Fire

The HELM Fellows met this year in Colorado Springs. What a gorgeous place! Our meetings were held in a beautiful old cabin, the perfect setting for this year's conference. I was on the planning committee, and we couldn't have dreamed of a better place to be. I believe that the most raved about parts the entire conference were the fireplaces. There seemed to be fireplaces in just about every room where we wanted to hold a small group. The warmth and comfort of the fire led to such intimate conversations that I believe may not have been possible under any other condition.

Fire! Not a word you want to yell in a crowded room, but it's the one thing that will both destroy and create at same time. Fires are everywhere in our lives, but it isn't until you sit down and really watch the flame that one can witness its magic.

When I think back on my life thus far I think about al the "transformative" moments or the times I have felt the closest with God, and fire is there. When I was in junior high we would always have a bonfire at the start of school. This was to symbolize a new beginning for the year to come. High school church camp was the first time I felt like I connected to God in more than a "Sunday-to-Sunday hello" way. Every night we sat around the campfire after worship and shared stories of our lives.

Now in Colorado Springs, we sat in front of the fire, watching it crackle and glow, and I had some of the most intimate and honest conversations that I have ever been able to have with anyone. Fire is many things and can do colossal things. If it is destroying, people step in and help one another. If it is providing warmth, people gather in front of it. I believe that fire is a doorway; it is a transformer, and a prayer. Fires bring people together.

This HELM conference was no different for me. These discussions in front of those fires re-sparked a fire within me that had dwindled ned to embers. I am so excited to go into the next year with a rekindled fire of passion.