4 Dozen Cookies

   We live very complex lives as women here in America.  There are so many choices that can be made.  I recently read a story about an MK coming to America and being sent to the grocery store to buy a box of cereal.  The choices were staggering. The cereal aisle contained more food than was available in her entire village!
   And so it is, that every day, we have a myriad of choices facing us about how to live - what to eat, what to wear, how to spend our money, and what we do with our time, to name a few.
   As Christians, we want to serve and please God, but how do we do that?  How do we choose from the vast array of things  that can be done for the kingdom? There are ministries both inside and outside the church, for starters.  And then, that further breaks down into more options.  Knowing this, it can be very easy to just be carried along with the stream.
  Case in point:  Our church is having a 35th Anniversary as a church.  We are having a big celebration, and rightly so.  One woman in our church, in particular, has taken,  and is taking, the lion share of the work.  Why?  Mainly, because she has the gift of administration.  There is nothing she enjoys more than heading up a big project such as this.  She loves all of the little details. She concerns herself with things that would never even enter my mind.
   We are having a fellowship meal following the services, of course.  Usually, when we have a fellowship meal, we are asked to bring a dish.  This time, there is a request, only,  to bring four dozen cookies.  I have not looked at the sheet to see if a need still exists.  I almost made a motion to do so, but was stopped by the Holy Spirit.  The need is not the call!  That is something my mother was told early on in her Christian walk, and it is something that has stuck with me and served me well.
    When we are dedicated to Christ, and therefore, his church, it is easy to overextend ourselves.  It can become a habit to madly dash around doing everything under the sun, but do nothing well. We can get caught up in mindless activity and think we are doing a good thing.  Nothing could be farther from the truth. Things have to be taken into consideration as to our other responsibilities in life. When I was raising and home educating seven children, it was a grandiose task just to get there on a Sunday morning.  At one point, I did little else, and so it should be.
    Besides our station in life, some of the other variables are exercising our spiritual gifts and using our talents. For instance, my administrative abilities are next to nil.  One of my jobs at my church is children's church coordinator. The three components of this job are recruiting people to work, making a schedule, and making and handing out copies of the material.  My forte is recruiting.  I am very bold and "go where no man has gone before" in asking people to work in children's church.  The schedule is no problem, whatever, either. But making the copies and handing them out is another story.  This job requires very little in terms of organization, but until I was able to come up with a plan, I almost quit because of the frustration I felt.Clearly, I would not be a suitable candidate for heading up the 35th Anniversary Celebration.
    Certainly, I am not saying I am "above" making cookies.  I have done similar things in the past, when it was appropriate. But, that task might be better left to someone else.  I am thinking of an elderly lady in our church who probably signed up.  She loves to make cookies, for starters, and makes them in big quantities.  Due to her health, she is limited in her service, and I'm betting, this was perfect for her.
    What we do, and how we do it, will change and grow over the years.  As we try different activities, we will find our niche.  One year, I signed up to be a helper for the Sparks class in AWANA. It flows with the school year.  I had no sooner started than I was hoping for snow on a Wednesday  evening so it would be canceled.  That was a long year; which brings up another issue - commitment.  Even though, I had no sooner begun, than I realized I hated the job, I finished the year.  There are times, obviously, when we cannot fulfill our duties, but we should never make that a habit. The church could not survive (but of course it will) if the majority of workers were cut from that cloth.
   Sometimes, we will be asked to do something that we may not think is a good fit.  "No", is an option at those times. I actually was asked by our pastor to head up children's church.  Interestingly, I'm not a big fan of children's church.  Our kids rarely took advantage of it.  I am more prone to think that children should stay in the worship service. Nevertheless, because I had never actually been asked to do something by the pastor, I agreed, on a trial basis.  What I wasn't even aware of at the time is that I am not a team player. I prefer working alone.  Both children's church and the AWANA store lend themselves to that scenario. And I've been doing both for a number of years.
    When we are positioned correctly, we will both enjoy and be good at the tasks for which we are responsible.  It may take some trial and error, but generally, we will be drawn towards that for which God has equipped us.  Be in prayer and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  He will guide.

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