Today’s Extra Task
#reality
EXTRA PAGES, EXTRA PRAYERS IN THE HALF LIGHT
The sky has been dark with clouds all day. At nine this morning I was turning on the lights in the house against the twilight. The thunder has been sounding in the distance and rain has been washing the flowers and streets throughout the day.
I was planning on working outside today. Instead I have been getting extra pages written and extra pages read and extra ideas studied and extra prayers prayed. Every day has advantages. They just need to be found, accepted and exploited.
Thunder and Lightning
The First Lily of Summer
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.
Notes From the Vicarage 