A big anniversary

It's coming up on 2 years now since I left P&G to join a small, somewhat maverick little company called Seek (http://www.seekresearch.com). After 12 years of comfort, cash and status, I was wrestling with God about whether it was time for me to take a big step of faith and try something new.

A move like this was no small change.

I'd be walking away from years of credibility I had worked hard to build. A large crowd of very diverse friends and inspiring, motivating co-workers -- truly many of the best and brightest people I had ever known or had the honor to work alongside and learn from. A FAT paycheck and very comfortable pile of stock options that would certainly pay for college tuition for the kids, nice vacations and maybe, someday a house a the beach.

But, I felt and heard God calling me out. Asking me to take a risk in His name...

One day, I was driving to work, and praying about whether to accept the job offer I had from Seek, or stay at P&G. I had told the folks at P&G that I was considering leaving, and they were being so amazing and gracious and accommodating. They had asked me to consider "what did I really want" -- and I believe they had every intention of trying to deliver on whatever my answer was. So many amazing mentors and coaches there knew me very well, and wanted the best for me always.

And, on that fateful drive down River Road, God gave me a crystal clear vision that I've not ever really written down. It's about time I did...

Here goes...

A small lamb is standing in a desert. A kind shepherd is standing next to the lamb. The lamb is tentative, looking to the right and to the left -- evidently trying to decide which way to go.

To the right, a beautiful and bountiful "feast" is awaiting the lamb. Fresh fruits, flowers -- all of the lamb's favorites...prepared with utmost care, and clearly highly catered to the lamb. Every piece of the "feast" was healthy and good.

To the left, a gently sloping hill of of sand with those ripples you always see. Beyond the slope is out of view.

The lamb looks up with question's in her eyes to the kind shepherd. (Do you know where this is going yet?)

He gently nudges her to the left.

"Why?" she asks (yes, in my vision, the lamb could talk). "The feast over to the right has been carefully prepared by those who love me so much. It is healthy and bountiful and beautiful."

He again gently nudges her to the left. "Child, you can't see what's over that hill. But, I can. Do you trust me that it's even better?"

I called the folks at Seek that afternoon and said "I'm in!"

Over the past two years, I can tell you that there have been days/weeks where I felt like I was stuck in one of those ripples in the sand...but occasionally, I think I'm seeing a few glimpses of what's beyond that gentle slope. I've never looked back, and I'm amazed how God has been faithful to care and provide for us, how much I've grown, how much deeper my faith has become, and how much sheer joy and fun have come into my life in the past 2 years.

I do feel like He's showing me, step by step, a little more each day about what might be over that hill, and I'm so grateful to be along for the ride!

So, which direction are you heading? Are you taking the safe, easy route, or are you ready to follow Him, even if it means going the opposite way than what looks logical?

Shepherds and sheep

Zeke is still kicking my butt...chapter 34 got me this morning.

Here's a snippet of Chapter 34: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? ...You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. ...So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals."

I was driving to my favorite "hiding place" where I sometimes go to get work done on mornings when I don't have too many meetings, and this small (sometimes annoyingly persistent) voice kept saying "Africa". It's been whispering the name of that distant continent for a few years now. It also consistently whispers "Price Hill"... And, it consistently whispers "religion". Why these three? One is a distant continent, one is a close, but unfamiliar neighborhood, and one is an all-too familiar place I "lived" for many years. Pathetically, I keep (mostly) ignoring these specific words from the "voice"...mostly out of a long list of fears that I won't get into today, and, perhaps a busy-ness of tending to other whispers from that same voice (or maybe I'm a little clinically insane) that seem to be giving me other really important things to do.

However, a few of those fears are starting to evaporate...quickly...then, Zeke comes along and convicts me again, just as it has been since I started reading a week or two ago.

So anyway...I'm a pretty logical gal...If I am called to be a shepherd (isn't that just another word for leader?); and God is whispering to me about a field of sheep; then...(yes, I know the answer, friends...) And, the promise later in the book seems to provide some insight into the bigger picture...God appoints David to replace the lazy shepherds so that "(the people) will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those that enslave them." That sounds like some pretty awesome freedom to me! ;-)

Once again...CRAP! God, tell me which flock to go tend and when...isn't the flock I'm trying to shepherd here and now important...I'm sure there's a connection here...order my steps...here I am...send me...

What is God whispering to you? Is there a flock of sheep somewhere that you are supposed to shepherd? Let's pray for each other!