Friday, December 12, 2008

Editing Your Life

I write articles, letters, and church blogs. When my documents hit the office for publishing, they often get enhanced or edited. It is a polite way of editing the mistakes I make.

It would be nice if everything I say or do could be edited before I would say or do them. I would offend less people, make fewer mistakes, and be much more effective in my life. This concept is not possible, but it does remind me that some self-editing would be helpful.

So how can we edit our lives? Wouldn't it be helpful if we would slow down a bit in life? If we would weigh what we are going to say rather than blurting out the first thing we think of, we would be kinder and more effective people. If we more carefully thought about the outcome of our impending actions, I think our lives would contain less regret.

I think if we would be more thoughtful before we act or speak, our communication would be more useful.

Here is the challenge. See if you can react more slowly and thoughtfully for one day. At the end of the day review how well you did. Then try to repeat that feat for a second day.

Who knows—you might make considerable progress in becoming more likeable, effective, and have a life with less stress?

Dick Crosby, Senior Pastor

Do You Have Computer Skills?

Are you comfortable on the computer? Looking for a way to get involved at Hannaford?

We need people to help weekly online and Sunday Worship preparation. If you like blogs or using PowerPoint, it should be easy.

SUNDAY WORSHIP PREPARATION
What this involves ... Prepare MediaShout "scripts" (a.k.a. files) for weekly worship. You would assemble moving backgrounds, still backgrounds, song lyrics, and other items from existing sources. Use the weekly order of worship for guidance. Must be prepared on Hannaford Worship Center computer. Photoshop and design skills a plus, but not necessary.

How this is done ... Take the existing MediaShout "script" from the previous week as a template. Add and arrange worship elements from this new week's order of worship. May involve adding a new song to existing song database, but most songs already exist. Select appropriate section headers for different worship elements.

ONLINE WEBSITE UPDATES
What this involves ... Add weekly information to website using any web browser (home computer okay). Consult the weekly bulletin and Hannaford office for source information. Basic writing and research skills needed. Basic understanding of online tools helpful (such as experience posting info on a blog). Photoshop and image manipulation skills a plus, but not necessary.

How this is done ... Highlight new items and events in bulletin and transfer the Home page and What's New page on the Hannaford website. Log into website using password. Type in text and select images from existing database. May involve finding and adding new images from Google Images from time to time. If you've ever maintained or published a blog, the process is similar.

CONTACT US TODAY
If you are interested and think you can help, just let us know and we can talk more. We'd like to train a few people for each task. Training begins soon, so contact or email Pastor Eric for more info (465-0286).

Eric Powell
Pastor of Worship Arts