God Saw Something I Didn’t See In Myself
When Did You Realize You Were a Leader?
It’s weird, I never in my life had I imagined myself as a leader. In high school it’s always about who you followed or associated with. It wasn’t until my senior year or shortly thereafter that I started to do my own thing. I saw a future for myself and what was ahead of me. I took charge of who I was and what I was meant to do. What God has planned for me to do.
I remember when I was first hired as an intern at Mountain Park Community Church. Dave (yes, Dave Shrein is my boss) led me through a series of practices that helped me discover what I really wanted to do. I was following Dave. That was the beginning of what was to become my role as leader.
As my internship progressed, I started to do things on my own. I was bringing thoughts to the table that had never discussed. I started presenting my own ideas, not even realizing that that was part of a leadership role.
What Kind of Leader Did I Want to Become?
One day Dave called me into his office and we began talking about how leaders live their lives. We discussed the characteristics of a leader. As we were analyzing and sorting through these different traits, I realized that some of these were in me and that I wanted to strive for the ones that were not. I began to work on my weaknesses in order to strengthen those parts of my life.
After thought, hard work, and striving in those areas, I realized that I was actually playing a leadership role. Dave had built the confidence in me to be able to call myself a leader. With that confidence in the back of my mind, I applied it towards my work. Without the confidence of calling myself a leader, I don’t think I would strive as much as I have in the past year. I don’t think I would have come this far.
Realizing that I have much more to learn is a humbling thought that every leader should experience. Leadership is not always about the fact that people are following you or that you are leading a specific group of people, but it’s the fact that you’re really taking ownership of what God has set for you.
Don’t Expect Overnight Success
When I realized my leadership, it wasn’t an overnight experience. It took time and effort and lots and lots of training from all the staff at my church to help me get to where I am. It took God leading me through this time of my life.
I am not a leader because of power. I am not a leader because people follow me. I’m a leader because God has assured me that this is where he wants me to be in life. Because God saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.
