Do you want fries with that?

A few of you may have seen where I posted a video of my daughter last week. She was throwing one of those terrible two tantrums earlier this year because we had left the playground at McDonalds. She really doesn't like the food so much as the toys and play place that are part of the eating experience. In case you missed it, here it is:



To be fair, she does have a good side. She can be quite gentle and funny. Here's a clip of her putting her baby bunny to sleep:



I'm not sure that these huge mood swings ever leave us as we get older. I think we just learn to control them in public. I can tell you that I sing my daughter a lullaby every night. She's one of the only people who requests my magnificent serenading on a daily basis so I'm more than willing to help. But I also know that if one of my boys blows up a latex balloon in my presence, I will turn into the Incredible Hulk (and they don't like me when I'm angry).

It took three kids for me to actually be able to laugh at the tantrums and to realize that they really are funny if you sit back and watch. Perhaps I should have someone record my Hulk moments so that I can then laugh at myself.

I was reminded recently that anger is not really a bad thing. We always think of it as a "sin" because it is usually directed at someone and we really don't want others to direct anger toward us so why should we be angry at others?

But Jesus got angry. He got angry a lot. He turned over tables. He called people names. I think he even got a bit snarky at times.

But what most of us want to remember is the Jesus with the children around him. The one who tells stories. The Jesus who holds a lamb. The Baby Jesus who doesn't cry.

And what we really have is both. Jesus the angry and Jesus the gentle. Jesus the just and Jesus the giver of grace.

So the next time your child throws a fit and later on gives you an unsolicited hug, remember that they are being Jesus-like. Its our job to help them control their emotions so that they will be the most effective at just the right time.

Or you could just ask them if they want fries with that.

Until Everyone Hears,
Shannon is a Deacon in full connection in the North Georgia Annual Conference. Her specialty is Family Ministries and is serving at Hopewell in Tyrone, GA.

I AM - The Gatekeeper

"I am the gate for the sheep." - John 10:7b

I went to a wedding last weekend where the reception was in a gated community's country club. It was a beautiful place and I felt very posh as I rolled up to the gate house. I had on my wedding finest. John was in a suit. Dori had on an Easter Sunday dress and the boys had on pants that weren't sweats or jeans. We were looking good!

As I got up to the gate, I rolled my window down and told the attendant we were here for the wedding. I expected her to ask which wedding or my name and check it off of some list, but instead we were just allowed to proceed.

In a way I was a bit stunned. Where was the security? Can I dress up and try this at other gated communities? Part of me was let down too. Here I was invited to this fancy event and you don't even want to know who I am? I must be important or on a list somewhere right?

Jesus talks about sheep and gates in John 10:1-6. I don't always like the idea of Jesus keeping people out or in but there are some great things about gates that I do like.

1) Gates keep us together. We may not want to be in the same pen as the black sheep but we're all in this together. Maybe that's for a good reason. Perhaps we should learn how to live together and support each other. Togetherness can be a good thing if you have the right attitude about it.

2) Gates set us apart. There's a very different image of sheep wandering along a mountainside grazing for food then of sheep together behind a fence. If we pass a farm in America and see a few cows in a pasture we'd say "Moo!" but if we saw hundreds of cows behind a fence we'd say "Wow! Look at all the cows!" There is something to be said for being set apart and how others will notice our behavior.

3) Gates help us to be at home. I don't live in a gated community but I do have a garage door. After a long journey, I'll hit the button to open up the door and know that I am home. When I"m at home and I hear the garage door opening I know that one of my family is coming home. For me, being at home is a great feeling of comfort and grace. At home, I'm loved for who I am and not for whom I'm supposed to be.

If Jesus is the Gate, then he keeps us together, set apart, and helps us feel at home because he loves us for who we are. He doesn't care what we are wearing or if our name is on some list. He invites all who want to come in and tells them "Welcome Home."

Until Everyone Hears,

Rev. Shannon Karafanda is blogging devotional thoughts daily during Lent. Check out her site by clicking here.

Giving Back

Usually the week after Christmas is down time for most clergy. After all the prep to make sure that people are able to spiritually celebrate Christmas, plus the stress of making sure that Christmas with our family is special, we are dead dog tired.

I'm already kind of there now but I'm still excited about Christmas and waking up on Christmas morning to see the joy on my kids faces as they see what we've given them.

I love this time of year because I get to give back to my kids without feeling like I'm spoiling them.

Of course, in reality, I probably am spoiling them. We are blessed with so much while other have so little.

So instead of taking next week as a week off, I'm assisting one of my churches (Sacred Tapestry) in a mission week. I don't suggest this for most pastors (especially lead pastors that really do need the break), but if someone in your church can lead this - its a great idea!

Starting on Sunday, Dec 26 we have a different mission activity each day. We're going to make soup kits for the food bank, gather canned goods, sort at the Atlanta Community food bank, landscape at the United Methodist Children's Home, cook and serve at Nicholas House, and gather pet food for the Humane Society.

I'm happy to have something to look forward to next week and it warms my heart that I'll be able to keep the warm fuzzy feelings of Christmas going for at least one week more as I can continue to be the giver that God wants us to be.

If you can join us, we'd love to have you!

Merry Christmas,

Rev. Shannon Karafanda

A Tale of Two Churches

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." The time of your life when you begin an exciting but possibly stressful adventure - the new job. In my case I've got double the excitement and double the stress. I'm the lucky one to be newly appointed to two churches as an Associate Pastor of Family Ministries. I split my time between them during the week and alternate Sundays.

Starting any new job has its ups and downs but these two have particular aspects that make them most unique:



The Worst of Times: (some of the challenges I'll face with this new appointment)

1) Are we there yet? Both churches are a good distance from my house. One is in Marietta and has the possibility for some major traffic jams. This week its taken me 45-60 minutes to get there. The other is in Cartersville and takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

2) Where am I? Keeping track of what church, what day, and who all the different names and faces are will force me to be mega-organized and to rely on my memory that may not be as sharp as it used to be after three kids.

3) What day off? Both of these churches are new churches (about two years old). Having worked at a new church before, I can tell you that it is a LOT of work. I'm sure both churches could fill up my working hours in a full time capacity but I'm only appointed part-time at each. I'm definitely going to have to delegate, equip others, and get used to saying "NO."


The Best of Times: (the things I'm really gonna like)

1) Time to myself. I know the commute will get old sooner rather than later, but getting away from the kids and from work during the ride will be a welcome change. I plan to get a lot of praying done and to listen to my Bible on my iPod. It was during my commute to Buckhead, when I was a computer programmer, that I fleshed out my call to ministry so I'm hoping that this time alone will help me transform the world.

2) Variety. Sacred Tapestry and The Church at The Well are VERY different churches. Different from the church I grew up in and different from each other. I know that most people think that church is church so I won't go into details here but if you were to visit both you'd understand - we're not just thinking outside the box; we're shocked to find there was a box to start with and we're recycling it for better use.

3) Recalled to life. The main theme of Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities" was resurrection. Many of his characters were given opportunities to have second chances and make their lives better. With each new church I go to, I look at it as an opportunity to take what I've learned and bring something new to the table. I get to flex my creative muscles and take things to a whole new level which intrigues me on a personal and professional level. By doing so, my goal is to enable people to experience a new life in Christ, to participate in His resurrection and transform the world. So honestly it matters not whether I'm part-time, full-time, or over-time, but whether I'm using the time God gives me to use the gifts He's given me. If I succeed in that, then I can say in the end "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."

If you are ever in Cartersville or Marietta visit me at The Well or Sacred Tapestry, but please remind me of your name (and which church I'm at if possible).





Until Everyone Hears,

L-O-V-E

One of my favorite movies is Akeelah and the Bee. Against some major odds, Akeelah ends up going to the National Spelling Bee. The movies' themes center around love, support and coaching others, and overcoming loss. It is only through the help of others that Akeelah makes it as far as she does.

I'm having a very Akeelah and the Bee moment this week. I'm going to be ordained as a deacon in full-connection in the United Methodist Church. It is like many other milestones in my life in that it is both an ending of a long journey but also a beginning or continuation of another journey or calling.

In 1998, God told me to go and preach the gospel. It turned out He wasn't kidding. After 12 years of trying to convince Him otherwise, He's finally taught me that I'm in this for good. He's prepared me. He's equipped me. He's sustained me.

But it hasn't been just God but God working through others. So many people have been there along the way and I'd like to take this time to thank them all. So here goes...

Thanks to:

1) The people who said I couldn't do it. That's right. Every time someone said that I couldn't do this I began to doubt too. I told God - no. And each time, He showed me I could do this and made me even more determined to reach my goal.

2) The people who said I shouldn't do it. You know who you are. Thank you for helping research what I was getting myself into. It hasn't been and won't always be easy. I understand why you said that. But please understand that I'm following God's call and have been through a very thorough discerning process. I'm a big girl and I'm ready to roll.

3) To those who love me no matter what crazy thing I do. You are the ones that love me as God does - bad hair days and all. You helped watch my kids when I needed to study in seminary. You proofed papers for me knowing that I'm a spell checking nightmare. You sent me a message telling me to hang in there. You took me out to have fun to get away from things that were often too serious. You hugged me and cried with me when I needed to heal. You laughed with me so hard that I thought I might do bodily damage. I can't thank you enough.


"You know that feeling where everything feels right? Where you don't have to worry about tomorrow or yesterday, where you feel safe and know you're doing the best you can? There's a word for that, it's called love. L-O-V-E."

And it goes for me too - that's what I feel for all my friends, for all my family, for all my coaches. Thank you. Thank God. And celebrate this accomplishment with me. You deserve it!

Until Everyone Hears,

On the Eve of Commissioning

This post comes from Nancy R. Smith, a retired deacon and now pastor of Bridgton UMC in Bridgton, Maine. 

On the Eve of Commissioning as a Permanent Deacon

Consider the pot and the potter:

On this day before commissioning
this day of enjoying friends and marking time
and observing the community in which I have become a novice
Why can’t I be still
and allow the forming
and trust the process
And let God create the opening into my inner being?

Because making a pot or vessel involves
punching and pulling
and slapping and throwing –
Long before the shaping of the inner beauty.

And sometimes the potter must scoop up
all the waste and brokenness
and pound it into a big heap
And begin again.

And so, on the eve of commissioning
I sit in awe of the process thus far
And tremble in wonder at the formation yet to come.

What are you making of me, O God?
Why did you select this process for me?
For surely your call is not so much to do, or even to serve,
As to be – or rather, to become.

--© Nancy R. Smith June 8, 2001

The Next Step on the Journey

I really related to the last post on answering God's call. Like that author, I have been on a long (10 year) journey of answering the call to Deacon. I have completed this journey in fits and starts with times of great progress and others of stagnation...and yet God has been able to use all these experiences in the past 10 years to form me into the person I have been called to be.


As I face the culmination of one part of my journey--commissioning as a Deacon on June 15th--I realized that I am just taking the first steps on the next leg of this journey. I am blessed to have work both within the local church and in a job as a healthcare provider. I say blessed because I feel convicted that, for me, it is necessary to keep my feet in both worlds. This comes with its downsides, however. Sometimes I feel that I will be pulled into splits as I wrestle with the competing demands of two jobs with two very different agendas. And yet, I see how they are connected and united.


My call, I believe, is to help others see the unifying thread. I find myself explaining to the Board of Ordained Ministry and Bishop why my job as a healthcare provider is ministry and explaining to my healthcare co-workers why I will still be working as a healthcare provider instead of working full time in the church. I believe this is a great exercise for me to articulate my ministry as a Deacon, as well as an opportunity to educate people on the ministry of the Deacon.


I also feel so blessed to have a job as Minister of Spiritual Formation where I can use my gifts to journey with people in my congregation as they struggle to name how it is that they are called to live lives of discipleship. I hear so often how people want to have a discipleship that permeates their whole lives but they are unsure where to start. As someone who remains grounded in the "secular" world of work, I pray that I will model for them one way to live this out.


So here I am at the crossroads...I have completed the first part of this next step--graduation from seminary. Now it is Ready, Set, GO...for the next part of the journey. I pray that I will be a faithful disciple and Deacon as I move forward. Amen.