Hannah and I just got back from a Vineyard conference in Cape Coral, FL. It was awesome. The first couple of days were devoted to a regional Worship Leader's conference...any time you get 60 Vineyard worship leaders in the same room, it's bound to be good. It was also great for a couple of up-and-coming worship leaders here at VCOS to get some hands on training. It also gave me some quality writing time, which was great.

One of the first speakers for the Pastor's portion of the conference was Jamie Stilson, the senior pastor at the Cape Coral Vineyard, who hosted the event. He was hilarious and real...and something he said, really stuck to the bones. I'll use the same quote that he did, from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", by C.S. Lewis:

"Is - is he (Aslan) a man?" asked Lucy.
"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will dearie, and make no mistake", said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

"'Course he isn't safe. But he's good."

That hit me hard. I have become "safe". I have begun to protect and maintain what I have. This isn't about "safe". This is about trust, and goodness, and knowing that He is so very, very much more than I am. Of course he isn't safe. But he's good.

I'm ready for the next risk. Whatever that may be.