Last night I was crawling (yes, literally crawling on my hands and knees, insert your compassion here) on the cement floor in our Nursery/Walker/Preschool Classrooms, I had a revelation.
Perhaps a Divine Revelation.
Perhaps one brought on by severe aches and pains in my knees, lower back, calves, head, and every other body part you can think of.
The Divine Revelation; God is a genius.
(I can hear your amazement at my profound and moving revelation, yes through the wonders of technology I can ACTUALLY hear your thoughts....)
You see, if we could actually know what the future looked like, no doubt we would work to change the parts we didn't like and work to maximize the parts we like. Right?
Me, I would have taken out all the parts that had me crawling on cement floors doing calculus (okay, so I was using three tape measures and had to add and subtract....it might as well have been calculus for all the sense it made to me....) and I would have maximized all the parts where I just got to watch God in action.
Preferably from the comfort of a chair.
Indoors.
With plenty of air conditioning and coffee.
(Not that I am high maintenance or anything....)
But because I didn't know that signing a full time contract as the Children's Pastor was going to include me crawling on the floor doing calculus, and trying to tape straight lines, I went ahead and jumped aboard the ship.
I knew it was what God wanted me to do, but had He not been a genius* I probably would have jumped on a boat to Ninevah just like Jonah did.
So, here is my question to you today blogger friends.... what part of your job would you change? What part would you never do again if you had the choice? Come on...give us the good stuff.... you know you want to share!
*In the interest of not totally embarrassing all the profs I had in college, I do realize this is something they tried to teach me. They even used fancy words like omniscience, omnipotence, and other words I quickly let out of my brain.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
What I never knew about being a children's pastor...
Posted by Ashlee Liddell at 11:51 AM
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7 comments:
Great question Ashlee -
The first thing that comes to mind is that I will never again wait until after winter to winterize dorms at camp - granted there were special circumstances that prevented me from doing that - but I will never again, God willing, use a sledge hammer to break through thick ice that is hidden beneath several inches of snow in order to shut off the water that is spewing in every direction out of pipes that have split in numerous areas...that is a moment in ministry that I hope to never be subjected to again...I think that Heidi would agree with me...
two words: poopy diapers.
6:00-6:30 am - the time i'm supposed get up
8:00 - the time i'm "supposed" to be at work
here's what i would like instead:
8:00-8:30 - time to get up
never - go to work
that about sums it up.
Woohoo Terri! I agree. For a person who likes to be busy, I've always been surprisingly grumpy about working life. I'd love to be able to do the work I want, when I want, any way I want....yet without the risk and pressures of being an entrepreneur I should add...
So I guess my ideal job is to be.... a dog. My dog is quite industrious about digging holes in the back yard, but she makes plenty of time for sleeping, playing, and lounging around.
Oh Joe... I think we would all agree with you! Sounds dreadful....
How are the cloth diapers coming? just curious....speaking of poop and all.
That is it Terri...you and Lisa should just live life like the dogs... :)
I'm still in school, but I do lead worship at various locations...I guess you could call this my "job". Here is what I would change:
-I have a class that starts at 6:50 in the morning
-I have an 8 class work load
-Sometimes worship leading can be discouraging in that you put in a bunch of work that no one else seems to understand...I guess that goes for any type of ministry job.
God is faithful, though. He puts us right where He wants us. There are no "coincidences" with Him. In the end, I guess I really wouldn't change anything.
Sorry, o a serious note - Giving the 'sermon/message/talk' at the funeral of a young girl who had been in my children's ministry and faced life with cancer. That was not on the job description and never talked about. Honestly, out of everything I've faced that is something that I never expected to do and if I was told in advance about it, I probably wouldn't have signed on for the job. It was difficult, but it helped me put so many things in perspective about ministry.
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