drinking through a fire hose

I’m sort of “drinking through a fire hose”.

Pretty terrifying image if you let things get too literal.

Twice in my life this phrase has been thrust upon me.

The first time: a sympathetic advisor checked in on my rapid transition into a very visible and influential campus leadership position…

…the second time: today, as I used it myself to describe my relationship to the onslaught of information I am ingesting.

I called my parents tonight. My dad asked about the peach trees. I said I hadn’t made it back there to check on them in a while. He advised I “put some water on them so they don’t get stressed”.

I could have used a sprinkler…but the idea of spending the time to position it perfectly just didn’t seem right. Not when I knew that I would probably forget to turn it off and that it would come back to haunt me on this month’s water bill.  Now my ankles itch.

Twice today, first from a friend and then in a book, I interacted with the idea of meeting God through service; through every day work or tasks…or through the physical discomfort of tending the earth.

I am seeking to meet God. So now my ankles itch. And at work today I felt my face drifting to that familiar overwhelmed look. I’ve never done well at hiding emotions. I think it freaks people out. I think everything about the way I felt today was invigorating.

I’ve once again found myself in a position that I admit that I cannot do on my own. The first time this happened I was much more anxious to embrace what I was about to take on. This time I am surer that my God will equip me for wherever I am led.

Becoming MSC President at Texas A&M the year we reopened the Living Room of campus…is overwhelming for someone who dislikes public speaking and feels very awkward in social small talk situations. It literally took me to my knees. It took me to prayer because I knew that nothing I did within that position was by my own efforts or skill. It was all the grace of God. The grace God showed me in the little steps of preparation that led to that point; and the grace God showed me as every day I learned to navigate and do the very best that I could.

I can see God’s hand all over the opportunity I now have to serve at Waco Habitat for Humanity. I am learning a lot in a very short amount of time. And I love it. I love the challenge. But more than the challenge I love that as I drove around town running errands today, going through my list of things and meetings to accomplish I had to stop and pray that somehow God would help me get it all done. And God did.

The peaches outback are growing. They aren’t drinking through a fire hose the way I often do. In fact, they are about to face a very dry Texas summer. But as I stood outside tonight providing them something they desperately need I thought again about the waters in my own life. I think about the times I spend with God each day reading scripture or reading books or reflecting and I know that those times are strengthening me to always turn to back to my source as I face whatever powerful gushing may come.