Serving, Rejoicing, Moving Boxes!

A Year of Being Kind blog – Sunday, April 20, 2014

Serving, Rejoicing, Moving Boxes!

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! That is the traditional call and response for this Easter morning. At church today, we lifted voices in praise to God. We sang hymns, prayed prayers, and listened to my co-pastor deliver a fine Easter message. Of course, we rejoiced in the victory of Easter. We praised God for the conquering of sin and death, and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. I played the piano as well as leading worship. I played some wonderful hymns and songs for this very special time of the year.

After the morning worship service, many people met in the fellowship hall, and I visited various relatives and visitors to the church this Easter morning. And we did, indeed, have some visitors. Praise God!

Such a beautiful day, too. After such a long, drawn-out winter, I sincerely thanked God for the wonderful weather and the warm temperatures (at last!).

And then—and then, I went home. I came home to an apartment still topsy-turvy from the moving of things for the carpet guys. Don’t get me wrong—I never, ever would say that I regret it! No, certainly not. However, putting back everything that was packed away is a daunting task. And, a task that I am taking some pains to accomplish with a great amount of care. After all, we are going to have to live with (most of) the choices and the places where I put things.

I moved two larger boxes last night, and three more today, this afternoon. The stacks of boxes in the basement are becoming smaller, indeed. Not quite to the halfway point yet, but almost there.

God, I get it. I may be slow on the uptake sometimes, but I get it—finally. This whole process of moving boxes, repacking books on shelves, deciding (once again!) which books to keep, which ones to cull, and which books go where—this process is an object lesson from You. Lord Jesus, You want me to learn something from this whole thing. Yeah, I recognize the grin on Your face by now.

I will enumerate the lessons I am learning. First, anything worth doing is worth doing well. And thoroughly. Second, anything I do is not to be done in a slap-dash manner. In other words, I need to pay attention to arranging this apartment and these books, and to do it in a methodical manner. (Which is similar to the first point, but has enough differences that I gave it a separate heading.) And third, deciding which books to get rid of? Ooo, this is a huge learning point for me. I need to be careful to willingly give up books we’ve outgrown or have no more use for. But at the same time, I am urged not to get rid of things willy-nilly. And, I suspect God wants me to look at other things/attitudes/habits in my life, too. I feel the urge to cull here, too!

Now, if I can just get my brain to process and come to terms with these facts . . . and these books. <grin> Seriously, happy Easter to one and all!

@chaplaineliza

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Not One Hundred Percent

A Year of Being Kind blog – Thursday, January 9, 2014

Not One Hundred Percent

I didn’t feel one hundred percent today. Sub par. Nevertheless, I dragged myself out of the house this morning. Once I had started the day and was outside, I felt better. (I ought to take my own advice, since that’s what I’ve said to my children for years when they don’t feel very chipper in the morning.)

I had the opportunity to be with a senior for a bit today. This senior needed some assistance and companionship, and I was happy to provide it. We didn’t talk too much, but this senior was content to simply sit with me there as a companion. I was very much aware of the ministry of presence. My being-with this senior was loving and giving of myself.

I know what the ministry of presence is, but some do not. Simply put, it is not a human doing, but instead becoming a human being. Simply being present with another person. I’ve been told by many people that my caring, less-anxious presence can be gentle and calming. Sometimes that’s what anxious or frightened or upset people need. And oftentimes, I provide it.

Several of my former supervisors mentioned this aspect of my character (my giftedness?). I think back to how I began this post, and connected it to a verbatim I wrote for my first chaplain internship. The verbatim concerned a senior couple at the hospital where I did my clinical rotation. However, one of the most distinctive things about that in-depth paper was one of the learning issues that I dealt with at the time. How do I manage to navigate and work when I don’t feel up to par? Not one hundred percent? I was not feeling quite chipper for the clinical day at the hospital, either. Yet God was still able to use me.

I did pray before I went to the floors for my clinical chaplain visits that day. It’s amazing. I wrote this particular verbatim almost ten years ago, yet I can still see and hear portions of the conversation and interaction in my mind. Upon reflection afterwards, I was awed by the openness of both the husband and the patient. God has given me an open heart and open ears to listen to people who are hurting. That’s a big reason why I went to seminary in the first place—to get further training in how to more intelligently, actively listen to people, and to walk with them as they go through difficult places in their lives. I am surprised at how little I did say to both of these dear seniors, reading over the verbatim just now. Yet the couple seemed really happy with my visit, and really wanted me to come back.

This situation in my verbatim was early in my experience as a chaplain. However, even then I used the ministry of presence. Today I come alongside of people, being with them. Sometimes I talk with them, and sometimes I’m quiet. For example, like I was with the senior I helped today. I tried to be a gentle, friendly companion, and I think I succeeded.

@chaplaineliza