"How are things over there?"For the last few days, I've been trying to figure out how to capture what life has been like in the last few months, and last night the imagery came at last.
It's like the bunch of us here at Westside have been given this ginormous platter of eggs to juggle. Since the beginning of this year, we've had a major cut in number of folks to help carry the load of both leadership and simply making sure that the day-to-day, week-to-week stuff happen. With the Beisleys' and Steve's departures, we went from 4 full-time pastoral staff to 5 for a few months when I came on, down to 2. Our elders also went from 4 down to 2. Even with all the preparation that went into preparing for all the transitions that happened, it still feels like a lot when the full weight of "stuff" finally sank in and we realised how much we were carrying as a church family.
The thing I've been most thankful for is that those that are left have thrown all hands are on deck to help keep things fairly well-balanced so that no single person has to juggle more than he/she can handle. But even then, it's still a big platter to juggle to make sure that the eggs don't fall off one side while we're trying to keep things balanced on the other. Let's face it, we're all human and our arms will get sore and tired from trying to help hold up the platter. Sometimes one of us has to carry more so the other can take a break.
And so we learn to communicate. We learn to trust each other that when one of us is saying we need a break, it's not because we're being lazy, but because we really do need a break. We learn to articulate when it feels like our end of the platter is getting thrown off balance again, and we learn to ask for help. We learn to share the weight of the platter equally according to what each is able to contribute so that the eggs don't fall off the less-than-balanced end.
And then there are the... oh, what shall we call it... negative forces, for lack of a better word, thrown in from time to time to off-set the new balance. Sickness, family circumstances and the situations beyond our control that try to throw off the balance from the top as we try to keep things even from below. So we learn to pray and ask for divine help to help tackle things coming from the top... Or what we sometimes know more affectionately as "not flesh and blood, but rulers, powers, the world forces of this darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
For the last few months now, Jonny and I have been alternating taking Kids' Church each week. The weeks I wasn't doing Kids' Church, I was alternating leading worship with Stephen. We all knew it wasn't the most ideal arrangement, but it was the best we can do for now. Until two Sunday ago when I came down with a fever and had to call Jonny to take Kids' Church for the second week in a row. Then yesterday, he came down with a fever which meant I had to lead worship and do Kids' Church right after that.
The harvest is plentiful. There's lots that can and needs to be done, but even with all hands on deck, it's still a big job to keep us going each week. I love the team I get to work with, even if not directly on leadership or on the Kids' Church volunteer team, but we're all being stretched really thin. The youth ministry is vibrant and energetic, but we desperately need a coordinator so that Chad can have a bit more time and space for pastoral care elsewhere.
I don't know who all of my kampong outside of New Zealand still reads this, especially since I haven't done the best job of writing here recently. But if you do and you're a believer of prayer, we covet your prayers. Pray for us specifically for protection over relationships, that as the going gets tough, we learn to continually put relationships first.
I leave you with this song by Jewel...
"My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray"
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