It has been a very long week at work. Shayn has been away in Toronto for training, so I have had endless hours of nothing to do in a silent office by myself. dum dee dum dum dum.... The clouds continue to persist, which only make the days longer and drearier. There were a couple hours of sunshine one morning when I went across the street and took some pics (see below). That was a highlight this week.
Another highlight has been blog-hopping and meeting some new friends in the blog world. I wonder if avid bloggers all have quiet office jobs which afford them the time to sit and blog!?!?
Something else good about this week, has been the new old little car that I am driving! My brother had his 89 Toyota Corolla GTS sitting in his driveway for the past 1.5 years waiting to gift it to our girls when they are able to start learning to drive this September. What a nice brother, eh? Well, after hearing that Kevin told him to sell it, I promptly decided it was time for action and we went and picked it up. We decided to insure it and that I would drive it and leave the van parked only to use when we were going somewhere all together. We figure that the insurance on the car and the little bit of gas it uses will be cheaper than continuing to drive the van every day which is a real gas hog. It is so much fun to run around in a little sports car! I feel young again! hee hee.... I have driven a van for 14 years! A sports car is great fun!
The other thing I have been thinking about a lot this week is my pending vacation with my parents and my brother in February to Neuvo Vallarta. This is where we are staying. Doesn't it look divine! One week of resting, relaxing, eating mexican food and spending time with my family. I really feel the need to 'get away'. Not from my family, or my job...but mostly from our ministry. Our little church is struggling right now and it weighs heavy on my heart. This past week we reached our 12th anniversary since beginning the church in 1994. It is so hard to not wish for the past glory days when our church was around 250-280 and everyone was so enthusiastic and involved. The last few years have seen such a decline in attendance and sadder even, in commitment and enthusiasm. I miss the people who have left. Sometimes you don't know if they have left or not, because their attendance is so sporadic. I feel awkward to ask them where they are but if I don't then I think they perceive it as I don't care... which couldn't be further from the truth. And when do you start asking where they are??? Most of the time they avoid that topic of conversation and you don't know where to go with it or when is the right time to bring it up. All these people are our family. We birthed this church. We have known these people for so many years. We have celebrated and cried together. Kevin and I figure that probably 1000+ people have been through our church in the past 12 years. It has truly been amazing and so many people have been healed and gone on to minister in other places. Others have gone back to their struggles, marriages have died, relationships severed. It is so sad. Most of the time I just feel overwhelmed and don't even know how or who to reach out to..........
Yah, well that was a long little diatribe there....please pray for me as I am struggling with all of this right now and it just adds to my January blues...
On a happier note, I need share something exciting that I have to look forward to! hee hee . This afternoon I get 2 hours of election training for working the federal election on Monday. The training is insanely boring! They actually show you how to tear a ballot off the book and fold it! painful. hee hee . Oh yah, and tonight is Dancing with the Stars. yee ha.. party on!
Another highlight has been blog-hopping and meeting some new friends in the blog world. I wonder if avid bloggers all have quiet office jobs which afford them the time to sit and blog!?!?
Something else good about this week, has been the new old little car that I am driving! My brother had his 89 Toyota Corolla GTS sitting in his driveway for the past 1.5 years waiting to gift it to our girls when they are able to start learning to drive this September. What a nice brother, eh? Well, after hearing that Kevin told him to sell it, I promptly decided it was time for action and we went and picked it up. We decided to insure it and that I would drive it and leave the van parked only to use when we were going somewhere all together. We figure that the insurance on the car and the little bit of gas it uses will be cheaper than continuing to drive the van every day which is a real gas hog. It is so much fun to run around in a little sports car! I feel young again! hee hee.... I have driven a van for 14 years! A sports car is great fun!
The other thing I have been thinking about a lot this week is my pending vacation with my parents and my brother in February to Neuvo Vallarta. This is where we are staying. Doesn't it look divine! One week of resting, relaxing, eating mexican food and spending time with my family. I really feel the need to 'get away'. Not from my family, or my job...but mostly from our ministry. Our little church is struggling right now and it weighs heavy on my heart. This past week we reached our 12th anniversary since beginning the church in 1994. It is so hard to not wish for the past glory days when our church was around 250-280 and everyone was so enthusiastic and involved. The last few years have seen such a decline in attendance and sadder even, in commitment and enthusiasm. I miss the people who have left. Sometimes you don't know if they have left or not, because their attendance is so sporadic. I feel awkward to ask them where they are but if I don't then I think they perceive it as I don't care... which couldn't be further from the truth. And when do you start asking where they are??? Most of the time they avoid that topic of conversation and you don't know where to go with it or when is the right time to bring it up. All these people are our family. We birthed this church. We have known these people for so many years. We have celebrated and cried together. Kevin and I figure that probably 1000+ people have been through our church in the past 12 years. It has truly been amazing and so many people have been healed and gone on to minister in other places. Others have gone back to their struggles, marriages have died, relationships severed. It is so sad. Most of the time I just feel overwhelmed and don't even know how or who to reach out to..........
Yah, well that was a long little diatribe there....please pray for me as I am struggling with all of this right now and it just adds to my January blues...
On a happier note, I need share something exciting that I have to look forward to! hee hee . This afternoon I get 2 hours of election training for working the federal election on Monday. The training is insanely boring! They actually show you how to tear a ballot off the book and fold it! painful. hee hee . Oh yah, and tonight is Dancing with the Stars. yee ha.. party on!
Comments
I am not wearing the same shoes as you are, but on the flip side, I can understand some of what you're feeling. In fall of 2004, we made the decision to look for a new church home. It was really tough to do; we'd been at that church for 8 years. We had been involved and active, but for the past couple years, we were feeling increasingly alone. When we made the decision to leave, we had already been absent from church for nearly 3 months due to baseball season. In those three months, no one had taken the time to call or send a note asking how we were or to say we were missed. Even after our decision, we rarely heard so much as a peep from anyone. We did hear once that "how should we know you're not attending anymore when you don't tell us you're not". Hmmm...I think that if we were actively involved in different areas of the church for 8 years that our absence should be noticed and acted upon, even if just to say, "we miss you."
Today, when I run into someone from our old church, that person may or may not ask where we're attending. For me, I have no problem saying where we're attending, but I always feel hesitant to explain why we left. Most of the time, they don't ask that question, but I often wish they would. I'd like to know that they cared enough to ask. Either way, it is an uncomfortable position to be in for both parties.
I'm sorry to hear that PCC is struggling. We've always appreciated you and Kevin and your ministry!
(HUG)