Moody Monday

Most of today plucked my nerves like nobody's business.



It was one of those days that just started out badly: I woke up with a headache and that is a sure fire way to tick me off good and proper.  From there, going to work, it only got worse.  It was no one thing that annoyed me.  It was everything.



Being the church secretary can be really, really hard, when you are also a member of the congregation.  What this translates into is that anyone can ask me to do anything secretarial at any time, despite the fact that I only get paid for 20 hours a week, Monday through Friday, 8:30-12:30.   If I am in the building, I am free game.  Add to that the fact that we are very small congregation and do not yet have a permanent pastor, so there are a handful of us who are really pulling most of the weight.  I'm sure that this is true in many churches, but when you are small (about 100 people) you can really feel it.  So currently, other than being the secretary, I am a member of the prayer group, a member of the praise band, co-youth group leader, and co-Sunday school teacher for the teens.  That translates into a lot of hours in that church.  Do I want to have my hands in all these pots?  Hell no.  But with being small, and not having a lot of people in my age range, there are just no other choices and these are things that need to happen.  I told Paula today (the other stretched too thin employee) that once we had a pastor and had done some growing, I was going to give up everything but praise band and co-youth group leader.



The thing that really bothers me is on Sundays when people will ask me to do something secretarial for them.  I get there at 7:30am to rehearse with the praise band and then help lead worship from the singing perspective at 8:15.  Service is usually over at 9:15 and that gives me 15 minutes to grab coffee and fellowship before having to co-lead teen Sunday school.  But almost every single Sunday, someone traps me in those 15 minutes needing something, and usually something that was not given to me to do during my normal shift during the week.  (Remember that saying "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part"?).  But I do love these people and would feel nasty and un-Christian like if I said no.  So I do the favor and then later feel almost hurt that people think they have the right to ask me for things when I am there to worship, fellowship and then teach.  Am I being too sensitive?  Add to that all the WLS stuff I have been dealing with and stressing over and I just want to yell "WILL EVERYONE JUST BACK OFF FOR A FEW MINUTES PLEASE???"



I did vent all this to Paula this afternoon and felt better for getting it off my chest.  I told her I was simply whining, but it had to be done and it did.  Then I blew off prayer group tonight, partially due to my headache (which was pretty much gone by then) and partially because I just needed to be home in the quiet and not in that building for awhile.  I love my job, I do.  It allows me to be here when my kids leave for school and when they get home.  I don't have to (officially) work weekends.  I have some creative license over what I do.  I love the people for the most part.  But sometimes I just wish people would realize that I am not a salaried employee.  I get paid for twenty hours a week and then probably put in another 10-15 hours a week in youth group stuff, banner repairs, flower repairs, making sandwiches for fundraisers etc.  I'm pulling my work load as well as my volunteer load.  So, it is really too much to ask to have 15 minutes on a Sunday morning for cup of coffee?