The month of August is arriving. In about 10 minutes. I am extremely excited for it. I am looking forward to a whole month of going straight at support raising. This weekend I may go to Tim’s cottage, but I’m still debating whether or not to. I’m also planning another trip to Ottawa, except for a longer period of time (approximately a week) to do some support raising there on a full-time basis.

When I was out in Whistler, someone told me that they think I’m “the man”. This was after I dramatically fell off my bike and still managed to make it look graceful. Honestly, I don’t think I’m “the man”. The instance of pride that I had was the pride that came right before that fall. So you can tell me all you want that I’m “the man”, but you know what, I’m not.

I’m still working towards becoming a better man, however. There were quite a few instances during Staff Conference when I was sitting at a table with people I didn’t know, and making small talk seemed like the last thing I could do. It seems I can relate very well to university students and new staff, but not to married couples with four children and one of those children slung around their shoulder. I remember their names, however (the couple, not their children). I remember the many times when I tried my best to talk to people and to get beyond the primary level of conversation. I’ve still got a long ways to go in that aspect too. I’ve realized that I really am poor at talking to people, and I need to work on that more. Somehow.

All through conference it seemed like I wanted time alone, to escape the large crowds and go do my own thing. Back home now, I’m craving community and a circle of friends that I can relate to.

I have been reading through Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus, and I stormed right through all three DVD’s of the CRAVE series. If you haven’t sat down and watched those DVD’s, it is revolutionary to watch. This is what I’ve personally looked for, for a long time. For myself, and for my ministry. Something that I can graphically accept, cinematically be comfortable with, and spiritually resonate with. But anyways, in Soul Cravings, Entry #13 of “Intimacy” describes each human being’s need for relationship:

You will spend your life working through relationships trying to understand your need for love, your inadequacies in love, your desperation for love, and all the time you might miss the signs that your heart is giving you, that you’re searching for God.

We need each other; we need people; we need community; we need relationship; we need God.

They are all interconnected, and it flows in both directions. We try to fill our vacuum for God with people, and we find ourselves frustrated and empty.

When we turn to God, we find our hearts open to people and discover our need for them more than ever before.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 10:51 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.