#TuesdaysinLeadership on a Wednesday? That’s crazy, Alicia. Sorry friends – my real life got in the way yesterday. But I’m still posting because last week’s podcast episode was too good not to process over here.
This last episode of Lead Stories Podcast was called Vision in Real Life and in it Jo and Steph discussed ways that we cast vision for our areas of leadership and in our lives. It’s a great episode if you’re wondering how to really hear your vision from God, if you’ve heard it and wanna know how to start, and if you’re needing to remember your vision.
One of the questions that Jo and Steph proposed in helping us find our vision was what do you find yourself drawn to/investing (blogs/books/podcasts)? Like when you’re doing the scroll through Facebook or Instagram, what types of things stop you or what topics do you frequently find yourself reading about?
I’ve always had a bend toward community. I find it fascinating – what makes good community? Why can finding it be so hard? What can we do to cultivate it? What do we do when it’s hard or it hurts?
Over the last several months I’ve found myself deeply drawn to reading through comment sections on political/emotionally charged posts. I know that comment sections are often filled with a lot of nonsense and that the internet is often not a place you go to have your mind changed. But I find myself seeking out places where people are ready to enter into the conversation. It’s so infrequent to see a space where people can come with differing mind sets and really hash it out.
I dream about settings where we can sit around a table, everyone getting the chance to make their case and then trying to find a common ground. No matter the topic – race, sexuality, politics, worship styles, personal conflicts – I wanna sit around a table and talk it out.
One of the reasons I wasn’t able to post yesterday is because I was asked to be a part of a panel of youth pastors. After the panel we were milling around with everyone and I got into a conversation about how to provide resources for navigating the switch to becoming more multiethnic.
It was like a light went on inside of me. Some dark corner that hadn’t seen light in a while was suddenly illuminated. In the church we are looking to become more multiethnic. Leaders who aren’t overly vocal about it off the bat come across like they don’t want it – like they are okay with their mono-ethnic culture. And yes there are leaders that feel that way.
But there are other leaders too – those that want it, understand the need for it but are stuck in the frozen place of not knowing how to walk forward. The times or places where they’ve tried inviting in other voices in have resulted in challenges. They want to work through it but something may be standing in the way.
It was great to have the start of that conversation – because we only had time for the start. But to say – yes, I hear you and I don’t have the resource per say but I wanna hear more. I want to find a way to have this conversation in a safe place and to lay it all out on the table.
Let’s talk about the good, the hard and the how to move forward. Could I offer up some books for you to read, people to follow to hear stories – yes. But isn’t it better for us to discover it together?
adventures in living an abundant life