Recalibrating by the Water

Recalibrating by the Water

Some weeks leadership feels less like leading and more like standing in the middle of a storm trying to steady everyone else while quietly calming the waves inside yourself.

This week has been a whirlwind of zigs and zags… emotions flying around campus… hard conversations… growing pains… moments where hearts are tender and defenses are high.

So I did the thing that helps me center and recalibrate my mind.

I went to the water.

There’s something about slowing down long enough to hear creation breathe that reminds me leadership was never about the title. It’s about stewardship. It’s about presence. It’s about learning how to sit in messy places without abandoning people in the process.

As I stood there looking at the river, I thought about how life always comes full circle.

Do you remember being young and full of fire?

Thinking adults just didn’t care…

didn’t understand…

didn’t listen…

And now here we are.

We became the adults.

Maybe sometimes we repeat what was said to us because it’s all we knew.

Or maybe we are trying with everything in us to become just a little bit better than what we experienced.

Either way, leadership has a way of exposing what still needs healing inside of us.

And if we’re honest, the hardest part isn’t managing people.

It’s managing ourselves with humility, grace, patience, and wisdom while everyone around us is carrying emotions, trauma, fear, expectations, and pain.

But I thank God for the moments He lets me see through His eyes.

Because when you pull back far enough, you stop seeing “problem people” and start seeing hurting people.

You start recognizing the invisible weight people carry.

You begin to understand that sometimes the resistance, the frustration, the anger, or the shutdown is really fear underneath it all.

That perspective changes everything.

It reminds me that leadership is not about control.

It’s about helping organize the mess together so no one gets hurt or left behind.

Standing by the water today also reminded me of the disciples fishing all night and catching nothing. Exhausted. Frustrated. Probably questioning themselves.

Then Jesus told them:

“Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” — John 21:6

What moves me about that scripture is this:

They were experienced fishermen.

They already knew the water.

They had already tried.

But sometimes the breakthrough isn’t about trying harder.

Sometimes it’s about listening differently.

Sometimes God asks us to pause…

recalibrate…

and trust His direction even when we’re tired.

Leadership feels a lot like fishing sometimes.

You won’t always see immediate results.

You won’t always understand the currents.

And some days it feels like you’re casting nets into empty water.

But faithfulness matters.

Patience matters.

Presence matters.

And maybe the miracle isn’t just in what we catch…

maybe it’s in who we become while waiting on the shore for God to guide the next cast.

So today I breathe.

I pray.

I release what I cannot control.

And I prepare to cast the net again.

Much love.

Much peace.

Many blessings.