Getting the Crowns Ready
I have to admit, working on a big project like the Spiritual Growth Retreat (SGR) is a huge undertaking! Kim Pickrell, the SGR Coordinator, will never admit to how hard she really works - and probably worries - over the many little details. If you attended SGR last year, you know Kim is a very creative and articulate perfectionist (I mean this in the most endearing way!). God will put a beautiful idea in her head knowing that she is going to run with it with all of her might and power. She is a living illustration and demonstration of 1 Corinthians 15:58…
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that you labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
I’m not writing about Kim to set her on a pedestal or toot her horn…. I’m writing about her to provide you with an example of someone who listens and obeys God’s calling on her heart and then gives everything she has to follow through on that calling. Everyone reading this blog post has some type of calling from the Lord…. teaching Sunday School class, singing in the choir, playing the piano or guitar, cleaning the bathrooms in the church, filling bowls with hot soup at the homeless shelter, baking cookies for the youth ministry, directing the youth ministry, wrangling your own kids after a long day of work and school to get them to youth ministry!! You may be the wife of the pastor, deacon, trustee, or missionary - tough jobs, for sure!! Perhaps you are the pastor, deaconess, trustee, or missionary - you go, girl!!
Whatever your calling is, continue to be steadfast (i.e., firm, determined, loyal) and immovable (i.e., not yielding to argument or pressure, fixed, unchangeable). Excel at your work for the Lord (i.e., proficient, brilliant, outstanding, skillful) and be thankful and blessed in knowing your work will not go in vain. Be joyful in all you do and give with a loving and humble heart. Below I listed additional scripture to inspire and motivate you…
“Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”
“Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you i all your work and in everything you do.”
“Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people.”
“And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
“Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord You serve the Lord Christ.”
“For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one the Lord commends.”
Though my dear friend, Kim Pickrell deserves a big pat on the back for all her work on this year’s SGR, I know that is not what she really wants from anyone. Instead, thank God for her steadfast, immovable, and excellent work. Let her example be one you follow and emulate, let it motivate you to work for the Lord with all eagerness, drive, love, and humility. So you can see some of the behind-the-scenes work already completed, check out the pics below of Kim and her team getting the crowns ready…
