OH MY HEAVENS! As I look at my calendar for January 2014, the start of a new year, all I see is print on almost every date. How did a new month of a new year get so full so fast?
Well, there are meetings with Extension Pastors at their ministry settings so that I can share with the Bishop the great work and the vital ministry being done by our Extension Pastors. There are meetings with Pastors to talk about preferences regarding their appointments, and there are meetings with SPRCs to talk about their hopes and dreams. There is a trip to Nashville to study the new Ministry Review process coming out in 2014. Oh, and I cannot forget the District Team meetings as the new year starts: Superintendency, Trustees, District Lay Servant Ministries... There are also a couple of Sundays I get to preach and share the love of Christ with some of our congregations. Add it all together, shake it up, pray over it, and you have a very, very full month. There is little to no time for much else.
I am not complaining by any means; this is what I am blessed to be doing for the Annual Conference and for you, my sisters and brothers. It is a joy, but it does look daunting. It is also what God has asked me to do in these days. I want to be faithful and give this ministry the very best I have.
In order to do that, I must manage my time wisely and rely on the support of my staff and family. Most importantly I must rely on time with Jesus Christ. This may seem like a "no brainer," but at times I get so busy doing the things I need to do that I forget to take to with Jesus. "Oh, I will catch Him on the fly." "He understands how busy I am being what He needs me to be." "I will try to carve some time out next month to simply be still (not only is that a laugh -- me being still-- but next month never comes). Before you know it, the time has flown and so have I, away from the guidance and will of God.
I am thankful that Bishop Watson has all of us in the Cabinet working through the Upper Room and the Common English Study Bible each day. We are held accountable to our reading, our praying, and our body and soul. I am thankful for a deeply committed Lay Leader who meets with me each morning to read these as well as Jesus Calling and to pray for the needs of the District and for those who have made request. A new thing for me this year is to follow the Moravian Daily Texts for 2014 and to Journal my thoughts (this was a gift from Bishop Watson to the Cabinet). Along with all of this as I travel up and down I-85 I pray (not to be crushed by semi tractor trailers) for the will of God to be done and for God to open my eyes and heart to that will.
Please don't think I'm bragging or boasting; I am not. Do not think I am perfect doing it faithfully but understand I am trying to be faithful and to give God the time God needs to develop me into the person God wants me to be for this season. I hope and I pray that you are not letting your calendar consume your time with God. I encourage you to make personal prayer and mediation a priority on your calendar. God has lots for you to do but nothing as important as time with the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer.
I would love to know what you are doing for your spiritual development ... if you get a moment, would you share it with me?
Praying for you and your ministry with all the passion and strength I have.
Blessings,
Dana
Worship, Wesley Cell Groups, District Lay Servant Ministries made a full and exciting Sunday. Thank you to each of you for being faithful to Christ and His call.