Do All Tadpoles Grow Into Frogs?
Hello, fellow amphibians!
We went to the beach last week, and the singular thing my fifteen-year-old was looking forward to was…fishing! Before I’d even made coffee the first morning, he asked if we could go fishing. We got the poles ready and started walking the three blocks to the ocean.
Just down the shore, a river emptied into the ocean. “That’s where I want to go, Dad. I don’t have the right kind of rods to fish in the surf, so we want to go into the freshwater river,” he educated his non-fisherman Dad.
We did come home with three fish proudly hanging from our hooks. Never you mind that they were dead, four-inch fish we had found on the shore that he wanted to trick his sisters with.
Our adventure included all the usual: wading thigh-deep to rescue the hooks that had become friends with some undergrowth, sweating in the morning sun, and getting chased off by the hotel guard when we “trespassed.”
My Louis is often a clown, always quite likable, and ever a quick friend. He sometimes gives surprisingly insightful answers to my questions.
Along the shore, spoonbill birds were catching their shrimp and tadpole breakfast. I stood and stared at the tadpoles who moved in and out of their hiding places among the moss-covered rocks along the shallow shore.
“Lou, do all tadpoles grow into frogs or toads?” I inquisited. Maybe they turn into something else. I mean, these were oceanside tadpoles, after all.
“No. Just those that survive,” he quipped.
A wide grin stretched across my face at his cleverness. It caught me off guard.
Because my brain works this way, I instantly thought, “That’s just like leaders. Not every one reaches their potential. Just the ones that…”
I was recently talking with a long-time leader who has lost his confidence in his ability to lead. I think he lost it a long time ago. It feels like our tadpole friends. Why did he lose confidence? He has never had a mentor or coach to walk alongside him. It’s like we’re part of a culture that expects leaders to get it all together on their own. We don’t often lead in ministries that, by design, disciple, develop, and equip the LEADERS. We have to go out on our own and find help if we can get past the apparent stigma of doing so.
I don’t care if you come to Ad Lib for this kind of support, but please, by any means possible, don’t walk alone. You were made to survive, to thrive, and to reach your God-given potential.
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Do All Tadpoles Grow Into Frogs? (Nº 426)
