She just can't say no

For those of you who know Annie well, you know she has a difficult time saying NO to volunteer opportunities. For example:

• In Texas, she accepted a position as the District Communications Officer for United Methodist Women even though it required a four-year term (Scott is convinced the only positions in the U.S. that require such a commitment are the President of the United States and UMW district officers.)
• About a year ago, the President of UMW at our church stepped down unexpectedly. Annie was serving as the VP at the time and wondered if they might ask her to take over. She swore for 30 minutes one night at dinner that she would not take the position if offered. Right at the end of the meal, the phone rang. Within 8 seconds of answering the phone, the words “I would love to” oozed from her mouth and Scott began to weep.

For the past few months, Annie has been adamant that she wasn’t going to take a leadership position here in China. She just wanted to “ease into things” and just be a "regular member" for a while. So this morning she had a PSO (PTA for those of you in America) meeting at the school. There was also a children’s ministry meeting at the church, but she wasn’t going to be able to attend. (Note: She had never been to a meeting at either the school or the church and only knows a handful of people at each place.) The following conversation occurred at dinner:

ANNIE: “Well I accomplished a life goal today.”
SCOTT: “Did you run a marathon.”
ANNIE: “No, that’s lunacy … you are looking at the Head Room Mother for Juliet’s class.”
SCOTT: “I bet there was a lot of competition for that one.”
ANNIE: “I was the only volunteer.”

At that moment the whole table paused to admire Mae as she hoisted a whole lemon pepper chicken breast with her chopsticks. The conversation continued:

ANNIE: “I forgot to tell you that I was also chosen as the Administrator for Preschool and Kindergarten Children’s Chapel at church.”
SCOTT: “I didn’t think you went to that meeting.”
ANNIE: “I didn’t, but my friend asked me if I would do it.”
SCOTT: “So your friend volunteered you at the meeting.”
ANNIE: “No, she didn’t go to the meeting either.”
SCOTT: “So let me get this straight. You were elected as the administrator for something at a meeting where no one knew who you were?”
ANNIE: “Yea – pretty much. I was a bit concerned when my friend told another lady that I had accepted the job and her response was “praise the Lord.”
SCOTT: “Yes, I would see that as a red flag myself.”