Many blessings on you! My favorite part of Psalm 107 - the first verse - "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, those whom He has redeemed from the north and from the south, from the east and from the west."

Brittany - I felt like I could have written your first note (except we're expecting #1). I was raised with the concept that while staying at home is ideal, it just isn't practical. I was encouraged to pursue a career, and I've spent most of my adult life doing so. Since our dating days, my husband has been set on encouraging me in whatever I wanted to do. Recently we've been sitting under Biblical teaching that has really shifted our views, but we're stuck in a financial situation that will not let me out of work. My husband was unemployed for a while, and although is working now, I still make almost twice what he does (not saying much as I work with a nonprofit). Both of us carry college debt, and I carry heavy graduate school debt, too. We live very frugally, but if I were to quit my job and stay home we would loose our house and default on most of our loans.

My husband said something very freeing to me the other day, when we were talking about it and I was in tears. I was wondering the same as you - am I living outside of God's will? I felt so strongly called into my career, including grad school and current position - I couldn't figure out where I had gone wrong. He looked at me and said "I believe that your job is God's provision for us at this time in our lives. God has chosen to provide for us in this way, and when He chooses to provide for us in a different way, you'll be able to stay home."

It doesn't mean I enjoy dragging to work every morning, and dragging home to stare at the ever growing pile of dirty dishes (that I'm not washing because 1st trimester yuckies keep me out of the kitchen) or dirty laundry. But I'm learning two things:

1 - I may never have come to value the importance of staying at home if I hadn't walked through a period where I couldn't be there.
2 - I've learned to be grateful for however God provides, and I've once again learned I cannot dictate to God what my life should look like.

I hope that you're encouraged that God is not limited in how he can work, and that He comes to rescue us in His good timing. I rely on Psalm 107 often - it tells stories of how God rescues his people from what they believe they cannot survive, when they call out to Him. May you be blessed today!
~Amanda

Oh yes. With bad vision casters every other week it some new thing and a huge headache and scramble trying to make that new thing happen - because it always has to happen "yesterday." Finances turn into a disaster because the vision is so great, it "doesn't matter" if you have the resources in hand. Staff are left to simply figure it out and get it done ASAP - they get disgruntled and eventually burned out trying to add accomplishing the new vision to their already full task lists; occasionally they even leave with a bad taste in their mouths.

Its not a pretty thing - and I appreciate your wisdom to leaders to avoid this kind of behavior.

I was just reading this recipe the other day. Thanks for the great review - the DH's birthday is coming up soon, and as he's allergic to chocolate, this will probably be his treat this year!

I'm not sure if I'm a maintainer or a finisher - I don't think I understand the difference between the two.

Thanks! I'll look into those resources!

I feel like burnout always creeps up on our staff. We all seem to be chugging along just fine and then all of a sudden we're operating in burn-out mode. What are some early ways to identify it?

Results are probably my number one motivator.

Change is also a motivator - but only if it points directly to improved effectiveness or efficiency. Change for the sake of change is unsettling to me.

What about creative thought? Whenever someone comes to me with a creative way to try something that I hadn't considered before, it motivates me and energizes the whole staff.

I would say that although most people will be opposed, God will always confirm His calling - which He sometimes does through words of affirmation from someone. I always tell people who are considering an attempt at the "impossible" to look for confirmation of God's calling before moving ahead.

I feel that I'm in the middle of a God calling too.... I suppose I'd be worried if I wasn't!

I was a freshman at Houghton College, in western upstate NY - I had just moved there from Ohio about three weeks earlier. My 9 am class was Music & Christian Perspectives with the dean of our music school, Ben King. No one came to our class to tell us what had happened - all freshman had a 10 am orientation class in the chapel, but instead of orientation the whole college was called to the chapel. A friend of mine - Jesse, I think is his name - told me what had happened, as I was wandering about the chapel trying to figure out what was going on.

I remember he held my hand while I cried - mostly out of shock and disbelief.

We were in the middle of prayer for families, first responders and our country when we learned that the second tower collapsed.

My roommate and I spent the rest of the day in the dorm lounge watching the TV. Even now, ten years later - after having seen all the footage, had friends deployed to the Middle East, visiting Ground Zero, attending annual memorial services - knowing people who got out of the towers - I still struggle to believe it actually happened.

Today I'm praying especially for the first responders highlighted in the Ladder 1 documentary (9/11) that aired last night. I was struck as I saw men still suffering a decade later from PTSD, broken families, depression, and even cancer - the heroes of 9/11 still need our prayers and support.