Attitude Adjustment

Hello Faithful,

I have been in what was named a “retreat” but was actually a workshop all week.  When I spoke to our SPRC chair about participating in the program we both agreed that the retreats twice a year would be good for my soul care. The Oklahoma Conference recommended it and paid for me to attend. It is a program for Church Renewal and the director wrote two books.  “Dream Like Jesus” and a book about coming out of the pandemic.  I have to confess that when I discovered that our retreat was actually sitting in front of the computer on Zoom for three days straight, I was angry.  I let that frustration and anger permeate my being all day Tuesday of the workshop and I did not get anything useful out of it. So Wednesday, I decided during my morning prayers that I had to adjust my attitude or my heart would never be open to what I might find helpful for our church.  And Wednesday was better.  Then on Thursday, I actually started to appreciate the time and the potential for myself and the future of our church.

I tell you this story because I realized that this was a lesson that I already knew.  Attitude is everything. If I decide to be angry and not like something then I will never see it as having value.  If I decided something is stupid and not worth my time, then I will never allow it to speak into my life.  If I decide that a certain person is a pain and distraction, then I am never going to see the beauty of who they are and what they have to bring.  I would be a liar if I said that this week wasn’t hard, because it was.  Trying to get all my other work done and do this workshop was hard.  Being still for three days was incredibly hard for someone like me.  It was exhausting.

But I am now excited about the partner that I have been given to take this journey with me.  He is a pastor that I met at church camp years ago and he also has a history in youth ministry.  He is going to be so much fun.  My coach is a man who has been through the transition to the SAS model that we have begun discerning at Nominations and Ad Council.  What a wonderful gift and resource!  And my mentor is a woman that I met for the first time Thursday and I hope will be a new friend.  She is a female clergy person in Oklahoma that I have never met.  I pray the courses will give me tools to be a more effective leader.  I pray that Faith UMC will benefit in countless ways for the investment that the Oklahoma Conference has made in me for years.  And I hope that your attitude about our future is better than mine was about this week.

Lastly, I want to invite you to the Indian Taco Dinner that our neighbor and partner church, Haikey Chapel UMC is having on Saturday from 11-3.  They are located at 8815 E. 101st Street and sometimes they run out of food! Cost is $10.  My family and I have attended for many years and the food is fantastic.

Peace be with you,