April 19th

God, it was a long, long day yesterday, but a good one as well. I felt like some good work was accomplished and that I was part of something good happening.
There were moments of frustration, too. As we explored the needs of our community, it felt at time that we were too caught up in navel-gazing to see the reality around us. I could feel the irony of the situation: we were trying to figure out reasons our denomination was struggling, and couldn't fathom that our navel-gazing was part of the problem. Lord, open our eyes to the true shortcomings of our faith: ourselves, when we look too much inward rather than recognizing and adapting to the needs and the changes in society around us.