Christian Life

Conversations Continued: The Layers

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

Sometimes a coaching call is a one-and-done.

Other times there are a few follow up conversations.

My most recent coaching call caused me not only to pause, but to slam the brakes.

With every sentence, it was like peeling back layers.

There were so many layers.

One thing that struck out was their desire to remain anonymous. The exact quote was, “I don’t want my pastor or church to look bad. I don’t want my pastor to feel guilty.”

What!?

Friend, don’t try to be a hero. You’re not. Jesus is. You’re not.

Your pastor should feel guilty for not seeing this. What kind of rock is he living under?

Okay – you definitely need some support and I think this is an important story to share, so let’s think about how I can help you.

There are a few different Facebook groups that allow people to post anonymously.

But won’t someone know who I am?

Yes, usually an admin or moderator.

Oh – I don’t think I want anyone to know.

But YOU need to know you’re not alone. Even if you feel alone in your own church, there are communities of people who can walk you through this. Need I remind you, that you contacted me through one of those communities?

And then the ask: Can you post anonymously on my behalf?

I’m not sure that’s wise.

Why?

Because this isn’t my story. We’re very similar, and I’ve walked this path. But this one is not my story.

But also – I don’t want to help you through this alone. Quite frankly, I need help, so give me a minute to think [pray]. And so in a few Facebook groups, I shared their story.

The response was overwhelming supportive.

But let’s rewind: “I don’t want my pastor or church to look bad. I don’t want my pastor to feel guilty.”

I thought back to something a friend posted a few months ago:

Church leaders,

We must do a better job serving our teams and staff. I have another week of creatives telling me they are leaving their church position because of the leadership they are under. They are overworked, underappreciated and not heard or understood. They LOVE the church and want to keep serving the church but are burnt out.

Sadly I have a list of similar stories and one I have experienced myself.

This is not a expose to bring down but to bring a pain point that church staff does not feel like they have the ability to bring to their leaders.

What do you think we, as The Church, could do better to change this pattern? 👇👇

So – what can we do better to change this pattern? (I’ve addressed all of this in my previous post, but if you’re still not doing it, read it again.)

When scheduling volunteers – do not schedule people every week. Even your highest capacity leaders should not serve every week.

Promote teams from your platform during service. Don’t promote serving in general. Spend some time promoting specific teams. It’s VBS season. When was the last time you purposely gave a shout to your kids’ ministry?

Honor some of your volunteers during service. This one is personally a tough one for me. I don’t want to be recognized for something I’m supposed to be doing. Jesus has already died for me. My service is out of obedience to Him, not for recognition from my church. But – I do know this is a driving motivator for some people. It shouldn’t be, but it is. I’ve started a Volunteer of the Week social media post at my church. It’s helping to bring awareness to teams.

Give your highest capacity volunteers a church email. If you’re using a free email client or GSuite for non-profits, this won’t cost you a thing, but will give them some credibility in your church.

Put your highest capacity volunteers on your website. You may have a Children’s Director listed on your staff page, but if you’ve got service coaches or volunteer ministry assistant leaders, list them on an appropriate page. Again, this won’t cost you a thing, but can go a long way in helping a volunteer feel like what they’re doing matters.

Schedule a dinner with a volunteer in your ministry. Get to know them outside of church.

Don’t stack the schedule. Some volunteers (and even some staff members) can’t take the thought of another church event. Time away may be more valuable than time in.

Have a no fear policy. Volunteers and staff should feel like they can approach their Pastoral staff (supervisors/bosses) without fear of being fired or told they need to press in and trust Jesus. A high capacity volunteer or church staff member already knows that yet, burnout is real.

Listen, but don’t let go. A high capacity volunteer may need a few days off, but not out of the ministry permanently. The arm doesn’t always need amputated. Sometimes it just needs put in a sling or a cast and given time to heal.

Share your own story. Too many people are on the edge of burnout in silence and feel alone. Hearing your story could help someone who needs to hear it.

Enforce Sundays off. Entire Sundays. Social Media posts can be pre-scheduled. Other volunteers can be trained. Enforce Sundays off. Be mean about it.

Invest in your weakest teams. Healthy teams grow. People sign up to serve. People show up to serve. If you’ve got an unhealthy team, everyone has to work together to help it grow. Think about a hospital. The healthiest patients, need the least care. The most unhealthy, need life support. If you don’t invest in an unhealthy team’s growth, it will die.

Help me peel back some layers. How do you think churches can do better?

Burnout: What Is It and What To Do.

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

I’m resurrecting the blog! Why? Because I genuinely like writing. I’m not necessarily super good at it. I change tenses, will occasionally have a typo, and write conversationally, rather than formally.

But a podcast reminded me to quit listening to “the jerk.”

“The jerk” is the voice in my head saying, “don’t do it.”

Will I only get one – or maybe a handful of readers? Probably yes.

Is it all stuff you could read somewhere else or that you’ve heard before? Also, probably yes.

But it’s my blog. I like writing, and so I am.

When we left off, I had written about what burnout might look like. It doesn’t always look like a moral failure or something earth-shatteringly dramatic. Sometimes it looks normal until…BAM!

Didn’t see that coming!

I saw some warning signs with my son this summer and then one night…BAM!

He collapsed due to fatigue and dehydration, passed out for 5-8 minutes and we were on our way to the ER.

He’s fine now, and we were able to squeeze in a few fun things (would you like to go to the hospital via ambulance or via ferry boat on a sunny day?)

Within 24-hours of him collapsing and being taken to the ER, he was back on stage.

So today, I’m not going to give you all of the warning signs of burnout. When I tell you “how” to recognize it, the first thing I’ll do is tell you to surround yourself with people who will speak truth into your life.

My youngest son sometimes says, “Mom, put down your phone and talk to your family.” So, I do.

My youngest daughter sits in the front seat next to me in the car and when I’m tempted to check my phone at while at a red light, she stops me.

I’ve ceded control of my phone while in the car to whoever is riding with me.

Those may seem like small, minor things. But to our family, they make a big difference.

We’ve been operating in this mode for a few months – I’ve seen a difference.

Let me stop here and say that I have read – and I believe – that balance is a myth. I’m either growing or dying. Healthy things grow. Inactivity is stagnation. Stagnant things are dying.

However, I do believe in sabbath rest.

So, here are the ways I get there – and I’m able to do it on my busiest days when my “to-do” list seems endless:

  1. Surround yourself with the right people. I’ve already told you about my two youngest children. They are rock stars. My husband is awesome and so are my two oldest children. They tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.
  2. Set some hardline boundaries. I have about a 36 hour window each week that I absolutely will not work (at my primary job).
  3. Limit the side hustles for a season. If you’re truly on the brink of burnout, limit the side hustles. Focus only on your primary job for awhile. Another tactic: don’t accept any side hustles without first talking to your boss about how it may impact your work. If you’re not rested or your family is suffering, your work suffers. So if your side hustles mean you’re not truly resting and investing in your family, they’ll eventually impact your work. Limit them if needed.
  4. Look at hours, not days. If the thought of an entire day off seems like too much, take hours at a time.
  5. Compartmentalize your duties. There are aspects of my job that I don’t love. It’s why it’s called, ‘work’ and it’s why they pay me. I do those things during office hours only. There are other aspects of my job that I love. They are genuinely fun. Sometimes more fun than whatever sport my fantastic family is watching on t.v.. I’ll do those things at home. For fun.
  6. Add rest to your “to-do” list. Just yesterday, I added ‘read a book,’ and ‘take a nap’ to my to-do list.
  7. Use YouVersion. I’m in a YouVersion devotional with a few friends. Do this regularly to make sure you stay in God’s word.
  8. Make friends outside of church. Some of my best friends do not attend our church. Some of them work for other churches, some have other careers.
  9. Is it your church or your job? Before I started working at our church, I told my boss that my family had to be “all in.” We visited and they loved it from the start. My husband said, “THAT was a breath of fresh air.” My kids loved it, too. I know that even if I didn’t work there, our family would attend there and I’d likely serve the church by doing exactly what I’m doing now. If it’s only a job to you, I’ll be blunt: consider looking for another job.
  10. Remember the words of Romans 8:28. God works all things for good. Not some things. All things. Even crazy schedules and long to-do lists.

If you’re anything like me, the to-do list can grow out of control sometimes. It’s a challenge to keep it under control. But I also know God has called me to this crazy thing called “ministry” and I cannot imagine doing anything other than what I do.

It’s a weird cycle. I’m not defined by what I do – I know that first and foremost I’m a child of God. Don’t miss that. But I also know how God has designed me and wired me. I know my purpose.

I also know I’m in it for the long-haul, not the short-term so I have to find ways and times to rest, invest in my own relationship with God, and stay healthy, without falling into laziness or making excuses for things not getting done.

Hopefully this has helped you – even a little bit – if you’re struggling with boundaries or burn-out, send me a message. I’d love to talk to you.

For now, I’m preparing for next week and beyond.

New content coming each week: process, progress, assimilation, sustainability, forms, church management software, family, and whatever else comes to mind.

People (Continued)

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

As we’ve established, I love helping people take their next steps. Just yesterday – even after oral surgery – I was able to help someone find a small group and an area of service. It was energizing – even during the time of day that the oral surgeon told me I’d be tired!

But even with that being said, my comfort zone still falls squarely behind a computer screen. When dealing with people, I prefer email or text.

Gratefully, our Lead Pastor sometimes understands how my brain is wired and has allowed me to serve in a capacity that helps people take their next steps. At our church, we call it the “What’s Next” desk. It’s in a perfect place – out of the way, not obstructing traffic flow, and in a place where guests can stop by just before leaving the building.

For some special events, we might ask guests to stop by What’s Next and find out about our church.

For our last major event, we relocated the What’s Next desk to another part of the lobby (it’s on wheels). It was still off to the side – visible, but not obnoxiously in the way.

For Christmas Eve, we’ve had a donation of some cool coffee mugs, filled with candy and other treats. We’ll ask people to stop by What’s Next, sign our digital guestbook, and then we’ll draw names for some give-aways.

This is where it gets interesting.

I asked our Director of Worship Ministries where he’d like the What’s Next desk on Christmas Eve? His answer: Centrally located in the lobby.

Centrally located.

Centrally.

Really?

Yes.

Also, could you position it so that people can’t get behind it?

I’m pretty sure he hasn’t thought that through.

Or has he?

Because if people can’t get behind it…

and I’m a person…

then logic tells me that I cannot be behind it.

I came home and whined to my kids.

“People are trying to convince me that I’m a people person.”

“You are!”

I should also remind them that I pay their car insurance and their cell phone bills.

Would that make me a people person?

I do love helping people take their next steps.

Process.

Progress.

People.

Prayer.

As I pray, God is revealing that He’s using some special people (there’s that word again!) to help me take mine.

Let’s Reconnect

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

busy blurry shopping mall

It’s been awhile since I last blogged. I’ve been busy. Like this picture, life’s been full and a bit blurry.

I’ve worked for an accountant during tax season. I’ve worked for an orthodontist on a school holiday. But I’ve never been as busy as I am now – working for a large church and trying to be a relatively decent wife and mother.

And – let’s face it – what I do with church management software isn’t that interesting to most people. I could blog about it every day. Most people probably wouldn’t read it that often.

So, grab some coffee and let’s catch up.

First: the CCB People Reimagined update. Do you love it or hate it? I love it. I’m learning a few new things about it every day. The rest of the staff was divided at first. I think I’ve helped tip the scales, but the first day one of my co-workers sent me a text that said, “What happened to CCB?”

We’re using some new technology  – some that integrates with CCB. We were looking for a texting option (ie, someone could text a keyword to a number and we would have the option of setting up an automated response). We went with a company that we could link to CCB. Because of that integration, we now have the option of connecting all of that to a process queue.

I’m finally at a stage where all form responses are linked to events and also feeding process queues. It means a little extra work for anyone (um… me) setting up forms and events, but the end result will be more accurate report data.

And we’ve got almost all of our volunteer positions updated – including gifts, talents, passions, ability, personality style, etc.

Of course, there’s technology we use that is outside of the church management software.

We’ve installed a chat feature on our web site. It’s not connected to our church management software, but it is all a part of ‘communications’ and ‘assimilation.’ Two of my favorite words.

And I introduced our staff to Church Metrics. We can get most of our metrics data from CCB, but having a secondary platform will help us find any holes in the first platform.

Our Lead Pastor has allowed me to design a few new pieces of literature – all aimed at getting people connected – and further connected. He also didn’t fire me when I used the word ‘poop’ in a social media post.

I think we’re caught up for now. Comment and let me know how you feel about the CCB changes.

 

 

I Am Not Getting Fed

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

spoon candy

As the Master Administrator of our church management software, it falls within my scope of duties to make people inactive.

When I talk to my other friends who work in connections and/or database management at their churches, I know I am not alone in what I am about to write.

It actually hurts to fill in the data in the profile fields: “membership stop date,” or “reason left.”

The exact wording may be different from software to software, but – in general – it’s the same concept. There may be a date field, or a text field, or both. But it all boils down to: someone has left the church.

Believe it or not, in our church and in talking to my counterparts at other churches – the senior leadership cares about each person. In a larger church, it may be difficult to form deep relationships with each person, or even know each person by name. But Monday through Friday reports are being run and attendance in classes is being reviewed.

I know this because, not only am I asked to run these types of reports, but I am in regular communication with people at other churches who are also running these reports and discussing how we can do better at connecting with people.

And yet, this still happens – for many reasons. People move. God calls people with different strengths in ministry to different places to serve Him. But, the ‘reason’ that hurts is when people say, “I’m not getting fed.” (disclaimer: I haven’t dealt with this at my current church – yet.)

If you are mature enough in your faith to understand that statement, then you are mature enough to feed yourself. When my children were babies I fed them pureed baby food. On Easter Sunday, I watched them feed themselves prime rib roast.

On (rare) occasions, I will cook a large meal for my family – roast, sides, dessert – I labor over those such meals and it hurts when my family doesn’t like it.

Your Pastor (and mine) labors like that each week to bring a message to the congregation and while I have not confirmed this with my own Pastor, I would imagine that it hurts when someone leaves the church with the reason ‘I’m not getting fed.‘

In talking further to my counterparts, it is common to miss services on Sunday because someone inevitably has a database question, a communications question, or we just love serving with our guest services teams and helping people get connected. But most of us don’t need Sunday mornings to get ‘fed.’ We are connected in other ways – through small groups and listening to sermons online.

So now that we’ve determined that ‘not getting fed‘ can cause your database administrator to have a stroke (stroke jokes are flying around our office right now), hurt your Pastor, and that you have options to feed yourself, here are a few things to do if you feel like you’re going down that road.

1. Talk openly to your Pastor. Ask him (or her) to help you in your spiritual journey. Believe it or not, your Pastor cares about you. If it’s really time for you to leave, do so gracefully and do nothing to cause division or strife within the church.

2. Say no to anything that is keeping you from worship service for awhile. I am a huge fan of serving in the local church. Serving takes sacrifice, and you may miss a worship service or two (or eighteen), but when you feel like you’re not getting fed, talk to your service leader. Ask for a temporary break from service. Take some time to fill up before jumping back in to serving others.

3. Attend another church. Find another church that has alternate service times and visit every once in awhile. I, personally, would and could NOT do this regularly as I would feel too divided. I would also worry that I would eventually run into people I knew and rumors would get started. Ouch. But visiting another church can be good every once in awhile – not just to sit and listen – but also to talk to their leaders and get some ideas you can take back to your own church.

4. Listen later. Our church uses Facebook live video during each service and also has a podcast. I often listen to our Pastor as I drive to work Monday morning.

While I agree that it’s important for us to be ‘fed’ and to stay ‘filled up’ so we can pour into others, I also think that as we grow and mature in Christ, we need to take some responsibility for our own feeding.

I Am Not An Empire

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

listen neon sign

When I started this blog, I promised a few glimpses into my personal life.

It can’t be about church processes 24/7.

You’ll soon see why it’s critically important to ‘turn off’ once in awhile.

“I’m trying to save you from yourself.”

My boss (also my Pastor) has said that to me more than once.

“You need go relax or you’re going to have a stroke.”

My husband has said that to me multiple times.

“I’m not going to have a stroke.” – I said it with rolled eyes.

But, I did. Yes, I did.

Good Friday. Two days before Easter. Less than a week ago.

I. Had. A. Stroke.

Fortunately, it was small. If you’re going to have a stroke, this is the kind to have.

I have minor ‘deficits.”

I have numbness in my face and mouth – similar to when you receive novocaine at the dentist.

My speech is somewhat effected.

My typing is effected. I have to watch my hands on the keyboard.

I’ve already had one therapy appointment. It’s already helping.

I can drive, I can walk, my vision  hasn’t been effected. I haven’t lost memory.

I have a lot for which to be thankful..

One of my best friends recently wrote a blog post about saying, ‘no.’

‘“I’m trying to save you from yourself.”

“You need go relax or you’re going to have a stroke.”

I wish I had listened. I would be a different person today.

As I was leaving the office today for an appointment with a doctor (and discussing my recovery), our Executive Pastor commented, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Our Lead Pastor reminded me that I’m a human – not an empire.

 

 

 

New

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

ocean close up sea water dawn sun

Have you ever seen dawn? I saw it this summer. My husband and I were on a cruise ship that was due to dock early one morning. We woke up and watched a new day break from our balcony. We were pulling into port just as the city was waking up.

It was amazing to see the start of something new.

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling like I needed a day off. I hadn’t slept well the night before. My throat hurt. My eyes hurt. My nose needed running shoes.

But I really wanted to go into the office. There was work to do and I love what I get to do.

I took some vitamin C and ibuprofen, drank hot tea, used some eye drops and got out the door.

The morning didn’t go as planned.

I created and posted the worst social media post ever.

I cancelled a lunch meeting because I knew I just couldn’t get through it.

And I discovered a potential problem in our database that had me comparing the database to a life-threatening illness.

Knowing my love for the database, the problem was probably not with the database, but with my attitude yesterday morning.

And then I decided tacos and guacamole were the answer to all of life’s problems (nevermind the fact that there are stacks of Bibles in my office telling me that Jesus is the answer) so I convinced my co-workers to put me in the back of a car and take me out.

As we were driving back from lunch, I received a text.

My boss firing me for the aforementioned social media post.

It was from a friend I hadn’t talked to in months.

She wrote: “Praying for you. Isaiah 43:18-19.”

I logged onto my Bible app and looked it up.

“Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

How did she know I needed that?

She didn’t.

God did.

And God made everything new (although I’m still convinced tacos and guacamole played a small part).

My boss did not fire me for the ‘worst social media post of the year.’

He actually invited me to be a part of a leadership meeting.

I came up with a step-by-step action plan for fixing the potential problem with the database.

By the end of the day, I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave. I joked to our Executive Pastor that I would bring a cot and live there. He unjokingly told me, ‘no.’

Problems will come up in our days. The database won’t work in a way we expected. Technology may fail. We may just be having one of those days.

Be grateful we serve a God who promises to never fail us.

Yesterday I was grateful for grace and forgiveness.

I was reminded yesterday that God – not tacos and guacamole – does make all things new.

 

 

Open For Business

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

Mac desk office computer

Who is working this week?

I am.

I’m doing a lot of planning and groundwork so that I can hit the ground running in 2018!

This is a good week to review all of your communications assets – from the outward facing web site and social media accounts to your office productivity assets.

This week I know of one church that saved almost $90/month by moving to GSuite for non-profits.

If you’re using a Church Management Software, this is a good week to run some audit reports.

  • See if you need to merge any data profiles or make anyone inactive.
  • Check all of your profile fields for missing information.
  • If you’re using “membership type” information, see if any of those need updated.
  • Reach out to people you haven’t seen in awhile.

Enter all of the connect card information from your Christmas services. If your connect cards have any ‘response’ areas (check boxes; ‘write-in’ information), follow up with people this week. This time of year, people may be looking to (re)connect with church.

It’s also a good time to set some goals for the coming year. This year, I’ll be more focused on questions like:

  • Is this sustainable?
  • Is it necessary?
  • Can it be duplicated as we invest in new leaders and church plants?
  • Does it help people find and follow Jesus?

I am excited about what God has done in 2017.

I am even more excited about what I believe God is going to do in 2018!

An Early Christmas Present

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

Christmas gift present lights

Yesterday I got an early and much appreciated Christmas gift.

If you read this blog regularly, you will know how much I liked my job. Yet, at the end of the day, there were parts of it that definitely qualified as work. (Isn’t there always.)

You’ll also know that it’s really hard for me to “turn it off” sometimes most of the time okay, okay, all the time. See, I really REALLY like what I do. You might call it my hobby. Or my passion.

Read this.

But, clearly, there were some things about my job that my family wasn’t liking. And they made sure I knew.

The first day of my official unemployment, I was a bit stressed thinking about staying connected to my peers, keeping up with trends in technology and communications, and – let’s be honest – our family finances.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands. (Because that always works, right? I may have momentarily forgotten any scripture that says we should go to God first.)

Gratefully, God didn’t throw me completely under the bus. As a matter of fact, a Pastor that I greatly admire managed to connect me with some communications clients. They are social media and web content clients that I knew I’d be able to maintain even if I got a ‘real’ job.

A local arts non-profit has asked me to serve as their Communications Director. I’m excited about this opportunity. It’s a volunteer position, but they will give my daughter free tuition in their classes. That’s worth a lot.

But I couldn’t let go of some of the worry. (Clearly, I forget to read my Bible sometimes.)

I made a mental note of the job I wanted, the geographical area, my job duties, the hours, the organizational structure of the church or ministry, I had it nailed down and when I prayed, I prayed specifically for that job (not even knowing if it existed).

Yet, instead of believing that God was FOR me (and who could be against me), I began looking at any opportunity I could find. I think the term “throwing darts to see what sticks” could apply. One day I decided I could teach pre-school (I can’t). Another day I decided I could work in retail (probably not a good idea, either). Working in the medical or dental field? I do that on missions trips. I don’t want to do it all day, every day.

So a few weeks ago we were sitting in church and the Pastor was talking about taking our questions and concerns to God. Got it.

But…

Seriously, dude, there’s a but to that!?!?!?

When you do, you have to have your yes on the table first. Basically, he likened it to signing the contract agreement first, then reading the fine print after.

I’ve heard that before, but that day it really resonated.

As we left church, I made that statement. I’m done looking for a job. My  yes is out there to whatever you have for me, whenever you have it. Lead us where you want us next.

That very night, all six of us ended up going to the same place. If you’ve ever had college-aged kids, you know that’s a miracle. Normally, we have to pay our kids to hang out with us. But that night, all six of us. In the same car.

I ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in 7 years – at least. Her name wasn’t even on my radar as far as connecting with. I was surprised to see her, yet ecstatic. The most awesome thing was that after all these years, she seemed happy to see me. I love my friends. Even when I don’t see them for 7 years.

She said she’d kept up with me on social media and wondered what was happening lately. I told her that I really wanted to find a new job, but wasn’t sure what that would look like.

What do you do?

I told her what I do, what I felt like I was good at and then I said, “I don’t know what it looks like, but I do know it has to be with a church or ministry.”

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. She knew of the perfect job for me.

Oh snap!

Is it too soon? Have I communicated to my family that they are number one? Have we learned a lesson from this? Are there still more to be learned (isn’t there always)?

I decided to send my resume. It couldn’t hurt.

The ensuing whirlwind – meeting with the Pastor, talking to an Elder, another meeting.

Multiple confirmations from my husband and kids – multiple prayers answered and some things that just only could have come from God.

The perfect job I described to God was right there on the table.

And I still feel like I’m dreaming, but it’s very real. Do I get to say, “I’m living the dream?” I am.

December 14 – exactly one month to the day that my last job came to an end – the Lead Pastor looked at me and said, “I’d like to move forward with this.”

Technically, I start in January.

There’s a lot I can’t – and don’t want to – share right now. This story belongs to my future employer. It’s their story to tell and I’ll give more details when they feel comfortable.

What I can share is that God hears our prayers and answers them in His perfect time. I can share that God orchestrates everything – that nothing is a coincidence. Every person I’ve seen and talked to over the past few weeks has been a part of what is right now. These are people I hadn’t expected to see – people I hadn’t expected God to put in my path. But He did, and I’m grateful.

I can share that problems should be tackled head on. It would have been easy to sweep things under the rug and hibernate. Instead I looked at my family and apologized to them for the blinders I’d had on and for how I’d put the church first. How could we move forward as a family? What did they need from me in order to feel like we had a healthy family again?

I read a blog post this week about someone being on a plane that had some issues prior to taking off. In the end, all they had to do was turn the plane off and back on to re-set the computer system. I think that’s what God did. Turn it off, now turn it back on. In only one month.

Hearing the Lead Pastor say he was comfortable moving forward… hearing his wife ask if I could start early and have it be volunteer work (um, yes!)… knowing that my husband and kids were ready for this (again)… and realizing it was one month to the day.

Yesterday I received one of the best early Christmas presents I could have asked for.

Oh, and I’ll still be working with Church Management Software. The blog will go on…

 

Full Steam Ahead

/ Marcy Carrico / Leave a comment

train steam

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how some of my actions (and words) had been communicating to my kids (and husband) that the church and my work and service for her was more important than they were.

Understand that when you work for a church or ministry, there will always be some unpaid hours that have to be viewed as service. No one goes into church or ministry work to get rich. The Church is the Bride of Christ and we have to serve her selflessly. And, for some leaders, it’s really hard to ‘turn it off.’ For me, my mind is always drifting back to communications and connections. Always.

But my kids felt that. And they weren’t always happy about it.

So I’ve been intentionally investing in them and it’s been awesome. But there’s been that small voice in the back of my head.

How do I stay connected to my peers? How do I stay up-to-date on current trends and technology? What happens when we decide it’s time for mom to go back to work?

And – let’s be honest – even though there’s no “get rich quick scheme” in ministry, there’s college, insurance, and other bills. Another regular income would be great.

I reached out to a few close connections and was able to pick up a few clients that would allow me to work from home on web sites and social media.  They aren’t high paying clients, but they are people I want to help and it will help add to my resume. Even when I get a new job, these are clients I’ll be able to maintain on the side.

I had friends give me advice. Conflicting advice.

Wait 3-6 months, find a large church, and blend in with the crowd.

Get plugged in right away, serving during the time you’re not working can be like therapy.

I love my friends. They don’t always agree with one another.

Last weekend, starting with Sunday’s sermon, God worked in some incredible ways. From places we went, people we talked to, and a host of other things. The perfect job came across my way. If I had sat down and written out everything I was looking for in a job and employer, this would be it.

This week I’ve had to talk to the kids and ask: is it too soon for me to go back to work? Have we learned what God is trying to teach us? Basically, “are y’all good with this?”

Confirmation came from Alan. He’s on board with this. The kids are all okay with it, too.

Full steam ahead. We hope.

Please pray with our family, that if this job is God’s will, the details will work out and everything will fall in to place. If it’s not God’s will, we will accept that move on, but so far, things are on track!