What are you eating?

At the end of Hebrews 5, the writer talks about milk vs. solid food; milk is the food of infants, the elementary truths of God's Word.  Solid food is for the mature; it is the teaching about righteousness.

How concerned are you with your diet physically? Do you eat your vegetables and take your vitamins, aware of what is needed to be healthy?  What about your spiritual diet?  Do you pay as much attention to what you need daily to stay spiritually healthy and growing?

You eat every day - make one of those meals a trigger to ask yourself what you are feeding on spiritually. 

May you grow strong and healthy and mature in your faith.

Kenyan Speed

I remembered something this week.  Something that's going to help me.

The weather warmed up, and I started wearing sandals again.  I haven't found any sandals that I like in the last few years that have a back-strap, so most of the ones I own now are slip-ons.  They never seem to stay on as well, but wearing them again made me remember being in Kenya.  While I was there, I wore a simple pair of flip-flops that I've had for ages (I bought them for Byron & Lori's wedding, actually) and found that I had no problem keeping them on.  The reason, I figured, was that we walked slower there.  Here, it seems I rush wherever I'm going - I have too much to get done to saunter along; don't want to waste my time.

But I also get headaches because I get tense in my shoulders and neck; I'm too focused on what I need to get done.  My rushing and busy-ness cause me stress and pain.  I need to slow down.  I need to recognize that my life is more important than the items on my to-do list.  They will wait for me.  They will get done.  And they will get done better, even if not sooner, if I am feeling better.  << sigh >>  This shouldn't be a hard lesson to learn, and yet, it's the one I'm facing again this week.  This season.  Patience.  Patience with others and with myself.  My God will be served much better when I slow down.

Every time I slip on my sandals, it will remind me.  Walk slower.  Be patient.

Communications

My official title here at Westhill is Coordinator of Worship Arts and Communications.

The first part of that, "Coordinator of Worship Arts" is to focus on our Sunday mornings.  How can we do things better?  More creatively?  In a way that makes sense to visitors?  From the planning of each hour to the visuals with each series, to the communicating between the different individuals and teams, I see my role as being to help clear the way for our church's message of God's love and truth come through in this 'main event' of our programming.  Which is actually what the communications part is all about, too.  It may help to simplify the job title one of these days to simply "Communications."  This has been a year of understanding what communications is all about, and what that looks like in a church. 

What are we trying to say?  Who are we trying to be?  Sometimes, honestly, finding those answers is as confusing as all the questions that come after: Is our message getting through?  Are there things that we are doing and saying that are confusing the issue?  That are sending a different message than the one we want to be sending?  God is so amazing.  Is that message getting through?  What can we do so people hear that?

This is where I'm at today, 8 months into this role.  It is a whole lot clearer than it was in September, but now I see a whole lot of things I wish I already knew!

I'll leave you today with this post by Kem Meyer, on her Communications Director Job Description.

Little Soul's Daycare

Soul's Harbour Rescue Mission does a great work in Regina, and we at Westhill are looking forward to partnering with them this year.  I just saw this blog post by Director Michelle Porter about their new daycare opening this Friday and thought I'd pass it along to you to have a look.  A number of us were out late last spring  to help with some of the initial clean up of the building, so to see it now looking so good and ready to go is a real thrill.

Go check it out: The Dream of Little Soul's Daycare

Giving at Christmas

True to form, it's the first mail day after Halloween, and my mail box is full of gift catalogues. There are all kinds of ways I can give to help the needy and tell my family "I did it for you!" ...instead of buying you a present. Who does that and doesn't buy a gift, too?

Don't get me wrong, I know that people are more generous this time of year and the charities need to capitalize on that. I also believe helping the less fortunate is something we should be doing all throughout the year.

My thinking about Christmas gifts is what can I make that is meaningful and wonderful without spending any money? If you have thoughts on that, let me know!

Reviving Ophelia... thoughts before the Adopt A Youth launch

I've just started reading Reviving Ophelia by Dr. Mary Pipher, and it's making me realize how important this Adopt A Youth program we're launching next week is. She quotes the African proverb that states "It takes a village to raise a child." Do you see the Godly truth in that? I know I want my daughter surrounded by adults other than myself who are also teaching her that it's ok to be herself, and not to conform to peer pressure. I see many adults, myself included, who don't take the initiative to take children, adolescents, teens under our wings. We are concerned, sure, but what do we do about it? I hope that we can present this program as something that will capture the imagination of the adults; one that gives them the opportunity to do something where they've felt unsure about what their part could be. I hope that it inspires our church to live as the church, concerned for one another. I know that does happen in lots of ways already; I hope this is the catalyst for many more good relationships and for the strengthening of many of our adolescents.

A New Role

I am happy to announce that I have transitioned over the summer to a new role at the church. I'm still half time, but I will be the "Coordinator of Worship Arts and Communications". I'll write you the long version someday soon, but for now, here's a brief on the new job description: "Creative Arts" - I'll be doing work on the Sunday morning services - there are lots of people who have a part in that, and some of the key people are not at our weekly staff meetings, so besides the creative brainstorming, I'm going to try to streamline the process of how that all comes into being. It works fine the way it is now, but maybe it can work better this way... Here's hoping! "External Communication" - I'll be the content person for the website - we've got a great IT guy who can make pretty much anything happen with that, so I'll be trying to keep it up to date and keep it changing and make it more user friendly. "Internal Communication" - I'll be helping out with the different communication pieces that are needed, and hopefully cover in some areas that are not being done yet. These things, along with the different projects like the Core youth leader training, Adopt A Youth, and the Kickoff@KBK will keep me busy. I hope I stay on top of all the work and am still able to be a creative force for good around here! So that's the scoop on what I'll be doing. I'm excited to have some new challenges in front of me, and the kind of things I like to do, too. How amazing to have a job tailored to your gifts and strengths. And combine that with the hours that leave me free to be home with M? Must be working for a God who cares. Amazing.