I am struck today by the need to write it down. It may be because I spoke with our oldest daughter last night concerning her Great Banquet experience, this past week end. The speakers will usually say, write this down.
A good friend in ministry and a person I just met because of ministry recently said to "write this down"--this thing you are now facing...this thing we are going through right now-for it will be of value to someone, sometime.
If you have followed this blog since I began--2006--you know that I write the most random things...consider random topics--topics such as our family, a concept about God, or something else that I cherish.
Right now, in this day, I am writing much about much-but it is not really showing up here on this blog!
Our family is currently facing challenges that have caused my husband and me to step back and ponder our parenting skills and strategies. He and I have deduced that we, like most parents of grown children, are not perfect. While we have made our share of mistakes, we are refusing to take full responsibility for the choices and/or actions of our children--they are all adults--all we can do is try to guide, listen and pray for them to each see God's hand in their circumstance. Note here: the listening is sort of difficult for me--I like to explain, verbally process, and explain some more--I have many words-words that are not always welcome at every conversation!
Our church--well, you can (and many of you probably have) read about it in the newspaper. So I will not bore you with details today, or possibly ever here in this space. What I will say is this: "momma always said there'd be days like this!" Seriously? YES!
A lesson that I learned when I began in women's ministry--over ten years ago--was "not to sacrifice my Spiritual growth on the altar of ministry." It not only is possible, it can be a temptation, to be so consumed with the "ministry" part of life that all else is sacrificed for it.
I'm not talking about the things we sacrifice for ministry like time and money--
No, I'm talking about sacrificing our integrity because of pride and arrogance--and I think there is probably always an element of fear of failure in there, too.
From where I'm sitting today, my conclusion is that the ministry I get to participate in is not mine--it is God's--the psalmist once wrote: "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." (Psalm 127:1)
I have spoken this phrase "this was my church before it became your church" on many recent occasions.
Let me explain: before I accepted the staff position in our church, our family had become members there--we claim it as ours...NOT ours alone, but we were already invested in the ministry this church...This is not my church--it is theirs and it is ours...it is not mine--yet I'm fully invested in the ministry of this church--!
Now it's time for us to rebuild our image, or our town's perception of us. It is important that the things I take the time to read or prepare to have meaning. I do not like to have my time wasted, and I do not intend to waste other's time. And, yet, in the mix of all of it--I wait on the Lord--the church is His to build-and His to sustain...we must then prayerfully consider how we lead, how we pray for each other and how we steward the gifts and talents that He has so richly blessed us with for this time. It is also very important that we live out being a strong witness of God's mercy and grace within our community.
Let's clean up our language...let's clean up our motives...let's clean up our prayer life...let's stop lying to each other...let's stop gossiping about each other...let's start honoring God in our conversations, in our business dealings, and in the way we treat others. I don't know, you might want to write this down..to begin your own to do list!
