It’s Not Our Work

“I was somewhere with you, a place I did not know…..there was people around  big ugly people that were chasing people and when they caught them …they would throw them in this muddy river…

You Cyndy  were standing on the shore and I was  standing beside you watching …..Then Cyndy you bent down and reached and caught one of people in the river and pulled him/her up. I could not tell if men or women or child was being pulled up with only one hand, so strong you looked, so strong you were.

I was afraid for you Cyndy you just kept pulling and pulling crying out “I can’t let go” over and over. and when you pulled we saw that the people were all attached to each other so that that there was a long line of them  coming up …how many we did not know .? It seems like never ending….

Then we heard a loud noise coming from where the ugly big people were, and then everything got quiet, and they had disappeared….we saw the water become clearer and all the people you had pulled out started to walk away from you and I. they were singing….loud singing and walking away.

You turn to me and said, “You must go home now” and then I woke up.

The depths of work done on this last ministry trip to Mozambique are slowly coming out of the depths of myself. The entire time I was away I kept thinking, “How am I going to share this trip? How do I summarize this in words?!”

Slowly, bit by bit, I’m finding words for it all. This prophetic dream (just above) was given to one of our prayer partners and it summarizes perfectly the work in the spirit realm and the impact in people’s lives.

I am glad for a dream that helps to explain the work, for I’m finding it difficult to put words to what was deep and under the surface. The trip, on the surface, carried no drama and held little spectacle.

There was merely four of us (and one little one) traipsing across many kilometres by train and bus, truck and motorbike, and by foot, to visit ten churches, their pastors, and congregations, and then these profound conversations.

It began in Chupanga. Our first real stop. We had arrived in the morning and the first service was that evening. I cannot even remember what I spoke on but at the end of the service I was asked to pray for the people.

Now I have a bit of a rebellious streak to me, and over the course of the trips I’ve taken I’ve become really tired of being brought out as the circus performer who will now work wonders on you through her prayers. blah…

So that night I refused. I said, “No, I won’t be praying for you. Rather, I am going to teach you to pray for each other.”

And so this is what I, and my translator Whisky, tried to do. Once I was done teaching Whisky went on with much encouragement’s. All to no avail. It was a bit of a dismal failure from what I could tell.

But the evening concluded and back we all went to the house we were staying in. Upon our arrival we found the Pastor and his right hand man already there. How they got there so fast I’ve no idea!

And I realized that I just might need to explain why I had refused to pray for their people. So I shared what I had been learning the last few months.

I shared the bigger thinking the Lord had been giving me, the conviction to teach the people to do the work of the Kingdom (it doesn’t just belong to a few), how churches grow when people are empowered, what I’ve been learning from the house-church movement in India, and I also shared a prophetic word from one of our pastors in Kenya.

It was a bit of a long explanation, really a laying out of my heart and how the Lord was leading us at Capturing Courage, and once I’d finished their immediate question was, “You mean people can pray for each other?”

I was stunned. Struck. Saddened. In disbelief.

“Yes, people can pray for each other.”

And there began hours of conversation, late into the night, about life in Christ, about prophecy, about prayer, about leadership, about marriage, about men and women in the church, about so much.

Question after question was directed at me accompanied by a hunger for wisdom and clarity. Long past bedtime we finally broke up our gathering. And then picked it up the next day.

That next evening I didn’t preach, we simply held a forum. With Pastor Daniel, Whisky, and myself on chairs at the front of the church Daniel presented question after question, Whisky translated, I answered the question, Whisky translated, and on we went.

Life changing conversation that will not fade away.

And I still don’t have words for it all. But I’ll keep sharing it a layer at a time. So many dimensions.

The Lord is simply at work. This I know. My bag had been packed for Mozambique for an entire year. Literally. Packed and ready to go. For a year’s time.

The timing of the work of God is critical to any ministry. It is why we move in sync with the exact leading and timing of the Holy Spirit. Not before, not after.

For these works are not of us. In any way. We are simply conduits of God’s heart over people and areas. There are so many things that must align in realms that we do not see, that it is best to simply trust and wait, and then when we hear the ‘go’ we go. Quickly, efficiently, simply.

This is God’s work, not ours.

 

Serving Up A Feast

The following message is one I gave a couple times over during my recent ministry trip to Mozambique:

I have a friend named George. He makes his living bringing out the best in other people. Every time I get together with George over a cup of tea I receive a great big hug and an ‘I love you’.

George makes it his mission in life ensuring that everyone he comes across knows they are loved. (Everyone gets a hug!) I have learned a lot from George in the time that I’ve known him.

Forefront for him is ensuring his wife and three kids know his love. There isn’t a time I have tea with George but he isn’t sharing the latest things he has been doing for his wife and kids. In his decisions and manner of being he is committed to serving his family well.

So we might ask, how it is that George can get away with hugging women who are not his wife? I tell you, it’s this: It’s because the feast, the real banquet of love and respect, of honour and regard, is happening at home.

The rest of us are just getting in on the crumbs from the table.

I propose that if we want to change our cultures and communities for God that we begin with a feast at home. Building a culture of regard, tenderness, compassion, acceptance, value, honour, mercy, dignity, justice, love, and understanding in our homes will in fact impact our world.

It begins between a husband and his wife. Men, you have more power than you know.

If you treat your wife with regard and respect each and every day she will shine. Look her in the eyes, acknowledge what she does, thank her for her sacrifices for you and your children. Take the time to ask her about her day and really listen to her. Be tender and understanding.

“In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7

It has been said that a woman is a crown for her husband (Proverbs 12:4) and I ask you men, how shiny is your crown? For the quality of a man can be found in the light in his wife’s eyes, the countenance of her face, and how she carries herself.

A woman treated well, who knows she is safe and secure, is accepted and valued, will do most anything for her man. Women are naturally wired to open themselves to their man. Women are naturally wired to pour themselves out to their families and beyond. Who is pouring into her?

Perhaps you might pour into her so that she might continue giving out and opening herself to you and others.

There is a verse in Ephesians, “For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.” Ephesians 5:23, and from what I can tell this means that men are given the awesome and terrifying responsibility to answer before God one day for the health and well-being of his wife and family.

It is his role to assume 100% responsibility before God. It is a grand opportunity to become like Christ and to lay down his life in service and sacrifice.

But how is a man to take on this terrifying responsibility successfully? Well, he has been given a helper. The same word used to describe the Holy Spirit. His wife.

“Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” Genesis 2:18

She knows things and sees things that can help you as a husband and father. Women intuit how things are and they have particular wisdom that, if respected and regarded and listened to well, will enable you as a man to stand before God one day and hear, “Well done good and faithful servant.” She is uniquely designed to help you be wildly successful.

A man who takes on the challenge of setting an every-day feast of regard and respect, love and compassion, acceptance and patience, understanding and value, will not only have a wife who shines but will have children who also know these same things. Your children will be secure and settled and they will learn faster and they will mature easier.

A wife who is stressed, afraid, unsure, has children who are stressed, afraid and unsure, and the whole family begins to suffer. A wife who is not stressed makes a soft landing place for her children and her husband will one day reap the rewards of his due care and diligence as he watches the well-lived lives of his children.

As leader of the home you set the standard, you show the way, you model Christ. We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:19 that Christ’s ministry is one of reconciling the world to himself.

Reconciling is accomplished through careful listening, by taking 100% of the responsibility for the messes around us, and through understanding. Men are called to this same ministry of reconciliation.

And not only our men, but our churches too. What if your church was to commit to holding their women in high regard? What if you as a church made sure that you uphold the safety and security and value of all your women and those round about? What kind of a difference might this make in your community and beyond?

Christ calls us to be set apart and different from the world. Well, the world disregards women. The assignments against women have been long-lasting the world over and for centuries. We the body of Christ are called to be different.

While men are creating a feast at home it must also be followed up on by the church. Are we willing as a body of Christ to support our women? Are we willing to ensure they need not remain in abusive marriages?

Are we opening up all levels of leadership within the church so that they really know they are fully welcomed and wanted? Are our churches safe for women? Will we make the honouring and dignity of our women a priority as we create church policy?

For not only does all this hold a space of value for women but it holds a space of honour and value for our men.

For men are not just beasts to be obeyed. Men are not like children who can only see their own need. Men need not be given over to rage and violence.

Rather, men are called to enlarge and strengthen the lives of everyone around them. And out of this feast that begins at home everyone else round about gets in on the crumbs and we are all changed in the process.

The feast in the Kingdom of God is for everyone and our understanding of the gospel is ultimately reflected in our ministry to women and children.

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27

The feast begins at home. The church carries it on. Everyone gets in on the crumbs. None of us remain the same.

“Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
and a restorer of homes.” Isaiah 58:12

What We Know

light of the worldWhat if each of us was to speak what we know. Not what we think we know. Not what we might like to know. But what we really know.

You know, those convictions and conclusions that have been tried and tested over the years and still ring true deep in our spirits.

For one thing, I suspect we wouldn’t speak as much.

But I also suspect that our words would be so much deeper, so much more real, and in the speaking of them we would be so much more invested and engaged.

If nothing else, try this out as an exercise. Here is what I know:

  • God loves me passionately and intimately
  • God loves you passionately and intimately
  • Christ came to give us new life and in him we have life like we’ve never dreamed
  • I must live out of my authentic core bringing my entire range of experience and emotion to God and in this I find intimacy
  • I do not know everything about God

What do you know?

Are you articulating it?

Are you living it?

How is it changing your life?

Ministry in Mozambique

The summer is flying by, and with it we are thick into preparations for our fall ministry trip to Mozambique.

Pastor Daniel and nine churches have been waiting for over a year and a half for us to be there, and we are deeply glad that the time has come for fellowship in company of each other.

The plan is that I (Cyndy) will head there on October 16th for 15 days on the ground. We have received donations enough to cover about two-thirds of the ticket price, and half of the total cost of the trip.

Thank-you to all those who have donated so far – The work of Capturing Courage is dependent on the donations and prayers of ordinary folks like yourselves.

A few specific things to keep in prayer about:

– Clarity in our final communications as we near our travel time.

– Full funding so that we stay on budget for this trip.

– Heart preparation for a work of the Lord, for both Cyndy and the people in Mozambique.

– All details coming together.

art auctionThere are also five evangelists and pastors from Kenya and Uganda who would like to travel and join us in Mozambique – please pray for clarity, direction, and funding to work for them as the Lord leads.

The work of Capturing Courage continues to solidify and expand. As we are faithful with the depth the Lord continues to increase the breadth.

Please be in prayer for us beyond this trip to Mozambique. The question of ‘which country next?’ is playing in the back of our minds and we wait on the Lord’s specific direction.

The choices forefront in our minds at this time are India, Kenya, Myanmar, & Uganda.

Your prayers for clarity and wisdom and guidance on our behalf are very appreciated.

If you live in the Vancouver area mark your calendars for our Open House & Art Auction Fundraiser coming in late September.

If you are new to the work of Capturing Courage Click HERE.

“Make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous portion of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.”  2 Peter 1:5-7 NLT

To support this work around the world Donate HERE

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International Women’s Day

P1230558 compressedOn this International Women’s Day it seems right to post an old paraphrase that I once did of Proverbs 31 – May this bless you today.

An Excellent Femininity:

The Proverbs 31 Woman Paraphrased

 

An excellent femininity who can find?

SHE has more dimensions than any precious jewel.

The heart of her husband trusts in her,

she invests in her man’s prosperity.

Perceiving what is good for him (and while refusing harm),

she fully engages—

good is her investment in their years together.

With a ready spirit and an honest and enterprising heart she does not turn from the challenges of what she wants.

Because of this her world is large and she gleans from numerous resources for the benefit of her family.

Actively engaging her own needs and the needs of her family, she rises to meet each day with gladness and an eager spirit;

extending without prejudice a “welcome to the day”

to those about her.

Taking calculated risks her decision making finds profit

enabling her to invest yet again in more of her tomorrows.

She is strong in her inner self, her body too is strong, and in this her self respect is evident.
Rightly understanding what she has to bring to the table

as valuable, she offers it boldly.

When life is hard and all is ‘night’ she continues on

in the light of her God.

She is okay with menial tasks; it doesn’t have to be all about drama. She is not so overworked that she is not aware of,

nor unable to reach out to needs of others; her life has margin.

Hardships to come do not frighten her, for she

dresses her household in the blood of Christ daily in her prayers.

Refusing the temptation to neglect her own being, she cares for herself as diligently as anyone else;

And in her bearing and dress it’s clear she’s a daughter of The King.

Her husband, having his own something to offer

and in the bounty of her respect and respite freely offered him,

courageously takes his rightful place of influence.

She is not afraid of the marketplace, for knowing she has something worthy to offer confidently finds her place among it;

the marketplace is richer for her essence.

Her presence speaks of strength and dignity and from

an inner serenity with past and present

she delights to consider what her future holds for her.

Her mouth dispenses wisdom, her words, her spirit, and her manner model kindness and graciousness.

She is not lazy, but sacrifices and prioritizes in the care of her home and those in it.

Her children grow and one day thank her.

Her husband loves her.

The mere form of femininity is a lie, but a woman who risks to shine in all she is created to be by her God will have substance

worthy of praise.

Give her the fruit of her hands,

and may her reputation be known by all.

The New Normal

cyndy compressed andIn less than a weeks time I am speaking on Success to Significance. I’ll be leading a conversation that explores the question, “What are the characteristics of a life that satisfies?”

In preparation I’ve been making my list and have narrowed it down to five characteristics found in those living a sense of significance.

One is about alignment with our creator.

Two of the five are about establishing our identity and of reckoning our lives thus far.

Another two are about moving forward and leveraging everything we’ve experienced into forward motion.

We start with experience because it is the one thing that no one can take from you. Same as belief and conviction, experience is what prepares us for tomorrow.

And whether good, bad, or ugly, your experience is in fact your resume upon which satisfaction rests.

It’s not about getting away from ‘that’. It’s about something much more powerful. I’ll show you how.

The conversation of identity comes close on the heels.

The thing with identity is that once established we are solid. The ground on which we walk may rattle to-and-fro from time to time, but it won’t affect our stride.

Imagine if establishing identity is as easy as asking yourself, “What make me glad?”

There are of course markers all along our lives of our purpose and our gifting and that thing which makes us glad. I’ll be showing you how to identify those.

Finally, alignment with our Creator brings us to the core of permission and invitation.

Alignment cuts through our presupposed manners of being that depend on lies and curses for existence.

Quite simply, who does God say you are?

Significance: Where the ordinary becomes extraordinary and where the extraordinary becomes ordinary.

The new normal.

…………………….

Full Info is HERE

Crunch, Crunch, Crunch

One Step at a TimeClarity comes in bits and pieces. It is step by step we come to know the path.

At Capturing Courage we have been walking step by step down this our path. It hasn’t always been easy.

Looking back, what stands out most of all is the fact that the most trying times have been the most clarifying times.

While full of emotion, riddled through with frustration, trouble to the point of weary, these exact moments are when we’ve most known what we are and are not to be about.

And while I’ve never been a big one for conflict I’ve come to appreciate the value in it. The crazy hair-pulling moments have in fact lent us much wisdom. Much, much wisdom!

The thing about paths is that there are the missteps every side of every step on that path. Like driving a car we must constantly be making adjustments. A little to the right, a little to the left. It is the only way.

But in the midst of life and ministry and business the steps too far to the right or left feel like failures.

And yet, are they?

My family has a house on one of the gulf islands here in British Columbia. A couple of years ago, in the middle of winter when the sun sets early, I had taken the ferry over and was walking to the house.

It is very dark on Mayne in the winter. There are no street lights, and unless the moon is out you cannot see your hand in front of your face.

But I took it as a challenge to walk and it was quite a bit of fun I must say. I found my way quite successfully all the way, simply by the feel of the road under my feet.

Paved and with a gravel edge riddled by grasses, I could tell where I was depending on if there was smooth pavement under my feet or whether I was crunching through rocks.

Obviously I hit the rocks as much as the pavement. In fact, the rocks at the side kept me from wandering into the middle of the road. They helped keep me on track just as much as anything.

And isn’t this the way with life.

The crunchy parts keep us on track. They tell us step by step, ‘Move a little to the left, move a little to the right.’

Without the trouble, without the frustrations, without the difficulties we would carry on our merry way and most likely end up somewhere we never wanted or intended to be.

Long story short – don’t mind the crunchiness of life. Get used to it. In fact, make use of it.

Paths are meant for one step at a time. Forward-Ho

……………………………………………………

Back to HOME

So Much Better

look for solutionsWe cannot move forward until we loose off ourselves the notion that something is wrong.

When things don’t go as planned, when they transpire in a completely different way than we expected, and when we are faced with imminent failure, the question begs to be asked, is there anything wrong?

What if nothing is wrong?

If nothing is wrong our minds are then freed up to think creatively. Our vision is opened, the blinders are removed, and instead of narrow-lens thinking we have open vistas from which to work.

It is from this place that we are able to find innovative solutions. Instead of allowing the unplanned to stop us in our tracks, we can instead ask, ‘How is this the best thing that ever happened to us?’ And go from there.

We can have our problems, and we can have our solutions, but we can’t have both at the same time.

Holding onto the trouble puts our hands in a terrible bind. For they are unable to reach out to grab hold of solutions – they are already full.

It is this picture of loosing hold of one thing to take hold of something even better, that really typifies the dilemma each one of us face every single time we are faced with what isn’t going as planned.

The work of this is done in the mind and the heart where we must literally leave off the obsession with the trouble. We truly must let it go and be done with it once and for all.

The thing is though, that for a large percent of the population they like the drama around all that is wrong. Many enjoy grieving and weeping and wailing ceaselessly about how they have been slighted by life. Numerous don’t really want any solutions. They just want to complain.

Complaining and weeping and wailing you see has its rewards. Many come to the rescue. We receive strokes and comfort and attention. Our lives take center stage as the great drama that it is – and yet, nothing ever changes for such a one. Have you noticed?

Minds become stuck on paths of woe-is-me thinking. Expectations cannot (and don’t really want) to focus on anything else but the bad and the evil and the dastardly.

(There is so much drama in these words even as I write them!)

And yet, without letting go of our problems and of our slights and of our wailing’s, we will not get on with living, with solutions, with creative responses, with positive reckonings. The two will not co-habitate.

So we have a choice. Which will we focus on?

Hint: The one we focus on is the one that grows.

Two things to unstuck our minds from woe-is-me thinking.

ONE: Ask yourself, ‘How is this the best thing that has ever happened to me?’

TWO: Assume that nothing is wrong – everything is exactly as it should be, and then ask yourself, ‘How might we respond in this situation? What might be the solutions?’

You won’t be the same. I guarantee it.

And neither will those around you. Your life will make an impact. Vistas will be opened up. New strengths will be had. Creative responses will come easier and easier.

It may not look like you expected, it’ll be so much better.

……………………………………

back to HOME

 

 

Snow-Days

070 compressedThe day has become a white one. We have snow here on the west coast of BC, something that doesn’t always happen, and when it does creates all sorts of outcries.

Ranging from ‘Yeah!’ to ‘Damned Snow!’ we become a divided people.

Now we hardly get snow here in the Vancouver area. I could probably count on both hands the number of ‘big’ snows I’ve seen during my entire lifetime here. Most of the time we don’t have any snow arriving till late January or February.

Having snow before Christmas is quite the deal!

Yet here we are, snow has taken up residence.

The gridlock early yesterday was terrible. Drivers were in exasperation as normal commutes of 15 minutes lengthened to 5X that long. Sitting for an hour in an intersection is not anyone’s idea of fun.

Today I hope we are all a little smarter.

There is nothing like snow (at least snow in a region that is not used to snow, does not have the machinery or infrastructure to remove snow, and has many who have never grown up in snow) to put a full-stop into the middle of an otherwise busy week.

My own appointments today just may be cancelled.

Schools are having snow-days. Many among us are hunkering down and staying home.

Enforced pause and rest days are some sort of hidden gem from God I’m thinking.

A gal I am coaching has decided to take the weeks around Christmas off. Her life of recent months has been one grand push alongside numerous hurdles in the road. She simply needs a rest.

I see her taking the time she needs as incredible strength. It is really hard to stop moving, hard to stop that hustle to get more work, hard to see the big picture when the little picture has us running as hamsters on a wheel.

I’ve been so proud of her for taking the break her spirit and whole being needed.

And I think snow days do the same thing for all of us.

We are given grand opportunity to simply stop. How stunning is that?

Volunteer

P1080581 compressedThe Capturing Courage Team @ Home has many opportunities for your gifts to bless the greater work. As the work grows, we have need of many specifically gifted and passionate hands and hearts.

Located in the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada, we are a fledgling organization on a shoe-string budget at this time, and are therefore dependent on the people that come alongside us.

If you have a desire to be a volunteer in the work of CCI here is a summary of what we are currently looking for:

  • Website Help: There are a number of things we want to do with our website, and blog plus more, that we are not equipped to do at this time. If you are needing a showcase project or simply wanting to tithe your time and talents to a non-profit organization, we want to connect with you.
  • Editing Ability: We are looking for book editors who either have a heart to donate partially or in total towards the books we are working on. With both volunteer and paid opportunities we need an editor with expertise and heart and a desire to be part of something bigger than themselves.
  • Project Managers:At CCI we have a number of projects under way on the home front, and we need a few individuals who are interested in becoming a part of our Action Teams towards strengthening our home base.
  • Event Managers: We are looking for action oriented individuals to take on any one or all of our annual and regular events. From women’s events to yearly fund-raisers, if you are pumped about making things happen, and happen well, we’ve got a spot for you.
  • Errand Support: There are multiple and numerous little things that must be done from week to week. And much of this job is simply about driving here, picking that up there, running for this or that. If you have a vehicle and love to run errands, we’ve got a few things you could do.
  • Overseeing Support Materials: When we speak and present the work from place to place, we like to have our support materials ready to go and well maintained. Things like prayer cards, books to sell, photos and story boards, and more, need a keen eye and good taste to manage and implement. If this sounds like you, we would love to have you part of the team.


For further information CONTACT US

Undercurrents

188 compressedIt has been an interesting week. I’ve spoken twice this past week, and I spent my entire weekend in silence and in small tasks about my home.

Under all of this is an undercurrent of unrest and agitation in my spirit. At the same time a deep rest has been pervading my soul.

It is an odd mix of energy and depth that I am not quite sure what to do with.

My own last month has been incredibly fruitful. With a myriad of projects completed, with a focus established for the next year and with traction on many fronts there is much movement.

And yet this unrest has me a little baffled.

Yet I suspect I know what it is.

I’ve raised five of my own babies and cared for numerous others over the years. Now babies are always growing and learning new things and moving through developmental stages.

At each stage of development, right before a babe learns to sit or to stand or to walk there is much fussing and frustration, tears and general fits of discomfort. It is easy to observe this in infants.

Yet as my children grew I saw it all along the stages. A little more difficult to see, as the development was no longer about sitting or walking or talking, it was there nonetheless. This same discomfort and frustration, a generally irritated state would precede any new stage of development.

Learning to pump on a swing, tie ones shoes, learning to read or ride a bike. Be it moving from childhood responsibilities to adult ways of thinking and being, all these stages and more were preceded by agitation.

I’m thinking this is where I am at and is the cause of my current unrest. For I’ve noticed in my own past years a similar process of growth and development and the agitation and deep frustrations that occur concurrently.

I’m thinking this continues on for all of us as we go through life. When do we ever really stop learning or developing?

Personally I’ve been on a growth spurt for a few years. I no longer recognize my old self, and really have little idea of who I will be in a years time.

But I do know that I won’t be the same. So I’ll settle into the growth spurt that is in process right this moment. I’ll take the frustrated agitation and give it space alongside these deep silent spaces.

Mixed emotions are difficult to navigate but are hallmarks of growth and maturity and emotional wellness.

I guess it could be said that growth isn’t easy for any of us. Whether we are seven months old and finding out how to crawl or whether we are forty-seven and finding new strengths, it doesn’t matter.

We go forward, growing forward, feeling our way, gaining in strength and new skills day by day. Who we need to be tomorrow we are not yet that person, so growth is simply and always necessary.