Paperwork, Paperwork

Wow!  All those years ago when God called me to follow His leading to go into full-time ministry, I would never have guessed how much paperwork I would be doing.  And let's get real, I really should be doing more!

You have to keep track of EVERYTHING as a missionary - important personal documents for you and the entire family.  You have to track every single penny of ministry money and account for it.  (Which is cool by the way.  Accountability leads to credibility.)  You have all of your ministry things you have to keep track of, names, places, dates you have agreed to and times, how many people were there, how many responded, how are you following up on them, what are you using to teach them, what have learned and what do they still need to learn, what is God teaching to you & what do you still need to study, etc, etc, etc.  - And don't even get me started on the IRS stuff.

Office work is not my strength.  In fact, it is my weakness.  Really, I hate it.  I mean, I really loathe it!  It sucks the life/ energy out of me.  When I know I need to do a lot of office work, it is so demotivating.  I avoid it as long as I can, until it reaches the point that I know I must get it done or dire things will happen.  I can't help it.  It is just how God put me together. 

I am much better with people and would rather be with them.  But, the office work HAS to happen or the people time won't be as effective and pretty soon it won't even be happening without it.

We have been on the move almost non-stop for the last 6 months: from Costa Rica, to the US, all over the NW, to Argentina, to different parts of it, and finally to settling down in San Salvador de Jujuy.  Of course, "settling in" is a relative term.  I still need to buy a file cabinet.  I still have a ton of filing to do.  I had receipts overflowing from envelopes and drawers.  I have been pulling things from every different place and trying to go through them, sort them, compile them, file them, report on them, etc.  Not my strength.  Did I mention that?

But, as badly as I dread it, I MADE myself sit down and really crank out the paperwork this week.  It has taken hours and hours, my back is killing me from sitting so much and being hunched over receipts, and I am more cranky than I should be for all of the strain, but it is getting done!

I e-mailed off a huge report this morning.  Yea!  I made great progress on a second one and should finish it at the start of the week.  I made lots of progress on all my IRS stuff, both for last year and for this one.  I still have a long ways to go, will need to make lots of phone calls to my financial experts to figure out how to properly account things, and I really want to move on with MINISTRY - but, I have made GREAT progress and it feels, well, GREAT!

I already can't wait to go out and buy a filing cabinet so that I can get more organized in my ministry side of things and better be on top of what we have done, what we are doing, and what still needs to be done.  Yes, I did say it.  I can't wait to buy a file cabinet and get to filing!  Amazing how progress in a difficult area can invigorate you.  : )

The first pastor I worked under when I came right out of bible college was one of the most organized men I have ever known.  One time I had to go back to him and ask him for a form that he had given to me, but I had "misplaced" somehow.  He looked right at me from behind his desk with a funny smile and said (and I have never forgotten this exact conversation)
"You want to know if I have another copy of a form that I gave to you?"
- Yes, I am sorry.  I lost it somehow.  Do you have another copy of it?
"Let me get this straight.  You want to know if I have a copy of a form that I gave to you?"
- Yes, I know.  I'm sorry.  I don't know what I did with it.  Do you have another copy?
(With a much bigger smile.) "YOU...want to know if I...have a COPY...of something that I...gave to...YOU?"
- Yes.  I know.  I know!  I'm so sorry.  I don't know what in the world happened to it.  I can't find it anywhere.
(With a huge grin and a laugh) "OF COURSE I HAVE A COPY OF IT!  I GAVE SOMETHING TO YOU.  I KNEW YOU WOULD NEED ME TO HAVE A COPY OF IT. : "

> Thank you Pastor/ Mentor/ Figure/ Friend - Wendell Kruger  : )

...It was a pivotal moment in my life.  I was so embarrassed, but I knew he was right.
I have worked and worked and worked on being more organized over the years.  I still hate it, but I still see how far I still have to go in this area.  Sometimes I have friends who "think" I am soooooo organized.  Rookies!  I guess they are still even more unorganized than me.: )

Reality - I am WAY more organized than I used to be.  I am so much better at it.  Yet, it does not come naturally to me.  I will always have to WORK at it, while other areas of life and ministry just flow so naturally.  I hope that one day it will be natural.  I just don't think I can count on it.  Lol.

You always play to your strengths.  It is what makes you successful.
But you must always build up the weak areas in your life.  It is what will keep your success from tumbling down. "It's the little foxes that spoil the vine."

Go get organized people, or whatever "little fox" you have to deal with before it "spoils the vine."

God bless you all -
Have a great night.  Love you-
Paz : )