Wednesday, April 29, 2009

search committee



Since it's inception in January, I have been part of our church's search committee. We are looking for a pastor/teacher. Not a senior pastor. Not 'the guy' or the one who does it all. We're wanting a man who can walk alongside us and help us mature and minister.

So there are 8 of us who were chosen by the church to search for this position. We scoured resumes, had many phone interviews, and then had 4 men here for face to face interviews.



It has been an interesting and learning and wonderful journey.

If we'd looked at men in the Bible, our search could have gone something like this:

Noah: He has 120 years of preaching experience, but no converts.

Moses: He stutters; and his former congregation says he loses his temper over trivial things.

Abraham: He took off to Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got into trouble with the authorities and then tried to lie his way out.

Paul: We found him to lack tact. He is too harsh, His appearance is contemptible, and he preaches far too long.

Timothy: He has potential, but is much too young for the position.

Jesus: He tends to offend church members with his preaching, especially Bible scholars. He is also too controversial. He even offended the search committee with his pointed questions.


I think that report is only half joking because the one thing I've learned is that a resume doesn't give you the whole picture. And the phone interview is still only a piece of the puzzle. Then the face to face interview isn't always the 'real' person because it's their only chance to show you what they've got.

Then add to that mix all the different personalities on the committee. Quiet, loud, opinionated, peace loving, the whole spectrum of personalities all tossed into the pot. From that you get all different perspectives. Did we hear the same thing the same way? Did we see the same thing in the same light?

Then add to that the huge responsibility of trying to represent the entire church body as each man is interviewed! Do we want to focus on a certain group? Does this person relate to that group? What is the vision for the church? Who can help us achieve that vision?

It reminds me of Stone Soup. We've all added pieces to the pot and it's been stirred. I believe it's been stirred by the Holy Spirit. We've prayed, the church has prayed, the candidates have prayed and I fully believe that God has been in charge from the beginning. I believe He has been leading us on this journey.

The unity from the beginning has been amazing. When we thought emotions would be charged, they weren't. When we feared disagreement, there wasn't. It's hard to believe that a committee could be in agreement over almost all points. I think that in itself could prove the existence of God!!!

It's been an intense journey. It's been lots of time but it's all been worth it. We'll make our recommendation next week and our part will be pretty much over. But the adventure will only be starting....

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Home, in more ways than one

I'm home from our retreat. What a delightful weekend. The last question asked of us was, 'what did God give you this weekend?'. My answer was that God gave me a real sense of belonging.

I've realized over the years that I've always had a difficult time truly feeling like I belonged. In school, when the girls were growing up, in a lot of my life. I know much of it is because of my family of origin. I never felt like I belonged in my family. I was so different from the rest of my family. My parents and brother were quiet and I wasn't. They were homebodies and I wasn't. I talked and talked and they didn't. I always knew my personality didn't mesh. I even remember being in the 2nd grade and plotting to run away from home and find my 'real' family. I was convinced I must have been switched in the hospital when I was a newborn! I know that's silly thinking, but looking back, I do think it's interesting that I felt like the odd person out for a very long time.



This weekend I felt like I really belonged. I felt like I fit in with the other women and felt as if I truly meshed.

I'm thankful, truly thankful.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Outta here for the weekend

I am getting ready to leave in a few hours for my first ladies' retreat with my LCC friends! I'm really looking forward to our time together and for the chance to get to know them even better.

It's been a hectic couple weeks as part of our pastor search committee. We've got the search narrowed down to 2, possibly 3 candidates. What a responsibility! I am humbled by the folks I'm working with. My respect for each of them has grown immensely during this time.

Well, Kevin and I are getting back into Jr Hi ministry. I can see that it truly is a gift from God to be able to relate to young teens the way we do and I really miss it. Our jr hi group is needing another sponsor and they were pretty excited when we asked about it. God's timing is pretty amazing. We're finishing up our small group the end of April. When I told the leaders that we'd be available in May instead of June, they were excited. Turns out they're doing a month long series on relationships. I told them that I taught that stuff for almost 5 years so I was very comfortable helping to teach! I just love God's timing and seeing His sense of humor!

The group is about 10-12 teens. What a great size! Small enough to fit in the house and large enough to do some really great things. This was definitely the size group where we really got close to the kids.

Have I said lately how much we are loving our church? There is such a sense of belonging and acceptance. It's really incredible,

Today is Jaime and Slade's 10th anniversary! Where has the time gone?! I remember a lot of things about that day and a lot of things others have had to remind me about! We were supposed to have the reception outside after the wedding. The church was building a new all purpose building but it had just started. It was a grand idea. However, the wind was blowing so hard that day that we would've toppled over the cake for sure! So we just moved everything inside and it worked just fine.

At the rehearsal dinner, Kevin handed out blue bubble gum cigars that said, "It's a boy!" in honor of finally getting that son! Slade has been a part of our family for almost 16 years now. I am proud to call him my son! We had so many folks help us clean up afterwards so we invited them all over to the house for dinner and cake afterwards! And for leftover wedding slush punch! That was almost as fun as the wedding.

Y'all have a good weekend, I intend to! See you next week! (ok, I won't actually see most of you, you know what I mean!)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

He is RISEN, Just as He said



This is an amazing clip from Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ set to music by Keith Green.

I weep every time I watch it. And well I should because I see what my sins cost Christ. And it's good when the tears of sorrow change into tears of joy on Easter, when we remember that Jesus conquered death and reunited us to his Father, now our Father.

HE IS RISEN......HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

Sunday, April 05, 2009

You gotta see this one!



I don't usually gush over a movie, but this one was just fun on all levels. The 3D effects were terrific and the jokes that the adults would appreciate were liberally sprinkled throughout the movie.

There were some real laugh out loud comments -

News reporter: Once again, a UFO has landed in America, the only country UFOs ever seem to land in.

The President of the United States: Boys, set the terror level at code brown, 'cause I need to change my pants!

It was delightfully politically incorrect. Based on old 1950's monster movies, Monsters vs Aliens was a breath of fresh air.

I went with Christy and Julia and I think Julia's 4 year old commentary said it best, "Is this where I'm supposed to be scared? Well, I'm not!"

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Favorite April Fool's Prank

In 1957, the BBC reported on a bumper crop of spaghetti in Switzerland. Hundreds phoned in the following day to question the authenticity of the story, or ask for more information about spaghetti cultivation and how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. The BBC reportedly told them to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best".

Definitely my idea of an ideal prank - no one was hurt, nothing was destroyed and nobody was humiliated.

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Longview, Texas
In the autumn of my life, I am very content.

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