My View from the Church Secretary's Desk: Chapter One Excerpt

Tami Marsh's Thriving in Ministry: Chapter One

We all have many roles in our life.

We start as a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, etc. Each faucet of our life has its own joys and responsibilities. This is what makes us the individuals we are.

We must recognize our strengths and weaknesses and use them to the best of the abilities God has given us.

How You Are Made

I am a natural organizer. I seriously have issues with things being out of order almost to an obsessive compulsive level.

When I was young, I remember cleaning my sister’s bedroom because it bothered me. She was never too pleased with that because she could not find anything. How my mother dealt with a neat-freak and natural-messy living in the same room all those years, I will never know.

Who we are will affect how we do our job. We do not all need to be an organizer. What we do need to do is be the best that we can be. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What do you enjoy doing and what is a torturous task for you?

Find your thriving point and excel there. At the same time, find out what you need to improve and work out the best methods to handle that. God not only made you who you are, but He also put you at this desk.

He has a plan for you, and you need to allow Him to work in you to make you the best person and secretary that you can be. Understanding your temperament and those around you can be helpful.

The Spirit Controlled Temperament by Tim LaHaye is an excellent resource to dive into this subject. This is not intended to look down on yourself or others, but instead to understand who you and they are and to work together in harmony.

The basic premise is that we are all made with a dominant temperament and when we are spirit controlled the positive traits win out, but when we are in the flesh the negative traits are evident. The key is to be walking closely with the Lord and keeping your temperament Spirit controlled.

There are other books available about this subject, but this has always been a favorite for me. I use this knowledge to help me understand myself and those working with me.

Shop from our affiliate link!

How You Spend Your Time

One second, one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year, one decade, etc. How much time do we have to spend on each task or pleasure in life? When it comes down to it, we all have the same amount of time in a day.

It is how we go through our day that makes the difference between the movers and shakers in this life and those which don’t succeed. Our time is best spent when we budget it.

Think of it like money. How much do you have? How much do you need? Is what you are doing worth the time involved? It is good to determine the time available and whether what you do with your time is time wisely spent.

Do not let it control you…you control it! This comes from setting boundaries.

My daughter is a pianist and during her high school years she was the only student pianist at our Christian school. This meant that all the singing groups wanted her to play for them. Not too much of a problem, except they wanted to practice all the time.

This became a lesson in boundaries for her. We sat down and made a spreadsheet of time for the week. We filled the slots of normal daily events. We then filled in her work hours. Her own practice and study time was then filled in. Before long, her schedule was looking busy.

This was a great exercise to visually see what time she had available each week. Once this was completed, we went to the principal together and let him know what time she had available and that the groups would need to be limited to only two.

She let him decide which two he wanted her to play for. Once these slots were filled, she was able to say a firm no to any others that asked her to play for them.

This tremendously helped with her time management and freed her from guilt for saying no to others. She knew she only had the time for those two groups, or something would fall through the cracks. She has used this technique now for many years and when her schedule gets overwhelming, she will make a sheet and figure out what is not important and be able to confidently say no when needed.

This same method could work for you. You may not be able to complete all the tasks you have been assigned. Then again, you may need more work to fill your time. A thorough look at your actual work time and the amount of time needed to complete tasks is a great way to see if there is balance in your work life.

You only have so much to give and if you have over budgeted your time available you will not be working at your best.

Pouring In and Out

Each morning, I fill my coffee pot to have a nice morning cup during my devotion time. To get coffee to pour out, water must be poured in.

The same is true in our lives. If we need the energy to go on with our day, we must pour in the ingredients needed to produce that energy. Eventually the pot will be empty and unable to pour out anymore unless it gets a refill. Make sure you are filling your ‘pot’ each day with what you need for the day.

Also, realize that you may need a refill along the way to be able to get the job done.

Shop from our affiliate link!

Your Personal Health Needs

Physically, what are you able to do? We each have different stamina. I would be unable to run a marathon, but I can plod along. I am an early riser, so a late-night work session is not when I am at my finest.

You must determine your best working situation and try to do the most you can at that time. Be sure to take care of your personal needs.

Get regular check-ups and stay on top of your health needs the best you can. Sleep well, eat well, and rest when needed. Take time for pleasure in your life. “All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.” This is true for us also.

Be sure you have ‘budgeted’ time to enjoy your life and not just be all work. I suffer with some health conditions. These conditions limit some of my involvement and mean that I have more doctor visits than the healthier person. It is important that I continue with my follow-up appointments and take my medication regularly.

Each of us will have our own health needs.

The important part is to realize that you must take care of yourself. Think of the safety speech before a commercial flight takes off. You are instructed to place the needed oxygen mask on yourself first and then on the person who needs your help.

There is no guilt in self-care. If you do not put that ‘oxygen mask’ on you first, you might not be alert enough to help the needy person. Then where are you both?

Your Personal Walk with God

Your personal walk with God is what should be the very core of your being.

When it is not healthy, nothing else will be healthy either. There is a sermon illustration I heard years ago about the black dog and the white dog and their owner that I would like to share to illustrate this point.

There once was a man who owned a black dog and a white dog that he would fight against each other on the weekends. There was gambling involved, and it became obvious that the owner had some special insight on who would win, because whoever he bet on each week, won every time. He was asked how he knew which dog to bet on. “I bet on the dog I fed this week.”

Such a simple concept. The dog that would win was the one he fed during the week, meaning that the other one was hungry and weak.

This could easily be applied to our spiritual walk. Which side is going to win the battle this week? The one that we have fed. So, if you have been in the flesh all week and have not been feeding your spiritual side, your flesh will win out.

Yet, if you have been in God’s Word and feeding your spirit with the right food, you will become spiritually strong. Everything in your life hinges on which side you are feeding. Especially your time at the church secretary’s desk!

If you are in the flesh, you will be more likely to snap back at those that treat you poorly. You will be hurt, and it will be extremely easy to carry a grudge and become bitter. These are all things that should not be done.

Shop from our affiliate link!