Clean Whiteboard

I love whiteboards.  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t love whiteboards like I love my children, love my wife, or love God.  But still, I love whiteboards.  There’s something about a whiteboard that communicates, “Let’s collaborate. Let’s imagine.  Let’s plan.”  Some of the people at Life Bridge are convinced that my last name, Kersker, is just the German word for whiteboard.  (Actually, the German word for whiteboard is “Weißwandtafel.”  I looked it up.)

Last year, when visiting my mother-in-law in a hospital in Cincinnati, I noticed their whiteboard was different.  It had glass in front of it.  This glass-coated whiteboard was so easy to write on and to erase that I excitedly shared the technology with friends here when we got home.  They made me a home-made glass-covered whiteboard.  It’s so cool.

Why am I going on about whiteboards today?  Well, maybe because that’s what I’m seeing right now.  I’ve been reading so many books, going to classes and writing papers for school.  I’ve been reviewing old documents, combing through finances, and listening to old recordings from Life Bridge.  Looking back over the past twelve+ years at Life Bridge, it feels a little bit like looking at a whiteboard that’s been written upon and erased over and over again.  There are leftover marks everywhere and it can make the picture unclear.  Where is God taking us?

Today, though, feels more like the whiteboard that was made with a glass coating.  It’s been written on over and over again, but it cleans up really nicely.  It is a blank slate again.  It is a new beginning.  We are able to start fresh again.

All the time I’ve been spending studying God’s Word, best practices, and our history has helped me understand a clearer picture of where God wants us to go from here.  God is starting to write on our whiteboard and give us a vision that will allow us to move forward as His Body, healthy and growing and full of love.

I’m writing Blueprints articles again to begin painting that picture for us, and the articles will be coming out at least every week now.  With each article, you may notice parts that look familiar – like old smudges on an old whiteboard.  I would ask you to take the time, however, to imagine life differently.  Imagine this picture being drawn on a new, glass-covered whiteboard.  Imagine this starting with a clean slate.  When we look at it this way, we will begin to see how He wants us to empower one more, to empower one more, to walk together with God.

See you at the whiteboard!