You’ve been in the cave before, right?
It’s the place you go when transition is afoot. Like, before, during, after, or all of the above. It’s the quiet and often dark place you choose to hang back in, while everyone else goes about their regular happy lives, busy-busy with work, family, fun and the usual daily errands.
While daily life goes on around you, things have shifted for you. Slowed down. Gotten weird, maybe.
If you’ve been here before, it doesn’t totally freak you out, but it definitely seems like a drag. I mean, things were fine, and then this started.
And what exactly is this?
It could be as simple as the changing of the seasons.
Maybe it’s a major life change—a new baby, your child is starting kindergarten, your child is starting college!?
You’ve started a new job and the honeymoon period is over.
You have a new senior leader or a big change at church.
You’ve experienced failure of some kind.
You’ve experienced a major breakthrough in life, business, worship – you name it.
All of these things and more can cause you to want to retreat.
Maybe you simply need to take stock or take sabbath for a bit!
I’m here today to tell you, it’s OK.
And you can probably guess, I’ve been here, in the cave, for the last few months.
I’ve spoken to many of you and know that you’ve all been here before.
Some are even here with me as I type!
The bad news?
Honestly, I don’t have any! It’s just life:
It’s OK. We’re in this together and the cave can be a good place to rest for a while.
The good news? You guessed it:
It’s OK. We’re in this together and the cave can be a good place to rest for a while.
(Yes, the good news and “bad news” are exactly the same!)
I’m writing this from the cave. If I’m being honest, I’m writing this now because I sense a shift. Like, it’s going to be safe to stick my head out again soon. I think I’m personally in the spot of realizing 1) I need to stop and surrender to the cave time. And 2) Just a little more rest and it’ll be time to come out and stretch!
Of course, this is also an explanation as to why I’ve been pretty silent for the last 3 months. The details don’t matter so much, but the short version is like this: I had to find a job in order to support my family and pay the bills. I’ve spent the last 3 months training and on-boarding with a huge and well-known tech company, learned a TON, and then been thrust into a totally new career (err, well, a “day job” would be a better definition). I don’t want this to be my new normal, and I am finally finding the headspace and the actual time to start serving Worship Leader Life and Toonmade (our original music venture that I share with my wife, Lisa) again. The dream is still that these services will be my main gig and source of income. But, if that means taking an outside job for a season in order to keep these dreams alive, then bring it on!
I hope I haven’t been away too long for you.
More importantly, I would love to know how you are.
I invite you to comment or SEND ME A confidential MESSAGE and tell me:
A) How are you? What’s new?
B) What’s your number one struggle or need in worship and/or ministry that Worship Leader Life can help you with? If you have a number two, three or more, I can’t wait to hear them!
Here’s why: WLL can’t exist in MY bubble. Not at all. It has to be fashioned to be a support and resource for YOU!
Whether you’re in the cave, in the trenches, or on the mountain top, I can’t wait to catch up.
Talk soon!
Stephen