What does avoiding flu have to do with discipleship?

The flu season has hit us hard. There are so many friends suffering with its impact. No one wants to get the flu. No one wants to spread the flu.

I had the flu last March. I had a 12-hour plane trip, two days previous and had attended church the night before symptoms began. I had hugged several people that night. Now people who know me know that I am not a natural hugger. Hugging used to be rarer than it is now. People hug all over the place at my church. Even on the home design television shows, it seems that people hug upon first meeting, but I digress. . . .

The day before I came down with the flu, I had no idea. I had a slightly lesser appetite that day so when I had a headache right before bed I thought I needed to eat something. I munched a few almonds before I went to bed. Around 1 am I woke up with chills, quickly followed by a bigger headache and body aches. Fever set in around 3 and I knew something was wrong. By 4:30 am, I was googling flu symptoms and had diagnosed myself.

When my husband woke up, I told him I wasn’t going to work, and I was sure I had the flu due to the rapid onset of all the symptoms. He told me I needed to go get tested to be sure since we had travelled to several countries over the past 10 days and it could be something else. I could not drive so he took me over and it was flu. He got TamiFlu and we stopped sharing anything to keep him from getting it. The hardest was keeping the fridge doors and sink handles clean—have to share those.

Not only was I sick, I was mortified that I could have infected other people including my sweet friend Shirley who had sat beside me at church the night before. I quickly texted her what had happened and that she should watch for symptoms. Fortunately, she didn’t get sick and no one else got sick that I know of.  I was out of work all week.

So, what does this have to do with discipleship? I picked up a flyer from the Centers for Disease Control on how to avoid spreading the flu (or any communicable disease). Stuck right in there is the sentence: “Train others on how to do your job so they can cover for you.” Discipleship is often looked at as learning scripture and obeying the Bible. Those are needed and necessary. But as disciple-makers, especially those of us in church work, we should be training others to do our jobs.

I used to think that having people exclaim “we missed you so much” upon my return to church/work was a compliment and they meant it as one. But, part of me doing a good job was to train them so they could do it. As I have tried to put this principle into practice, being gone is not as big of a problem. I used to have a long list to leave of what to do while I was out. Now that list is fairly short. Other people have information, keys, knowledge, items . . . whatever they need to operate in my absence or in my presence.

This is very freeing. But doesn’t that mean I’m not indispensable? Yes, it does and I’m okay with that. Being indispensable is an illusion anyway—no one is--everyone can be replaced. If you hold onto a task or position too tightly, you can squeeze the life right out of it. And it can squeeze the life out of you. We are human, we get sick, we have family members who need care, we go on vacation. It is okay. It is good.

So, beyond the not hugging, shaking hands, or covering my cough, I’m training others. Want to help in discipleship? Train others to do your job at church. God did not put us on this earth to hoard positions, titles, or tasks. He put us on this earth to serve and share Him through ministry to others. If you don’t train someone else, it can’t happen. If you do, it can happen for generations.

Here are the books I read in 2017. These are in no certain order because I had to go back halfway through the year and try to remember. I decided to include all books this year. Usually I leave off the fiction from my records but it represents how I spent my time so I kept them on the list.

My memories from this list:

The Heart of God’s Story by Guthrie was a surprising win for learning about Scripture. I watched the video sessions that go with it and learned so much that I didn’t previously know. It was a last-minute fill in when books for our ladies Bible study didn’t arrive. I won the set at a conference and once I listened to session one, I was hooked. If you lead a group and are looking for a study, give it a try. Second place for new biblical knowledge was Forgotten Jesus by Gallaty.

Best fun read was Magnolia Story. It was refreshing to read a book that just told a story honestly and there was no bad language and parts that I’m embarrassed that you know I read.

Best inspirational book was How to Share Your Faith Without Freaking Out. This is the most engaging book on witnessing that I have ever read. You should read it if you want to be a better witness for Jesus. And, it is short. Thanks, Alvin, for writing it. You done good.

I got on a Cymbala kick and his books were all helpful and motivating. They are good reminders on how we rely on God’s power rather than our own skill. Storm was the best one.

Hillbilly Elegy’s first half was a good modern history on folks moving from an agricultural life into the manufacturing realm in the 40’s, 50’s & 60’s, but the second half was hard to finish because he included stuff I had no interest in reading. And the Good News Is was interesting and Perrino writes a lot about how she was raised and I found a lot of good parenting examples in it. Constructing Grounded Theory was the most boring but the most necessary. I needed it to help me structure and write my dissertation findings. Thankful for people who take the time to write difficult books.

Some of these were audio books and were better because they were. You have to listen to Reese Witherspoon read Go Set a Watchman--almost as good as listening to Fannie Flagg read her own books. I decided to go back and listen to To Kill a Mockingbird first. The downside of an audio read is that I have no notes and cannot find quotes easily later, but I wouldn’t have read 35 without being able to listen in the car and on some quiet evenings on my ipad.

Books impact me more than shows I watch on television. That is why I read. Recommend a book to me if you have read a good one. I have a public library, hoopla, cloud library, & kindle apps, attended some conferences and got some giveaways. Out of the list, I only purchased seven. So, money is no deterrent to reading.

What I read in 2017
1.     Fervent by Shirer
2.     The Heart of God’s Story by Guthrie
3.     Magnolia Story by Gaines
4.     What Happens When God’s People Pray by Cymbala
5.     Storm by Cymbala
6.     Growing Up by Gallaty
7.     Rediscovering Discipleship by Gallaty
8.     How to Share Your Faith Without Freaking Out by Reid
9.     Pelican Brides by White
10.  Constructing Grounded Theory by Chamaz
11.  Courting Cate by Gould
12.  Grace is Greater by Idleman
13.  Elmo Jenkins Red Boxed Set by McMillan
14.  Tongue Pierced by Searcy
15.  The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus by Harvey
16.  Spark: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success by Morgan & Lynch
17.  Hillbilly Elegy by Vance
18.  The Witness Wore Red by Musser
19.  My Story by Elizabeth Smart
20.  The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan by Perlmutter
21.  Talking with God by Weber
22.  Confessions of an Unlikely Convert by Butterfield
23.  Made to Crave by TerKeurst
24.  Forgotten God by Gallaty
25.  Tell Someone by Lauria
26.  Put Your Heart on the Page by Perry
27.  Ten Minutes to Powerful Prayer by Omartian
28.  The Church God Blesses by Cymbala
29.  Living with the Clintons by Brock
30.  And the Good News is by Perino
31.  Hope Under Mistletoe by Patch
32.  The Dream Giver by Wilkinson
33.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee
34.  Go Set a Watchman by Lee
35.  The Time of Our Lives by Noonan

36. Books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Esther, Matthew & Mark

Start reading now and next week I’ll outline the yearly challenge. I guarantee any book you start reading now will help you meet the challenge.

Books Can Impact Your Life

Working in education in my church and in other churches through the years, I have always encouraged people to read the Bible. I still do that. The Word of God has the power to change lives. Unlike other books, it is enlivened by the Holy Spirit and can work supernaturally to speak truth into people’s lives. I read the Bible every day.

As a child, I was a reader. I read every single Beverly Cleary book (look her up) and every book in the Little House on the Prairie series. In the hot summertime with no air conditioning, I read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It kept me cool that summer.

  I’m also a pretty fast reader. I didn’t realize that until one of our summer visits to the public library around 7th grade or so. My sister and I put our 2-foot high stack of books on the counter as we walked in. Mrs. Floyd, the library lady exclaimed, “Why do you check out so many books?” I was puzzled and a little taken aback. I stammered, “To read them.” She continued, “You girls read all these books?” We nodded and she went back to work. I was a little proud of myself upon discovering that we were doing something not many people did.

As a teenager, our church started a library. This excited me. The library had only two shelves but through those books I discovered more information about Jim & Elisabeth Eliot, Billy Graham, Bill Wallace, Corrie ten Boom, Brother Andrew and others. I considered these people super Christians. They challenged me with their faith and obedience to God.

As I got down to the dregs of the tiny church library, I checked out a book about having a daily devotional time. I am sure I had heard many preachers and teachers tell me to read my Bible every day. I did that and literally checked the box (some of you will get that). But this book told me to get a notebook and set it up so I could write down what I learned and questions to ask myself as I read scripture: a command to obey; a promise to keep. . . . I got a blue horse notebook (which I still have) and made a place to record my insights. It changed my life. Just the act of taking a pen in hand to write down what I was learning made me focus more, meditate more, and listen more to God’s Word. In the discipleship groups I have led in recent years, I helped them set up a HEAR journal. It is from Gallaty’s book Growing Up. It is a similar format to what I used years ago.

My children are grown and married now. One day I got a text from my daughter Amy with the photo you see on this blog. This is my daughter talking with Brother Andrew. Yes, that same Brother Andrew that I read about in junior high who smuggled Bibles into eastern Europe. I got tears in my eyes. Writing this, there are tears again.

 You know the phrase “you are what you eat?” It is true for our physical bodies. But what you take into your thoughts through reading can change who you are. It cannot help but impact how you raise your children. Obviously, children grow up and make decisions for themselves and you don’t make them anymore. But seeing my daughter having a conversation with Brother Andrew brought back all these memories!

Before I cry again, here is my takeaway. Spend time reading good books. We have so much entertainment at our fingertips that reading can easily be squeezed out. Sure, there are lots of good movies and shows but mostly we fritter away time on content that has no positive impact.

Watch for the next blog. Reading challenge for 2018 is on its’ way.

Brother Andrew's organization Open Doors still operates today in ministry to the persecuted church worldwide. Amy works there. Check it out.