I hate paying for photos for this blog.
However, my blog looks better with photos.
I used to borrow from other sites.
However, I realized that is not right or legal.
I now use two options for photos.
Most of the time I use option 2. As stated before, I hate paying for photos. Continue Reading…
It was early but the weight of the day was heavy on my mind.
The morning routine of reading the daily newspaper had not provided any relief.
Not even the comics brought a smile.
After filling my coffee cup for the second time I walked out the back door onto the deck.
My heart seemed to relax as I noticed the flowers that were blooming.
God must have known I needed more.
It was then I noticed a squirrel using the top of our fence as a roadway.
I wondered where he was going, I kept watching.
He stopped, sat up and scratched his stomach.
Now that brought a smile to my face…it was God’s gift to me that morning.
Remembering how blessed I am and how much God cares,
The rest of my day was also a gift.
If you have been in ministry for any length of time you have received those notes, and often anonymous notes, that are less than encouraging.
Far less frequently we receive handwritten notes or email of encouragement. Those are the ones we need to file for future reference. Years ago I made a file and labeled it ‘affirmation,’ specifically a place to store the good notes. Labeling it ‘affirmation’ keeps it in the front of the file drawer. And in recent years I have added an email folder with the same name to keep the good emails.
The notes in both of these files have been great encouragement to me not just the first day I read them but the many times I have needed a lift and headed back to those folders.
Do you have a system for keeping notes of encouragement; if so I would love hear about it?
AND…for those notes that are less than encouraging and anonymous…get rid of them. If people are not willing to face you openly so you can dialog with them, the best filing system is the trash.
“No one will ever agree to do that job; it is just too small and seems so easy and unimportant.”
I have heard that statement more than once by someone in a place of leadership who is trying to recruit volunteer team members.
I believe the opposite is really the disease in ministry organizations; we make jobs too big.
Sure it may seem that it is easier to recruit people to a seemingly important job, but often those seemingly important jobs are really overwhelming because they are really a group of tasks put under one title.
In recruiting volunteers for ministry positions I believe we must communicate the following:
Once we have recruited and got a person in place in a new ministry position we must then:
There is no such thing as a small ‘ministry position’ because every position is important.
There is no such thing as a volunteer position because every position is a place where people called of God serve.
