Interruptions...

It is sometimes embarrassing to admit how much I love a good “to do” list. I love writing it all down, and then marking it all off as I complete each task. No, not simply checking it off so you can still read what you’ve accomplished, but a BIG BOLD BLACK line in permanent marker. I like to visually see that it is done, finished, and know that I don’t have to look at it again. 

One of my biggest struggles in life has been when my “to do” list is interrupted. On a good day I will let it roll off my back and just move ahead putting today’s  “to do” list for tomorrow. On a bad day the crankiness creeps in, irritability raises its ugly head, and my whole day spirals downhill (at least that is my perception).  

As I’ve continued in ministry through the years God has taught me numerous lessons related to interruptions. He has taught me so much about coping with and dealing with interruptions, because life doesn’t follow my “to do” list. He has taught me about His love and tenderness towards others in the midst of interruptions. (Anyone have small children?!) And He has taught me A LOT about patience! 

What about Girls’ Ministry? What are the interruptions?  

How do you react when you are in the middle of teaching Bible study and one of the girls begins telling the group about some girl drama and her hurt feelings? What do you say when another girl confesses that her parents are separated and it looks like they will divorce and it is not during the designated time to share prayer requests? And what about the girl who is sometimes there and sometimes not, do I see her as an active member of the girls ministry and the church or an uncommitted interruption to the core group we are trying to build in the ministry? 

Hopefully, we all know how we would answer these questions and how we would respond to embrace the ministry in the moment. Because the reality is these “interruptions” are not interruptions at all, they are life.  

The more I’ve learned to look at the “interruptions” as an iatrical part of the abundant life in Christ and opportunities to minister in His Name, the less important my “to do” list becomes.  

What about you? How do interruptions interrupt you? How do you feel when things don’t go as planned? How do interruptions hinder your joy in ministry and in life? What are we teaching the girls (and their parents) in our Girls’ Ministry with the way we cope with and deal with what appear to be interruptions?