First Five Weeks Blog

Now that we are about 5 weeks in, what has been the most challenging part of the leadership aspect of the program for you? Do you have a sense of some areas in your life that you need/ want to grow in? When have you felt like you have had to rely on God the most during your time here so far?

Throughout the first five weeks of Kaleo, God has definitely been teaching me to be silent.  When I arrived at camp Qwanoes I wanted to make a name for myself.  Early on I decided that in order to make a name for myself I would have to be loud and very extroverted.  I was very vocal and shared my opinion to others about minor things.  Usually I am a quiet, reserved, and relaxed individual, but I found myself acting in a foreign way.  After the silent retreat I was reminded how important it is to be silent.  A verse that stuck out to me was Proverbs 18:2, "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."  I as really struck by this verse and I decided I must make a change.  I chose to try and do three things in order to practise silence; listen - whether that was in a group setting or in a one on one setting, watch - instead of being loud and trying to take all the fame I would watch and stand back in order to humble myself, and serve - in order to humble myself in another way I took on the role of trying to serve as Jesus did to those around me.  
In listening I tried my best to learn.  I practised processing my opinions in my head and how they contrasted to those of the people speaking.  I did not speak up, but instead I only listened to the arguments or conversations.  
In practising watching I would do a lot of similar things as listening.  I would stand back and watch the group or person instead of trying to compete against them.  If I thought that I could jump higher or throw harder, I would stop my thought and just watch and encourage instead of compete.
Serving people was an amazing way to humble myself.  I decided that I must start from a point of humbleness in order to grow effective relationships during Kaleo.  I served in simple ways - from pouring water for people at meal times to opening doors for them while walking outside or inside.  
I am still working on practising silence, but overall I think I have improved from when I first arrived at camp.



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