THE PERSONAL KIT by Michael Edgar Myers
MAKING TIME FOR THANKS & FORGIVING MEET OUR ENSEMBLE HANAN BARRETT In 2018, Hanan Barrett graduated high school in Illinois and returned to Singapore to fulfill his National Service commitment. Hanan has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Singapore. Singaporean youth are mandated to serve two years of military duty after high school. During high school, Hanan served KIT Ministries as a media specialist behind the scenes and at conferences. He ended National Service in September and moves back to the States in time for Thanksgiving 2020. We’re glad. We need him at the table.
T
he end of the year is such a manic time.
There’s so much to DO in order to relax and have fun, y’know? People to shop for, dinners to make, programs to prepare. Then there’s that time spent thinking through the transition into the next year. My latest birthday brought one more layer of year-end urgency: The Medicare Open Enrollment Deadline! Deadlines drive us, and while newspaper and improvisation training has enabled me to function under deadline, I admit constantly living with pressure is draining. It’s one thing to function on the edge; it’s another to reside there. I marvel at those who are disciplined enough to plan without becoming undermined by what our friend Curt Hansen calls, “the tyranny of the urgent;” especially in this celebratory season where we’re supposed to stop and smell the turkey.
I
llustration: For years, we have struggled to get our Christmas cards out before December 25. Actually, before the next year. While we enjoy creating our holiday missives, we don’t enjoy beating ourselves up for not being more timely expressing our gratitude. The same with “Thank You” notes as days pass. Our encounters as theater missionaries have taught us much. Among out lessons, stop lamenting the past and enact Nike Time. Just do it. So, right now we say, thanks be to God for His indescribable gift, and to His people who delivered them to us. Like you by reading. We are learning to embrace the generosity of others, accepting anew how giving is its own blessing. We strive to be better stewards of our provisions in order to pay it forward through our shows, concerts and training.
KINGDOM IMPACT THEATER MINISTRIES Michael Edgar Myers Founding Artistic Director
Vikki J. Myers Co-Founder, Worship Director
Garlan Garner Musical Director 1723 Roosa Lane Elk Grove Village, Il 60007 630-632-7775 www.kit-ministries.com
2
A
n important discovery is our greater grasp of exhibiting the grace of God: to forgive and ask forgiveness. Headlines, social posts, and conversations with friends foreign and domestic have impressed us that, yes, we have financial, medical, political and emotional struggles, but man’s greatest threat is hardening of the heart. The antidote is cultivating an attitude of gratitude. This issue is such a step May this effort be a base for our future interactions so we won’t have to wait until an annual ritual, or a memorial, to feel pressed to get it said. May The Lord hear from us regularly what he told the prophet Jeremiah to expect from the Hebrew nation when they were liberated from exile: “From them will come songs of thanksgiving and the sound of rejoicing.” Jeremiah 30:19 It’s especially true this year. If COVID’s given us nothing else, it’s given us time to reflect, to appreciate, to hope, to understand the meaning of #SDG #Shalom #Selah #AndAmen — To God be the Gory! Peace! And Rest! So Be It.
