Right Brainers in Budget Meetings

      I've spent the past four days - all day! - in budget/planning meetings for the Willow Creek Association.  Down the hall, I know our church staff is in the same kind of meetings.  And I have four more days of these meetings to look forward to all next week.  It's that time of year.  For a highly right-brained person like me, this is, shall we say, not my favorite kind of meeting.  The numbers on the page start to look fuzzy, and it was only a few years ago that I learned paragraphs around numbers are bad.  This year, with the economic downturn looming for all ministries, the conversations are quite sobering and stretching.  We have to be more creative than ever, figure out how to somehow do more with less, and make excruciating decisions about what parts of the ministry need to be shored up and where we need to cut back or even stop.  I do enjoy the strategy part, and seeking discernment with my brothers and sisters.  It's just all the details and ALL THOSE NUMBERS that make me crazy!
      What I marveled at yesterday while I tried to look fully engaged as I snuck a little work on my laptop, was that some people actually love the numbers stuff.  I could see their eyes shining as they wrestled with what all those numbers mean, how they could be adjusted, and how the computations stack up to previous years.  You should see some of my team members jump when they get to use their calculators and figure out some kind of percentage or other computation.  Half the time, I don't even track what they're doing, but they sure do seem excited.
      Obviously, it takes all of us to advance the kingdom.  I thank the Lord for crafting people who love numbers and administration and who steward our resources so carefully.  I am equally grateful for those who traffic more in pictures and words, who can't sit through a meeting without doodling, and who bring color to this black and white world.
      If any of you are also sitting through budget meetings trying to hang in there and be a team player, know that your right-brained sister in suburban Chicago is doing the same.  It's part of the deal.  But I can't wait until I can move on to what I am uniquely called to do, and leave the numbers in more capable hands.  In fact, today I get to have a brown bag lunch with about 25 arts leaders from the Chicago area.  We're meeting at the church where I grew up, so that will be a blast from the past for me.  Hopefully that will refresh me before heading back to left-brain world next Monday!