The Principal’s Office

Before starting HOPE a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have expected to fall so far behind the pack, whether it’s keeping up with this blog, reading Ministries of Mercy, or filling out weekly reflections. But I did. So here I sit… in the principal’s office (the principal being Jesse), fulfilling my time to what I should have done already.

In a lot of ways, HOPE is almost exactly what I expected. I expected the obvious things like living upstairs with two other guys, that I would get to know a lot of people that come from very different walks of life than my own, and that I would love getting around in the city.

What I didn’t anticipate, though, is what it would actually be like to live with two other guys that I never knew. I didn’t think about what it would be like to wake up everyday, spending most of my time with those teammates. I knew I was gonna meet a lot of different people around Jeff Street too, but I never really considered how hard forming intentional relationships would be, especially when people aren’t very compliant. I never thought about how intimidating it would be to knock on someone’s door and ask them for what they need prayer about. I knew I’d love living in Louisville and that getting around the city with my team would be an awesome experience, but TARC definitely never crossed my mind (as I’m sure most of the rest of the HOPE crew would agree).

I’m learning that HOPE is hard. HOPE is an amazing, eye-opening, hard, learning experience. Sometimes getting so caught up in the stressful, intense, and busy lifestyle that a HOPE team members lives makes it hard to take some time out of the day and do as Habakkuk 2:20 says and be still and silent before God. I think that sometimes I forget that I need to spend time alone with God, and I forget that I have due dates and things I need to do for myself. That’s probably why I got so behind on things, and why I’m sitting in the “principal’s” office right now catching up. God is doing some pretty amazing stuff at Jeff Street. I see it everyday. Sometimes though, I need to remember to be still, get in the Word, and stay in prayer so I can be filled with the Spirit. Hopefully next time I’ll be able to write in my own time, without having to be called down to the principal’s office.