FaithBridge Core Values: {entrepreneurial}

As an entrepreneurial organization, FaithBridge has a vision for how to change foster care in this country, a passion for the ideas and people who can help make it happen, a willingness to take risks and a commitment to see things through, in both the peaks and the valleys.

“Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

–Acts 13:1-3

One of my new favorite hobbies is white-water river kayaking. By “hobbies,” I mean I can count the number of times I’ve done this on one hand but hope to do this more regularly. By “white-water,” I mean class I, II and III rapids nestled in between long stretches of quiet floating. And by “kayaking,” I mean bouncing from rock to rock while floating down the river in a large plastic structure that, fortunately, seems indestructible, despite my unintentional efforts to smash and scrape it on all the rocks in all the rivers.

During the drive back from one recent white-water adventure, a friend turned to me and commented that he’d never seen anyone “play pinball down the river” like I did.

I have mad rock-hitting skilz.

In all seriousness, what I only realized toward the end of the trip–like the last few minutes of our three-hour tour–was that my problem wasn’t in my kayaking skills. I’m not the best paddler ever, but this wasn’t my first rodeo.

So why was I the river kayaking pinball champion?

I was focusing on the wrong thing and not taking risks.

In my attempts to paddle around the rocks, my gaze was fixed upon them, and instead of going smoothly around them, I bumped into almost all of them, getting stuck on top of quite a few along the way. My kayak was following my line of sight, going exactly where I was unintentionally aiming. What I [duh] realized toward the end is that when I looked at the water where I wanted my boat to go, I went there.

In Acts 13, we meet the church as they are making some tough decisions. They have not only recently seen several friends killed for talking about Jesus and the resurrection but have also experienced miraculous provision (check out chapter 12!). They regroup to decide the game plan, covered in prayer, worship and fasting, and it’s decided that Barnabas and Saul [Paul] are sent off to continue telling people about Jesus. They focus on what the Lord calls all believers to do. From there, the two men are sent out with clear direction and the information they need each step of the way.

Being entrepreneurial means keeping our eyes on God and what He’s doing, joining a conversation that’s been going on for thousands of years already, ready to play our part. It also means that we have to stay focused, avoid distractions and continue diligently keeping our eyes on Jesus as we take risks to see the vision God’s given us fulfilled…to change the way America does foster care.

Yes, that really is me in the kayaking picture. My friend Mark snapped it…seconds before I nearly fell out for the umpteenth time that day.