Back to Work

If I were you, I'd skip to the second paragraph... The longer I leave between posts, the harder it is to work out what I should write about. I've got a very good reason for not writing anything last week: the doctor signed and stamped the form that said stay home, rest up & try not to pass the germs on to your housemates. The days I spent on the couch did give me some good thinking time (to break up the DVD time) but I haven't worked out whether that means I should follow up on last week's post or switch to something else and write about what I'm up to back at work.  Can I do both?

It was great to be back in the office today and not feel like I'm the bearer of all things contagious. I'm usually in the office Mondays and Fridays. Tuesdays through Thursdays I'm out and about teaching in Vienna. I've been reminded recently that keeping in touch with my supporters and making time for adding more supporters to my team really needs to be a priority. I'm in the privileged position of being able to do work for TWR already, even though I've only just started building up a support team. The danger is that I can get so into the things I can do as "Ministry Assistant" that I lose sight of the long term goals and the fact that I can't do any of this work without the practical support of those who choose to give towards my salary and costs. 

If I only remember one thing from the training I've had on developing a support team, then this is it: communicating with my supporters is not the thing I have to do, so I can build up a salary and then start doing the 'real' work. It is part of the 'real' work. If you're supporting me financially, you're investing in the work that TWR does to minister to people across the planet. You are part of that ministry. My job is not better than yours, it's just different...which is good because I know nothing about social work, pharmaceuticals or European banking regulations.

OK, so trying to follow up on some of last week's thoughts on the topic of singleness as well as write about what work looks like was rather optimistic. What I will say is that I had some really interesting and helpful responses. I'm particularly grateful for an article from a friend, which highlighted the fact that as a Christian I am called to be thankful to God for where I am now. Why? Because that's his plan for me at this point. He is using this to help me examine different thoughts, expectations and beliefs, and to work what's good for me and what's not. So I'm trying out what it's like to be thankful for the very fact that I am single right now. I have a feeling there are some lessons  for the long-term here...