{"id":2576,"date":"2012-04-20T04:43:03","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T08:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=2576"},"modified":"2012-04-19T22:06:13","modified_gmt":"2012-04-20T02:06:13","slug":"scrambled-a-sad-tale-of-woe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/scrambled-a-sad-tale-of-woe.html","title":{"rendered":"Scrambled–a sad tale of woe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On Monday of this week, I spent almost all day working on The Special Gathering of Indian River data base. \u00a0Then I printed a set of labels for our members, \u00a0one for our elders and friends and a third set for local church pastors. \u00a0I also printed our monthly pastors\u2019 letter using the data base to personalize each letter.<\/p>\n

While our data base system is much more complicated than any system with which I\u2019ve ever worked, I do understand how it works. \u00a0True, I spent about three years confused about how to do certain things; but our executive director and I spent three days a couple of months ago teaching me the in\u2019s and out\u2019s of the system. \u00a0Now I know have a handle on what is needed and how to make the data base do what I need for it to do.<\/p>\n

I was particularly happy Monday night because I had updated the system, printed my labels and gotten my letters printed with the March 2012 income\/expense statement on the back of the letters. \u00a0Each time I passed the table where they rested, I was happy that I\u2019ve gotten all the little hitches straightened out; and I could accomplish the job correctly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This morning when the Newsletter team was labeling the newsletter, I got a text. \u00a0\u201dYour letters and labels don\u2019t match. \u00a0They are way off.\u201d \u00a0Each month we send our monthly 12-page ministry newsletter to pastors and include a letter updating the churches with what has happened during the month. \u00a0Puzzled, I texted back.<\/p>\n

How could this happen? \u00a0I was so proud of my accomplishment. \u00a0The pastor\u2019s letter is put into the newsletter. \u00a0We print the letters and the labels in the same order so that they coordinate, making it easy for the newsletter team to match letters to labels.<\/p>\n

Just as I was getting over the shock of my scrambled labels, I got another text. \u00a0\u201dRan out of newsletters for you because you ran too many labels for your members.\u201d \u00a0Somehow I\u2019d run double labels for our members. \u00a0Disheartened and confused, all I wanted to do was to drive the 50 miles to see if I could help straighten out my mess.<\/p>\n

There are times that we flub an endeavor and we know that we haven\u2019t done a job quite up to par. \u00a0But then there are times like today when we believe that we have done a good job\u2013perhaps the best in years\u2013and find that we have scrambled and confused everything, making a lot of extra work for someone else.<\/p>\n

I am again reminded of Titus. \u00a0Paul emphasized to his young pastor friend that as leaders we must always be seeking to live a disciplined life. \u00a0That means we should be seeking God to purify us. \u00a0I was really humbled today. \u00a0My inability to do my job correctly meant that other people had to work twice as hard doing their job.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>None of us live in a vacuum. \u00a0Almost everything we do affects someone else in some way. \u00a0Early this morning, my good friend, Diana, texted me and simply said, \u201cI love you and I\u2019m praying for you today.\u201d \u00a0Later in the day, I was extremely grateful for her prayers because of the mistakes I\u2019d made. \u00a0Even though I\u2019ll tell her how much I appreciate her text and why it meant a lot to me, she probably won\u2019t be able to imagine what an encouragement her prayers were to me.<\/p>\n

Have you had a scrambled day? \u00a0Was there someone who reached out to you? \u00a0Perhaps you were able to be a Diana to another person today. \u00a0How did that happen?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday of this week, I spent almost all day working on The Special Gathering of Indian River data base. \u00a0Then I printed a set of labels for our members, \u00a0one for our elders and friends and a third set for local church pastors. \u00a0I also printed our monthly pastors\u2019 letter using the data base…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,186,49,16,147,8,17],"tags":[690,21,688,699,715,701,694,709,375,6],"class_list":["post-2576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-leadership","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-teaching","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-leadership","tag-newsletter","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nScrambled-a sad tale of woe - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/scrambled-a-sad-tale-of-woe.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scrambled-a sad tale of woe - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On Monday of this week, I spent almost all day working on The Special Gathering of Indian River data base. \u00a0Then I printed a set of labels for our members, \u00a0one for our elders and friends and a third set for local church pastors. \u00a0I also printed our monthly pastors\u2019 letter using the data base…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/04\/scrambled-a-sad-tale-of-woe.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-20T08:43:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-04-20T02:06:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/specialgathering.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/handbase.jpg?w=210&h=210\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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