GinaMcClain.com

right?

i’m all about the formula.  i want to know what steps to take to get the results i want.  from the book i’m reading to ensure a high level of productivity in my job all the way down to the recipe i’m using tonight to cook dinner.  

(who’s laughing!  i cook… occassionally)

 the recipe is a formula promising that if i follow the directions carefully i too can create a culinary masterpiece.  thus the results i want.

there are formulas taught by others growing up that i’ve learned don’t always work.  here are a few…

my grandparents taught me that if i get a good job, work hard until retirement then social security and pension will take care of me through the ‘golden years’  

(job + hard work = financial security)

my parents taught me that if i go to a good college, choose a degree plan, land a job in that field then i’ll have the career i want and be happy

(good college + the right degree = your dream career)

many of us know how much these formulas do not work.  yet, we buy into them b/c they are a great measuring stick.  something to look at and see just how well you’re measuring up.  

although we know these formulas are not reality, there are a few parents continue to buy into that simply aren’t true.  try these one on for size.

right neighborhood + right school + right sports = well-rounded child

church on sunday mornings + church on wednesday nights + baptism + attendance at other church functions = Christ follower that may make minor mistakes but none that are particularly earth shattering such as teen pregnancy, DUI, or addiction to porn.  

let me break it to you gently.  these formulas don’t work either.  so forget them.  

here’s is what i’m learning today.  

love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength

love my neighbor as myself

teach my kids to do the same

leave the rest to God

As a pastor I confess that my job can get in the way of my family.  It’s an ongoing challenge to ensure my family comes before my ministry.  There are moments I do that well… and moments I do not.

Last week I had a moment that I did not.

Though numbers are not the focus, we certainly track attendance as a barometer to help us determine the success/effectiveness of an event.  With goals set, we chase those ‘carrots’ all year long with the best intentions.  One such goal is to maintain strong attendance in our discipleship program from August to May.

Why do you need to know this?  Setting the stage, I guess.

Last week was the first week of school.  Josie started the 1st grade.  She was puh-umped.

All day school… Lunch in the cafeteria… more nervous energy than she knew what to do with.

It was also the first day of KONNECT.  (KONNECT is our kids discipleship program.) Now that Josie is 6 years old, she gets to participate in KONNECT.  Again, she was puh-umped.

After picking the kids up from school, we ran some errands, horked down grabbed some dinner and headed off to church.  Josie was borderline psychotic clearly tired by the time we arrived at church.  She’d had a few melt-downs since leaving school.  I debated on the wisdom of sending her to church and thus being up 2 hours past her bedtime.  I envisioned the following morning and the probability of outbursts that register on the Richter scale.

Despite the wisdom of just keeping her home and allowing her opportunity to rest, I took her to church.

Why?

Numbers.

If she wasn’t there, it would count against our numbers.

Like I said, sometimes I do a good job of putting my family first… and then there are moments like these. 

(Cue music as she is crowned ‘Mother of the Year’)

Sitting in the McDonald’s drive thru waiting to order a highly nutritious meal for my kids, I’m amused by the pictures on the drive-thru menu.

A perfectly assembled hamburger on a dinner plate sitting next to a bowl of fries. An elegant, sit-down meal.

It would be funny if it weren’t so ridiculous.

It’s the same smushed, less-than-picture-perfect, quasi-meat burger that’s about as healthy for you as a tapeworm.

Does sticking it on a dinner plate change anything?

You can put a pig in a gown and it doesn’t make it a princess.

It’s still a pig.