Deadliest Catch, interpreting work.

It is the first day for the guys to enter into the working world. "The world of men." Broken men, fallen men, strong men, fearful men, real men, and the men you would find if you walk out your door, and step into any office, construction site throughout this country.

Many people for the past few months have offered jobs with good men, christian community, and fellowship at work, but Cory and I have turned them down.

It seems that to become a man. We must be tested. We must feel the weight of the world around us, the brokeness, pain, and truth of the world we live in. It seems for most of us, we never step into that world, and for many it is because we are never given the opportunity. Whether it be sheltering, the hands of a nurturing society, or our culture of success, and happy smiles, keeping us away.

For most, we do not know it is down, and stepping into the pain, the hurt, especially our own (fears and struggle), that Jesus takes us to find ourselves.

After Adam falls, God curses work for man. He does not curse work for a woman. It is specific to the gender of the male. It is not hard to see the result. The pain, toil, and strife that we must enter. But I cannot believe that the end result was just pain, and blood. It would only seem that in this curse, and in this work, something of who we are, and what we need from God, and from others comes. And was his reason for the curse, to bring us to Him.

But we are an entitled generation, and rarely are we given opportunities to face these testings. We believe the end goal is college, lots of money, and a way to stay away from this sweat and toil. But if we are honest, it is in that place we must go, and where these brave young souls are entering into for the next 10 weeks, to discover themselves, and their God, and initiation into who they are as men.

These young men bravely stepped into their first day of work, and around men, and brokeness, and hardship. The stories have already begun as they stepped back into the cabin this evening.

We believe for this time to be productive, they need interpretation of what is happening. Without people there to speak of what they are encountering, and not knowing what God is doing, it can often feel unkind. And unfruitful.

We have been watching the series Deadliest Catch during the evening. We want to show the guys, the world of men, and help them see, and be able to interpet what is happening with the men around them. The show is a world of men, in a physically demanding job. The deadliest job in the world.

We have been closely watching the "greenhorns" on the ships, and how they men treat them, initiate, play pranks, and push them. It seems to be a close image and picture of where they are. Although we are stopping, and helping to interpret what is happening, they are already picking up, and discerning themselves, what is happening.

I am so proud of these young men, and I cannot wait to hear the stories of what is to come, and what God will do with them at work. I have no doubt there will be tears, and hardship, and pain for them, but it is my believe God will initiate them in this process, and bring them to a new place.