When Talking To Yourself...

Good evening [first name],

Tonight as the work week wraps up I’m wondering how many people headed home thinking about what they didn’t get done, how many people feel like they accomplished more than they had anticipated, and how many people went home content, that what they did this week was enough.

My children are going through a stage where whenever they don’t complete something to their fullest expectation, they often offer a critical self-commentary like “I’m just not good at this” or “I never do this right.” We’ve started having conversations about how we choose to talk about ourselves. One reframe we offer is, “I’m still learning how to do this” or “I did better this time than I did last time.”

My children’s behavior has caused me to reflect on my own and the behaviors of other adults (it happens more than I’d like to admit), and so I ask, what did you say about yourself as this Friday and week came to a close? How do you choose to speak to yourself when expectation and responsibility are on the line? Do you speak kindly, patiently, calmly with recognition of your efforts, your humanity, your place within a world in which you control very little? Do you speak harshly, with stress in your voice, anxiously, urgent for you to perform or execute or be better?

I pray for you that it’s the former. I pray you are gentle with yourself. I pray for you tonight that you may know that doing your best is enough, and even when you don’t do your best, you are still enough.

Peace,

Rev Elizabeth

PS - This past week the Administrative Council of LUMC gathered and had a jam-packed agenda. Much work was done, and more news regarding that work will be shared in the coming weeks. One tidbit though we all felt was necessary to share as soon as possible. Louisville UMC has decided to raise the bar upon our effort with how we engage Creation and aligned our church-wide policy to align as closely with the City of Louisville’s standards as possible. You can read more about those standards HERE. What that means for you and I is that you’ll see some changes likely around the building and at events, but also if you donate products for use by the LUMC community, please keep environmental efforts in mind. Please try to buy compostable, recyclable, and even previously recycled products when you can. The Ad Council and Mother Earth thank you!