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my journey

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i have been blessed, challenged, encouraged, and stretched in many ways in my new ministry position. i am grateful to serve alongside a supervisor/friend that gets ministry and me! she gently guides, patiently listens (bless her heart), thoughtfully instructs, holds me accountable, and personally prays for and with me!  i am a recipient of her many gifts of leadership and am grateful. then, she took it to the next level with the gift of sabbath. 

i am not surprising anyone in service when i say how emotionally exhausting and spiritually depleting ministry can be.  maybe she saw that on our faces as we sat in an ed staff meeting on the edge of summer with to-do lists a mile long.  my idea of help would have been an effective way to get more done or at least three more paid assistants. 😉  i was so wrong. instead of talking new methods, more people, and longer hours, we were challenged with the ironic response of rest! we were taught from and gifted with a copy of 24/6 written by matthew sleuth, md.  that would have been plenty, but then we were handed an accountability card that required action on our part. for the three months of summer, busy months in kidmin, we were to pick one work day a month for a personal sabbath.  we were instructed to not schedule anything on that day except for time with Jesus.  no meetings, no “work”, no email, and no office time until late in the afternoon.  best. gift. ever.

my days of sabbath have challenged me to slow down, sit, and just be with Jesus instead of constantly “doing” for Him.  i experienced extended quiet andphoto 2 prayer times.  i literally stopped and smelled the flowers (hydrangeas, my favorite).  sermon downloads were listened to and Bible study times were unhurried.  i knew i appreciated this time, but not until my last scheduled sabbath was interrupted by unforeseeable circumstances did i know how greatly these  days ministered to me. my three month challenged will now be extended to year round so that i can truly be the Christ-centered leader i am called to be.

i don’t know where this blog post finds you. if you are in ministry i can only imagine how weary, stretched, or worn you may be. maybe, just maybe, it is time to stop doing and begin stopping. the thing your heart may need most is not more trying, but sweet sabbath rest.

*i would love to hear about your personal sabbath experiences. 



i get it, i have issues.  it is pride and my over zealous competitiveness that seem to be rearing their ugly heads these days.  this was literally brought to my attention the hard way a few weeks ago on the basketball court.  did i mention i was hard-headed, too?

i am thrilled to be a part of the homewood girl trotters church-league basketball team.  i love getting back on the court for fun pick-up games, but somehow the past competitive athlete comes out each week.  a light-hearted game transforms into a regional championship in my mind, even though my out-of-shape body struggles to keep up for the hour of play. the bottom line is these games really don’t matter.  there is no scoreboard, no organized plays, and no trophy or medal.  so why on earth did i see the need to sacrifice my body for a ball going out of bounds?

it was my night to lead the devotion before we played. i shared about how we are to come humbly to Jesus, because our very best is merely filthy rags.  then, the game began. we were not even 15 minutes into play and the ball was going out of bounds.  i am not even really sure if it was knocked out by my team.  there was no time to think, because something just took over.  i went after it. running full speed, i jump out of bounds and threw the ball back in towards my teammates.  now, another lesson i am learning at my age is that my body doesn’t cooperate like it did in my younger years.  yes, i got the ball, but i couldn’t stop my body.  so with no control, i flew head first into aluminum bleachers.  the top of my head hit square into the side of the second row with my neck taking all the shock.  my hands, somehow thinking they could stop my hurling body, were out in front and went under the bleachers and slammed into the supports.  moments later i was flat on my back with a circle of girls starring down at me.  i was mortified and most assuredly out of play.  honestly, i was thankful to be able to stand and walk after this collision.

hours passed and i was at home with an ice pack on the top of my head, my neck, and my fingers.  i sat there asking myself, “why in the world did that ball seem to matter so much?”  then i recall a friend saying to me on the bleachers after my injury, “wow, danielle, that was taking being humble too far.”  i thought to myself,  that had nothing to do with humility and everything to do with P.R.I.D.E.  this girl that opened the game night talking about humility, ended her night because she needed to be seen as some kind of hero.  somehow during “play”, my pride fueled me to sacrifice the whole for something relatively unimportant.  (i did ask later, did i save the ball?  my teammates said yes and they were in the middle of a fast break when they noticed me on the floor and others circled around me.  they stopped and didn’t even score.  my effort was in vain.)

with plenty of additional moments spent icing bruises, knots, and pain; i reflected on other areas in my life and how pride had skewed my priorities.

  • where else had i sacrificed a bigger truth for a insignificant “win.”
  • had i ever gone so far for something that didn’t really matter and been benched for a greater victory?
  • what have i missed in my walk with Jesus and ministry to kids, because i was consumed with the “seen” while sidelining the sacred?

i sadly see traces of the same thing i was guilty of on the basketball court that night in my personal and ministry life.  i also see that time is short, eternal things too important, and ministry hours too precious not to learn from my knock on my hard head.  surely i am not the only one that learns lessons this way, but this one will not be in vain.

“oh yeah, i totally know!” that was my flippant response when anyone warned me of the devout loyalties for football in alabama. even though i am a tennessee native, i have been an auburn fan for 15+ years. i have learned the fight song, greeted other fans with “war eagle, bought my dog an auburn sweater, and instinctively knew i was to have a disdain for a crimson shade of red. i really thought i had a grasp for how deep the rivalry ran. then, i moved to alabama. the following are just a few educational moments about alabama football i have had in the last six months.

– at one of my welcome dinners i was handing out plastic forks to some kids. when a little boy walked up, i knew the pink one in my hand wouldn’t be well received. i said, “let me get you another color fork. is orange okay?” he immediately grabbed the orange fork and said, “i can only eat with orange. i can’t use red. i am for auburn.”

–  my first month on the job i was planning a special event for a sunday in the fall. i sat down with a co-worker and the first thing she said was, “pull up the sec calendar on your computer.” thinking she forgot this event was for a sunday not a saturday, i looked at her puzzled and asked, “you mean the church calendar, right?” “no, the sec calendar” she said without missing a beat. i was the new girl and wanted to be respectful as i reminded her that my event was on sunday, not saturday. the games surely would not interfere with this one time event on a sunday morning. she gently explained to me that while the games were played on saturday, birmingham people faithfully travel to auburn and tuscalossa. for the best attendance, i needed to find the best combination of an away game and an easy win for the home team. who knew that the first calendar i would reference at my new church would be the one for the southeastern conference?

–  after a great meeting and many meaningful questions from some church leaders i was being introduced to, i was asked, “have you made your allegiance yet?” i knew exactly what he meant. i immediately answered with my love for the deeper shade of orange. (not to be confused with the neon orange of tennessee.) half the room smiled, while the other half sighed.

–  my favorite experience just happened to take place during my first wreck in birmingham. a friend and coworker (that happens to be a tuscaloosa native) came to pick my assistant (an auburn grad) and me up as the wrecker arrived to tow my mangled car. she reminded us to get everything out of the car, because i didn’t know when i would see my car again. she was right. so, all three of us started grabbing things out of my car. with our hands full, my assistant and i looked at our friend in hopes she would grab the last thing left in the car — my auburn umbrella. what happened next was so surprising it brought giggles during this unhappy moment. our friend, the one whose purpose was to come and help us after we were stranded by the wreck, looked at both of us with a straight face and said, “i am not picking up that umbrella!” “seriously,?” i said. “you came to help. you were the one to remind us to clear everything out of the car, but because the umbrella is auburn you won’t pick it up?” she didn’t budge. so, my assistant proudly grabbed her alma mater’s umbrella and we have yet to let our friend live down how “helpful” she was the day of my wreck. 🙂

there are many other stories. like the fact that i can’t wear my grandmothers vintage houndstooth coat without hearing “roll tide.” (i may have to start wearing an orange scarf with it.) my niece came home after her second week here this summer asking if we are war eagle or roll tide. (i immediately bought her an auburn t-shirt.) i could go on and on, but i share this to prove i really had no clue how passionate alabama folks are about their football. 377300_10151869545285476_1539172494_nso with the bcs national championship game approaching and after a sad, sad auburn season, i so want to root for those little fighting irish men. i mean their gold helmets are so sparkly and who can forget rudy? as much as i want to root against the tide, i just can’t. there are just too many “bammer” people in my life i love. plus, as a new alabama resident i would love to see the state get another national championship. so while i can’t bring myself to utter a genuine “roll tide”, i will be cheering hard for the sec and counting down the days until the next college football season. (war eagle!)

update: after proofing my blog, my auburn grad assistant has disowned me and says i am NEVER to cheer for them bammers.  oh how i love a good rivalry. 

i discovered that today marks me being six months into my alabama journey.  boy, time sure does fly when you are waist deep in adventure.  so, in honor of my sixth month mark, i thought i would share six of my favorite sights so far.

note: just click the pics to see them larger.  i know you b’ham folks see these delightful sights often, but they have been a blessing to my fresh eyes.  enjoy!

fixeyesthis will come as no surprise to those that know me well, but not only am i a “fixer”, i also tend to fixate on issues much longer than is necessary. i stare down overwhelming circumstances trying to come up with the perfect solution. i also hold broken pieces of life together in my own strength willing them to stay together so they are mended. somehow over time, i bought into the lie that if i focus hard enough i can make it all better.

when i choose to stare at the circumstances, whether positive or negative, the circumstances become my focus! how grateful i am for the reminder God keeps sweetly whispering to be from hebrews 12:2, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” what a relief to know that i don’t have to spend hours fixating on issues desperate to see them solved or restored. i must simply fix my eyes on Jesus.

it is when i look intently at Him i experience:
strength from the strongest
peace from the One who is in control
love perfectly unconditional
direction from the all-knowing Guide
joy undeserved
comfort from my Creator
a hope that doesn’t disappoint

quick fixes can’t deliver; it is where my eyes are fixed that matters most. i know this all in my head. my prayer is with each intentional glance at our Mighty God, it will begin to consume my heart.

 

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