Leading a backpack

In three days I will be out in the wilderness with 9 other guys, leading them on a 40 mile backpack trip. We will be carrying everything we need in the world on our backs, hiking like mules through the woods. It will be fun, whether they like it or not.

One of the things that strikes me as the leader of the trip is that the best way I can lead is by not. When I was in the 'organized religion' game, my task was clear - get everything prepared and planned and orchestrated so everything goes smoothly. My job was to have lesson plans prepared and activities all ready so that the 'schedule' went as planned. It's funny how different the world looks now. I know on every level of my being that doing all that would be stupid, because it would make the trip mine. Read in that last sentence the opposite of what I believe Papa wants. If it is mine, then it isn't His. If I plan it, it might go good, but it might also very much limit what He wants to do. I guess I am learning that to really follow in this season, I need to let go of a structure that probably wasn't of Him to begin with. For an ex-pastor, that is a little unsettling.

So we might get really lost in the woods this coming week. If we do, you'll know who's leading.