“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
I’m on the train heading north after a study day at PLNU. Here’s what’s rattling around in my brain at 6:05am on a Tuesday morning…
The last few months I’ve been considering my health a bit more. I went in and saw the Dr for my yearly physical, things were ok, not great, but ok. He want’s me to get back on the diet, exercise regularly, sleep more, and eat better. It’s the same four things he tells me every time I see him. He’s happy where my numbers are, but they aren’t as good as they were three years ago after I lost the weight. Plus I’ve put 35 of the 130 pounds I lost back on. I also learned that I’ve got a right hip that has arthritis and a bone spur (motorcycle accident), a right shoulder that has a torn rotator cuff (youth ministry injury), an old injury to my right foot that never healed right (dropped a piano on it), and a lower back that is constantly reminding me that I put myself through college as a piano mover and a hospital orderly. My doctor suggested that, “maybe it’s time you started being nice to yourself... you are, after all, a senior now! Particularly, could you pay attention to the right side of your body?” He has a very dry sense of humor!
Ouch… and hilarious.
During this same time some fascinating things have been happening at work, both good and bad. But if you’re an observer of human nature, it’s always fascinating. First, my buddy, who is also my boss, got sick. He’s what we call a District Superintendent. His job is to give guidance and council, provide leadership, and oversee 74 churches on our district in my denomination. We’re a geographically small district, only 30 miles north and south, and 40 east and west. But in our boundaries lie the lower Los Angeles basin, part of Riverside county, and Orange County. About 3.6 million people. My buddy has a big job. On top of that he came home from a missions trip this summer with a virus, they’re still not sure what it was, but it set him back for about a month. Here’s where I come in. I was asked to assist him in working with a couple churches that weren’t healthy. They are nice people, both groups of them, but had been without local pastoral leadership for awhile, and started to have trouble in morale and in some financial issues.
To cut to the chase… both churches are now doing ok, one requiring an adjustment to leadership and the other some “surgery.” But both are filled with great people and will be fine in the long term. In any case, my buddy is well and back on the job, and he’ll take care of any mess I left behind.
The other thing that happened this past month was an award that a ministry of the church I serve at received. OC Parenting Magazine’s readers voted our preschool, Discovery Depot, the number #1 preschool in North Orange County, California. A pretty significant achievement, considering that we’re talking about an area that holds about 2 million people. This kind of thing doesn’t happen without a leader, and we have a wonderful preschool director in Michele Nelson. She has done a great job of casting vision, keeping people on point, balancing the requirements of the State of California against the desires of the parents and the constraints of a budget, and helping everyone to stay focused on ministering to kids and families.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
It’s amazing to me how thinking rightly about things puts you in a place where health can flourish. Thinking right helps you act right. Getting your head around what needs to happen helps people, and organizations, move toward health and away from unhealthy behavior.
I’m going to have to wrap my head around the fact that I need to be, “nice” to myself. After all, I am a senior now! ;-)
Blessings on you all, have a great day.
PJ
