After our really successful Summer Splash weekend, the only thing she had to say about it was to issue a memo to me, my DH, the YP, the SP, and the other board members to say that the money that was donated was deposited incorrectly. SP is not happy about it, because a.) she usurped authority and issued the memo without his consent, and b.) the way we deposited the $$ was HIS idea!!
Not to mention, she and her husband left early on Sunday. Which wouldn't have been bad, except that her husband had signed up to help run the grill, and left the other guy stranded, and we had to find someone to take her shift at one of the games. No idea why they left - if they weren't feeling well, or were ticked off about something...or whatever.
Fortunately, everyone else was having a blast, and had a fabulous attitude about it. And it was still a phenomenal success.
I am trying so hard to pray about the situation with the right attitude and the right heart - I know praying out of anger and asking God to smite her is not exactly the way He would have me pray . I know that she is just one mouth and that I shouldn't let her upset me. I don't know why it matters what one person thinks of me or my ministry, when everyone else is behind me.
I am just an impatient person - just call me the Veruca Salt of ministry ("But Daddy," I say to my Heavenly Father, "I want our CA gone NOW!"). But unlike Veruca's daddy, mine seems to be telling me "No" at the moment. My mom would say that He is trying to work on my heart and give me the right attitude. And she would probably be right.
But AAGH!!! Who says there has to be one in every church? Was that a requirement? Did Jesus tell Peter, "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it, but just for fun, I'm going to give each congregation an impossible antagonist"? Can't we all just get along?
Funny story, though: CA has this habit of, whenever she doesn't like something, saying, "The Board doesn't want you to do that." Well...during our Kids' Crusade, we got a little bit of Hershey's syrup on the sanctuary floor during a game (while she sat there looking like she'd just swallowed a quart of pickle juice!). After the service was over, I went in to clean it up before it dried and stained, and another board member was watching me clean it. He said, "Hey, it looks like you got a little bit of chocolate on the floor!" This is a very newly elected board member, so without thinking, I jokingly said, "Shh...I don't want the board to find out about it!"
Realizing my mistake, I then said, "Hmm...I guess it seems kind of funny that I'm trying to keep it from the board when one of the board members is standing there watching me furiously scrub the mess out of the floor!" He just laughed and said, "Oh, well, it happens!"
So after it was over, I went to SP and his wife and said, "We got some chocolate on the floor, but I cleaned it up got The Board's approval, so it's okay!"
Anyway, sorry for rambling on and on about this - I'm really just trying to gain some perspective and have a good attitude about it, because hate, anger and hopelessness is not going to help my ministry or the church grow!!
This lady is obviously off her rocker spiritually. You are dealing with a Jezebel, for sure. Don't lower yourself to her level. You're so much bigger than all that. This lady is not only off base spiritually but she just leads such a small life, as my dh likes to say. Just keep interceding...we're standing with you.
DH brought home the memo for me to read yesterday, and to show how silly I thought it was, I called my dog over and handed it to her! The thing about my dog is that she usually likes tearing paper apart with her teeth (don't ask - she's kind of odd ) - and anything that lands on the floor is considered "fair game" to her.
A few hours later, I came upstairs to find CA's memo still lying on the floor, still untouched. My dog didn't even want to deal with it !!
Just had an awesome time of prayer, where God showed me that I need to change MY heart and life before I can ask Him to change someone else. Duh. But I needed the reminder. I committed to YP that I would pray every day for her and the senior high kids at camp (she brought 12-13 kids up there this week!), and I know that this was distracting me from interceding for them today.
So I prayed for awhile - in my journal and in the spirit - and asked God to change my heart and to help me deal with this, and I felt such a surge of power and authority when I went to pray for the kids at camp. I am excited to hear all about what God did in their lives (Dang...why does my mom have to be moving THIS weekend?!?!? I'm going to miss the testimonies and I'll have to hear about them later!!).
. I know that she is just one mouth and that I shouldn't let her upset me. I don't know why it matters what one person thinks of me or my ministry, when everyone else is behind me.
) - and anything that lands on the floor is considered "fair game" to her.
