Destrangling the Vicarage Pt. 2 Memorial Day

May 29, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

Today was Memorial Day here in the States. That means it was a big weekend. Pastor Amanda and I had a going away party for a service man being deployed and then a pastor/ staff/ board celebration dinner on Saturday. Sunday of course was Memorial Day and Pentecost Sunday and then the church celebration for Pastor Amanda’s ordination. We were EXHAUSTED by Sunday afternoon.

I find I need most of a day to recuperate from a busy weekend and most of a week to gear up for another one.

So today I spent resting in prayer and moving very slowly as Worked around the Vicarage property.

Today I was working on a stand of sumac that has gotten out of control and become infested with bittersweet vine. It went from this:

To this.

More to do tomorrow.

Today’s Decision With Noom

May 24, 2023May 24, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Every morning I get up, walk the dogs, make my bed, listen to my morning Bible chapters for Prime prayers and then do a brief lesson in my Room weight loss app.

Hey, you might find this Noom article interesting!
Get 14-day free trial + 20% off your subscription at Noom:
https://www.noom.com/s/ar

This morning’s lesson was “Defining Your New Reality”.

In it I was asked to name three emotions, mindsets or conditions I wanted to experience along with three behavior shifts I would make to obtain those conditions.

I AM CHOOSING TO BECOME: MORE CENTERED,

MORE HEALTHY

AND MORE, FLEXIBLE

TO GET THERE I WILL FOCUS MORE ON PRAYER AND SLOW MINDFULNESS

ON EATING RIGHT AND EXERCISING

AND ON DAILY STRETCHING

I have been stuck on my first weight loss plateau for about a month (20 pounds down). It is time to settle in to the deeper behavior change that is restful and sustainable.

A MOMENT TO CELEBRATE

May 23, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 5 Comments

I haven’t been able to write much over the last few weeks. Oh, I have had the time. I haven’t had the energy.

When I came on as lead Pastor of Cornerstone Church there was a lot to do. My task from God has been to renovate. The people of Cornerstone have been walking through a renovation of the spirit, a renovation of relationship and a renovation of our physical appearance.

WHAT HAS BEEN CONSUMING SO MUCH OF MY ENERGY LATELY HAS BEEN THE PHYSICAL RENOVATION OF THE BUILDING. I told the congregation that I had three initial goals for our physical building. I wanted to deal with the PINK (the dilapidated rug in the sanctuary), the STINK (the plumbing issue in our men’s bathroom that has long escaped diagnosis and makes the church smell bad when there are heavy rains) and the SINK (the parking lot we affectionately call the Cornerstone Himalayas).

We handled the PINK last summer. Our sanctuary went FROM THIS

TO THIS

This year we are dealing with the next two projects, starting withe largest. The SINK.

Our board has been planning for the last couple of months for the special business meeting of the congregation where we would have the vote to move forward with this project.

Sunday was the day.

We presented.

The church voted.

We are getting a new parking lot!!!

Now the real work begins: the signing of documents, the planning for ministry during construction, the work of communicating all that is going on to the Cornerstone community.

There is a temptation to just keep plowing ahead.

But I think it is important for all of us who are about to embark on this next great congregational adventure to take a moment and celebrate what we have already accomplished!

HUZZAH!

A Big Random Weekend

May 15, 2023May 15, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

I intended o write sometime during the weekend, but it was a big random weekend and the moments for writing did not coalesce as I wished them to.

On Friday I had a load of washed stone brought for the patio and the end of my drive. Yay! No more two foot drop off the end of the gravel!

Also on Friday I decided to go up to see the progress on The Ingleside property, now the Winchendon Community Park. I was a part of the committee that spearheaded the purchase of this land by the town. It is amazing to see what it is becoming.

Saturday morning I started with another tour around the yard to get my bearings of what needs to be done…. a lot of work lies ahead.

Then I met my friends Ray and Deb and Paul and Dawn to help set up for the “Taste of Winchendon Fair”. This is a multicultural fair that is in its third year in Winchendon.

Once set up was done I headed home to do a few chores.

I went back later in the day to help with breakdown. I caught the end of one of the bands that was playing. Big Random is a band that does a lot of charity work for the town. The drummer is a local lawyer who actually helped me a lot with the decisions concerning Grace’s estate work.

I met my daughter an son-in-law and grandchildren at the fair and we hung out for a while talking with other congregational members who were helping out at the various booths. Then Ray and I helped break the fair down. The dessert table had a left over cake so I brought that home as a Mother’s Day treat for mom.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. The flowers are from my sister Brenda. I got Mom chocolates. We got Wendy’s for lunch and then had naps. Naps are a Sunday necessity after church.

As I said a big random weekend at The Vicarage. Now I wonder if we will have a big random week.

Got Some Rocks To Spread

May 12, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

These rocks, laundry, and some phone calls, will probably take up the rest of my day and beyond…

Between Bunnies and Ordination

May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

It has been a very busy couple of weeks. This new series we are doing as a church has been taking a lot of prep time and prayer time

I am also finding myself emotionally spent from the preaching and teaching of it. It is really good stuff, but it is also very emotional stuff.

We are also coming up on a very important meeting with the congregation about our parking lot.

And we are in the midst of a relaunch in our town of the council of churches.

Sooo… yeah it’s a lot.

In the midst of it here are two really high points from the last couple of weeks

My daughter Amanda got ordained. Here she is with her mother, Tina, and younger sister, Melanie. She loves the photo ops, can’t you tell?

Here is Amanda at her ordination banquet with friend and missionary Rev. Kim Ferguson.

And then of course the bunnies in the back yard are always a welcome distraction.

Between the ordination and the bunnies my heart is full.

OK folks, it is time for me to go pray. Big meeting tonight to plan for a bigger meeting next week.

HEY KIDDO, WHAT A GREAT WEEKEND!

May 1, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Last weekend was a busy, wonderful, productive meeting.

Friday night was the culmination of our One Book One Community Project.

Murdock Junior Senior High School site of the One Book One Community Chat

Jarret Krasozcka, the author of our One Book One Community read came to address the town.

Library staff and trustees with Jarret Krasozka (middle)

He spoke to us about his process, the power and the pain of writing this personal memoir.

My favorite quote from the night was, “In real life, there are no heroes or villains, just people who live on a sliding scale of complicated.”

That was Friday. Saturday about twenty of us attended a training at Cornerstone Church. We are working through a study entitled “Coach the Person Not the Problem”

Finally on Sunday, I got to preach my third sermon on the Bait of Satan. It was a powerful service followed by powerful board meeting in which we discussed the repairs to our church parking lot

Things are getting busier, but I feel like work is getting done….a lot of work. That makes me feel productive.

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL PRODUCTIVE?

STUDY IS THE WORD

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

Studying is a big part of my job. Weekly I prepare for three services and five videos.

I am almost always just keeping up with the reading my life requires. I have always liked study and so to have a job that requires me to discipline myself to that work is such a blessing.

Currently I am leading two studies dealing with life’s offenses and a study for young men through the Book of Acts. This morning I sat down in front of the computer and went item by item through all the material for my Sunday sermon, my Monday class and then my Tuesday class. After that I finished off video number five for my on line devotional.

Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

I try to spend a bit of time each day on each class I have to teach each week. That way the material stays fresh in my mind and has time to deepen. Each exposure to the material drives me further into understanding. Cramming causes me to forget and leave out so much when it comes to the actual teaching.

I don’t usually get to go over the material everyday, but the goal is a good one to shoot for. and it keeps driving me to grow in this discipline of study.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR STUDY RIGHT NOW?

MY FEATHERED PESTS AND CONFLICT

April 27, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

One of my hobbies is feeding the birds. I have been an avid birdwatcher since my childhood.

My seven feeders at the Vicarage attract all kinds of birds: cardinals, bluebirds, sparrows, finches, towhees, juncos, chickadees, mockingbirds, catbirds, titmice, and hummingbirds….and it also attracts four of the five feathered pestS, birders are told to watch out for.

COWBIRDS

STARLINGS

GRACKLES

AND THE COOPER’S HAWK

I know I should dislike these birds. They are aggressive. I have watched the Coopers Hawk snatch a mourning dove right out of the air leaving just an explosion of feathers. I know the cowbirds are parasitic nesters. Yet somehow they also bring a sense of life and its vibrant and harsh realities to The Vicarage. They complete the story of life by adding a note of hardship, trial and challenge to the idealism of birdsong on a spring day. There is no story in this world without conflict.

In the next world we will see things differently. When innocence is restored and day and night, black and white, left and right fade into distant memory we will not need the perspective of conflict. But for bow we have to accept the conflict, the trial , the press as part of every life….even when we watch the birds.

DAYS OF POWER

April 26, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Commander Andy, our outpost commander, for Royal Rangers boy’s ministry went out for knee surgery last week, and so I am filling in for the rest of the year. My son-in-law James is now the outpost commander. I am his second and a spare set of hands in ministry.

Last week James and I met to set up the next six weeks of classes for the boys. Last night I was assigned the task of the Bible study. I was to teach from Acts 1:8 and Acts 2:1-4

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues^[a] as the Spirit enabled them.

POWER!

Jesus said “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

So we talked last night about asking God for the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts so that we could have power.

This afternoon sun my noon time prayers the Lord impressed upon me this thought…

“THE ONLY REASON TO RECEIVE POWER IN MY KINGDOM IS TO GIVE IT AWAY, TO USE IT UP FOR OTHERS, TO POUR IT ALL OUT FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS.”

Now that thought gave me pause. How different is this thought from the way most of the world views the acquisition of power?

Notes From the Vicarage

A year long experiment in what happens when a matriarch, three ministers, three dogs and a flerken try to live together.

reality blog