1Corinthians 9:18 "What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it." (NIV)

My name is Kate.  I strive to live my life every single day for the Glory of God.  But do I succeed at that?  Absolutely not.  I fall short, every single day.  But I am saved by the Blood of Christ; and I strive to further His Kingdom, even though I know I will fall short.  Why?  Because it is what I am called to do.  Through music and relationships.  Those are the gifts I was entrusted with, and since I did not ask for them, I had better use them to the best of my ability.  I will not hide them under a rock, instead I will stand on The Rock and use them for The Glory of God!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

In my lap

God has a sense of humor, and impeccable timing.  (Would I expect anything different?)  Of course not.

I find it interesting that as I am processing through what I think about ministry, and where my place in ministry is...that one happens to fall into my lap.  And not one I was expecting.

Today after church, I attended a luncheon for the makings of a twenty-somethings group.  The church I attend is a church plant, we just celebrated our 4th anniversary.  So as a church, we are obviously still pulling together groups and that sort of thing.

So, the greatest need right now is for the post-college group.  Which I think is true for most churches.  So anyway...we're trying to build this group from the ground up.

So--its a long story, so I won't share all of the details...but it came out in the meeting (there were about 15 of us there) that one of my great skills is communication and bringing people together (thanks to my friend Kim).  And that Kim and I did a bunch of parties last year, with our age group (being ages 21-35 lol), and had already tried to get this ball rolling on a twenty-something group in that time.  Only to have summer come along, and it fizzled with busy schedules, and has never restarted.  So, Kim and I sort of got voted in to be part of the leadership team in getting this off the ground.  I completely was not prepared ahead of time for this, I didn't realize that this was what the meeting was going to be about.  I guess I didn't really think about it.  I really thought I was walking into a meeting about a group that had already been figured out by the ones holding the meeting...I didn't think that they'd turn it back on us.  But I think it is good that they did.

Anyway, my initial reaction was to feel a little unsure about getting involved with a leadership team of such a group here in Maine.  Since...I still am pretty sure that I'm moving.  Not sure when yet, but I know it is going to happen.  

So getting involved in such a large project, may not be such a good idea.  I certainly do not want to just up and leave after making a commitment to be on a leadership team.

And Kim is moving this summer--her office is moving, so we both shared this concern.  But, we talked to Larry, who is helping to spearhead this group, and explained to him that we are willing to help in any way we can, but that we wanted to be sure he knew that we may not be here for long.  Well, Kim definitely will not be...I am unsure of how long I'll be.  But he seemed fine with that.  I'm sure they are wanting any help they can get at this point.

So I'm actually looking forward to helping this group get on its feet.  I initially, as I said, was a little anxious about it, but when I really thought about it, I realized that I think I was in this meeting for a reason.  I really do think I am supposed to do this, and am now excited about it.

Kim and I talked about it, and with our experience in party/social planning (as we did it for like 8 months last year), and with my experience and ability in event planning, and people organizing...  I really think we can get this off of the ground, and train some of the other people to take over when we go.  Teach them how to do it.  And that is when I really saw my place in this.  The nice thing is that it won't be just Kim and I this time around...it'll be a larger leadership group.  My concern still though, is that even in a leadership 'group', there still has to be a 'leader'...and I'm afraid that position may fall on me.  But I guess I can't really worry about that, if I am meant to be the leader, even for a time, so be it.  I'll just put it in God's hands, and do what I believe I am meant to do.

Besides, we were definitely the oldest ones in the room (most of them were either still in college, or just out of college) - we are almost not in this age group anymore--so, I figure, that our job as the 'big sisters' are to train the next ones to take over.  I see that as my place in this anyway.

So--I'm not sure how long term this will be...but I'm excited to help this group start up.  Our first official meeting is this Tuesday night, and we'll start to figure out the leadership team a little more specifically, and who is going to do what, and....what we are going to do as a group.  Because, we just aren't sure what our purpose is, besides bringing together the post-college crowd.  Are we going to do a Bible Study?  Are we going to gather socially for dinner?  We aren't sure yet, that is part of what we have to decide.

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