Author: Chris

by Karen Lehman, President/CEO of MHS

The new year provides us with a symbolic opportunity to re-set how we care for ourselves and others. It’s a time to develop new resolutions for the year and consider changes we want to make. This year in particular, in the midst of a pandemic, there is a heavy physical and psychological burden that this situation has over us. There are so many ramifications of living in and with an ongoing pandemic.

In an effort to be careful, my world has narrowed greatly. Reducing personal interactions, eliminating travel, keeping mostly to my home and office, my sense of community is no longer the same as it used to be. I feel so much loss in the personal connectedness that I have taken for granted. I wonder when and how we will be able to advance to a new sense of normal?

I am also struggling with the changing season. In “normal times,” the coming of winter would not impact me as it has this year. As the daylight has shortened, bringing with it more hours of darkness, and the weather has turned damp and cold, it adds an additional layer of gloom to this not so optimistic outlook on life.

Clearly, it’s not healthy to live in a prolonged state of loss and anxiety. I can’t change what is going on with the pandemic and the changing seasons, but I do have control over what I choose to do with my time and priorities. I don’t like to feel hopeless, yet know that just saying “pull yourself together” doesn’t automatically make things better!

Facing these personally challenging times, I did some research and have tried some new habits. I pulled together a list of things that are working for me — some things that I’ve been doing for a long time and needed to re-boot, and other practices that are new. I hope this list may be helpful to you as well.

1. Acknowledge and name how you feel. Write your thoughts and feelings in a journal. Be honest with yourself. Make it a daily practice to write your feelings.
2. Take time each day to thank God for the gifts and blessings God has given you. Expressing daily gratefulness, either in your journal or verbally in prayer, is a way to remind yourself of all the good that exists in your life.
3. Spend time daily in prayer and meditation. This can be done by journaling, writing your own prayers, reading prayers, and/or just sitting quietly. Read from an inspiring book, listen to meditative music, light a candle and surround yourself with comforting things as you take time to be quiet.
4. Keep a list of all the things you need to do. Without a physical list, I feel overwhelmed and anxious. Prioritize the list and set reasonable deadlines, complete tasks that are easy and quick and schedule time for larger tasks. Mark off what is completed. Update the list to remind yourself of your achievements.
5. Be consistent about sleep, exercise and eating. This may take compromise & negotiation with loved ones, especially if their schedule is different than yours. Healthy eating, regular exercise and sleep have a significant and positive impact on your outlook on life and well-being.
6. Find someone to share your thoughts and feelings with. This is a trusted relationship with someone that can support you. Seek professional help if needed, through EAP programs or your pastor – someone that can support you.
7. Find daily joy! Do something that is fun and brings you joy each day. Eliminate or minimize negative and sad input, especially before going to bed!

In closing, I share an excerpt from Joyce Rupp’s book, Little Pieces of Light. “The questions of darkness can gift us with a willingness to live with insecurity and to find deeper joy in the things of life we so easily assume will always be there for us. In a sense, the darkness forces us inward. We can try to sit the darkness out, or withdraw into ourselves, or get completely absorbed in life’s constant pressure of activities. A much more healthy and growthful option is to be open to the darkness that is present, listen to it, hear what it has to say, rather than trying to just survive with it or attempt to boot it out the door as quickly as possible.”

Are you looking for a resource to fund a new and innovative program to enhance the mission of your organization? MHS is pleased to announce the launch of the first annual MHS Innovation Grant.

In August 2020, the MHS Board of Directors approved the launch of this grant program, making restricted endowment funds available for distribution to MHS member organizations.

The application window is Monday, January 11 through Monday, February 15. Applications may be accessed on the MHS website (mhsonline.org).

A total of $3,500 will be awarded to one or more MHS member organizations. Awardees will be announced during the closing session of Mennonite Health Assembly on Thursday, March 11^th.

More information is available at our Innovation Grant FAQ page, or if you’re ready to apply, apply here.

Grant criteria:

1. Limit of one application per MHS member organization.
2. Fund new innovations that will enhance your organization’s mission. Efforts with the greatest impact on your mission will be given preference. 
3. Used for small projects, pilot projects, new programs and opportunities for learning or educational development.
4. Funds may not to be used to cover employee salary or benefits, capital improvements and endowments.
5. Efforts that support diversity, equity and inclusion will be given preference.
6. Efforts that demonstrate alignment with and/or support of Anabaptist faith and values will be given preference.
7. Applicant agrees to provide an impact report on the project and use of grant funds, if awarded, prior to December 31, 2021.
8. Applicant agrees to allow MHS to provide information about the grant to your organization on the MHS website and MHS marketing materials at MHS’ discretion.
9. Application must be fully completed and all supporting documents provided by the close of the application window in order to be considered by the grant committee.

Grant applications will be reviewed and grantees selected by the MHS Grant and Scholarship Committee. Committee members are: Larry Guengerich, Landis Communities; Maribel Ramirez Hinojosa, MHS Board Member; Clare Krabill, MHS and committee chair; Karen Lehman, MHS; Kristin Thim, Living Branches; and Donald Tyson, MHS Board Member.

Questions regarding the grant not answered on the FAQ page may be directed to info@mhsonline.org.

The past year has been jam packed with challenges and change. If you are like many people you have learned about your ability to adapt and to innovate under pressure. Even with that, you likely suspect there are many challenges and more change ahead. How do you continue to squeeze continual high productivity and creativity into your day in what has become the COVID-19 marathon? Where do you find the energy?

With those questions in mind, consider this: imagine how your days, and the outcome of your work, might change if you offered yourself the freedom to consider the management of your energy at least on equal footing, if not more, than time management? Sure, there can be expectations to have the busiest schedule. There are bragging rights to going the longest without a vacation. There is an undeniable pressure that has come from this long pandemic and the stressors it has placed on you, your loved ones, and your organization. 

Alternatively, there is considerable research that energy management leads to higher productivity, creativity and positive influence on others. This energy feeds positive organizational outcomes. (Look to this scholarly article, “Energy Management of People in Organizations”, from the Journal of Business and Psychology if you would like to read more.) Perhaps a focus on maintaining and increasing energy, rather than filling your time, can be your new how to do more with less in 2021!

Consider these exercises:

• Reflect or journal on the portions of your job and personal life that energize you and drain you. How can you re-arrange your schedule to maintain or improve your energy throughout your day?
• Do an energy inventory with your peers. Are there portions of your work that can be shifted with others to balance your team’s energy? Your energy suck may well be another colleague’s energy powerhouse. At the very least, identifying those items that take more personal energy can be an opportunity for your colleagues to encourage and support you and one another.
• Reflect or journal about the responsibilities you are carrying that belong to God. Intentionally enter into prayer with God as you journey to release them. Where is God leading you and providing you opportunity to use your skills and resources? Focus there. Consider sharing these with an accountability partner.
• Ask yourself, whom do you need to forgive, including yourself? Offer grace and mercy to yourself and others while practicing healthy boundaries. Sometimes this isn’t so easy. Keep doing it. Holding a grudge takes a lot of energy.  
• What team building exercises can you implement in 2021? These can be as simple as reading a leadership development book together or more complex activities like a team DiSC profile and discussion. A team that knows, accepts, and supports one another is a great energy builder.

One of the nice things about energy management is that there are many aspects of it that don’t take your time. Practice energy management this year and shift your focus to get more out of the time you give.

Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, by Isabel Wilkerson

by Karen Lehman, MHS president/CEO

It is not often that I can read a nonfiction book in the same page-turning way that I read a good book of fiction.  Sharing stories and providing short provocative narratives makes this book easy to read and hard to put down.

Isabel Wilkerson makes a provocative case for an American caste system, demonstrating similarities to the caste systems in India and Nazi Germany, that places Black people at the lowest, rank in our society.  She provides extensive research and examples.

What we term racism is essentially a caste system that has been in place since the earliest history of this country, and which continues to be maintained today by our spoken and unspoken social order, laws, rules, marginalization and violence. 

This book is filled with American history; shocking and deeply upsetting to read at times, but absolutely critical to know and understand.  This book is required reading for anyone who truly wants to understand white privilege and power as it has played out through history, and how this has shaped the America that we live in today.

The annual MHS Members Meeting was hosted virtually by MHS staff on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. Karen Lehman provided updates on MHS members who are retiring and welcomed new CEO’s as well. A financial report was provided by Alisa Miller as well as an update on MHS Consulting. Clare Krabill provided updates on new MHS programs and services launched in 2020 as well as a high-level report from the MHS Member Demographics and Diversity Survey. MHS Members spent time in small groups discussing their priorities and suggestions for how MHS can support their organizations. The meeting concluded with closing remarks from Karen Lehman and Valerie Rempel, MHS Board Chair.

MHS Member CEO’s, Executive Directors and Board Chairs engaged in small group discussion around their organizations’ priorities. The feedback will be utilized by MHS staff to develop programs and services in 2021. A recording of the meeting can be found here and a report of the member priority feedback can be found here.