Thunder and Lightning
reality blog
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Yesterday the Parks and Rec department of our town held the third annual food truck festival. We bought supper at the festival and then I volunteered to clean up when the event shut down at 9 P.M.
Today all that its left to show that a thousand people gathered in the park yesterday is the event tent, the portages potties, a flat bed that the Battle of the Bands used and the deflated bouncy house all awaiting pick up by the rental companies.
Today Amanda and I went for a couple of hours to help a church family with a move. Tomorrow I will preach the next sermon in our series from the Book Of Revelation.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Each day comes to pass. What remains is the relationships we build with each other.
A Few Boxes, a Few Days
I just finished teaching a huge series at Cornerstone, The Bait Of Satan. It was awesome but very rigorous. I also wrapped up both men’s ministry and boy’s ministry last week. Men’s ministry I have handed off to two very capable lay leaders and boy’s ministry concluded for the summer.
Next month my son, Joe, his wife, Kristine, and their son, Sevy, will be arriving from the Philippines to stay with us here at The Vicarage for a while as they establish a new home here in the States.
In August my Sister Brenda will return from The Netherlands for a six week visit.
It promises to be a busy summer, so before it all begins I thought I would take a few days just to get myself ready, to work on the lawn, to prep the house, to prepare my own mind and heart for the changes in rhythm.
Today just after Prime a few boxes arrived from South Korea. They contain things belonging to my son’s family. Signs that the time is near.
A few boxes , a few days and the future is being revealed. I am feeling ready.
Stop the Vicarage I Want To Get Off
Sometimes It Takes a While
In 2013 I was given an opportunity to be part of a project geared to bring our community together.
Our small committee of very diverse individuals representing several micro communities and various town boards in our town met for months trying to come up with a project that would bring the whole town together.
After several months we came up with an idea. Ingleside!
Ingleside was a 43 acre waterfront property owned by a local private school. We wanted the town to purchase the property somehow and to turn it into a gathering place for all the communities of our community. The dream was that it would come become a uniting place.
It took a few years and A LOT OF MEETINGS to work out the land deal.
Obtaining the land was just the first step. Clearing the land and turning it into a meeting point was the bigger job.
The shifts in ministry in 2018 meant I ended up leaving the committee after the land deal was done. My little part of the dream of Ingleside was done.But others picked up the gauntlet and ran with it.
Trails were blazed
Uniting points were created.
Last year a grant was obtained to build an outdoor amphitheater.
On Saturday I got to volunteer as an usher for the grand opening of the amphitheater!
Sometimes it takes a while, but dreams really can come true!
When Dogs Are Like Teenagers
Destrangling the Vicarage Pt. 2 Memorial Day
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
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.
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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
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
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.
Notes From the Vicarage 