Crowding Out The Spirit

Woo-hoo!

I said "No" to something!

Very exciting. Scary, but indicative of growth.

In the course of The Process, I've seen all church work as work assignments, which cannot be turned down. Unfortunately, I'm still working full time, and now training as well. Can't do it all. I realized in retrospect that when opportunities for ministry have been presented to me, they've been framed as instructions, rather than requests. I wasn't asked. In at least one instance, it was a ministry that really didn't feel appropriate for me. But I took it, because I wasn't asked, and I assumed I had to.

So, I've been thinking and praying about being overcommitted, and last night as I prayed before I led Evening Prayer, a phrase came to mind. "Crowding Out the Spirit."

When I'm fighting to get everything done, I'm not able to be attentive to myself, those around me, or, most importantly, God.

So this morning, I mustered up my ovaries and emailed my priest. One of my assignments needs to go. I'm open to discussing which program gets cut, but was clear that I could only work on one or the other.

Let's see how it goes!