Dead Silent

Okay, I have a situation. After I had Bryant, I took a break from the choir, because of the demands on my time. I still wanted to be able to minister in some small way, so I helped out in the nursery a lot, and I took over the Meals Ministry for our church. The Meals Ministry organizes volunteers to take food to families who have babies, surgeries, when someone passes away, or have special needs. When this ministry was handed over to me, it was on a notebook piece of paper, literally. It had about 20 names on it. I got it organized and set up on-line so that the pastor in charge of it could utilize it as well as myself. I have also expanded the list of volunteers to over 60 (still not good enough since our church has about 600 members!). Anyway, I returned to the choir in January, and love it. But when I returned, I told the pastor over the Meals Ministry, that I needed to hand that over to someone else. He said he understood, then nothing. Next thing I know, someone else has a baby, and I get a phone call. "Can you line up meals for so-n-so?" Then someone passed away, and the phone rings again. "We really need your help, Jamie." So each time, I tell them... find a replacement, I have too much going on. But it's like their response is dead silence.

The last time this happened was last week. We had another baby born, and a charter member of our church diagnosed with inoperable cancer (Thank you Lord for his healing!). So I get another phone call. I tell them this time, that I feel that they are taking advantage of me and ignoring the fact that I have told them I can no longer do this. "If you can just do it this one more time," they say. I understand that it's hard to find someone you trust to head up a hands on ministry like this. YOu do have to be organized and thorough. You have to know if allergies are involved and you have to make sure they aren't all taking chicken casserole. And I really have enjoyed being a part of this ministry... but I have too much on my plate right now.

Especially with everyone on vacation and getting ready for school, guess who ends up taking meals when no volunteers can be found. You guessed it... me! So if I am to remain a happy wife, mother, employee, choir member, etc. the church really needs to find someone else.

My most recent communication with the pastor who heads this ministry was an e-mail. I would never be-rate this man! He is awesome. And I know he is overwhelmed daily with church needs, but finding a replacement no longer needs to be overlooked. I asked him to announce that this ministry has a need and stand back and watch the volunteers flow in. Most of our church isn't even aware of this ministry! When they hear about it, they want to be a part of it... wouldn't you want to be a part of reaching out on a one-on-one level?

Okay... I think I just needed to vent. Sorry for the novel!