Along with the position of Children’s Bible Teacher came the privilege of being included in the Leaders group. Even though I didn’t see myself as a leader, the thought of studying the Bible with a group of women who put their faith into action serving the Lord excited me. The title didn’t seem to fit me, though. I’d always thought of myself as independent minded. I enjoyed doing my own thing and the freedom of not being responsible for anyone but me. Something happened over the summer vacation that suddenly changed how I saw myself, and further prepared me to lead the children in a way I could never have planned.
It so happened that our church was hosting the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. Thinking it might help prepare me to be a good leader, I signed up for the seminar. It turned out to be geared toward business leadership, but I did find some information that could be applied to managing children. Looking back at the notes I took, which were few, three of the points turned out to be key in teaching the children. They were: “Creativity = putting imagination into practice,” “Innovation = putting great ideas into practice,” and “Enjoy, not just endure.” Being a graphic designer, I could easily relate to the first two points. The third point was a little more challenging but ended up playing a crucial role in my first year of the children’s ministry and also helped me journey through caring for my mother.
The seminar was wonderfully planned with video interviews of successful people sharing their wisdom and illustrated with lots of practical experiences. I was so impressed with how the material was presented that I began to wonder if perhaps my next purpose was seminar presentation. As I listened and tried to absorb what I could from the information offered there was much that didn’t seem to apply to me until a woman shared a story about mountain climbing. When she first started I thought to myself, “That’s something I would never do.” and was tempted to day dream instead. I was really glad that I didn’t because the lesson she shared, intermingled with climbing up the steepest part of the mountain, was what stuck with me most from the entire seminar.
The lesson came as she shared details of what she called “hitting the wall.” She described it as a place where you feel like you’ve gone as far as you can go. Thinking you can’t go any farther, you’re tempted to turn back without making it to the top and finishing your goal. She told of how when she had gotten to that point in her climb, others on their way back down the mountain encouraged her to keep going. They told her how beautiful it was at the top and how much it was worth the struggle getting there. Encouraged, she continued with tiny little steps. One tiny step at a time was all she could do but it moved her forward and before she knew it she had made it to the top. I wasn’t sure how that story would make me a leader but I somehow knew it was an important lesson to remember.
Another lesson came while on vacation that suddenly changed how I thought of myself. It happened in the Minneapolis airport when Jim and I were returning home from visiting my aunt and cousin. We had also played golf in North Dakota, checking off the last midwest state left for us to play in our goal of playing all fifty. While waiting in line to check-in, a man came and drew the ribbon in front of me, closing off the line. Pointing, he instructed me to go to my left. As I walked that way I could see how far I had to go, through the maze of ribbons connected to poles, just to end up back where I was, only on the other side of the ribbon. So, to save myself a few steps I decided to duck under the ribbon. That’s when I heard the man yell, “I knew that was coming!” When I looked back I saw that my husband had followed me, which I had expected, but to my surprise I saw the entire line behind us ducking under the ribbon. Then loudly the man said while pointing to me, “And she started this whole thing!” As embarrassing as it was, in that moment I saw that whether I realized it or not, I was a leader. People were following me and so the only question was, what kind of leader was I going to be?
Later I realized that everyone was forced to follow me or lose their place in line. As smart as I thought I was, I had made the airport employee’s job a lot harder. With all the confusion I had caused that day also came a clarity that showed me, as independent as I thought I once was, my actions were affecting others. As I began to feel a greater responsibility for my actions and the example I was showing to others, I became even more determined to look to God for instructions. With each step I took through Leaderville came the instructions and encouragement I needed to continue moving forward when the going got tough.
To be continued . . . see teacherville
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