Good morning,
I pray that the day is finding you well.

Forks in the road:
I was LOD (Leadership on Duty) last night.
An elderly lady came to the welcome center and wanted to drop her membership, at that point I had a choice. I could just point her to the membership person where she could finish the business of dropping her membership, or I could ask “why.” I asked why. She went on to say that her husband had died a few months ago and that she hadn’t used the “Y” since his death and that she was in the process of cutting all the expenses she could out of her budget, the “Y” was an expense. I had another set of choices, I could both express my condolences and give her to membership to finish her business or I could ask her, “How are you doing?” I asked the question. She said, “Not good.” She had been married for over forty years and missed him a lot. She was thankful that her neighbors were helping with the yard work but she still liked to mow the lawn, “I’m Irish and proud.” she said. At this I could have said, “It is good to have such nice neighbors” and moved her along. This however was not the choice I made at this juncture. I held her hand and asked her, “Are you sure you want to give up the YMCA? I am sure we can work something out. We are here for you. What do you need?” We talked about silver sneakers. We talked about volunteering. We even talked about what it would be like to work here. In the end I gave her my card. I invited her to call if she needed help. There are choices everyday. My prayer is that I submit to the leanings of God and not to my own understanding to make these choices.

As I watched her leave I could not help but think:

Why are we here?
What is our mission?
What is our purpose?

If we are merely a health club, an expense, I believe we have missed the point.

Blessings,