Born and Bred Pt. 1

December 30, 2019 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

I was looking at my feed history just a few minutes ago and it strikes me that I haven’t really updated you on life at the Vicarage since August. So much water under the bridge since then!

Brenda and I went to Florida where she attended General Council and the World Missions Summit, while I vacationed.

Then Brenda went on a brief Sabbatical, for her health, in the fall. During that time things began to change for my mother. Dementia has taken a much stronger hand in her life and we have had to make some choices as a family.

I am working more from home now and shifting focus of ministry. Even the church has entered a new phase of its life and the leadership of the church has had to embrace the idea of reinvention to move into the future. That has caused much consternation among the old guard of the church. As one of the few originals of the church left ( I have been there since the founding) I know that the choices we are making are the right ones for the church, but it is still painful saying good-bye to old friends.

I have my marching orders from the Lord and I am determined to see them through…No matter what.

In the midst of all the changes and all the happenings stands this old homestead, The Vicarage. It has stood for a hundred and thirty odd years and has stood a silent witness to this little town through many more changes than I am facing right now.

Somehow that knowledge is comforting. There are things that stand the test of time. Things that are not as easily shaken as the moment. And there is ONE who will never be shaken by anything at all. I am reminded as I write tonight that He is my foundation. I shall not be! I shall not be moved!

Christmas At the Vicarage 2019

December 28, 2019December 28, 2019 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

My dreams for Notes From the Vicarage were so big when I started. I had this vision of giving the blogosphere a glimpse into the life of a ministry family that is unique in its makeup and experience (at least it seems that way to me). One of the drawbacks of ministerial life however has gotten in the way. BUSYNESS!

So much has happened since August and contending with all of it has taken up so much time that there was little time left over to write about it. But now that the holidays are over…or almost over, I am coming back to this template to try again to open a portal into our world.

Christmas at the Vicarage was a small affair. That is Christmas Day was a small affair. The Christmas season was as big as ever. We had several parties to attend. There was Christmas shopping and wrapping. My sister attended an annual cookie bake. We decorated two trees at our house and of course the church had its own decorating day right after Thanksgiving. Our artist’s community had two caroling opportunities one at the town’s annual historic Christmas house tour and the other as we went to several elderly complexes to share the joy of the season. It all culminated in our church’s annual Christmas Eve candlelight service which was absolutely wonderful.

So a quiet Christmas Day was well in order. We had 7 to Christmas brunch. That may not seem small to you but when you compare it to our church receptionist Wendy’s gathering of 35 or our Board secretaries gathering of 64 well…I’ll take 7!

James, Melanie and Daniella arrived at about 9:30 in the morning. That was perfect timing. It gave Mom time to wake up and prepare herself but not enough time to fall into her usual doldrums over the holidays. Daniella has this magical power to lift my mother’s spirits.

I made stuffed French toast, turnovers, sausages, a pasta dish, a fritata and cole slaw. We broke out the egg nog, wassail and apple cider. Then after we had brunch we opened gifts.

Amanda made this stuffed Yoda. It was Melanie’s gift to her husband James. I have such talented daughters.

James had to be to work so the Franklin family left at about 1:30 in the afternoon and then it was naps all around and then the traditional evening at the movies. We saw Jumanji II!

Does it seem odd to you that a ministry family would go to the movies on Christmas Day?

Winter At the Vicarage

December 14, 2019December 14, 2019 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Winter has come to the Vicarage for the holidays. As Thanksgiving closed out the storms came in. We have had about 28 inches dumped on us over the last week. For those of you who use the metric system that is 71 centimeters. Most of that came in one storm or set of storms depending on how you look at it.

As you can see, the new fallen snow has melted back a bit after a few days of warm weather and it is truly beautiful now.

From here through the end of March we will be in a weather pattern of alternating snow and rain if the trend from the last couple of years holds. Last night it poured and this brook flooded as it has been doing the last few years filling the back yard.