Stoppage Time: Winding Down and Winding Up

Funny how we always seem to be surprised by how quickly time passes.  At some point you'd think if that's our reaction every time that we'd start to take steps to savor the many moments that make up the key parts of our lives.  I have not gotten even remotely close to figuring out how to do that.

It's been literally a month since my last update, so I figured that one was a bit overdue.  This past month was a pretty unique one when held up against my past years.  It all began with my knee surgery that I mentioned in my last post (not assuming that everyone read it).  I got an ACL reconstructive surgery on August 1st, and I also got my meniscus tear fixed, which was a delightful surprise after my surgery to hear that they had doubled up on the one surgery.  I spend a week and a half after that basically just resting my knee after that, but was slowly able to begin walking and moving around first with one crutch, then with none.  Recent progressions include being able to walk downstairs and having it be more easy to get in and out of vehicles.  I had a week off, then spent the next week working from home, helping to write the spiritual curriculum for a multi-sport program that we are running this fall and into the spring. 

This is my knee.

Over the past few weeks, I've been able to get back into most of what my role has been for most of the summer, which has been real nice.  We've been able to catch up after an extremely hectic beginning to the summer (which seems to be the case every year).

I do want to take a chance to bring up something that I found to be particularly impactful.  This summer I've learned that the expectations that people bring to a team or partnership shape just about everything.  I also learned that we often assume that everyone else's expectations are the same as our own, and so we often don't bother to clarify what everyone is actually expecting.  Especially with what we do, where we are partnering with different churches every week.  There are entirely unique and different cultures that surround each church, and we really don't have time to get to know it in depth.  In situations like that, where our goal is to partner with churches to help them best reach their communities, communicating expectations are a huge deal in knowing where everybody's starting point is.

As I was typing that, I realized that there was more than just one thing that I learned, so what the hey, I'm gonna talk about that too.  I was encouraged by the shortcomings that I saw all throughout the summer.  All through the many weeks of summer I got to meet and work with a huge amount of people who dedicate a huge amount of time to help advance God's kingdom.  It was remarkable to see both the incredible fruit that their investment produced, and at the same time I was able to see in my own efforts all the different ways that I fell short this summer.  I was so encouraged that there was fruit from my own broken and imperfect efforts, not because of my own shortcomings so much, but because it so fully shows the sovereignty and power of God in the daily and the mundane.

I also want to thank everyone who supported me in any way this summer.  Whether it was through prayer, finances, or just spending time talking about my summer.  I was encourage all throughout, and I couldn't have done it without all the support I received and was so blessed by.

As this is my last day, I thought I'd also take the opportunity to share about what I'm moving into next.  I'll be starting work at Northview Community Church, which is the church I've attended my whole life.  My role is going to be as the intern in the high school youth group, which I've been volunteering with for the last three years.  I'm not too sure what the day to day of that job will look like, I'm excited for the chance to serve my church in a new way.

Well this has been a wild summer.  Thanks for your literary endurance and engagement with what I've been up to.  Y'all'd've been great.  Good morning, good afternoon, and good night.

Levi "the Leviathan" Friesen