All in a day's work....

In today's economy it helps to be useful in more ways than one within an office. As things began to take a downward fall, our company decided to take action to save ourselves some money in any way we could before we faced trouble. One of the ways we decided to cut back was to do our own cleaning.

No big deal.

I can take my own trash out.

That was before we bought these doors.



Guess who gets to clean the glass?

Me.

Let's have a little math lesson here, shall we? That's eight panes per door. There are three doors. There are also 6 panes surrounding the front door.

That's right. There are 60 panes all total that I have to clean at least twice a week because people totally ignore the handles and think it's a good idea to put their hands on the glass.

Sure it is.

So, it's still no big deal. I have a pretty easy job. I answer the phone for 6 offices, I keep up with 70+ people, I take out my own trash, sweep the foyer and the front entrance, print Fed Ex labels, I occasionally clean my desk and I do windows.

This morning I added a couple of new skills to my resume. I should have only added one more job, but things turned out a little differently than I had planned. But I digress.

Back to the weed killing.

May I just say that I am probably the least qualified person in this office for this job. I have never made it a secret to anyone that the most time I like to spend outside is walking to my car from the inside of the mall. I do make exceptions for the beach.



Oh RoundUp you lie. It SO takes more than 15-20 pumps to get this thing going. A more accurate description would be "takes 15-20 minutes." Jillian Michaels would be proud of the workout my arms got this morning.

As I walked around on my first weed killing adventure out front, I realized something. I am completely unsure of what's a weed and what is supposed to be there.

While I was on this task, I had no idea I would soon develop another skill. Investigator.

As I was killing weeds and who knows what else, two ladies had entered our building, created a diversion and had stolen a realtor's wallet.

Chaos then followed and created a blur of events that a friend compared to something akin to DIY, Jerry Springer, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Cops all rolled into one. It's how we roll here.

The Realtor, C, ran out of the building asking which way they went. This brought untold delight because I've always wanted to say "They went that way!"

I told C to call the cops and had our maintenance guy go find the women, who had gone to the office next door.

Another young lady had witnessed the hand off of the wallet and came down to talk to me and tell me who had it. I walked next door with her for her to point the lady out. In the approximate 25-30 people in that office, all but the girl I was with looked as if they could stab or shoot me at any minute.

When I exited the building, my boss was standing there and I have never felt like hugging anyone more in my life. I gave him the info I had obtained and the description of the lady in possession of the wallet and got out of there....fast! Um, yeah, Dog the Bounty Hunter would be so jealous of my fearless skills.

In the end, the three wallet thieves were arrested and their vehicle impounded. It turns out these two women had already been involved in another crime and the police were seeking information about them.

What does the vice president of our company say about my mad, growing list of skills?

Indispensable.

That's what she calls me now.

That's why I wear the headset.

She hit her with a backstabber.....

I am a huge encourager of reading. It's something I love to do and it just makes me so happy that Madyson enjoys it as well. I was in the kitchen Friday night and she asked if she could read to me. Since I haven't had time to catch up on my Barbie novels, I told her to go ahead. Why not kill two birds at once? I'm so far behind I don't even know if Barbie and Ken are still an item?

This actually turned out to be a good decision. It created a situation that has given me something to chuckle about all weekend.

There was a line in the book that one Stacie called a friend a backstabber. Wow? Really? In a Barbie book? That's a deep well.

Well, because that isn't a word we throw around regularly at my house, she didn't know what it was. In the middle of my explanation, mom made a comment about what we were talking about.

Madyson said, "Someone hit her in the back with a backstabber."

All I could picture was someone picking that doll up and hitting the other one in the back with it. I love how 6 year old minds work. I'm also loving that she has never had to know what that was until Friday night. Thanks for opening that world up for her Barbie.

Dealing With Conflict

Conflict. It's not something that is enjoyable, pleasurable or even easy to deal with. It is, however, a reality. Especially if you are a leader in a church. I like to share my experiences as a music director. I try to focus on the good, but the fact is, sometimes there is bad.

Yesterday I stumbled across an article by J. Daniel Smith I received in a music mailing from Brentwood Benson last year. I think he really hit the nail on the head. If you are a leader in your church or in a type of position that deals with conflict regularly, this is a great outline to go by when you are faced with the situations.

Here is the article he wrote:

I heard a saying recently that I really liked. It went something like this..."Those with experience should never be at the mercy of those with an opinion." Works for me!...now that I have all this experience. However, one thing these years have taught me is that as long as I'm in music ministry I will continue to be at the mercy of those with an opinion. It just goes with the territory. Dealing with conflict is part of that territory as well. Undoubtedly music is the easy part of our job....it's the "people stuff" that'll get you down. Having dealt with conflict in church music ministry on all kinds of levels, I've learned a thing or two and if I'll remind myself of them, they are a tremendous help. may I share them with you?

1. When dealing with conflict, go to the Word. Let me just tell you now that you can't survive in church work without deriving your strength from your personal devotion time. It's in the "secret place" that you'll find your wisdom, strength, emotional stability and everything else you need to make it.

2. Don't chat about the conflict with others....take it to the Lord. It goes against our human need to keep our mouth shut. We so want to be affirmed in our position and we seek those who will give us that affirmation simply because it makes us feel better. But you'll do WAY more damage by talking than if you simply make it a matter of prayer.

3. When facing a conflict, let your emotions settle before reacting or making decisions. Remember that the problem may not actually BE as it appears to you initially. Reacting before the appropriate wait time can be devastating. Get your "cool" back before you do anything.

4. Allow for the fact that you may not have all the information. You may only be dealing with partial truth and need enough time to be sure you've gathered all the necessary information before reacting or making decisions regarding the matter.

5. Here's something I wish I had learned earlier...it would have saved a lot of heartbreak. "Always remember that there is more than one right way to do it!" This is particularly true in creative work. Allowing for someone else's "right way" can be most beneficial...if you can be open enough to do it.

6. Measure the immediate problem in light of long range goals. In doing so, try to take a step back and look at the big picture. If this current issue is a temporary thing, then be sure to give it the appropriate intensity. Don't all it to become a bigger deal than it needs to be.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when facing a conflict:
1. A year or two from now, how would I like to be remembered in how I handled this situation?
2. When the dust blows over, what is going to be left that is still important to me? And how does that affect the way I'll respond to this?
3. How would I handle this if I knew quitting was not an option?
4. What do I need to change? I'm sure I can already tell you what I think YOU should change, but what adjustments could I realistically make that would help this situation or at least calm it down a little?

When the time has come to actually resolve the matter, here's what I suggest you do:

1. Alert the Senior Pastor (or your authority). He/she needs to know your side of the issue and how you intend to handle it. Don't let them hear of this issue from another party. They need to hear it from you.
2. Call upon the Lord to give you wisdom and strength to do the right thing...not necessarily the convenient or comfortable thing.
3. Only deal with the people with whom the problem exists. Don't drag others into it unnecessarily and therewith over-complicate the whole thing.
4. Be sure you're dealing with the truth.
5. Believe in the bedrock integrity of people and appeal to their desire to do right. This requires assuming the best in them whether you feel like it or not! If this matter has become heated, then they may need help getting out of a corner.
Sometimes you have to create the environment to help someone not be a jerk. Your approach with them can make all the difference. This is particularly true if they feel like you believe in something positive in them.
6. When you meet with them, start by just asking questions and do the talking. Your best posture will be that you are simply trying to understand them. Questions like "can you help me understand how we got to this point?" or..."What are you h

oping to see happen here?" You can best break the ice by starting the meeting with questions and let it develop from there.
7. Make it a goal to have a redemptive solution. Find your commonality with the person and appeal to that. If nothing else, you are at least brothers/sisters in Christ. Realize that your methods and preferences may not be the same, but the ultimate goal is something you DO share in common....and that is the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

A list of randomness to let you know I'm alive.

Yes, I'm alive. No, I haven't forgotten that I have a blog I'm supposed to be updating. Because there is absolutely NO possible way for me to compose anything coherent out of my update since last Friday, I think I'll just make a list. Ok? Good.

1. VBS was awesome. Parent's night ended well and for the first time almost every child showed back up on Friday night and did their thing for the parents.

2. I woke up on Saturday morning feeling as though a barrel of monkeys had spilled out into my bedroom, jumped up and down on the bed all night, whacked me over the head with said barrel and then crawled back in. Barrels of monkeys....not so much fun after all.

3. I spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the most splitting headache I've ever had. I managed to finally finish cleaning out the pool....because I love making a one day project last two weeks. It's how I roll. The good news though......No more green. Yay!

4. Has anyone noticed that the gardenias are blooming. Gardenias send me into all kinds of nostalgia. I remember as a child loving to smell them. My grandmother's front yard was lined with them along the road. My mom would ride by with the windows down so we could smell them. One night last week I walked in the back door and my mom had cut some and put them in the kitchen.......ahh. Did I mention I LOVE that smell.

5. While I was cleaning the pool, Madyson sat on the edge and "kept me company" because she was afraid I'd be lonely and bored without her. She told me that she had decided she was going to be my daughter. It totally made perfect sense to her because she said "I look exactly like you and I should just be your daughter." She said she would just call her mom "stepmother." Um, yeah, she has a small obsession with Cinderella. After pondering this for a few minutes, she then informed me it would be much too hard to say stepmother so she was just going to have to call us both mom.

Can't wait for her to go to school and tell everyone she has two moms. :)

6. I have started watching The Thorn Birds upon the recommendation of a friend. She was right! It's such a good movie. Lesson learned: Don't fall in love with a priest. HA!

7. On a more serious note, I have a prayer request. Please remember a dear friend of mine. She was dating a man a little while back and all of a sudden he pulled back and became very withdrawn and ended things. He had a feeling something was wrong. Soon after he was diagnosed with cancer. My friend has still remained close with him and he passed away on Saturday. Today, she will attend his funeral. I am so burdened for her. Even though he thought he was sparing her from the pain of it all, she still mourns him. What a sad day. Please pray that she can find peace and comfort.

VBS - Day 5

Today's post will be rather short. I'm also going to take a couple of days to rest after this one and gather my thoughts.

I'm pooped. (Can I say that? What am I asking you for? This is MY blog. Of course I can say poop and any of variation of it.)

And you can also tell from that moment of useless rambling that I'm also delirious. I haven't been this tired since.....well, never mind. That's neither here nor there and quite frankly none of your business. ;) HA

Anyway, last night was night 4 of VBS and our final night of classes. Tonight is parent's night. The kids will have a chance to share with the parents some of what they've learned.

As the students left our classroom last night, I felt very sad. It seemed like each of them had only half as much time last night as the nights before. Time flew.

In case you don't know already....I've loved every second of VBS this year.

Of course, I love all the kids but there is always a few that stand out. On the very first night a little girl from the 3 and 4 year old class walked up to my friend, M, tugged on her shirt and asked in the loudest, most southern little voice you've ever heard, "Are y'all gonna feed us?!?!"

I was hooked. Each night she came into music and would stand directly in front of me. She would just sing at the top of her lungs and her little eyes just sparkled as she looked up at me. If I ever have a little girl, I wouldn't mind her looking like little N. Such a sweetie. (N is the one with the pink bow and short brown hair.)

The little girl standing beside N was another favorite of mine. I said on the first night that she looks like she should be my child. Look at those curls! She was so cute and always did a great job in music.

As that class was leaving last night, they all ran up and hugged me. I nearly burst into tears. How sweet. Not sweet enough that I would want to teach that class though! HA! Those teachers have my respect. They had a tough job!

Once again, the youth along with 5th and 6th grade took the spirit stick. They won it 3 out of 4 nights. I just want to say that they were such an AWESOME group to work with this year. I also would like to say that I may never regain my hearing from all of their screaming and cheering and loud singing. They really had a lot of energy!

Finally, I ask that you be in prayer for the parents tonight as they attend our special program. I pray that something we say or share with them would lead them to realize their need for Christ in their lives if they are living without Him.

VBS - Day 4

I must admit that complete and total exhaustion is setting in. Getting into bed after 11 every night is just not my thing. I'm usually in bed by 9:30. That's the time we've been leaving every night.

I'm continually blessed by our students this year though. I have to talk about our youth. What a group!

Each night during VBS we take up an offering. That offering goes to the Alabama Children's Home. Last night we noticed a $100 bill in the boys offering. After some investigating we discovered that one of the youth put it in there. A young man had decided he was going to put that in the offering and on the same day his truck motor blew up. How easy it would have been for him to keep that. He honestly needs that money to fix his truck, but selflessly he gave. WOW! All night long I walked around in a stunned state and each time I looked at that young man I just was so humbled and floored by the love he showed. We could all learn a lesson from him.

Another young lady I must mention is H. H surrendered her life to Christ just a few months ago and my heart has been blessed by her. She was there to help with decorating for VBS, she has volunteered with the puppets during VBS and her energy has been outstanding. I love seeing a young Christian who is excited about what God has done in his/her life. She has blessed my heart each night.

The older kids also took the spirit stick back last night. They came in pumped up and quite frankly I'm afraid they may have busted my ear drum. They were on last night. It's hard to let the exhaustion overtake you when you see kids who are that excited to be in church and excited about what God is doing. I love it!

Here is a pic of Tuesday night's champs....1st & 2nd grade.




I'm kind of sad that tonight is the last night of classes. Tomorrow night will be parent's night so we won't be spending time with each class like we do the rest of the week. I'm excited for everyone to see the classes do their songs.

Finally, I just want to remind everyone of today's prayer. Be in prayer for the Missionaries. They are helping us with crafts and outdoor games. Since it is raining here...again....today we need to pray for them. I know it must be easier to come up with outdoor games than indoor activities. We aren't the only church these two help and they still have others to help after this week. I pray they find rest and renewed strength.

I don't have a pic of our missionaries, but I'll get one tonight. I have a funny story to share about them. Our missionaries are usually from a neighboring town, which also happens to be my hometown, so I usually know them even if no one else does. Last night I asked, J if he was related to some other kids I remembered from school. It turns out he was the younger brother of those guys. Well, C said she remembered me from school. It is no secret that I look for any opportunity to pick at my former self. While in high school, I was member of a strict church that even put restrictions on what you wore, which meant I wore skirts. All. The. Time. The joke is usually "before I went wild" or "before I was lost" when the truth is I am WAY closer to God now than I was then even though I had that "appearance". (But that's another post for another day.)

Turns out, C remembered me in this way. "Hey, weren't you the girl that wore long skirts and had really long hair?"

Why yes, yes I was. But now I just "look" like I went wild. That girl would have never approved of this girl.....but I know God does and that's all that matters.


Here is tonight's song.

VBS - Day 3

UPDATED TO ADD TONIGHT'S SONG....


Wow! Last night was great! We broke the 100 mark with student attendance. They also showed more enthusiasm and excitement last night. I love seeing kids get excited for Jesus and learning that you can have fun while serving Christ.


I have a few pictures from last night to share.


These are some of the kids from 3rd & 4th grade. They were a fun group last night to work with. We have to get them a little more excited if they want to win that spirit stick though!

These are the 3 & 4 year olds and the Kindergarten class during music. They had so much fun! They were a close second for the spirit stick last night!

The little girl in the top pic, on the far left, wearing the blue shirt is H. She is the daughter of the Assistant Music Director. Her mom and I have laughed so much until I hurt. We've had a blast with these kids!

Ahh, yes. The fearless leaders of the 5th and 6th grad students this year. (And two of the best friends I could ever ask for.) I can't tell you how much fun it has been to see T and K working with this group. They usually teach 1st & 2nd but somehow managed to talk M into a trade. I told them they would have a blast with that age group and they have! I taught 5th & 6th for two years and if I started teaching again tonight, I would want that age group again.

These are some of the youth and some of the 5th and 6th grade students in music together. Last year the youth started doing music with 5th and 6th grade. This has worked out so well. 5th and 6th grade students feel kind of awkward and self conscious and when they see the youth group enjoying themselves and having a good time, they really get into things. The youth minister, G, (and I'm not just using an initial on that one....that's what we really call him...lol) gets them all pumped up and I really appreciate the youth spending time with the younger students. They've been a HUGE help!

The youth and 5th & 6th grade class were the winners of the spirit stick on Monday night. However, they lost it to the 1st & 2nd class last night. I canNOT believe I do not have a pic of that class. How did I miss them? hmm.... Anyway, I have to tell you that our song was on worshipping and they totally GOT IT! They worshipped and just did my heart a world of good. They were awesome! Without a doubt they earned that stick last night. However, the big kids were not such great losers. They plan on taking it back tonight!

We'll see......

Let's not forget today's daily prayer. Please pray for our students tonight. We always teach them about their need for salvation through Jesus Christ on Wednesday night of VBS each year. I pray that they come with open hearts, willing to hear and receive. I also pray for the teachers that they are able to clearly and effectively teach this lesson. I hope there are limited distractions also. I know what it's like to be in the classroom and to be distracted. I'll never forget the year someone started coming into the classes on that night and started taking pictures. I nicely asked for her to come back later because we were in the middle of a very important lesson. Sometimes students have very short attention spans and we need to pray that things run smoothly. Each year I remain excited about VBS because during the four years I've been at ZHBC, I've seen children saved during this week. It's such an important ministry and I'm so honored and humbled to be a part of it.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

VBS - Day 2

We had a great time last night! The turnout wasn't bad either.

Today we are praying for the other workers in VBS including Mission teacher, Kitchen workers, Outside activity planners and Music Teachers.

It is very important to have a good attitude and show love toward the students even though you are not their teacher. One bad experience can put a bad taste in the mouth of a child. We want them to see Christ's love in our lives. I'm praying that we all show it to them.

Here's a little peak at a few of the students from last night.

Well, actually this little guy wasn't a student. This is Little B. He is the son of our Youth Minister. How cute was he with his little VBS shirt?!?!

Can I tell you something about our youth and our 5th & 6th grade students? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. They were so AWESOME to work with last night. I've seen groups within these age ranges that stand there and just look at you like you're a nut, ahem . Not this year. We were blessed with a couple of leaders in each group that got into things and because they were enjoying it, the rest of the group followed. That's exactly what we need. We need some kids and soon to be young adults that are leaders by nature that don't mind serving Christ. They did my heart a world of good. These two groups also won the spirit stick. They rocked it during music!!!



This is tonight's song. I love, love, love the music this year. I just love the tone of praise and adoration of an almighty God that it has.

Monday, June 1, 2009

VBS - Day 1

Today is Day 1 of VBS at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Brewton. I'm excited to get things kicked off tonight. I'm praying for a week of life changing experiences.

Today be in prayer for our Teachers.

Father,

I lift up the teachers of VBS. I pray that their attitudes be Godly. I pray that they show each and every child Your love. Let their hearts be full of love, their heads be quick to think and their hands eager to help. I pray that they are not distracted and that they have no stress. I also pray for well behaved, eager to learn students.

Amen