Yesterday we had First Sunday at Urban. It is an event we plan on doing the First Sunday of every month that collects the donations and resources from our church members and distributes them to anyone in need in our church and community. We fed 80 people and gave away a ton of furniture, household items and clothing. We started setting up at 9am and when we got there, an abundance of donations just kept coming in. We had heaps to sort through!
It was an honor to be placed in charge of the event, but I had one concern. I am great at planning events, but my weakness is that I can get focused on productivity and not on people. I prayed that morning that I would remain at peace, have fun and not allow myself to get stressed out or focused to much on the details. As I was in the car with my husband, I sounded a little crazy. After we got done praying, I made a declaration out loud. It was not really to anyone in particular, but more so to make my choice, my decision solidified. I said something like, "I will not get stressed today. I will have fun, have a smile on my face and focus on people and not on productivity. If something slips through the cracks I will still keep my peace and keep my smile. I will be the type of person that is a pleasure to be around and not reproduce stress to those around me." I am not one to "look in the mirror and tell myself I am beautiful" or any of those self-help methods, but I recognized that prayer helps, but it is also a choice. I can choose peace. I can choose joy. I can choose to have my focus on the right things and to have an attitude that I would be proud to have become contagious!
It was an honor to be placed in charge of the event, but I had one concern. I am great at planning events, but my weakness is that I can get focused on productivity and not on people. I prayed that morning that I would remain at peace, have fun and not allow myself to get stressed out or focused to much on the details. As I was in the car with my husband, I sounded a little crazy. After we got done praying, I made a declaration out loud. It was not really to anyone in particular, but more so to make my choice, my decision solidified. I said something like, "I will not get stressed today. I will have fun, have a smile on my face and focus on people and not on productivity. If something slips through the cracks I will still keep my peace and keep my smile. I will be the type of person that is a pleasure to be around and not reproduce stress to those around me." I am not one to "look in the mirror and tell myself I am beautiful" or any of those self-help methods, but I recognized that prayer helps, but it is also a choice. I can choose peace. I can choose joy. I can choose to have my focus on the right things and to have an attitude that I would be proud to have become contagious!
The Israelites in 2 Chronicles 31 had a lot more heaps than I did to deal with, but the leaders had an attitude of gladness throughout the celebration and after. The leaders attitude (in Ch. 30) caused the community to want to continue the Passover feast for an extra 7 days! It also (in Ch. 31) caused them (while following a newly established commandment - which are not always followed with popularity) to give in excess to the leadership to support them! Verse 8 describes the true heart of the leadership, "In the third month they began laying them in heaps, and they finished in the seventh month. And when Hezekiah and the leaders came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD and His people Israel."
As Christ-followers we are leaders and people are looking to us watching our responses. In situations where we "should" be stressed, will we still keep our peace? In situations where we "should" be focused on productivity, will we still take the time to focus on people? In situations where we "should" be running around like a chicken with our head cut off, will we still keep a smile on our face and an attitude of joy? These are the types of differences that we have that make people stop and wonder, "what is different about that person?" In an economy where everyone is stressed about money, safety, security or an uncertain future we can choose to lead the way with an attitude that blesses the Lord and his people.
Jesus said himself in Matthew 12, that the greatest commandments are to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. Whether in church or in the workplace it is God's desire that our focus be on these two things. The details may or may not all work out as planned, but the important things is we kept our focus on the truly important things. Our whole team had a great time at First Sunday and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. There is always room for improvement, but those things didn’t matter. What mattered is that through First Sunday and our service yesterday that we blessed the Lord and we blessed His people.
Melissa Miller
1 comment:
It was truly a great weekend and an honor to be a part of blessing this great community! The heaps are coming as we continue to do what we are doing.
Post a Comment