Thirty Days of Gratitude, Day 2

It's Monday, so today's topic of gratitude is

Work, Job, Ministry

I am blessed to work where I worship. That can be tricky sometimes. As I said yesterday, "no church is perfect" and sometimes "sheep bite" but overall, I love what I do and am blessed to be working where grace abounds.

My job is ministry--that's actually true for anyone who follows Christ but somehow I am blessed to get to do what I love and get paid for it!

So here's some of my top reasons why I love my job:

• It's never the same. I get bored with routine so I love that each day brings new challenges even if there is a regular rhythm to our ministry schedule.

• There's always food. We have a fairly large staff so someone is always bringing in birthday treats, or there's leftovers from potlucks, brunches and other meetings. I count on a leftover donut each Wednesday morning from Men's Fraternity to be my breakfast.

• I work for and with GREAT people. It really is a place I enjoy coming to everyday. We work in a supportive and grace-filled environment but we also have fun. Lots of laughter and some really great staff parties!

• What I do matters. There is nothing wrong with bottom lines and soaring profits but I'm not really wired that way. I love that what I do helps facilitate ministry to PEOPLE and that lives are impacted by what we do.

Thirty Days of Gratitude, Day 1

It’s November and in the United States this is the traditional month of Thanksgiving. So if you will indulge me for the next 29 days, I’d like to tell you what I am thankful for.

Since it is Sunday, I’ll start with…

Church

Mine is not perfect and if it were, I couldn’t attend! But I am blessed to be a part of a community of committed believers who are led by servant leaders who are intentional about encouraging us to a deeper walk of faith.

I love how God’s Word is taught with clarity and relevance.

I love how there is opportunity to pursue a passion to serve whether it be across the world, across the street, or in the nursery.

I love guitar driven worship, and brass line Sundays, and orchestra weeks, and BIG BAND! I love the kids choirs and the adult choir, and my peeps on vocal teams!

From the Psalms of Ascent--

“I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.” 122:1

Bless Her Heart

“Blessed are the optimistic, for they will not be disappointed”

                                                                                    --mistranslation mine

I knew we were headed for an adventure when The Princess called me at work to ask if we still had “that sewing machine”. 

“Why do you ask sweetie?”

“We’re at Hancock’s buying fabric for Halloween costumes'”, she replied.  “Thanks, I’ll see you later”.

I thought my Halloween costume days were over but apparently high school seniors are not too old or too cool to participate in a little Halloween fun.   Bless her heart…

I’ve never been a fan of store bought costumes so through the years, I managed to create outfits out of things around the house or with very few purchased items.  I also managed to put them together with pins, glue, tape and staples.  I can hem but I do not really sew even though my sainted mother tried to show me how.  Bless her heart…

With one quarter of a semester class called “Family Consumer Science”, my daughter has more sewing experience than I have at 50- something (I’m embarrassed to say).  So with much enthusiasm and optimism, The Princess made her fabric choices and brought them home to create.   Bless her heart…

I got home from work to find this:

 

And this:

 

 

She had no pattern.  She wanted no help.  Bless her heart…

She did have satin, and some kind of tulle, sequins, and…

A ZIPPER.  Bless her heart…

 

And with great determination (and a small amount of frustration), two days later  she had this…

 

 

Isn’t she the cutest Tinkerbell you’ve ever seen?

I couldn’t have done a better job myself…bless her heart!