Show appreciation!

During this busy time of year, let's not forget to remember and show appreciation to some of the important people in our lives that sometimes are overlooked. I received the following email from a lady named Melissa who is in one of my online groups. I asked her if I could share it. I thought this served as a good reminder and wanted to share it with you...

-----------
As some of you know, I am a church secretary for a Lutheran church. On
behalf of YOUR church's secretary, I'd like to ask you to remember her/him
this Christmas and next year.

A lot of people think Church Secretaries answer phones and type bulletins,
and don't really realize the extent of our jobs. Here is just an idea of
what we deal with on an almost daily basis...

1. Answering phones
2. Typing bulletins
3. Preparing newsletters
4. Preparing worship slides
5. Preparing announcement sheets
6. Running interference between staff members (and trying to keep the lines
of communication open while often being "left out of the loop")
7. Handling calls from people needing financial assistance. Whether they be
phone calls or "walk-ins." Most of the time we do not have any authority to
distribute aid to these people. While we do our best to be Christ-like,
there are times, especially when we are alone--and many Church secretaries
are alone most of the time--that some of these people can be down-right
scary and we end up in a potentially dangerous position.
8. Ordering supplies
9. Many secretaries also help with some aspect of the financial record
keeping (in my case, I record offering contributions) .
10. Typing minutes of meetings and preparing reports
11. Scheduling building use
12. Arranging for advertising of events
13. Duplicating sermon tapes
14. Unjamming the copier
15. and the list goes on....

These are just the tip of the iceberg. Whether a small church or a large
one (the one I work for has an average worship attendance of 400 on Sunday
mornings), YOUR church secretary does a lot more than you may realize.

I know Christmas is just a couple days away, but please remember YOUR
church secretary this year with at least a note of appreciation and thanks
for all that she/he does. Administrative Professionals Day (formerly
"Secretary's Day") is the last full week of April. While many of us see our
positions as a ministry, we are still human and still have a need to feel
appreciated. Even a simple card of "thanks for all you do" can be a HUGE
morale booster!
---------------
It is close to Christmas this year, but it's never the wrong time to say thank you to someone! Who are some others that make our lives much easier besides church secretaries that we often forget? Garbage collectors, secretary at child's school, mailman, newspaper delivery person.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." I Peter 4:10