In between
Well Chad, Jess, and the kids should be home by now. We had a great time with them. I wish so much that they lived closer. I only have a few people in my life that truly know and understand me. Chad is one of those people.
I found myself in a mode of "survival" last night. We had a strategic planning meeting at the corps. It lasted three hours. I didn't want to go. I wanted to spend time with Chad and Jess. They are the ones that have stuck through rough stuff with us. This is my brother and sister. Regardless that we came from different wombs, we are still no less family than if we had come from the same womb.
I found myself at a crossroads. Do I blow off the thing at the corps to spend time with them, my family? Do I sacrifice three hours of time with them to serve my corps? There are +'s and -'s to both.... I think. I chose to go and serve at my corps. I am not convinced that was the best choice. Why, do you ask?
As a corps officer, I let my own family fall to the wayside for the corps. Don't get me wrong, we should be willing to sacrifice for God, but not the Salvation Army. Here is what I mean: again as a corps officer, The Salvation Army allowed me to give 125% to its mission. If you do the math, that leaves a -25% for everything else.
Our society has adopted an over achiever attitude stating give 100+% in your job. That is way off! God has simply given us each 100% of ourselves. As good stewards, we need to divide that up accordingly. Now I will agree that we should not do anything half way. We should do everything we do to the best of our ability as God has given.
So what percentage goes where? I made a horrific error when I put The Salvation Army at 100%. That left 0% for my wife, 0% for friends, and get this: 0% for God. This leads to catastrophe in one's life. I am a testimony to that. Don't get me wrong, I love The Salvation Army. We are taught that certain appointments are due to how well we do or how slack we are. We rate moves, appointments, and officers based on what appointments are received on move day. Officers then, not wanting to be seen as slack, overwork to maintain gradual promotion through the ranks. This is how they rate the success of their career. I say you should rate it by how many people surrendered to Christ.
I can't tell you how to divide yourself. All I can say is divide realistically. About last night for me: I do give a hefty percentage of my time to my corps. If I chose to not attend to spend time with my family from out of town, then that is ok. I will pray over this to find out if I chose in error.
I go back to work tomorrow. God, help me get through the day. My cold has come back with a vengeance. Talk to you later, guys.
Wayne
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10:52 PM
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