I've learned allot about leadership from Canoeing.  Once we lived along a beautiful river in Florida.  One of those great canoeing rivers in jungle-like settings. 

Often we would put a husband and wife into the canoe up stream and meet them at a pick up point.  They would go into the river best-of-friends and come out barely talking to each other.  Their testimony would be that they spent most of the trip bouncing from one bush/snake/bug covered bank to the other.

I've been canoeing for many years and I learned a valuable leadership lesson.  Look ahead to the next bend in the river!  If you spend your whole trip reacting to the current shifts right in front of you and fail to look ahead to the next bend in the river you are doomed to bounce from shore to shore.  You cannot over-react to your current dilemma or else you will just go from crisis to crisis.

I call this "finesse" in ministry. Many young leaders miss this ingredient, every problem becomes a big deal, and the bounce from problem to problem.  I don't know how to train for finesse.  But I do know how to pray for it.  Help me Jesus!

¶ 3:37 AM