pray, pray, pray, build, pray.

Every time I go back to James River, I ask God to bring me to this favorite pastor of mine, Tim Keene, and He always does. I spend a few minutes sitting at his feet, soaking in the wisdom, and then days thinking about what he said.

This time there was a lot. So much wisdom.

But there was this one moment to rival the rest. It wasn't advice, or guidance, actually. Just an off the cuff comment.

First, you have to know that Tim is a lion of the faith. He's nearing his 80s, has the craziest story, came from hardship, and let God use him to build the most amazing legacy. He is like a leaky faucet of wisdom--you can turn it on and it comes out full strength, but even when he's off, there's a steady stream of wisdom and grace and truth that just keeps coming and coming. If you just stand next to the man for like 5 minutes, you will learn something. But don't just listen, watch. You've gotta watch. And feel. See, the Spirit is so heavy on him that you'll get like a contact high just standing next to him. So you just have to stand there, and feel the Spirit rolling off of him. His blessing is so great that you will be blessed by being around him.

And so I'm sitting there with him during a break in the conference schedule, and he's answering a question I asked him about a particularly thorny issue facing my husband and I in our church, and he's, you know, pouring out wisdom. Telling story after story, and sharing truth, and then he stops.

This is a man who a few years back, well into his 70s, told me that he wakes up every day, and asks the Lord, "What should I do with my life, Lord?"

He stops, and he kinda stares off for a second, and almost wistfully he says that he wishes that he could do some things differently, that he could handle some things differently in his life of faith.

Maybe that seems unremarkable to you. To me, it was shattering. See, he had been in the middle of telling me that the way to handle strife in ministry is to pray relentlessly, to build up our leaders, to cease with gossip, and to pray again. To never stop praying. Never stop showing kindness and encouragement. Never stop waiting for the Lord to move.

There was just something so powerful about seeing him glance wistfully into his past, remember the times that he hadn't done that, and then double his efforts to me -- pray, pray, pray, build, pray.

Something so powerful about seeing this man whom I admire so greatly give the advice of his lifetime. This man who is I believe closer to God than anyone I've ever met, telling me what he would have done.

That's powerful, y'all. These words that I am writing cannot touch the power of those he spoke.

I am so so so grateful for this man's words, and the God who gave them. And most of all, so grateful that I, having been given these words, get to live differently.