Brandi and James welcome back Geoff Whiteman, ThM, LMFT, to discuss missional resilience and what he has learned from his most recent study listening to member care professionals. You can learn more and get in touch with Geoff at www.resilientglobalworker.org
“At the end of our grit, missional resilience really flourishes, and we come to the end of ourselves. It’s as if then our hands are open to receive Jesus’ resilience” -Geoff
We made preventing attrition the goal for member care, which misses the mark. Preventable attrition isn’t a way to ‘score a point’ but to ‘lose a point’, then suddenly the field of play is very small and possessive. It becomes a game we cannot win but can only lose. Attrition is the wrong measurement of success and failure, especially for staff care. Taking an internal responsibility for something outside of one’s control results in wounding or pain over which we do not have responsibility. For example, someone we care for leaves. This is a form of moral injury, and that pain is really painful for staff care providers.
Flourishing is a better benchmark for measuring the success of staff care. Navigating the liminal spaces of flourishing and challenge is a far better goal and direction for staff care providers.