This was the title of the workshop Jeremy and I taught last Friday. As mentioned in my previous blog, I was pretty nervous about teaching a workshop at our network’s annual children’s leaders conference. For a long time Jeremy and I felt that we should teach a session and this year the opportunity presented itself. Jeremy was asked to speak and he quickly added me into the mix.
Now teaching adult is something I don’t do very often and co-teaching with my husband is something I don’t do very often. This combination had me on edge. It would have been easy to skip the experience and tell Jeremy to do it on his own. I’m very familiar with the role of being the cheerleader for my husband and staying behind the scenes. However, I knew that I will never grow beyond my current skills if I say no to new opportunities. One of the things I was told by a mentor was seize all opportunities – that meant beyond my writing ambitions and into the platform of speaking. I’m much more comfortable behind my keyboard, but I decided to step up to the challenge.
Before I tell you how the actual workshop went, let me give you some background. Jeremy and I offered four topics that we could speak on. The hardest one was chosen – working closely with your spouse. That is why we decided to call the workshop “Occupational Hazards”. We’ve learned a lot from working so closely together in ministry. Our workshop was set to highlight the good and the bad of partnering in ministry and how to set boundaries so that way your marriage stays top priority and thrives.
Jeremy and I had a lot of fun putting this class together. We laughed a lot! We’ve walked through the frustrations of shared space and spending a lot of time together – more than the average couple. We love being able to do ministry together, but we have learned from the ups and downs. Preparing this class alongside Jeremy was a great experience for me. Jeremy affirmed my call to ministry numerous times and really validated the role I play as his partner. Even if no one heard our class, just the experience was preparing it was a good one for me.
The day of the workshop, Jeremy and I slipped off campus from the conference and went to lunch. We went over our notes and made sure we knew who was speaking to what points. I went into the workshop session feeling fairly confident that we knew our stuff. I was right – we were totally prepared and I feel like we present our material the best that we could. The one downside was we presented to a group of six people. I was expecting at least thirty in my mind, so the reality of six was a little disheartening. However, we had a couple stay afterward to talk and ask us questions. I felt that even if we touched only six people, maybe those six really needed to hear what we had to say. Maybe only two did. I don’t know. All I know is that I did my best. I feel like Jeremy and I succeeded in our mission for the class. I’m not too concerned that we didn’t reach the multitudes… what we did was our best and that is enough for me!
Side note: The session will be podcasted on itunes. Once it is up and I have listened to it – I’ll post a link so you can hear it as well. Maybe the podcast will reach farther than the class itself. If not you can at least hear my first attempt at public speaking outside of Bethel Church.
Amy Scott's Thoughts 