dance party r.s.a.

Limakatso is the handicapped children's center in Intabazwe which is run by Irene, one of our Basotho staff members. She planned a big celebration for all the children who have had birthdays between January and June, and I took the interns to help with the party. I hadn't been at the center in over a year, and I loved getting to see the children again. While there are many new faces, there are still many who have been with us since we started. They have grown and learned so much! I couldn't believe my ears when children who barely spoke, replied to me in perfect English!

We spent a lot of time outside playing with the kids. The "formal festivities" (in typical African style) included an official welcome, opening prayer, receiving of gifts, snacks, and a hot lunch. Oh yeah...and dance time. The kids spent almost an hour simply "getting down" to some crazy music. I wish you could've seen them dancing their hearts out with no inhibitions.

I also wish you could've seen our wacky attempts at dancing along!

birthday party fun

Yesterday was one of our staff members' birthdays. The girls organized an evening of togetherness, game-playing, and cookie-decorating (although all I participated in was cookie-eating). Some highlights of the evening:

• Playing Cranium Turbo with the staff gang
• Successfully spelling "Alabama" backwards, each team member taking a turn saying a letter
• Eating cookies shaped like hippos
• Dancing with Kelly to the timer music
• Not knowing who sang "Islands in the Stream"
• Discovered that "Volvo" is Latin for "I roll"
• Enjoying my only bit of alone time all day by crashing on the couch and watching the Tuesday Night Line-Up

thank you

With a small gesture, someone made my day today.

As I was dropping off some of the interns, one of them turned to me and signed "thank you". It caught me off guard and I didn't even know how to respond. For some reason, it resonated deep inside me. It seemed quite significant, and I kept thinking about it as I drove into town.

Maybe I'm reading too much into such a small gesture, but to me it spoke much more than just appreciation. It spoke of the genuine friendship that's formed between us. A friendship I'm grateful for.

Oh, and Becca...

staying strong

I've grown much better at recognizing what I need to stay strong. It's been a journey. One we know our staff need to be on, so we recently challenged them in this area. Since we aren't in this for a sprint, but for a marathon, we need to take responsibility over our lives to ensure that we stay in the game for the long haul. We, as the ministry leaders, are responsible to them, but not responsible for them. Each of us carries the personal responsibility to stay strong and not burn out.

For many people, though, the most difficult thing is the first step: identifying what they need to include -- and to avoid -- in their day, week, and month in order to stay strong. (And this is different for each one of us.) I think it's a challenge for some because it seems to go against our theology of putting others first. But we can't continue to put others first successfully if we don't make ourselves and our own personal emotional/physical health and strength more of a priority...

Anyway, I've become more aware of my own needs in this area. One specific thing is my need to "shut off" at the end of the day. I've realized that when I stay up late working, I have a very hard time falling to sleep. My mind stays in "high power" mode and I am literally unable to stop thinking, answering emails in my head, and going over what I need to do in the coming day(s). Insufficient sleep then makes me grumpy (ask Niel!), and unproductive and inefficient when I am supposed to be working.

In the past several months, I have gotten much better at leaving my work in my office when I finish at the end of the day. Sometimes my "quitting time" is still later than it should be, but now when I leave work, I literally leave work. I used to check email again before bed, but now I intentionally do not turn on my laptop. I know that it will start my brain wheels spinning and I won't be able to shut them down!

I find I'm sleeping much better than I ever have. It's amazing! And...it's Biblical: Overwork makes for restless sleep. Well, waddayaknow?!

What do you need to be more intentional about including -- or avoiding -- in your day/week/month to keep yourself strong?

personality disorder

I was recently challenged by a staff member (and friend) to be more personable in what I write for the ministry (newsletter, web content, brochures, etc.). He pointed out that I write completely differently in my blog than I do for ministry things. I know that I do, and I've felt it's been with good reason.

While my blog and personal emails simply reflect me and my personal thoughts and personality, my task of writing for the ministry is weightier. My aim is not to reflect my own personality, but the entire ministry. I need to portray a more professional, business-like side. When I explained all that to him, he relied, "Yeah, but it's as if you write with NO personality." Ouch.

It's given me pause to step back and re-look at things. I have a hard time finding the balance between being personable (without it being too much of just me) and professional (without it being cold and impersonal).

We are embarking on a big relaunch of our website soon (this same friend has been working hard on an amazing new design and format!). I will soon be starting the process of writing all the content for the new site. Which leads me to my question...

Any thoughts on how I can put more personality in my ministry writings?