The first thing that pops in my mind when it comes to a team situation that didn't work was my sophomore year of basketball. I had just been brought up to the Varsity team and I was more than excited to play. There was a very large group of upperclassmen who each had a very...unique idea of what leadership was. One of the girls on the team used an extreme scare tactic. You knew not to get in her way and that everyone was scared of what she might do if she did. She had a horrible attitude, got away with everything, yet still was one of the captains. It was a frustrating situation because she wasn't following the athletic code, she had terrible work ethic and was not always the nicest to the rest of the team. Another girl on the team was a control-er. She like things her way and she would be quick to correct you if you messed up. She and I were fighting for the same position so let's just say she was pretty hard on me. It was good because I toughed up but not in an encouraging sort of way. On top of these two colorful characters we had a lot of passive people who stood by and watched many unjust things happen. I was quick to realize that I had to be a quite leader. It was hard because there were many things I wanted to say but I knew I had to also earn respect from the rest of the girls. We will just say that I learned quite a bit.
On the flip side, this past summer I was a part of group of people who had a vision and a passion to start a college ministry in our church. It started as an idea and me and three of my best friends sat down all through the school year brainstorming and planning and watching this vision become a tangible reality. We asked three of our close guys friends to be a part of the a leadership team and they were all very excited. This was the beginning of the most amazing and unexpected summer ever. We had high hopes but we had no clue what God was going to do with what was once just an idea. To sum up what is quite an elaborate and exciting story (I LOVE talking about it!) we consistently had 50+ college-aged students coming together, discussing who Christ is, feeling comfortable to ask honest questions and we literally became a close community of people by the middle of the summer. The connection and respect and leadership we had on our team made this whole summer so much easier. We were willing and wanting to pick up each other's slack when needed and we each took so much ownership that we wanted to see things run smoothly. It was for one, a giant leap of faith and one of the most visual ways I have seen how faithful God truly is, and it was such a learning experience for us to watch something tiny grow into something so much more.
How have you grown from a bad group situation? Have those bad situations helped make your next group or team experience a more positive one?
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