Meeting part of the team. 7 of us meet at someone’s lake house to meet and get to know each other better. Little did I know that we were going boating today.
When I first arrived, the guard at the gate wasn’t going to let me in. After driving around to where I wouldn’t be in the way twice and 15 people giving me weird looks as they’re going by, the guard started to feel bad and he let me in asking in a humorous tone, “you’re not a stalker, right?” I politely replied, “no, sir!” And drove on through.
I pulled up to the house wondering if I was even at the right one and rang the doorbell. Mr. Middleton opened the door with a big smile and a welcoming handshake. A few questions and a few minutes later, part of my team shows up. As they show up, they start to ask if I brought a swimsuit. I didn’t cause I didn’t know I needed to, and I question why. They explain that we’re going jet skiing and boating as well. Fast forward a bit, I’ve got a suit on and we’re out on the jet skis having fun and jumping waves. When we finally come in, everyone’s starved and ready to go and eat. We decide to get some Italian and so we all hop in our cars and drive to a little hole-in-the-wall place that ends up being delicious.
As each of us finishes eating, we start talking about how each of us was shaped by God. We get through many of our stories and then we start on a conversation of faith. One of the girls was saying that she didn’t feel as if she was being her complete self with her non-Christian friends because she was worried that they wouldn’t accept her for her true self. As our conversation continued, we talked about how sometimes for our friends, just little tastes of our faith are better than abrupt conversations and arguments over our beliefs.
Another person in the group then used this analogy to help give us a picture of how people see us sharing our faith.
We are the kids who as soon as the pool opens (the pool being Jesus), we’re running and jumping in. The others are the kids slowly approaching and maybe dipping a toe in saying “It’s kinda cold. I don’t think I’m gonna get in.” If you splash them or squirt them with a water gun, they refuse to get in because it’s being forced upon them. But if you tell them how fun it is and how you can play Marco Polo, they might just want to get in. When they do, you get to see how much fun they’re having too and how they love to go underwater.
Faith is like a pool. Some run after Jesus, dive into faith, and are excited about Him. Others are nervous to accept Him because they are concerned about how it’s going to turn out.
Today a lot happened and I am so thankful for the opportunity to meet these wonderful people and to spend 9 months of our lives together. I’ve learned a gr deal from these people already and I hope to learn much more in the coming year.
I don’t have any jokes for you today, sorry. Maybe next time.
With love,
Victoria Rogers
