Today’s guest blogger is Mary Margaret Collingsworth, who is new to our Lifeway Women team. Her post today is timely as this is such a busy season of life and ministry. Mary Margaret represents a lot of the young women that we are trying to minister alongside of and reach, so I hope that you’ll feel free to dialogue with her when she blogs. I know you will be blessed by her post.
I desire to be a woman and leader who finishes well. Easier said than done, right? It seems like I always have a stack of books that I’d love to read, or a list of things I need to do, or a crafty project that just sits in the corner unfinished. In ministry, there are always women who need to be contacted, an event that needs to be planned, and another piece of paperwork that just has to be submitted.
The struggle is that finishing well is hard to define. Have we ever truly done enough or said enough? Are we reaching the lost like we should? Have our goals been met? Many of the things we do are ongoing, so you can’t even check it off a to-do list! Much of what we do as ministry leaders is hard to measure.
One way to determine whether or not we are finishing well is to take a step back and look at our own lives. What we can (and should) focus on is our faithfulness to the Lord where he has called us to serve. Are we being faithful with the people and the role that God has entrusted us with? Have we done our best? Colossians 3:23 speaks into this when Paul says, “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.”
I hope that as we head into the week of Thanksgiving that you can really rest and catch up. Take some time to figure out how you can finish out 2012 well. You still have time! The things that you’ve left on your desk will eventually get done. Sometimes, you just need to take a step back and see how you can be intentional with what you’re doing and truly finish well.
I would love to dialogue with you about this topic of finishing well, so feel free to comment below!
What are some areas where you’re struggling to finish well right now?
Mary Margaret is a native of Orlando, Florida and serves as an Event Project Coordinator at Lifeway. She works alongside Chris Adams and coordinates all of the Women’s Ministry training events. Mary Margaret has served several churches in the area of Girls Ministry and she recently completed a Master of Arts in Christian Education at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She loves cooking and traveling and can often be found online tweeting and blogging.