Many Roles...

I sit here at the Action International office, finishing up my writing for the day and knowing I should post here before I leave.  I have been incredibly busy this month as preparing for my Guatemala trip the holiday season tacks on more responsibilities to an already full plate.  My life is somewhat fragmented while I serve many roles.

I'm a swim coach.  I coach with two different teams.  Every evening I coach with a USA swimming club called Cascade Swim Club.  Every afternoon is taken up helping coach the Edmonds Woodway and Mountlake Terrace High School swim teams.  I also give prvate lessons.  I have been coaching for over five years now and it's definitely one of the most rewarding jobs I've ever had.  I enjoy playing a role in children's lives and I just pray that I'm leaving a positive imprint on them.

I'm a writer.  Okay, I'm not really a writer but I just like saying that since that's what my "title" is at Action International.  ACTION is a missions sending organization that has over 250 missionaries in 25 different countries.  It is so neat being involved with an organization that is doing God's work in so many different places.  My role is to update the news portion of the website.  As such, I am able to read about all the different ministries happening all over the world.  It is an encouragement and I feel so blessed to have stumbled into working with such a God fearing organization.

I'm a missionary (well, not yet).  I'm currently raising support and preparing for my trip to Guatemala.  The trip is coming fast and I'm excited to see what God will do.

I'm a bible study leader.  Every Sunday I lead a bible study at my apartment.  It has been neat to grow in faith with others.  I used to attempt to live my faith by myself in isolation.  It seemed too personal to share with others.  Now, however, that's my favorite part of the week.  I love leading others in God's word and prayer.  I have also learned guitar so I can lead others in worship as well.

I'm a boyfriend/father figure.  I'm dating a single mom with a 19 month old.  She is a sweet woman that has had her prodigal years but now loves the Lord.  I am still very much in prayer about that, trying to discern whether that is the path God wants me to take.

Recently, I looked at my distribution of hours, how much time I spent with all my activities.  Those things above took a lot of time as well as things like personal bible study, reading, etc.  What came as a shock to me however was when I put praying on the list.  I estimated I prayed about one hour per week.  As I run around performing all my obligations, sometimes I can begin to lose the center, which is my relationship with God.  This is the case even when doing so-called "religious" activities.  It became clear that setting aside time to commune with God needs to be a bigger priority.  So pray for me, that I would slow down and find the time to do this!