Integrity

Today was one of the most challenging and mentally demanding days of my life. I am the chairperson of our Staff-Parish Relations Committee at church, meaning I oversee/assist/mediate the employment, policies, and concerns that come up between the staff and the people who attend church. Kind of a big job. Last night, we met with our District Superintendent (pastor dude who oversees this area of Oklahoma City) and the person who is being assigned as our new pastor. There are a lot of good qualifications and attributes of this woman (the new pastor) but the committee had some concerns that were not resolved. I spent most of today listening to and hashing out those concerns and relaying them to our D.S.
Finally, after talk about this for approximately 8 hours today, I told our D.S. that we would accept the appointment and hope that our concerns can be worked out.
Yeah, I know I'm being ambiguous here but I can't really reveal the details. I just know that I wrestled with myself and with God for a good portion of the day, trying to make sure I was raising questions that would affect our congregation and not just me. I have the church's best interest at heart and only want the best for my congregation.
I just got off the phone with our D.S. and he thanked me for my leadership and integrity in all this. I hadn't thought about the word integrity but I appreciate the compliment because I feel like I stirred up so much chaos in trying to do the right thing.

Sigh. I'm tired. My soul is tired. My heart is tired. My body is tired. I leave for vacation in three days and it can't come at a better time. Pray for me and pray for my church.

peace...........