Refreshing.
This weekend Dianna and I went to a conference called ‘Live the Difference’ in Victoria. Right now, I savor those moments where I am not DOing anything and can just BE (something that I am not always good at).

The theme of the weekend was filled. On the first evening, Steve Osmond talked about being filled with trust. He talked about leaders who start out trusting God, and then lose that God-focus once their ministry gains momentum. And that is something that we don’t want to happen here. So, we’re going to keep asking the “what are we about?” questions no matter what happens – just like we did before we had a pastor. Right now, it would be easy to sit back and wait. And while these next two months are somewhat of a waiting-period for the group, they are also a preparation period. It’s not time to sit still.

Convergence.
That’s what we call ourselves. Have you thought about it lately? Names are important. How does convergence define us? We have been convergence since before my time. I wasn’t here when Chad named us. It's easy to brush it off as simply catchy. But, if you look up the word convergence in the dictionary, there are several definitions pertinent to who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

The first definition is “the act, condition, quality, or fact of converging” which speaks to the value of what we do, not the logistics. Convergence is about a constant condition of coming together, more a state-of-being than a program.

In mathematics, convergence refers to “the property or manner of approaching a limit, such as a point, line, function, or value.” Similar to the phrase [warning: cheese ahead] “life is in the journey, not the destination.” The essence of converging is more about the approach than the arrival.

In physiology, convergence is defined as “the coordinated turning of the eyes inward to focus on an object at close range” which we could rewrite for Convergence as “the coordinated turning of our eyes inward & upward to focus on our ever-near God.” Enough said.

The last definition that grabbed me pointed to something I had not thought about before. The biological definition of convergence describes “the adaptive evolution of superficially dissimilar structures, such as the wings of birds and insects, in unrelated species subjected to similar environments.” The process of convergent evolution sounds like us: we come together from so many different places in life, spend time in the presence of God & each other, and slowly start to look more like Him.

Happenings.
This week Jared Hazzard is sharing. You know him. He’s cool. He’s shared before. I would say it’s a gift.


Much love,

Jamie