Hello, friends.
Today was stressful. We all have those days - days that we question everything we thought we knew, days that we wonder if we're supposed to be doing what we're doing.
Today was also the day I received perhaps the strangest compliment of my life: "Mary, you're like a peppermint."
You see, if you're stressed, you often have a loop going in your head. You can't stop thinking about the thing that's stressing you out. Often, what it takes to break that loop is a really good distraction - like a peppermint, for example. Peppermints have an overpowering taste and smell. You pop one of those in your mouth and it's hard to think about anything else. Because of that, peppermints can help you calm down.
Another thing that can help you calm down is a person. I went out to lunch with a similarly stressed individual today, and he said afterwards that listening to me talk about my daughter was like a peppermint- a distraction from the situation that helped him think rationally about it. I can relate to that easily. When I was in college, Lindsey and I had a code for when one of us was stressed and needed to talk. We would ask to go for a walk down the bluff. By the time we made it down and back up those two hundred steps, we felt better every time.
I think that's the moral of my day. When you're stressed, find a peppermint. Or a person. Or both. :)
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
What's Best for Me
Hello, friends.
On May 18th, 2013, I graduated from Concordia University - Wisconsin and was certified as a Lay Minister with specializations in Youth Ministry, Parish Teaching, and Missions. Boy, was I bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to take on the world! I just knew that I was going to get a call right away to do youth ministry at a church in the Midwest. I even told God that.
Per the usual, God listened to my plans and laughed and said, "No, I know what's best for you." First he sent me to YMCA summer camps; next, to Lutheran Services in Iowa; next, to UPS; next, to Panera Bread. All were in Iowa, and none of them were what I wanted. I was constantly angry with God, constantly asking why he was making me wait, why he was sending me to these places when I had learned and trained and practiced to be a lay minister.
In the spring of 2014, while I was randomly Googling variations of the phrase "Lutheran church work," I stumbled across the page for the Lutheran Campus Initiative. Let me tell you, I did not want to move to Florida. Florida is hot and sticky and not the Midwest. But per the usual, God listened to my concerns and laughed and said, "No, I know what's best for you." And he was right. I may have been doing campus ministry instead of youth ministry, but I was using and developing my ministry skills. I loved Florida in the end.
The LCI program lasted a year, from July 2014-2015. I returned home to Iowa after my missionary term ended and did my least favorite activity: waiting.
I waited for almost two months, and then, one morning, I woke up to a voicemail from my CUW advisor. He informed me that Redeemer Lutheran Church in Enid, Oklahoma was calling me to be their Director of Christian Education. I'm a naturally excitable person, but that morning was the most exciting one of my life. I jumped up and down and ran all the way through the house looking for my mom; when I didn't find her, I called my dad at work to tell him the news. It turned out that my mom was in the shower, so as soon as she got out, I made her listen to the voicemail. I called friends and celebrated and generally made a nuisance of myself because I was so happy. A call! I had a call! I finally had a call!
The call process took awhile. It wasn't until the day after my birthday that I received my placement papers in the mail. I took the weekend to consider and then put the signed papers in the mail on Monday. Then I packed, and celebrated, and packed, and celebrated, and so on and so forth. My parents helped me move near the end of September.
I'm remembering all of these things today because one year ago, I was commissioned as a lay minister in the LCMS. My entire journey - beginning long before May 2013 - led me to that point. No, let me rephrase that. God led me through my entire journey to that point, and he is still leading me now. I can look back at those jobs in the interim between college and now and see why I had to have them. Could I have been ready for a call in May 2013? Sure, but I was more ready in October 2015. What's more, Redeemer was ready for me in October 2015.
I've learned many things in the past year, but the most important lesson has been this: God knows what he's doing, and he sent me to this place at this time for a reason. He truly does know what's best for me.
On May 18th, 2013, I graduated from Concordia University - Wisconsin and was certified as a Lay Minister with specializations in Youth Ministry, Parish Teaching, and Missions. Boy, was I bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to take on the world! I just knew that I was going to get a call right away to do youth ministry at a church in the Midwest. I even told God that.
Per the usual, God listened to my plans and laughed and said, "No, I know what's best for you." First he sent me to YMCA summer camps; next, to Lutheran Services in Iowa; next, to UPS; next, to Panera Bread. All were in Iowa, and none of them were what I wanted. I was constantly angry with God, constantly asking why he was making me wait, why he was sending me to these places when I had learned and trained and practiced to be a lay minister.
In the spring of 2014, while I was randomly Googling variations of the phrase "Lutheran church work," I stumbled across the page for the Lutheran Campus Initiative. Let me tell you, I did not want to move to Florida. Florida is hot and sticky and not the Midwest. But per the usual, God listened to my concerns and laughed and said, "No, I know what's best for you." And he was right. I may have been doing campus ministry instead of youth ministry, but I was using and developing my ministry skills. I loved Florida in the end.
The LCI program lasted a year, from July 2014-2015. I returned home to Iowa after my missionary term ended and did my least favorite activity: waiting.
I waited for almost two months, and then, one morning, I woke up to a voicemail from my CUW advisor. He informed me that Redeemer Lutheran Church in Enid, Oklahoma was calling me to be their Director of Christian Education. I'm a naturally excitable person, but that morning was the most exciting one of my life. I jumped up and down and ran all the way through the house looking for my mom; when I didn't find her, I called my dad at work to tell him the news. It turned out that my mom was in the shower, so as soon as she got out, I made her listen to the voicemail. I called friends and celebrated and generally made a nuisance of myself because I was so happy. A call! I had a call! I finally had a call!
The call process took awhile. It wasn't until the day after my birthday that I received my placement papers in the mail. I took the weekend to consider and then put the signed papers in the mail on Monday. Then I packed, and celebrated, and packed, and celebrated, and so on and so forth. My parents helped me move near the end of September.
I'm remembering all of these things today because one year ago, I was commissioned as a lay minister in the LCMS. My entire journey - beginning long before May 2013 - led me to that point. No, let me rephrase that. God led me through my entire journey to that point, and he is still leading me now. I can look back at those jobs in the interim between college and now and see why I had to have them. Could I have been ready for a call in May 2013? Sure, but I was more ready in October 2015. What's more, Redeemer was ready for me in October 2015.
I've learned many things in the past year, but the most important lesson has been this: God knows what he's doing, and he sent me to this place at this time for a reason. He truly does know what's best for me.
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