Not meant to work alone

As a secretary I create a lot of posters. Sometimes I do a really bad job and sometimes I amaze myself (whether other people are amazed, I don't know since I can only speak for myself). Unfortunately the bad drafts always come first. I have learned not to create posters when I'm in a bad mood or I have been stressed for a while because those are truly scary.

Wednesday I created a poster I was quite happy with for the junior high ministry's next Tuesday night series (Not Alone) and sent a jpeg to our junior high guy - the image is above. He liked it, but was picturing something else. So he asked if I could get a different picture, one of someone walking alone.

I admit I was skeptical, it painted a totally different picture in my head, but if I have learned anything in my 2 years at this job it is that I am often wrong, I need to have other's opinions and the picture on the poster is important - it sets the stage for a lot of impressions. So I went in search of a more suitable picture. In my hunt I discovered the image that follows (thank you, iStockphoto). I loved it because I knew I could make the picture itself the poster - all I needed to do was add text. It is simple and powerful.

I look at this image and the words on the page and I want to stand in front of a hundred people and teach on this topic!!

List of Fifty (one)

I had the privilege to speak to the high schoolers at my church yesterday morning. The topic was simple enough for me to speak on because it was the story of my life with Christ. In the midst of my talk, I spoke of the times of life when we are pushing through confusion - when the stack of unanswered questions is dauntingly high - and suddenly we pop out the other end and some things finally make sense. We are able to breath once more because 5 of the items on our list are answered or clearer. We still have this list of 50 things, but it doesn't seem as daunting any more.

Yesterday a few friends of mine added one more item to my "List of 50" - the things in my life that need prayer saturation. After my talk, one of my friends told me I should go into public speaking, and my boyfriend seconded her opinion. I must confess myself quite taken aback! The fact that the Lord was moving through my words that morning was made clearer and clearer as I spoke to more people - praise Him with me!

I must confess that I do enjoy speaking - telling people all that the Lord is teaching me and sharing with them all that I have learned in hopes that the Lord will use my words as one way to touch their lives as He has mine. I forget, in the months and years that span between the times I have taught, how much I enjoy it. The thought of actually trying my hand at it more than once a decade had never occurred to me, though. Being a lawyer has occurred to me; being a teacher has occurred to me; I am a secretary, and I am a writer. But me? a speaker??

Apart from the Lord I can do nothing, and so the "List of 50" is in constant flux as I turn to Him and as He answers me. It's interesting, as I think and pray, a number of things that I have been told over the years suddenly take on a whole new meaning....