Burnaby Counselling Group Realizations of 2009
Leading up to our 30 year anniversary of Burnaby Counselling Group, we reflected on our experiences of journeying together as a team and with our clients over the years. We wanted to invite you in to share in this process because we recognize that although we are a small team of 12 here at BCG, our ‘team at large’ extends far beyond our office walls! We are grateful that you are part of our story and that you choose to join with us in seeing the greater vision of our ministry continue over the years…what an encouragement this is to us!
Realization #1…It’s hard to be patient for God’s timing.
We
experience this in our own lives, in the challenges our clients face,
and in the operations of the Counselling Group. One of the ‘hidden’
privileges about being a part of BCG is the raw experience of need in
our midst and the mysterious ways in which God provides. In a world
where many things are unclear right now, we stand on a foundation of 30
years that speaks of God’s provision…this feels worthy of great
celebration!
Realization #2...We don’t often feel prepared for our challenges in life.There’s this idyllic scenario we imagine for ourselves and our clients in which we gather, we grow, we are equipped, and then God calls us into the challenge. However, experience has shown us that we are more often called into the challenge (feeling rather unprepared) and then it is in this process of stepping into that we gather, we grow, and we are equipped. So, we realize that perhaps it is not all about being prepared for our challenges as it is being prepared for the unpreparedness we’ll face in life, and accepting that it is in this humble place where God does some of his most transforming work in our lives. We are grateful for being a part of BCG’s 30 year ministry of seeing lives transformed.
Realization # 3...We are impacted more than we think by our work.
As
therapists, our clients and the stories we witness and share shape us
deeply as people. As we sit around our consult table discussing the
struggles, the breakthroughs, the different creative and scientific
ways we use to simultaneously generate acceptance and change within our
clients, there is a silent process going on beneath it all in the
shifting and adjusting of hearts and minds. The people and issues
brought into our counselling office forces us to continually revisit
our assumptions and understandings of how God sees us as His children,
what His grace means for those who are struggling in our midst, how He
is at work in our lives when there doesn't appear to be concrete
evidence of His presence. We also ponder how to bring this hope to
light, and how we emotionally assimilate this all into who we are as
therapists. Sometimes it's drastic and deep and other times it's subtle
and simple: both impact greatly. It's powerful to imagine the layers of
impact in the lives of team members and clients across 30 Years of
ministry.
Realization #4…Sometimes it’s just bliss.
When
we experience wonderful moments for ourselves or our clients, we can
sometimes fall through the trap door of thinking that this has to be
too good to be true, and there’s struggle just around the corner
awaiting us that involves pain and hardship. This amazing experience
can appear potentially dangerous to fully accept because in our
humanness we worry about what God will require from us as repayment. We
wonder “what do we need to do more of or give up to ensure God’s
continued favour with us?” There’s a part of us that wants to make a
beautiful gift from God that is simple and good, complicated. And yet,
when we reflect on God’s nature and His promises…“The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green
pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul” (Psalm
23:1-2)…sometimes it’s simply our turn to be restored and experience
the blessing of bliss.
Realization # 5…There can be beauty in boundaries.As a team, we’ve identified our discomfort when we come up against our limits in the face of need around us. Sometimes it's difficult to accept that we can only give what God enables us to provide for those in our lives. We
recognize the struggle within us of seeing ourselves and others through
the lens of grace when we fail to live up to what we feel is expected
of us. And yet, as we reflect on this struggle, we realize the inherent
value that boundaries can have in the lives of our clients as well as
in our role of caring for others here at the Counselling Group. Sometimes
there is benefit in recognizing our own boundaries and trusting in the
space this creates for God to be the ultimate sustainer.
Realization # 6…It’s a process of reminding and remembering.
In
the moment of experiencing a truth about God and life, it can seem like
a deeply meaningful revelation and we often determine to incorporate
‘it’ into our lives and remember its significance for many years to
come.
However, in time, undoubtedly ‘it’ drifts from our minds
and we find ourselves at that place again in which we are being gently
or not so gently re-reminded…ah, this again!
It seems as though God anticipated our process of needing to be reminded, of needing to remember:
“So
I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and
are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right
to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,
because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ
has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my
departure you will always be able to remember these things.” 2 Peter
1:12-15Realization # 7…Gratefulness.
At the
Counselling Group, we experience many of our days in the realm of
feeling “incredibly overwhelmed”. In the midst of this, it seems
essential not to miss an opportunity to savor our moments of
gratefulness. Often it's not through our efforts of working harder to
create this sense of being grateful, but rather, just taking the time
to notice and accept it. As we enter this Thanksgiving weekend where
they may be busyness of houseguests and dinner preparations, or
loneliness and reminders of broken relationships, we pray for a spirit
of gratefulness.
|
