Becoming a WE instead of a Y'ALL

I spent 3 years living just outside of Memphis, and therefore I have picked up the language and the slang quickly. I often find myself saying "y'all", and often don't even realize I am saying it half the time. The other day I was sitting in the office at the church talking to some of the staff and I made the comment about something they were doing and my statement was "Well I don't know what y'all do..." my boss stopped me and said, "you're one of us now, its not a 'y'all' its and we." And it hit me, he was right. Even though I have physically been here just over 5 months I still frequently refer to the people and staff of Liberty as "y'all" instead of we. I am still mentally separate myself from the staff and church that I am now a part of. I know this is something I need to work on. How can I be a cohesive part of the staff when I still use us/them language? How can I lead children and families when I make myself an outsider? The answer to both of those questions is of course I cannot. God has lead me to this church at this time in my journey, and though I have physically moved and transitioned, I now need to complete that transition and move from a "y'all" to a "we."
I think that every one who goes through a time of change and transition has to make the shift from y'all to we. It has to be a purposeful change, one done with conscious decision. With each passing week and each upcoming event, I am beginning to change my vocabulary. I am trying my best to put my mind in the place of being included in the aspects of Liberty.  Just another milestone in this journey that is a life of ministry. And I am resolved to embrace each step of the journey.


Thankfully Growing at The Grove!

Miss Megan

Pictures from Kids Camp 2014

We had a great time at Kids Camp this year learning about how God wants us to live. The theme this year was WEIRD: Because Normal Isn't Working.
We looked at the lives of Ezekiel, Queen Esther, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, and John the Baptist. Each taught us a different lesson on how living God's way may seem weird to the world but is the right way to live.

Our favorite song this week was the 10 Commandment Boogie by The Go Fish Guys
                       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7rp1Ej9T98

I Need to Do What??!

In my past 6 years of being in full time ministry there have been things that have come up that I was never warned about/prepared for in college. I believe that I have learned just as much if not more in the real world of ministry than I learned in theory in college. Some of these things range from typical to slightly bizzare. Here is a short list for you:

1. What color/type of mulch is needed on a playground?
2. The plumbing make up of a preschool sized toilet.
3. What does happen when a child eats glue.
4. How to find the best possible route to pick up kids for camp.
5. How many batches of popcorn will feed 25 families
6. How do you get cotton candy dust out of your hair?
7. Designing a Theme/Logo for a ministry
8. Re Decorating a Childrens Building
9. Choosing/ Setting up  a security check in system
10. How long should you set the motion sensor light duration in a preschool bathroom?
11. How to balance the volume levels for the 3 stacked children's churches so that they are not turning it up to be heard over the others.

I know there are many more things I've learned, and I would love to hear things others have learned or had to deal with.

Learning and Growing at The Grove!

Miss Megan

The Feeling of Familiarity

God has been working on me lately reminding me of all of the good things that come with returning to the church that I grew up in. One of those blessings that come with returning to Liberty is the feeling of familiarity. I am able to work on a staff with a Senior Pastor that I have known for years. And though I have never worked for him prior to this, in general his personality is the same. In most situations you have the breaking in period where you learn your Senior Pastor and he you. Because we have both known each other, it was easy to transition into the position and meet the expectations the Senior Pastor has for me. It is as if we have been able to jump a few months into the future in our working relationship.I am also blessed to work along side a worship leader who also happened to be my Youth Pastor and my College ministry pastor. Instead of coming into a completely new staff, I had a familiar face to encourage me through the days of learning the ropes. I  have been able to get to know the rest of the staff very quickly and have already began to feel "at home" around the office.

Liberty has always been the church that I have called my "home church" in my time away and that is because I feel they are the church that launched me into my own personal ministry, and in the same way they have accepted me back into the church to be the leader of the children's ministry. Another aspect of this feeling of familiarity comes from the fact that we have so many families that are still involved in the church and more specifically the children's ministry. I have the awesome opportunity to serve along side of volunteers who I also served with years ago when I was here. This feeling of familiarity has allowed me to make a quick integration into the children's ministry and church as a whole. I have also had the privilege of serving along side some of the kids who were in the children's ministry when I left. They have now grown up and are serving themselves.

As the days go by the feeling of familiarity of grows. I am so glad that God has placed me back here at Liberty. Though at times it may feel like it is all new, I still have this great feeling of familiarity, it is a blessing from God.

Grateful to be Growing at The Grove!
Miss Megan