a snake and a hurricane

It's been a crazy week down here in Corpus Christi, Texas. First, let's unpack what happened this past Sunday morning.......

Let me start with the fact that we are currently using Empowering Kids "Fear Knot" curriculum for children birth through fifth grade and lesson one talked about how we can untie the fear knot of snakes by first calming down. The Lord said to Gideon calm down, do not be afraid. We can be calm in the face of fear because God says we can. I learned that first hand Sunday morning at 7am. I pushed the garage door button and as I watched the door rise I saw my first Texas snake! No joke! I shut the door and said to my husband; “Joey, there’s a snake outside.” The one thing my husband is not fond of more than anything else is snakes. But the fear did not paralyze him, he took a shovel and took care of the snake…………….make sure no children are reading this……………he killed it and threw it into the neighbors yard, well technically it’s going to be a neighbors yard in the future, right now it’s just an empty lot. I did think about how amazing God’s timing is though, come on, I have lived here almost a year and I have not seen one snake, and the weekend we are teaching about not being afraid of snakes one shows up at my door?? Amazing!

Then, I heard about Dolly! My first thought was; “Is lesson two fear of drowning?” So I called Craig Jutila and told him I wasn’t so sure we could finish this Fear Knot series, I just don’t know if I can make it though all eight fears if I have to try them out each weekend! We are covering fear of the dark, heights, spiders, bullies, scary movies, strangers and drowning. Anyone want to trade places?? Just kidding, I’m not afraid because I can do all things through the almighty God who gives me strength!!

Did I mention DOLLY?? Hurricane Dolly decided to say hello, (okay I couldn't resist! I know you are now singing; "Hello Dolly, well hello Dolly.") It wasn't so nice to have her around though. It was my first hurricane as well. I spoke to a good friend from "up north" and told her I wish there was a t-shirt or something I could buy that said "Baby's First Hurricane" but, no luck! It wasn't so bad here in Corpus Christi, lots of rain and wind, we were fortunate though because the eye did not pass over us.

So, how was your week??

Phil Vischer's new deal

I just took at peek at an amazing new venture from Phil Vischer. Think Nickelodeon, Disney, Empowering Kids, Webkins, PBS, and the Bible all together in one place. What does that look like? There is a 28 min promo at www.jellytelly.tv. Check it out...

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Location, location, location rolls off the tongue so nicely. People know what it means and it's repeated several times so it must be important. This isn't something new, Jesus did it, "Do you love me?...feed my sheep. Do you love me?....feed my sheep" Jesus would not have repeated it if it wasn't important!

I can honestly say in my experience the most important thing in a healthy team approach to ministry is communication. For whatever reason, the church is full of people who are just plain passive aggressive. Being direct is not as common as you would think. We are supposed to speak the truth in love, not love the truth but don't say anything.

Too often harmony comes into play. People are often paralyzed with worry about hurting someones feelings. Therein lies the problem. Speaking the truth in love may end up with hurt feelings during the initial conversation, but that is never the intention. Before any opportunity to practice my "speaking the truth in love" skills I make sure I am prayed up and all emotions are taken out of the conversation.

About 15 years ago, a friend told me I call a spade a spade. I didn't quite know how to take that, was it good in "church world" to be frank or was it bad? I must say I was taken aback by that comment, but not for very long. I personally like to know where I stand without any game playing. I have seen too many leaders in the church act one way when in public and another in private. I pray I never fall into that trap. I also pray I don't go so far in my frankness that I become callus. I guess like anything else, it's a balancing act. Maybe as church leaders we should adopt the following mantra; "Communicate Communicate Communicate." It's repeated three times, Jesus style if you will, so it must be important. I think communication makes a staff stronger by eliminating assumptions, defensiveness, and hidden agendas, and by allowing the team to speak the same language. I can just see it now....mugs, t-shirts, lanyards....maybe not, but if we all start communicating better, unity isn't so far out of reach.