#reality

Father’s Day: An Unexpected Journey

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Father’s Day started with big plans.Kristine was up at 5 A.M. cooking the lechon and cilantro lime chicken for our Father’s Day Feast this afternoon. Melanie was to bring the tacos and guacamole. So the day started out peacefully enough as we all got ready for church. BELOW IS THE LINK TO OUR CHURCH SERVICE WHICH WAS ENTITLED “RISE UP.”

We had quite a few visitors and I got to meet them all at the end of the service! Amanda and I stayed to close up the church while Melanie and James and Joe and Kristine went home to get our feast ready. As we were waiting Amanda told me she had been having some chest pain through Children’s Church. That in itself was concerning, but she also had major surgery a few weeks ago and chest pain was one of the symptoms she was told to look out for.

We locked up the church and drove to The Vicarage to get her doctor’s number in Concord. The doctor was quick to call us back and to send us off to the Emergency Room at Emerson Hospital in Concord.

So Amanda and I put the feast aside and went for testing.

It was about an hour and a half before Amanda got in for testing, but once she was off to XRAY I went to The hospital cafeteria for a belated lunch. They didn’t have Mexican food so I opted for some clam chowder, salad and a coffee.

After another hour and a half or so the tests all came back negative so the doctor sent Amanda home with her mystery pain and instructions to take Tylenol, to go to bed and to “come back if things get worse.”

Through this whole time I kept going back to part of our teaching in yesterday’s leadership training.

We were having a discussion about suffering and blessing and how those two things are just two sides of the same coin. Our suffering (trials and difficulties) and our blessings are both tools to bring us deeper into the presence of God if we allow them too. As I was sitting in the cafeteria eating my clam chowder I was thinking how quickly an expected journey of blessing turned over into an unexpected journey of difficulty and I began to remind myself that this unexpected difficulty like the expected blessing is just a tool to be used to bring both Amanda and myself deeper into God’s presence.

As Julian of Norwich said, All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”. We just have to continue to believe that by faith through the difficulty and through the blessing.

We got home. Amanda took her Tylenol ate a bit of taco meat and gave me her Father’s Day presents a mixed gift bag from The Vermont Country Store. In it were two whoopee pies a jar of orange marmalade and some beautiful bamboo wind chimes which I immediately hung in my outdoor prayer chapel.

Melanie and Joe gave me their gifts too and fed me cilantro lime chicken and cake!!!

It was an unexpected Father’s Day. It started in blessing circled around to difficulty and came back to a blessing just like most good stories in our world today. It was an adventure and I am learning I do really love those.

HERE’D TO THE ADVENTURE OF TOMORROW!

Father’s Day Divine Appointments

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I knew going into this weekend that it was going to be very full. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the opportunity being presented, so I spoke about it with my life- coach on Thursday to strategize about what to say no to and what to say yes to. On Friday I spent time praying that my weekend days would be directed by God and that I would know the difference between Divine Appointments and distractions.

Saturday morning started with me and Paul Hackett teaching our monthly leadership class on gifting.

It was a such a dynamic class I came away feeling full of energy and ready to conquer the rest of the day. I felt like my friend Ray in the picture above.

After class my son and daughter-in-law treated me to coffee and pastry in one of the newly opened coffee shops in town. I think I may be a regular at Sippin’ Serendipity.

Then we were off to the Summer Solstice fair in the center of town. Several of our church members were involved in the fair as vendors.

Paula Lambert and her daughter Crysta Rathier were selling their crafted wares. We had a great discussion about sharing Christ in the work place.

This is Tamie Charbonneau who is part of our on line church community. She is a dispatcher by trade and a wood burner by choice. I bought one of her pictures.

This is Andy and Walter two more of our congregants who worked the fair as part of the Fidelity bank team.

Sevy really loved the sheep at the petting zoo.

And we had lunch at the Solstice from the CAC tent. Miranda Jennings is the director of the CAC project. We are so blessed by all she does for our community. She was recently named a State Heroine.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE ARTICLE HONORING HER.

I had some really awesome conversations with people at the fair about: church, and church membership, and going to church, and things that get in the way of going to church and ……well it was just a great time.

Then it was off to The Strawberry Festival at our local Catholic Church. Father Henry has sent me an invite, so I went to have strawberry shortcake (delicious) and there I met quite by accident my cousins. I spent two hours just chatting about family stuff.

Cousin Dale and her husband Richie just celebrated 50 years of marriage.

Cousin Todd and his son Bobby were out enjoying the town after a visit to his Dad.

Now it’s time to walk the dogs and set up my bean poles, before I go over my sermon for tomorrow one more time.

WHAT DOES YOUR WEEKEND LOOK LIKE?

The Vicarage At Night

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One of the projects I’ve started at the vicarage this summer is the creation of a fenced in patio with a prayer gazebo. The fence was finished two weeks ago and my son and I got the tent up this week that is serving as our prayer gazebo.

I have to work on our bug repellent, but the space is shaping up nicely.

Here is the outdoor prayer chapel during the day

And here’s the view at night

What’s Blooming At the Vicarage This Week June 12

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Over the years, I’ve tried to plant a perennial garden that would fill the grounds of the Vicarage. This is the first year that it looks like I succeeded, so what’s blooming at the vicarage this week?



The lupine is still in full bloom. I am hoping to gather some seeds to try and cultivate new little plants for next year.
The bishop’s weed is everywhere. I keep pulling it out and it keeps coming back. It does make a pretty ground cover though.
The gardens are also filled with wild buttercup. I am adding both this and the bishop’s weed to my garden vase on the mantle.
I am cultivating this little area as a wild Daisy garden.
The wild rose is in full bloom throughout the yard, and it is filling the air with sweetness.
There are several large mullein plants on the property. I can’t wait till they bloom later in the season.
The Kentucky rose, and the French rose also bloomed this week.
Our first squash flowers are on the vines.
And finally this little fella came backto life. We named him resurrection when he started to die, in hopes that he would make a comeback. It has been weeks and weeks, but it looks like our waiting has finally paid off.

What is blooming in your yard?

SHARING MY WORLD ON JUNE 11TH

/ joseph elon lillie / 5 Comments

THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO PENSITIVITY’S SHARE YOUR WORLD CHALLENGE.

You can read all the responses to this challenge by clicking the link above. My answers to this week’s questions are below.

What is/has been your favourite job/occupation? I am really enjoying the work I am doing now. I have been ministering in churches since 1991 in all kinds of different capacities. I have been a youth pastor, organist, choir director, worship leader, children’s minister/ director, fellowship and visitation director and assistant to the pastor. Up until three years ago I had avoided the work of being a lead pastor because there were aspects of the job I was afraid of. Then the call came three years ago to step into this role. I am not good at all of it, but I am enjoying every bit of it even those parts where I am on a big learning curve.

Is there a job you would never consider doing? There are lots of jobs I would never consider doing: Astronaut, Marine biologist, Mountain rescue, Fireman, Policeman, Physics teacher, Airplane pilot, Circus acrobat, lion tamer and the list goes on. I admire those who can and do all of these jobs. I know they are beyond me.

Did your family own a business and expect you to join the ranks when you got older? My family did own a business. I did join the ranks, but I was never forced to it. I settled into it. Then my father passed away and then I realized I was not suited to the business and moved back into the field I was created for.

Did/do you have a career requiring qualifications or did you learn on the job and work your way up? This job of ministry has both educational requirements and on the job training that is necessary. Bible college is absolutely necessary, but I have never met a Bible college graduate that was “ready” to minister to a congregation on the day they got their diploma or certification. There are so many non-tangibles to this work that cannot be taught only caught. I would recommend to anyone considering this work to enter this ministry as an assistant first before trying to take or build their own church.

GRATITUDE: I was so blessed by this incredible weekend of ministry.It was a great weekend of adventure.

FOUNDER’S DAY WINCHENDON MA
RELAY FOR LIFE GARDNER MA
CELEBRATION OF LIFE FOR ANNE MARIE
WORSHIP SERVICE- ACTIVATION CONFERENCE AT CORNERSTONE AG CHURCH WINCHENDON
LUNCH WITH A MISSIONARY FRIEND AT LITTLE ANTHONY’S
VISITATION WITH A CONGREGATIONAL FRIEND AT HEYWOOD HOSPITAL