“are you excited about this season?”

That’s the question that was posed to me by Jim, the challenge course manager. We were doing some target practice after a long day on the ropes course. I facilitated 78 eighth graders through the high ropes course while he was on the low ropes course. I love 8th graders. It’s such a great age to work with. I paused for awhile as I considered his out-of-the-blue question. And then I answered honestly, “no I’m not.” I’m constantly working in areas that I don’t feel gifted at, resulting in frequently feeling in over my head. I have much to learn to do my job well and at times it feels like I have nowhere to turn for help. Every day I wake up and pray, “God, give me strength for today.” I need His strength as I face new challenges, new tasks and old fears that can keep me from finding joy in these new activities. And it is draining, at times, to constantly be working out of my comfort zone, out of what I feel gifted at doing. But there is a part of me that is excited by what I’m learning and doing and that’s the part that I need to place a great focus on.