Lesson from a hike in the Woods

Today I had a great opportunity to have my morning devotion in Pinnacle Mountain State Park. I finished reading Graham Standish book "Humble Leadership: Being Radically Open to God's Guidance and Grace". (I'll talk about the conclusions of the book in another blog.) Today I was struck by the lessons of leadership in the hike itself.
As I was walking, I was aware that I had to pay attention to three perspectives at the same time. I had to watch the ground and my feet to make sure that I didn't trip and fall. That is also one dimension of leadership, to keep our eyes to the ground to ensure that everyone is safe and well. I also discovered that it is when you are paying attention to the path itself and where your feet are going that you notice the littlest creatures in the forest- like frogs, snakes, turtles, ground squirrel and the lizard in this picture.
At the same time I had to look up see the markers to make sure that I was on the right trail. Of course sometimes the signs were just little marks on the tree and other times they were big easy to spot signs. In leadership, we also have to keep our eyes looking forward to see the signs that God put in front of us to make sure that we are going in the right direction. Sometimes God reveals our direction with clear easy to understand guidance but other times we have to look for markings that are more like the subtle tree markings I discovered on the path. And of course we have to keep our head up to see the beauty and wonder of God's creation. Unless we look up we miss all the beauty and wonder of God at work in the world. This picture is looking toward Pinnacle Mountain with a little bit of the Arkansas River in the foreground. It is a beautiful picture of God's creation and a reminder to me that God did all this without me. Sometimes, we discover Humble Leadership on a hike as well as in a book. Likewise in leadership, we need to look up to see the wonders that God has for us and to realize that God is the creator of all things. Our role, like Adam and Eve, is to care for that creation and for all the wonderful works God is still creating in our world. It was a good morning of looking, walking and learning from the creator.