I’ve been pondering about this topic for quite some time. When I first connected within the church as a teenager I quickly became involved with leadership. Pretty much from my late teens until a few years ago in my early forties I have served, volunteered and been in some kind of leadership role or position. Those were mostly good experiences and I am thankful for them, but it’s now time for something different. I will attempt to own which is mine, in that I have spent a number of years thinking I had to compete with, or be like other people whom I thought were successful around me. I have been attempting to unlearn that behavior over the past few years, it’s a slow and painful process for me. I love the following quote by Henri Nouwen: “…being is more important than having and I am worth more than the result of my efforts.” I’ve spent a fair amount of time attempting to do a variety of things in my life thus far and I’m now trying to settle into being. Being loved by God, myself and others and not solely  based on what I do but on my inherent value as a person. What if following Jesus, loving Jesus, and just walking out on a daily basis ‘life’ wasn’t so much about what I am doing but about my being?