So Ben, How's the New Job?

I'm glad you asked! So far, so good. This Saturday (August 16) I will be having a Childrens Ministry Kickoff for all the coworkers who minister to children. This will be a time of encouraging them and training them to be more effective for the Lord. I am very excited about it, and I expect great things from it.

During a typical week, I spend a lot of time on phone calls and e-mails. This may not sound fun for many other people, but I really enjoy it because it allows me to connect with people. I am a big fan of e-mail because I get frustrated playing phone tag. I also make myself available to meet with Sunday School teachers who have questions about how to teach an upcoming lesson.

Another main component of my job is to make sure that the rooms and supplies are in good condition. Christina and I stayed after church a few weeks ago to help our curriculum coordinator sort through a supply room. We threw out or donated a lot of outdated stuff, and we organized what was left. It looks great! I am also in the process of finding someone to install windows and locks on all the childrens ministry rooms. Finally, I will be stocking the classrooms with all the normal supplies that they should have so that the teachers are never low.

I am learning a lot about leadership. I am reading a great book called Change is Like a Slinky, which is basically a book for leaders on how to bring about good transitions in their organizations. It is very relevant since we are at a point in the church's history where schedules and policies need to be updated.

Overall, I am doing pretty much what I expected to be doing. The only surprise is how much more supportive of new ideas most of the coworkers are than I expected they would be. I had been told that most people are very resistent to change and it's best to make slow adjustments over time. I agree with that wisdom, but it's so refreshing when people see the potential of how things could be and support the vision that I am offering. I get equally excited when they start to come up with ideas of their own, because this shows that they want to take things to the next level like me.

As a prayer request, I would ask you to pray for time management. There are many good things that I could do, but I do not want to get spread too thin. Pray that I would grow in the areas of prioritizing, delegating, saying "no" when needed, and having the self-discipline to get things done. Thank you.