Jumping through hoops…..

When I was in junior high and high school, I played basketball. I was pretty good, making the varsity team as a freshman. Later I was a cheerleader. I was reasonably athletic. But that was many years (and pounds) ago. Today I wear a pedometer and hope to achieve a respectable number of steps so that I’m not labeled as “sedentary”.

Today I officially began the process of preparing for ordination as a deacon by working through the candidacy book with my assigned mentor. It was a couple of hours of sharing our personal faith journeys with one another. At one point I came to a question in the text regarding my doubts about becoming an ordained minister. As I explained to my mentor, I really don’t have doubts about my calling or that I am, in fact, already working in the area to which I’ve been called. The only real doubt, as I expessed to her, is whether or not I have the patience to “jump through all the hoops” that I have perceived lie like a minefield in the path between where I am and ordination. She nodded empathically and then told me that even the process of jumping through the hoops can be an unexpected blessing. An intriguing thought……. and a well placed suggestion designed to help get me in the right frame of mind for high jumps?