It's a Matter of Priorities

Life is busy. How many of us when we are asked how we are say, "Busy"? In fact, often life is so busy we feel that our schedule is controlling us rather than us being in control of our schedule. I have found that when I begin to feel like that, it is time for me to step back and reexamine my priorites.

We did that yesterday in our staff meeting. The meeting began by us naming our priorities for our personal lives, with the most important being at the top and then moving down. We then began the discussion of the priorities of the PARC. It was a great discussion and beautiful reminder of who we are and what we stand for. Not only what we stand for, but what we stand on - our foundation.

This is our list:
Integrity
Cleaniliness
Hospitality
Respect
Acceptance
Acknowledgement
Relationship
Creativity
Accountability

The discussion about each of these helped us to see that when we keep these things in order, there is power and lives are changed, including ours.

Integrity is of upmost importance. We are who we say we are, no matter the circumstances, especially when the chaos of a situation brings the need to make decisions quickly. Cleanliness provides the environment for the other things to fall in to place. When someone comes to the PARC they are welcomed in to an inviting environment where things are neat, orderly and well-taken care of. Respect is shown to all persons who enter our door, even if they are being asked to leave for the day. There is always acceptance not only for those who walk through our doors, but also for ourselves. Acknowledgement of each person begins to bring value, and then the relationship is where we can really start to see the change. Creativity continues the process of change. All of these allow accountability, which propels them towards their 'next'. We acknowledge and know that all of these flow from God, who is the canopy over the PARC.

One of the staff members said in our discussion, "There is no where else we can go that we are able to experience ALL of these things." As we each one thought about it we realized that this is true. It is also the reason that what happens at the PARC is so powerful. Last week there were 6 people that drove to the PARC in their own cars. Each of them is working fulltime and has a place to live. That was only last week. There are many others. They came back just to check-in and to say hello. They came back because this is the place where they found themselves. This is the place where they were changed from the inside out.