Vision

"Vision Leaks"

Andy Stanley, a well-known Pastor and author has made this statement famous.  You may see this as meaning your vision can leak onto those around you.  Which can be true at some level.  But what Stanley speaks about is that vision leaks out or seeps out and is lost.  Vision does not stick permanently and therefore must be cast consistently and compellingly.  

But why? Here is one of his answers:

"You know what else is tough on vision? Life. Every single day of my life works against the vision. Vision is about what could be and should be; life is about 

right-this-minute. Life is about the kids and the laundry and the doctor and the house payment.  No wonder vision leaks. Monday comes along and rips it off the wall. The urgent and legitimate needs of today can cause us to lose our vision."

As leader and therefore vision carrier of our Children's Ministry I want to remind you that what you do is extremely important with eternal impact.  I truly believe we have one of the best teams and love seeing the immense difference in the children in our community.  You are faithful, gifted and just all around incredible!  But it is all too easy to lose some of that fire and begin to simply run through the motions.  You must not only let your vision leak but be intentional about growing it.  Not only must we continually keep God's plan before us, we have to be able to passionately communicate to others. 

It is natural for most people to talk about what excites them.  Whether that be your latest decorating project, a favorite new restaurant, an addicting new TV show or getting the steal of century on your new outfit- women talk.  We love to talk about what is going on in our lives.  I am a self-proclaimed bargain shopper.  As a momma on a budget and someone who just enjoys getting a good deal, I love finding steals.  Upon getting complimented on an outfit I often share my delight in the deal I got hoping to encourage women that you don't always have to shop extravagantly.  I mean what is better than sporting a great Calvin Klein dress you picked up at Goodwill for just a few bucks?!?!

I digress.  My point is our passion will come out.  How often does your passion for Children's ministry come out?  In Chapter 6, Sue Miller engages us in her process of growth in this area as she learned to "get wild" about recruiting.  She understands and explains that is must first start with us- the passion, vision and excitement.  If we have this, we should not waiver in faith nor confidence in recruiting others.  We are not asking too much of them and they are not doing us a favor.  We are asking them to join with us to create a ministry of life transformation and better yet it is little lives with little hearts and huge potential!  I am not sure there are too many things more exciting than that.

Our New Book

Our journey of transformation continues as summer rapidly approaches.  This month we are going to be reading "Making Your Children's Ministry the Best Hour of Every Kid's Week" by Sue Miller with David Staal.  There are many great books on Children's Ministry.  Thankfully many people have successfully pioneered this incredibly important area of ministry.  But I have to say this book is one of my absolute favorites.  The story and writing is so relatable because it comes from a woman who has lead a wildly successful children's ministry for 13 years and she has done it with incredible and contagious vision and faith.  Her journey has been a great one, beginning with her call to serve the church in this arena as it was never something she thought she would be doing- sound familiar to anyone?  I would encourage you to read the first 2 chapters as you gain insight into her journey.  But don't skip the forward or introduction because they are great.  Starting next Tuesday we will be going through a couple chapters a week.  


Tuesday the 15th- Chapters 3-4
Tuesday the 22nd- Chapters 5-6
Tuesday the 29th- Chapters 7, 8 & 9

Tick Tock

Time- something that we are consumed by.  Thoughts of it fill our mind and talk of it flows endlessly from our mouths. 


I wish I had more time to...
What time do I have to be at....?
How long will it take me to....?
Is it bedtime yet?
There's just not enough time in the day!


We have all heard this before but we all need to hear it again: We all make time for what we really want.  What I love about Chapter 12 is the perspective Dr Stephens writes from.  I think women can often feel guilted into stuffing their days too full as they compare themselves to others.  But our driving force for how we spend our time should not be based on what we feel we should be doing, or even what we want to be doing.  Our days should revolve around what God is calling us to do.


Dr. Stephens writes, "When people think of the term stewardship, it is automatically money.  You, Son, will one day give an account to God for how you spent all the time He gave you.  This is much bigger than money." (page 137)  Just as stewardship of money involves all your money, not just what you give; so it is with time, we cannot simply "give" God a little time during the week at church, small groups, etc... and think that what the rest is ours to spend as we please.  You see, God has placed vision, dreams, convictions and callings in all of us.  And all of these require TIME.  


We learn to guard our minds, our hearts and our tongues.  But we must not forget to guard our time as well.  Want to know if you are good about guarding your time?  Look at your calendar and see if it clearly shows your priorities.  Our time is so easily filled by the urgent needs that what is truly important falls to the wayside.  So what do you do if you feel you don't have enough time or if you calendar does not reflect your priorities?


1.  Do not believe the lies you are continually told about time.  Pray about gaining God's perspective of time.  Just like money, His view is quite different than what our world would tell us.

• For starters, your time is not your own if you have surrendered your life to God.  
• You DO have enough time in the day to do all you need to.  But this means knowing what to say no to.  
• One that may be painful- you are not busier than everyone else.  I think we have all had those days, weeks or even seasons where we felt like we were going non-stop.  It is very easy in the middle of this to begin to be isolated by feeling like we are busier than those around us.  We may falsely believe that nobody understands how busy we are.
• Busyness does not equal productivity.  You may be very busy but you may be too busy and therefore wearing yourself out.  Or you may be busy with things that are not what you are truly called to be doing.

2.  Hold everything in your life with an open hand.  What do I mean?  Everything is God's including our time and our activities.  Spend time praying about your weeks. What is taking up your time that is not beneficial?  Are there things that God is calling you to say no to?  What do you need to make time for?


3.  Ask for wisdom from others.  Having another set up of eyes on your calendar can only help you!  First, if you are married you should be spending many conversations with your spouse about your time and how it is spent.  Seek wisdom from other women, especially those who have gone through a similar season as you.  You need someone to push you to fulfill what you are capable of but also protect your time.


4.  Find a routine!  Routine helps free up more time and build margin in keeping you organized.  Creating a routine allows you to start with your priorities keep those at the forefront.  It is no secret that I am an avid organizer.  I organize and plan just about everything.  But I do this so that I have freedom and peace.  Staying organized allows a much greater level of capacity in your life.


I have touch on one more topic.  In being faithful to do what God has called you to, there is going to be a lot of your time that is spent doing very unglamorous things!  Please never confuse the mundane as unimportant.  Whether it is daily tasks at your job, cleaning your home or serving you family- be faithful because it is often these small things that add up to the greatest impact.