Hello, friends.
"No one person can save the whole world." That's a familiar phrase from my blog, but I want to share with you where I first learned it. It's not where you might think.
When I was younger, I was a big Disney Channel girl. One of my favorite shows was Lizzie McGuire. I vividly remember an episode in which Lizzie and her friend ran a successful food drive at their school. Because of their success, Lizzie became obsessed with volunteering and other noble pursuits - she started forcefully collecting items for the homeless shelter and sorting out trash and recycling at home, and she even became a vegetarian. She yelled at her mother for leaving the water running, her friends for making paper airplanes, and her teacher for not printing a pop quiz double-sided.
Lizzie's parents sat her down to talk about her behavior. They pointed out that she was taking on too much and running herself into the ground - she couldn't save the world by herself. If she really wanted to make a difference, they said, what she needed to do was pick one thing and go for it. Her heart was in the right place, but she needed to calm down and allow herself to rest.
Lizzie tried to do too much. She wanted to support the food pantry and homeless shelter. She wanted to recycle more and help animals and save the earth's resources. None of those things were bad, but she was only one person, and she couldn't do all of those things at once.
When I was in college, boy, did I make a Lizzie mistake. I tried to be a key leader in Students for Life, Puppet Ministry, and Small Groups all at once while still participating in other activities and taking a full course load. Everything suffered for lack of time and energy until I realized that I had tried to do too much. All of the things I was doing were good things, but I was only one person, and I just couldn't do all of them at once. I had to give some of them up in order to give my best effort.
It's easy to fall into that trap. We can become "yes-people," always agreeing to do anything that sounds good. That is a mistake. It's better to do one or two things, and do them very well, than to do five or six things poorly. It doesn't matter if all five or six things are good and important if you can't do them well.
Right now, in my life, I've picked my things. I'm a foster mother. I adopted a dog from a rescue. I donate money to my friends who are missionaries overseas. And when an important cause comes up, such as the recent tragedy in Manchester, I give a one-time donation. I can't afford to give my money to every charity, although there are many charities that I believe in. If I did give my money and my time and my energy to every worthy cause, I'd be broke and exhausted and unable to help any new causes in the future. I have to pick and choose. That's the choice that I have, and it's a good one. By picking my things, I'm able to help more people in the long run.
I can't save the whole world. But I can make a difference, one person and one cause at a time. And so can you.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Monday, May 22, 2017
Church Workers Are People Too
Hello, friends.
My heart hurts today. I'm not going to share all of the details, because they're not mine to tell, but here's the gist: a pastor I know was ousted by his congregation.
On behalf of church workers everywhere, please remember that church workers are people too. We are sinners and saints, just like you. We aren't perfect - and God knew that when He called us to our churches. He called us there anyway. So if you have an issue with a church worker, keep these three things in mind:
1) Go talk to them. That sounds obvious, but in a conflict, our first reaction is often to talk about it to someone else. I'm guilty of that. Go talk to the church worker and be willing to work things out. Don't charge into their office and yell at them until they agree with you. Go into the conversation with an open mind and the desire to find a solution that works for both of you.
2) Know that church workers cannot read minds. Something that seems obvious to you might not be obvious to them. And then there's the other side of the coin - something that seems obvious to them might not be obvious to you. Church workers generally have reasons for the things they do. If you're concerned about something, ask about their reasoning before you judge.
3) Have compassion. When the aforementioned congregation ousted their pastor, they also ousted that pastor's wife and children from their home and school. Before the situation got to this point, the congregation had reduced the pastor's salary so much that the family was living on food stamps. It baffles me that a church could have so little compassion for those kids, if nothing else.
Please, please, please. Don't let this happen anywhere else. Stand up for your church workers, imperfect as they may be. They are people too, and they deserve your kindness and respect.
(And if you know of a vacant congregation, let me know.)
My heart hurts today. I'm not going to share all of the details, because they're not mine to tell, but here's the gist: a pastor I know was ousted by his congregation.
On behalf of church workers everywhere, please remember that church workers are people too. We are sinners and saints, just like you. We aren't perfect - and God knew that when He called us to our churches. He called us there anyway. So if you have an issue with a church worker, keep these three things in mind:
1) Go talk to them. That sounds obvious, but in a conflict, our first reaction is often to talk about it to someone else. I'm guilty of that. Go talk to the church worker and be willing to work things out. Don't charge into their office and yell at them until they agree with you. Go into the conversation with an open mind and the desire to find a solution that works for both of you.
2) Know that church workers cannot read minds. Something that seems obvious to you might not be obvious to them. And then there's the other side of the coin - something that seems obvious to them might not be obvious to you. Church workers generally have reasons for the things they do. If you're concerned about something, ask about their reasoning before you judge.
3) Have compassion. When the aforementioned congregation ousted their pastor, they also ousted that pastor's wife and children from their home and school. Before the situation got to this point, the congregation had reduced the pastor's salary so much that the family was living on food stamps. It baffles me that a church could have so little compassion for those kids, if nothing else.
Please, please, please. Don't let this happen anywhere else. Stand up for your church workers, imperfect as they may be. They are people too, and they deserve your kindness and respect.
(And if you know of a vacant congregation, let me know.)
Thursday, May 4, 2017
Joy in Judo
Hello, friends! My daughter and I had Judo class tonight. It was delightful. Let me tell you a few reasons why.
1) Self-defense, man. It's so important for me and my daughter to learn how to defend ourselves.
2) Judo teaches discipline and patience - something that me and my daughter both struggle with.
3) There are people my daughter's age and people my age in the class. You might know that I've struggled to make friends in Enid. Tonight I spent maybe ten minutes talking to an adult who was not a member of my church. That's so rare; I value the friendships I'm building so much!
4) I think it's wonderful that my daughter and I are able to do this together. It allows us to encourage each other. She sees that I'm not automatically good at this, that I fail (often), and that it's okay to fail. She sees me practicing and learning, and it inspires her to do the same.
5) I seriously love learning new skills, and this is completely new.
That about sums it up, I think. I'm really hoping that taking this class and sticking with it (at least for a while) will give my daughter confidence. And I'm not gonna lie, I could use some confidence too. :)
1) Self-defense, man. It's so important for me and my daughter to learn how to defend ourselves.
2) Judo teaches discipline and patience - something that me and my daughter both struggle with.
3) There are people my daughter's age and people my age in the class. You might know that I've struggled to make friends in Enid. Tonight I spent maybe ten minutes talking to an adult who was not a member of my church. That's so rare; I value the friendships I'm building so much!
4) I think it's wonderful that my daughter and I are able to do this together. It allows us to encourage each other. She sees that I'm not automatically good at this, that I fail (often), and that it's okay to fail. She sees me practicing and learning, and it inspires her to do the same.
5) I seriously love learning new skills, and this is completely new.
That about sums it up, I think. I'm really hoping that taking this class and sticking with it (at least for a while) will give my daughter confidence. And I'm not gonna lie, I could use some confidence too. :)
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