also be the motivation to put out the last push for preparing for my exam.  Check back in a day or two and I'll tell you about the view from off the shelf.