The Journey...

If you are reading this on Facebook, check out my blog site at www.heatherswakeupcall.blogspot.com and leave some comments please! I can't be right all the time.

Well that title implies a lot but specifically I am referring to the journey toward ordination as elder in the United Methodist Church. It really is quite the process. When I first started the process I was amazed at just what one has to do to become ordained in the UMC. Anyway tomorrow I am going to a "Preparation Seminar" to walk me through what I need to do to prepare to go before the Board of Ordained Ministry next year. I know I have to submit my 20+ pages of answers to questions regarding my beliefs, experiences, theology, gifts, strengths, etc. I have to submit lessons for a Sunday School class that I have written. I have to submit a video tape of an entire service in which I have preached. I have to have all of this submitted two months before I spend the day with the BOM and talk about myself and all of this.

I have been mentored by many in ministry. I have been educated by some of the best. I have been called by the Creator of the universe. Still I look around and wonder how I got here. It is such a different reality than I imagined for my life. I sometimes have to laugh out loud. Who am I anyway?

So, just another step on the path. Sometimes I have to look down and slow my pace, lest I trip and fall on my face. I am so caught up with the view...

Reliance and Comfort

We've had two stormy, rainy, nights here in the ATL and it got me to thinking on the way to work today. Last night in the midst of the thunder and wind and lightening, I had the TV on and my laptop up and running, the lights on, etc. All of these distractions dulled my sense of the storm outside and gave me a sense of security. I know in the midst of some spring storms in the past, with no power and howling winds outside I have felt pretty vulnerable. Or in the winter, no power, surrounded by trees, listening to branches cracking and falling outside.
I am one of those people who does not cope well with the unexpected, like no electricity, appliances that don't work, and cars that won't start, sick kids, etc. I would venture to say that most of us don't. We have come to rely on these things.
It makes me think of the many parents I encountered while working in the hospital. They never thought they would be there with their child. Many had healthy, happy, children and one day they woke up and everything was different, shaking them out of the comfort of everyday.
We all take so much for granted.
I have thought often of just how privileged we are in this country and we don't even realize it. We can get just about anything we want or need from the store down the street by driving there in our car. Sick? There is usually a doctor's office and/or hospital a few miles away.
So, what am I trying to say here?
I guess what I am trying to say is this; if all of these things, conveniences, comforts, everyday normalcies were stripped away, how many more of us would be turning to God and relying on Him? Our senses our dulled and we have a false sense of power when all is right with the world.
Maybe being real requires not only love as I have said in the past, but vulnerability and surrender to the One who really is all powerful.

2 Corinthians 1:9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

Women in ministry, what's a man to do?

Lest you think I am about to launch into some biblical exegesis on what Paul had to say about women in leadership in the church, fear not. That is not what this is about. And just so you know if I believed that what I was doing was counter to God and His word I would not be doing it. And just so you know, having learned, survived, and persevered through what I have in the last 3 years I would have to be absolutely crazy to do what I am doing without absolutely believing and knowing, that this is what God, very clearly, asked me to do, so...What is a man to do?

I would ask you to consider not only the challenges women in ministry continue to face but the challenges that their husbands face as well.

Pastors: If you know a woman in ministry, seek out her husband. Provide the support, accountability, and spiritual guidance that he needs from another man. His wife might be the pastor, but he is still the spiritual leader in his home. A pastor's wife will always seek out and find others to support her, a pastor's husband is a whole different thing.

Men of the church: Support this man. Give him a place to vent. Never refer to him as so and so's husband. He has his own identity and place in ministry. Respect the fact that he is supporting the call God has placed on his wife's life and that he and his entire family have been called along with her. It takes a special kind of man to agree to go along for this ride!

Men/husbands: You have been called along with your spouse. The part you play will not be the one she does but you are nevertheless called along with her, as is your family. Find ways to support her as her husband and as a family.

Finally,

Veteran Women in Ministry: Reach out to your younger sister's, most especially those who are married. It is one thing to be a second career pastor (your spouse did not exactly sign up for this when they married you), it is something else all together when the second career pastor is the wife. You and your spouse have spent year's navigating these waters and can be a wonderful source of support both individually and as a couple.

I am sure this list will grow and develop over the years, but this is a start!

What it means to be real...

So, I have blogged often about being transparent and how much I value transparency and authenticity. I value it not only in others but most especially in myself and how I am perceived by others. That's why last week, after leading a marraige enrichment class for 6 weeks, when I received an email from a participant that said they appreciated how I was "down to earth" and easy to talk to, I was so pleased. That was one of the best affirmations I could have received!

I talk so much about being "real" and perceived as real because I fear taking on the "pastoral mystique". To my knowledge this phrase was coined by Pastor Craig Groeschel in referring to the air that some pastors have. You know the kind that exude perfection, they make no mistakes, they have it all figured out, they are untouchable, and unfortunately unapproachable. That is what I am running from. I am reminded of a scene that Barbara Taylor Brown, Episcopal Priest, describes in her book "Leaving Church" that brought tears to my eyes when I read it. After years in ministry to the local church, Brown had decided to leave and take a teaching position at a college. She had been invited to a cookout type party that happened every year, yet had always felt as though she was held at a distance, not this time. At one point the party gets wild and people start throwing each other into the pool. Time stands still and she waits to see if anyone will attempt to throw her in or if like every other time she will be deemed untouchable in the eyes of others. She goes on to describe how exquisite it feels to be thrown into the pool, all arms and legs flailing around her as she hits the water. Finally real, like everyone else. I don't ever want to get to the place where I am not real. Where I am unapproachable or untouchable.

I also think of the children's book The Velveteen Rabbit and how badly that stuffed rabbit wants to be real and finds that what it takes to be made real is love.

Just rambling thoughts I needed to empty from my brain. What do you think?

Transitions

It's back to school time and it is a time of transition. Back to routines, back to classes, back to homework and early bedtimes. Well, at least for some. For others, they are sending their last child to college and will face an "empty nest". Or for those just starting college away from home it is a new time of independence and exploration. So many transitions. Transitions are hard, they can be stressful. Fact is we all experience transition regularly, in a new job, a new diagnosis, a death, a change of marital status or family dynamics. Our country is in the midst of great transition with job loss and foreclosures at an all time high. Many are being forced to live life in a whole new way. So what are we to do in the midst of such transition?

Find your own new normal. Set aside time daily to meet with the One thing that does not change. Fix your eyes on what does not change, on what is steady, Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Malachi 3:6
I the Lord do not change. Amen!

Highs and Lows

What a day! It was so full of high points and one particularly low point. The girls are coming home tomorrow after being gone for 8 days and we are so excited. We have missed them so much! I finished leading a marraige enrichment class tonight and we celebrated with 6 couples renewing their wedding vows. That was a high and holy moment! At one point tonight Marten and I went on a wild goose chase for my "lost" cellphone. I kept thinking about how loving he was to get back in the car with me and retrace my steps looking for it, all the while disappointed in myself up for losing it. After a 30 minute detour and return home, I found my phone, and he was still sweet and loving. :) The lowest point was discovering a dear friend was in the hospital. We both visited at different times and are grieving for our friend.

We have encouraged our girls to recount their highs and lows on a regular basis with us so that we might know what is going on in their lives, celebrate their victories and thank God for them, and to know what is bothering them, what they are worried about or bothered by so that we can pray with them and for them.

Sharing your blessings and victories multiplies them. Sharing your sorrows and burdens halves them......