What's Wrong With Being A Secretary?

Sometimes I just don't get it! What's wrong with being a secretary?

This week we were to honor our "Office Administrative Assistants" with a special day. When did it quit being secretaries day? Someone help me out here. Is the word "secretary" a bad word? Is it somehow demeaning and degrading to those wonderful folks who do the bulk of our work for us? Is it "sexist" in some subliminal way? I just don't get it!

Wendy is our secretary (OAA) here at the church and believe me she deserves to me honored for the work and ministry that she does. She is my right hand "person". She rescues me on a continual basis. She is faithful in her work ethic and and is absolutely indispensable in the office.

(Don't tell anybody.....but she even brings me coffee every once in awhile)

If Wendy were a William would "he" be offended by being called a "secretary"? Is that what it's all about? Are male nurses soon to become "Medical Personal Care Givers"? Where will it end?

But until it does just let me say,one more time,; "Happy Secretaries Day" to all who do so much for us and remember "the best is yet to come."

Grow Where You're Planted

Yesterday I transplanted one pathetic little white flower to an empty flower bed at our new office complex. One little lonely bloom!

It came from my home where I planted its' grandparent three years ago. The grandparent, a mother's day gift for the moms at church, must have been healthy because now I have it's offspring all around the house and pool enclosure. We'll see how Jr. does here at the office.

I got to thinking, as I dug Jr. out from where he had been comfortably growing, that God's children are also sometimes dug out of comfortable places and relocated far away. The fact is, that if we will grow where we are planted, we can bring happiness and beauty to our new environment. It is not easy to find ourselves at a new place in our lives either figuratively or actually. But let us determine to grow in the midst of the uprooting and to show God's grace and beauty to those in our new surroundings; in the midst of struggle, in the midst of loneliness, in the midst of disappointment, in the midst of confusion. Where ever the new place may be let's remember that, if we are faithful and drink in the water of His Spirit, the best is yet to come.

The Blessings of Struggle

One of the things that pastors are called on to do is to visit folks who are in the midst of the struggles of life and death. Yesterday was such a day for me.

First, I traveled cross town to visit Eric in his hospital room. Eric is a long time Christ follower who plays various percussion instruments in our Praise Band. He has been fighting cancer for the last year and nearly lost the battle this last week. As we visited I told him about Bazil, a young man whose mother passed away just hours after he had joined our church. When I concluded my prayer at the end of our visit Eric asked me if he could pray. His prayer, less than a minute long in his weakness, was for Bazil! Here, in his weakness, he prayed for strength for another whom he hardly knew! I was blessed.

I found Bazil at his parents home surrounded by family and friends. The home was filled with praise and laughter. But why shouldn't it be....a child of God had gone home. He shared with me the story of her quiet passing and how he had shared some thoughts from my Sunday morning

sermon with her just before she passed. He told her that "the best is yet to come" and that "death is just a comma (,)!" Her last word spoken this side of eternity was "Allelluia"! And again I was both humbled and blessed in the midst of struggle.

Last night was "Church Board" meeting.

One of the "joys" of being a pastor is the holding of monthly church board meetings! I figure that I have chaired over 600 such wonderful encounters during the past 38 years. They can be times of rejoicing and celebration or they can be times of contention and frustration. For the most part, my experiences with these monthly business meetings has been mmore enjoyable than not. The fact is that it is a miracle of God's grace that so many different types of folks can come together and accomplish anything.

Board members come from all different walks of life and all different steps on the social economical ladder. Some come to the meetings from their own board rooms, see it as just another meeting, and can't wait to get home. For others it is their big chance to be heard, their only "meeting" of the month, and a place where their opinion is valued. The secret to any success achieved by such a diverse group of people can only be atributed to the fact that the church is a divine institution and that the Lord uses all kinds of folks to get His will done.

Here at Metro West we have all the factors that make a Church Board diverse and then some.
Our Board is comprised of people from seven different nations who come in every shade and color. Our meetings look more like a committee meeting at the U.N.! People born in the U.S.
(African American and Anglo), Haiti, Barbados, Jamaca, Antigua, Puerto Rico, and Brazil make up the leadership team of our International congregation. They mirror our wonderful congregation and give just a little glimpse of what Heaven will be like.

Our meetings are not quite "heavenly" but pretty close and I know that the "best is yet to come."

Yesterday was a wonderful day at our church as we welcomed 18 new members into our fellowship. I was a little tired as we got back from Grand Cayman (wonderful, restful vacation week) at midnight but the praise and worship and the wonderful people of Metro West kept me goin'.

It is nice to get away but I am always glad to be back home. I am glad that throughout my years of ministry that our family has taken time to vacation together. Those times provided many of my fondest memories. I trust Sherry and the kids can look back with the same good feelings as I do.

Now that I am getting older I still believe that the best vacation days are ahead. Now we enjoy special times with kids and grandkids and I know that "the best is yet to come".

And away we go....

I have decided to join the other "bloggers" in my family and away we go...
The title for this blog space "The Best Is Yet To Come" comes from when Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding reception. When the host tasted it he said to the bridegroom; "You have saved the best (wine) to last". I have decided that that is just the way our Lord works. He saves the best 'til last. I believe that, for the Christ follower, their best days are not yesterdays but tomarrows! Thus, I trust that with every post you will this truth exibited in my living and my words. He has given me some fantastic yesterdays and I can't wait to see what my tomarrows may bring. Even when this earthly life of mine comes to an end, I believe my best days are yet to be.