My husband tore a tendon in his shoulder. He cannot drive his six-speed car, so we’ve switched vehicles. It’s been nearly three decades since I drove a car with a manual transmission. I was a bit nervous, wondering if I would be able to manage the clutch. After a few excursions, I fell back into the rhythm of shifting gears. The experience has reminded me of key leadership principles.

Focus on WMU is this month. As you bring attention to the programs and ministries of WMU, take a moment and focus on your own missions influence. Often plans are made at the beginning of the church year and WMU leaders are on automatic cruise control by midyear. Take time to assess missions progress. Do you need to speed up and shift to another gear to implement a new initiative? You may need to consider reducing speed and downshift to spend more time emphasizing a particular missions strategy of your congregation. You must be flexible to shift gears as needed.

My earliest Christmas memories revolve around church life. I remember spending hours practicing lines for Christmas pageants. All children were in the productions. I don’t recall it being optional. Afterward we would exchange gifts in our small country church. Before leaving, my dad would lead the congregation to sing “Away in a Manger.” The number of words and verses would depend on the status of our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal. Hopefully by our Christmas celebration, the target would be met. Christmas lights poking through a homemade wooden board lit up the song.

The best was yet to come. Everyone was given a brown paper lunch sack filled with goodness on his or her way out the door. The gift bag always contained a handful of peanuts, a few old-fashioned creams, an orange, and some hard candy. The Baptist Sunday School Board may have produced literature about how to pack the treats, because many my age remember receiving the same gift bags at their churches.

In the heart of Rome is a sacred place few know about. Millions will be within steps of this ancient treasure as they walk to the Roman Forum or Colosseum. We had the museum to ourselves the day we went. Our small group politely looked at the archeology artifacts for what we considered an appropriate amount of time. I found myself anxious to put my feet where he had been. Someone finally asked, “Will we get to see the actual prison?” The museum official said, “Yes, I will escort you below.”

We exited the main floor of the museum down modern metal stairs placed above the hewn rock steps built by the Romans 20 centuries ago. The reality of what the Apostle Paul experienced during his imprisonment came to life before my eyes. It was vivid and painful. On the first level underground, we saw where prisoners were dropped through a hole in the rock floor into their cell.

This month, my husband and I celebrate our 25th anniversary. Frank proposed to me on top of the Burger King boat on the Mississippi River with a ring bought from a pawnshop. Did I mention we were seminary students at the time? That boat was destroyed when she broke loose during the flood of 1993 and hit a bridge in St. Louis. I lost the ring while packing school supplies during a WMU event in Nashville, Tennessee. It just slipped right off. Some lucky first grader got to show his mother new crayons, scissors, glue, and a cool ring he found in the bag.

The boat and ring are gone. The marriage remains. We went to Branson one year when our daughter was young. We bought new wedding rings and went outside the jewelry shop where our daughter put the rings on our fingers and pronounced us husband and wife (again).

I think back over 25 years and the sacrifices my husband made. He did not protest when I wanted us to get married at GA camp or when I asked a WMU colleague to plan our honeymoon. Our trip had to be shorter than intended because I needed to be back for the first Mississippi River Ministry convocation.