On Monday, our district had its annual "day apart with the Bishop." Bishop Jane Allen Middleton talked about the recent results of a leadership tool that all the pastors in the conference completed last fall (including five "observers" for each of us, three people from our congregations, a colleague, and our district superintendent). I may say more about this tool, and my results, later.

But for now, I will share about a DVD that the Bishop showed called, "For the Love of It," by Dewitt Jones, a photographer who has worked for the National Geographic (I didn’t find the DVD on the website; I’m guessing it’s no longer available). I have seen one of his DVDs before, the one called Everyday Creativity (in a class at Asbury). Both were excellent!

I took some notes from the one we saw on Monday, which was essentially about enjoying what we do and doing what we enjoy. The following may or may not be exact quotes …

Do I work out of necessity or for the joy of it?

It’s not about finding a new job; it’s about finding a new way of looking at your job.

Begin each day with a full cup. (Jones’ mother)

Hang out with people who are in love with what they do.

Act as if you love what you do.

A bird sings, not because it has an answer but because it has a song (i.e. don’t worry about making a difference; make a contribution).

When you love what you do, you pass it on (i.e. it’s contagious).

Some of these may not make sense out of context. Feel free to ask questions or offer feedback by clicking on "comments."

My favorite concept from this DVD was the "begin each day with a full cup." This is a great concept that has obvious connections for Christ-followers, and perhaps especially church leaders. We must begin each day with a full cup, which means we must find ways to fill our cups!

We made a lot of progress on the required paperwork for the adoption process today. The top priority, at this point, is a pre-application to Americans for International Aid & Adoption (AIAA), which basically puts us on a waiting list for a formal application (after a screening process). AIAA is the agency that we have been referred to, to pursue adoption from South Korea. We will continue to work with our local agency, Adoption Horizons, as well.

We also started and/or completed paperwork for the Department of Immigration and Naturalization, child abuse clearances and criminal background checks, and various other items.

Next on the agenda involves scheduling physical exams and obtaining passports. Also, after Immigration processes our paperwork, they will send us a form that we will take to the nearest FBI office to be fingerprinted. This process will certainly be an interesting experience!

The good news, though, is that the amount of paperwork for Korea is less and easier than other nations, for some reason. With everything else going on this year, we’re grateful for that!