1st Day of Camp

First day of camp under our belt.

I love summer and camp, but the first day is always a little hard as we try to get everything settled. We have a great teaching team this year and have added some really fun components so I hope that the kids are really blessed by it.

I can see that the things I've been learning about myself and ministry in the past months are going to make this year even better! I'll be sure to post some pics!

Ministry and me...

For a class I was recently a part of...I had to explain what I've learned about ministry and myself. This is an exerpt of what I came up with...

In trying to define ministry I figured I would at least first look up the literal definition of ministry. The word ministy is derived from the Greek word diakoneo—meaning to serve, or douleuo—meaning to serve as a slave. Serving God and His people, His world. Nothing about place of employment. Nothing about job title. Nothing about status. Ministry is daily dying to self, seeking God’s will, allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to use me to serve others, feeling the love of God fill me and then loving the world as an outpouring of that love. I realized that I am ministry. Ministry is me.

I try not to get really caught up in labels. It’s probably partly why I am not intimidated by someone’s “title” or “position”. I don’t think we are supposed to label ministry. I understand why in the church…in the world we do. Our human need is to give structure and define roles. We like to have a full picture and understanding of who everyone is and what everyone does and why they behave the way they do. He is the Senior Pastor, she is the Pastor, they are the assistants, they are the volunteers. I understand that for the structure of a place of employment you need to assign job duties and give job titles. But in ministry, in serving….serving as a slave…what if we have it wrong? What if we aren’t supposed to label and pigeon-hole each other? What if there aren’t supposed to be silo ministries? I “specialize” in this or this; he is an “expert” in this and this…what if we are all supposed to be working together intermingled for the kingdom? My title right now is Ministry Assistant for Children’s Ministry, but quite honestly…that’s not my ministry. That is just my job title. It might define what I get paid to do for my vocation. But it is not a full picture of who I am. I don’t think that I want it to be.

I want it all. It has always been my problem and has gotten me into more trouble than I can say, but it is the truth. I want to see people’s lives transformed. I want to walk through life with a young person who is struggling. I want to instill the value of true worship in children. I want to bring broader perspective to those around me about differences, diversity of culture, ethnicity. I want to encourage others to realize the amazing value that they have and the powerful way that God can use them if they just let Him. I want to challenge individuals who have become lazy or self-righteous in their faith. I want to use the gifts that God has given me to impact the world around me. Yet, I am just one person. I think it’s too easy in ministry….the vocation of ministry….to feel overwhelmed and to commit yourself to too many things. Too many tasks and too many programs. The program is not the ministry. The program is just a ministry tool. I am the ministry. Because I am the servant. I am the slave, dying to self and reaching out to a broken world in the love of God, with the power of the Holy Spirit. He will use me as He sees fit. I need to stop looking for ways to fill the “wants” that I have in ministry and just look to Him to guide my steps and take me where He wants. Whenever I try to have it all, be involved in all…I get in the way and He can’t do what He wants to through me. I have learned that simply because I can do something well, does not mean that I should. It’s a lesson God has been teaching me for a few years and I do believe that this year I was finally able to put that into practice and adhere to it.

Although I have always felt that I might be a leader, I must admit that since becoming a Christian I have balked at that label. Throughout my life others have told me that I was a strong leader. Teachers in school would say, “Mindy is a leader, many of the children look to her and take their cues from her.” Yuck. What 6th grader wants THAT responsibility? In friendships I often became the leader and didn’t like feeling as if the other person wasn’t capable of their own opinions, thoughts or ideas separate from me. I would find us dialoguing, discussing something as simple as what to do for the weekend and suddenly whatever I said became where we were going. Looking back, I don’t know if there was something in me that tried to influence others? I know that in my wild 20s I sometimes did purposely influence, manipulate and sway people (not something I am proud of)...however, I have found that I don’t want to be and definitely didn’t like being that kind of leader.

Here are some things that I do want to continue to develop and allow to grow in myself as a ministry leader:

~Accountability to God. I desire to live for an audience of one. If I really want to serve Him well then I need to be in constant communication with my Lord. Each day I will seek Him and rest in His word, His truth, His love. What I say, think and do reflects Him and I want to do that well.

~Wisdom. As I have more opportunity to minister in conflict, wait on the Lord’s leading, develop patience, and identify the weaknesses in myself…I am thankful for the wisdom that is coming along with it. I don’t want to be the same 5 years from now, even 5 months from now as I am today.

~Total reliance on God. I deeply fear ministry as a vocation will become rote for me. I never want to lead out of my own earthly desires, my own earthly focus or my own agenda. I pray that I never get ahead of God and that I never rest on my laurels. In humble devotion to Him, I want to remember and instill in others that apart from Him we are nothing. Apart from Him there is no point in leading because only He is worthy.

~Rest. I know myself and I know that I need to build a rhythm of rest into my ministry. I am of no use to Him or others if I wear myself down. I need to continue to be obedient to that and allow myself time for respite within the frenzy. This means even if others don’t understand it. This means even if others don’t need to take that break. This means even if I don’t feel like it at the time. It is my hope that as I grow in the other areas, I will become even more self aware of when and how I need this rest.

I am feeling stirring in my spirit. I have found for myself this usually occurs when God is up to something really big. I trust that as I continue to turn to Him for guidance (by praying daily, listening to His response, delving into His word) He will open and close doors as necessary. I pray that I am obedient to where He leads...even when it's difficult, even when I don't want to, even when I'm not sure why. It is a privilege and honor to be His servant and I am grateful that He would even care to use someone like me to bring others closer to Him.

To God be the Glory.