{"id":12143,"date":"2017-03-02T19:56:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-03T03:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/?p=12143"},"modified":"2017-03-02T19:56:47","modified_gmt":"2017-03-03T03:56:47","slug":"i-sure-wish-there-was-another-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/i-sure-wish-there-was-another-way\/","title":{"rendered":"I Sure Wish There Was Another Way"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/isolation.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-12146 \" src=\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/isolation-1024x553.png\" width=\"537\" height=\"290\" \/><\/a>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Shelly Trebesch, author of <em>Isolation:\u00a0 A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, <\/em>states, \u201cOur studies indicate that leaders need 3-4 renewal times over a life time.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a>\u00a0 I started doing the math and felt a little better about the path I am on.\u00a0 When framing \u201clife\u201d in terms of \u201crenewal\u201d and \u201ctransformation\u201d, it sounds therapeutic and inviting.\u00a0 But that is the furthest thing from the truth when you throw in the word \u201cisolation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Two times that isolation and transformation hit my life was in 2005 and 2013.\u00a0 2005 I navigated through a failed transition of a mega-church in Nashville.\u00a0 2013 was what Trebesch called, \u201cIsolation due to sickness or an accident \u2013 here leaders are set aside from ministry because of sickness or some type of injury\u2026\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\">[2]<\/a>\u00a0 June 2<a href=\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/6AFEAAB0-3BA8-4582-969B-12F702C9AB74.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-12144 \" src=\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/6AFEAAB0-3BA8-4582-969B-12F702C9AB74-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"467\" height=\"350\" \/><\/a>3, 2013 I was diagnosed with bi-lateral pulmonary embolisms and pneumonia.\u00a0 This episode in New Jersey (while on vacation with our family) almost took my life and then incapacitated me for almost three months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Trebesch clarifies the operative words of her title:\u00a0 isolation and transformation.\u00a0 She likens \u201cisolation\u201d to the wilderness or desert.\u00a0 \u201cDuring a desert or wilderness time, one is removed from his\/her normal, daily routine or home and isolated from friends and family.\u00a0 A person in a desert time may not feel the presence of God, and it may seem that he\/she is alone in a dark and foreign land.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The word \u201ctransformation\u201d is what we all want, but seldom want to pay the price to get there.\u00a0 I agree with Trebesch that, \u201cSeasons of isolation bring character transformation.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\">[4]<\/a>\u00a0 I sure wish there was another way to accomplish that.<\/p>\n<p>In simplistic terms, Trebesch states that the journey to transformation has the following components:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There are two types of isolation \u2013 voluntary and involuntary<\/li>\n<li>There is a four-fold process that a leader goes through during isolation:\n<ul>\n<li>Stripping<\/li>\n<li>Wrestling with God<\/li>\n<li>Increased Intimacy<\/li>\n<li>Release to Look Toward the Future<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Three Fruitful Results of Isolation Experiences:\n<ul>\n<li>Inward Transformation<\/li>\n<li>Spiritual Transformation<\/li>\n<li>Ministerial Transformation<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Transformation_at_Future_Perfect.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-12145 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/dminlgp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Transformation_at_Future_Perfect-300x145.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"432\" height=\"209\" \/><\/a>Analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I felt like I was reading my life during the two above mentioned moments in my life of 2005 and 2013.\u00a0 Now being years the other side, I know that Trebesch is telling the truth.\u00a0 As she said so aptly, \u201cIt is crucial to note that God never leaves anyone in isolation indefinitely, and when one enters isolation, God\u2019s faithful character provides everything needed to endure the experience.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\">[6]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 I will clarify that while you are in it, it feels like an eternity that you question if it will ever end.<\/p>\n<p>Of special note to me was the reference to leaders leaving their positions.\u00a0 My dissertation on transitioning of the senior leader played heavily into this.\u00a0 \u201cDuring a season of isolation, leaders are no longer the pastors of the church, the president of an organization, or the campus minister.\u00a0 The Lord removes the various identities that ministry places upon a leader and strips the leader to the core of who he\/she has been created to be (the identity that the Lord places in him\/her).\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\">[7]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>At times, one\u2019s identity can come from what we \u201cdo\u201d, not who we \u201care\u201d.\u00a0 A senior leader can have a successful run at leading an organization, but at best all of us are interim.\u00a0 I have had the privilege to work with several retired ministers and heard their heart on the feeling of emptiness.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t bad people, they did not know what to do with the isolation that they felt.<\/p>\n<p>Trebesch states, \u201cAfter the ministry identity is removed, feelings of insecurity, depression, and emotional pain may follow.\u00a0 Leaders in this state question who they are and long to have the external identity again.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn8\" name=\"_ftnref8\">[8]<\/a>\u00a0 That is when something rises up in me and says, <strong>\u201cI Sure Wish There Was Another Way\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> Shelley G. Trebesch, <em>Isolation:\u00a0 A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, <\/em>(Altadena, California:\u00a0 Barnabas Publishers, 1997), 33.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Ibid., 31.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Ibid., 9.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a> Ibid., 15.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Ibid., <em>x.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\">[6]<\/a> Ibid., 49.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\">[7]<\/a> Ibid., 37.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref8\" name=\"_ftn8\">[8]<\/a> Ibid., 37.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Shelly Trebesch, author of Isolation:\u00a0 A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, states, \u201cOur studies indicate that leaders need 3-4 renewal times over a life time.\u201d[1]\u00a0 I started doing the math and felt a little better about the path I am on.\u00a0 When framing \u201clife\u201d in terms of \u201crenewal\u201d and \u201ctransformation\u201d, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[116],"class_list":["post-12143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-trebesch","cohort-lgp6"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}