NYWC

Romans 8:14-15 as written in The Message: God's spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It is adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, "What's next Papa?"

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to the National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC) in Atlanta. All in all it was an amazing weekend, and I plan to be processing and thinking about my experience for quite awhile, but I figured the verses above were the best place to start as they were the theme verses for the weekend, with the overall theme them being "Adventurously Expectant."

So what does it mean to be adventurously expectant? Honestly, I'm not really sure, at least not for me. I know that involves looking toward the future. And that's really not something I am good at. I am a one step at a time type of person. I am someone who can't see what things would really be like if they were different then what they are. I don't have a vivid imagination. I am someone who, with a giant list of things that needs done, can only focus on the one that needs done next, and then gradually work my way down the list. I am someone who lives in the present. I don't tend to focus much on the past, though of course I have my moments, and I don't tend to spend too much time dreaming about the future, though I do have dreams and hopes.

So with all that, how can I be adventurously expectant? Donald Miller wrote in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, "The thing about writing a story, in real life and on paper, is half the effort is just figuring out what the story is going to be." Through all that has been happening lately - the speakers I have been hearing, the conversations that have resonated with me, my devotions, my thoughts - all these things seem to be telling me there that God is calling me to something. Something big, something amazing, something powerful. The thing is, I'm clueless as to what. So I guess for me, right now at this moment, being adventurously expectant means waiting, listening, and paying attention for what God chooses to reveal to me next. Being prepared and ready for whatever that is. Being willing to step out in faith, to live the adventure he has called me to. But also being willing to wait and to let him lead the way by asking, "What's next Papa?" So that is where I sit. Waiting for what is next, but also cherishing all that is in my life now.

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