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Preparations found in stress

You are here: Home / Stories / Preparations found in stress

December 30, 2010 //  by michael.shead//  Leave a Comment

We’ve got so much to do!

Click image for attribution.

We are sorting, selling, packing and trying to get everything in order for our move to Guatemala. After a Skype chat with some of the missionary leaders we’re going to be working with, we realized there are several things we need to get done that we just hadn’t got to yet. Yikes!

We worked on visa paperwork, stressed a little, then prayed and reminded each other that we’ll get things done somehow. Whew!

I was reminded of this note that I read from Ben Armet’s blog when he quoted Malcolm Gladwell’s take on stress and how it prepares people to handle situations if they learn from it:

“I talked for a long time when I was doing Blink with a fascinating guy named Gavin DeBecker, who runs one of the top personal security agencies in Los Angeles. Basically, if you’re a movie star or a billionaire or the Sultan of Brunei, he provides you with your bodyguard.

“DeBecker talked a lot about how rigorously he trains his people. If the quality of our coordination and instinctive reactions breaks down when our heart rate gets above 145, he wants to expose his people to stressful situations over and over and over again until they can face them at 130, 110 or 90. So he fires bullets at people, and does these utterly terrifying exercises involving angry pit bulls.

“The first and second and third and fourth time you run through one of DeBecker’s training sessions, you basically lose control of your bowels and take off like a scalded cat. By the fifth time, essential bodily functions start to return. By the 10th time, you can function as a normal human being.”

When you act on your dreams, of course you’ll be scared to death. But if you keep trying, eventually, you’ll be able to function as a normal human being.

More importantly than Gladwell or Armet’s viewpoint of stress, I’m reminded of how God said that we can trust in Him with all our hearts. He said that when we do that and don’t lean on just what we understand that He will direct our paths.

Lord, we trust you and know that there are going to be much more intense times ahead. Teach us through these little things how to trust You in the “big” times.

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Michael & Chrisi Shead

US Forwarding Address:
2468 Cavalry Rd.
Garland, KS 66741

michael@reachguatemala.org

Skype: mpshead

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