{"id":1679,"date":"2014-11-18T03:11:51","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T03:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2014-11-18T03:13:18","modified_gmt":"2014-11-18T03:13:18","slug":"a-spoonful-of-sugar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2014\/11\/18\/a-spoonful-of-sugar\/","title":{"rendered":"A Spoonful Of Sugar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Dru McLeland navigating the unexpected call of God on her life to the world of \u201cpastordom\u201d which continually surprises her with its supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2014\/11\/Super-Nanny-first.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[1679]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1681\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2014\/11\/Super-Nanny-first-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"Super-Nanny-first\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2014\/11\/Super-Nanny-first-300x199.jpg 300w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/96\/2014\/11\/Super-Nanny-first.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>The call process, a nice way of saying \u201ctrying to get a job in ministry,\u201d is an interesting journey. I am currently in \u201cthe call process.\u201d\u00a0 Recently, I was happily surprised that a church actually called me for an interview because they saw my profile on Covconnect.\u00a0 After the interview they even asked me to come preach!\u00a0 I began to be cautiously excited about the possibilities.\u00a0 Of course the time I had for sermon preparation was interrupted by life.\u00a0 I heard through the grapevine that the church was most likely going to hire someone else.\u00a0 Saturday I came down with the flu.\u00a0 Sunday morning thirty minutes before the service started I was told \u201cOh by the way there\u2019s a youth sermon you\u2019re responsible for and you\u2019re leading the service.\u201d\u00a0 Of course as a pastor I should know the order of service since the Church has been using the same one for over half a century.\u00a0 Thanks to God and Dayquil I made it through.\u00a0 Several people, including members of the search team, said how much they enjoyed the sermon and that I did a great job.\u00a0 \u201cThat was just what we needed to hear!\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0After church my husband showed me the grading sheet that was enclosed in each of the bulletins except my copy.\u00a0 I would give myself a C+.<\/p>\n<p>I am coming to believe that it is a miracle that any church actually hires a pastor and that any pastor actually agrees to be hired. \u00a0I say this a little bit tongue in cheek.\u00a0\u00a0 Churches seem to be looking for Mary Poppins who is \u201cpractically perfect in every way.\u201d\u00a0 She comes with all the right accoutrements in her bag.\u00a0 The pastor will come to save the day!\u00a0 The magic bullet!\u00a0 If they can just get the right pastor all will be well.\u00a0 The church will grow.\u00a0 Young people will come in droves.\u00a0 The finances will be flush.\u00a0 You name it. The right pastor will make it happen.<\/p>\n<p>But of course pastors are looking for the perfect church.\u00a0 People who are \u201csold out\u201d for God, 100% and 100% of the time.\u00a0 People who will embrace the glorious vision of the future and readily accept the changes and new trajectories necessary for a healthy missional church.\u00a0 A church that will invite and welcome the visitor and show the seeker the way, care for the poor and the powerless&#8230;\u00a0 The list is long.<\/p>\n<p>Guess what?\u00a0 There are no perfect churches.\u00a0 There are no perfect pastors.\u00a0 We are all dependent on God\u2019s grace, mercy, love and faithfulness. \u00a0After all, this about God, not us.\u00a0 There\u2019s only one Mary Poppins and she\u2019s fictional.\u00a0 However, it never hurts to tuck a bottle of Dayquil in your bag just in case\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=1679&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dru McLeland navigating the unexpected call of God on her life to the world of \u201cpastordom\u201d which continually surprises her with its supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness. The call process, a nice way of saying \u201ctrying to get a job in ministry,\u201d is an interesting journey. I am currently in \u201cthe call process.\u201d\u00a0 Recently, I was happily surprised that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-testimoies-and-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Spoonful Of Sugar - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/bge\/2014\/11\/18\/a-spoonful-of-sugar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Spoonful Of Sugar - Commission on Biblical Gender Equality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dru McLeland navigating the unexpected call of God on her life to the world of \u201cpastordom\u201d which continually surprises her with its supercalifragilisticexpialidociousness. 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