Thursday, January 19, 2006
Moving out of the way
Last night I announced to my class that I would not be teaching after the first of March. I will not be able to predict how tied down I will be with Diana and the babies. She may spend a couple of weeks in the hospital before they are born and it is a very high probability that the babies will spend a couple of weeks there after they arrive.
Our quarter at church runs December, March, June, September, I don’t know why unless it is to coordinate with school starting in September (even though it starts in August). Anyway after the initial “what will we do?” questions we ended up having two ladies who were willing to co-teach the class. I was very proud of them.
Sometimes when we feel guilt over letting a project go we may actually be standing in the way of someone else rising to the occasion. I am not really a good teacher, but I have been willing and have tried to rattle some cages to help this special group of ladies to question the things they have always accepted as undisputable. I am not sure that I have been effective in changing the way they think, but it has truly helped me to grow. It is strange but I feel somewhat like I felt when I gave my children away in marriage, somewhat sad that they will be continuing without me, but extremely proud of any role I have had in preparing them to do so.
Our quarter at church runs December, March, June, September, I don’t know why unless it is to coordinate with school starting in September (even though it starts in August). Anyway after the initial “what will we do?” questions we ended up having two ladies who were willing to co-teach the class. I was very proud of them.
Sometimes when we feel guilt over letting a project go we may actually be standing in the way of someone else rising to the occasion. I am not really a good teacher, but I have been willing and have tried to rattle some cages to help this special group of ladies to question the things they have always accepted as undisputable. I am not sure that I have been effective in changing the way they think, but it has truly helped me to grow. It is strange but I feel somewhat like I felt when I gave my children away in marriage, somewhat sad that they will be continuing without me, but extremely proud of any role I have had in preparing them to do so.
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At my old congregation, we started doing a round-robin kind of teaching arrangement with our Wed. night ladies class. We were studying out of books and at the beginning of the quarter would sign up for the chapter we wanted to lead a discussion on. It was a great way to get people involved who might otherwise not have ever taught a class. Quite a few ladies found out they had a gift they didn't know about!
I've come to that same conclusion, Donna. I'm such a jump in and do it because nobody else will person, that I know I am inhibiting some leadership growth in others. After stepping back and letting go of pretty much all my responsibilities at church last year, I discovered that the things that were important did get picked up by someone else and it wasn't the end of the world for the things that fell through.
For us "eager beaver" types, setting back is a spiritual discipline that must be learned. It takes so much dependence on God for me to let go of things, including the good things sometimes. I'm just learning that sometimes the good things aren't such good things when we do too much of a good thing. You know how when a kid is setting next to you in the car and the brakes get thrown on....the adult automatically throws their arm up and across the child to shield them. Sometimes opportunities come up and it seems I can literally feel God throwing His arm up to shield me from doing too much.
It is hard--sad--to move on a bit--but you are most likely going to be really busy with God's next adventure for you and your family! I know ya'll must be getting really excited! I am praying for Diana, and babies A, B, and C!
If your teaching is anything like your blogs, I know you are a good teacher. You are always challenging those of us in blogland.
God always equips the called and He will use those two ladies just as He has used you to help grow His children.
Meanwhile, you may be VERY busy with the grandbabies! What a great job!
God always equips the called and He will use those two ladies just as He has used you to help grow His children.
Meanwhile, you may be VERY busy with the grandbabies! What a great job!
I think it's neat that you have equipped these new ladies to step up to the plate. That's a sign of great leadership to be able to give it away to capable hands.
Enjoy those grandbabies!
Enjoy those grandbabies!
Making the decision to give up control of something you care about is hard. Having something else to be excited about makes it easier. Sounds like your priorities are in order.
You just do what you can do, when you can do it, and when you can't do it, just let somebody else do it. Don't stress. God has been in the Bible teaching business a long time. He can find somebody to take over for a while and let you focus your energies where they need to be.
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