Eeyore

On Sunday our interim minister gave a sermon about the "Eeyore"s in the church. He's been serving as an interim, or supply, minister for 30+ years. Needless to say, he's run into a few Eeyores over the years. His perspective of an "Eeyore" is a person that is an eternal pessimist. He also referred to them as a "stale air" Christian. The people who will always look at what is going wrong in the church, constantly overlooking what is going right. Yes, it is important to be aware of what is going wrong in the church so we can do our best to fix it and grow in Christ. However, we have to remember that our hope is in Christ. We can't focus so much on our shortcomings that we lose our hope. To get back to the point, the minister was trying to convey how ineffective our ministry becomes when we are Eeyore Christians. No one would be attracted to a ministry that is perpetually down and "woe is me" - our message is more potent when we provide the "fresh air": all of the qualities of life that have improved as a result of our walk in Christ.

Needless to say, these last few days I've been in a slump. I'm not sure if I was an Eeyore per say, but I certainly wasn't feeling like myself. Now, there are loads of quotes I could put in now: "Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present" or "There is no time like the present" but my favorite on this topic: "You will never 'find' time for anything. If you want time, you must make it." -Charles Buxton I love that quote. I use it frequently to get myself in gear. Knowing how out of sorts I've felt the last few days, and how much the rest of the work week would increase that disarray, I knew I had to do something drastic. Last night before bed I wrote out a to-do list of all the little things that I needed to accomplish. And I prayed about it, for the energy and the focus to get things done.

I worked on and off, mostly on, for 13 hours. I ignored my cell phone. I didn't turn my computer on until I needed to print out a recipe. I didn't even turn on my TV until I had crossed several items off my list. Even then, it was movies - no commercials and less distraction. (Also, less need to actively watch because I own it on DVD!) I think my boyfriend thought I was dead. (Or that he was in the dog house for unknowingly upsetting me and that I just wasn't talking to him. Either way.)

Thankfully, I had a fantastically productive day! Which, I think is the result of prayer more-so than sheer determination. I moved a few things around with the hope that I would be more diligent (music to transpose, devotional binder, etc) Let's hope that my spirit is renewed and that I will be a more diligent, optimistic, "fresh water" Christian and can have a positive effect on those around me.

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied."

-Proverbs 13:4 [ESV]