How do we do it?! (Apologies to all English teachers for my inappropriate grammar.)
On the outside it may seem like things flow seamlessly at Jeremiah’s Place.
On the inside, I am reminded of a scene of Lucille Ball and Ethel working in a candy factory. Just when they think they are getting the hang of it, somebody somewhere speeds up the production belt. Soon enough, the candies are taking over, flying off the production belt, through the air, and mounting up as fast as lightning. Lucy and Ethel start stuffing themselves with candies in their attempt to keep up.
I have to confess there are days that I would like to stuff myself with candies in attempts to keep up. (Janet even made us a candy drawer.) But thankfully there is a better way that we have found to navigate a rapid-paced production belt of “All things Jeremiah’s Place.” It seems like a simple concept, but it affects everything we do every day. And it’s free and not as messy as candy.
The short answer for our long-term solutions is Prayer.
We start every day with prayer as a staff. We have an incredible volunteer who we call each morning. We start off by sharing our schedules, the points of our concerns for the day, and sometimes our personal issues that might impede our hopes for All things Jeremiah’s Place. She then gives us a daily devotion that is quite often exactly what we need in answer to our worries and/or concerns. Then she prays over us, our residents, volunteers, board, property, and whatever else God shows her. After that, we are ready to start the day.
I figure that if we start out by acknowledging who is really the Executive Director of Jeremiah’s Place (God), and if we walk with Him throughout the rest of the day, we don’t have to stress or worry about navigating whatever comes our way.
Pretty simple, huh? Yeah, simple is all I’ve got. My hope for All things Jeremiah’s Place is that we all live out Acts 17:28. That’s our solution for keeping up with all of the “sweet processes” that we call Jeremiah’s Place.
God Bless!
Kerri Johnson
Executive Director
North Georgia Interfaith Ministries – Jeremiah’s Place
LumpkinCountyHomeless.org