IT FEELS RIGHT

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

This morning Joe and I spent the first part of the morning moving boxes into his new condo.

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A week ago, I said I was feeling a little ambivalent about Joe and Kristine and Sevii’s move from the vicarage into their new house, but as Joe and I lugged books and toys out of the Vicarage to deliver them to the new place around the corner, I began to feel right about this move.

It will make the Vicarage more quiet for sure.

But for the next little while I am thinking the prayer space will be good for me and for Amanda as well.

I’ve also realized that we are not going to be completely silent. We have a huge Thanksgiving planned

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and then a Christmas Cookie swap for the extended family in December.

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I feel like this is going to be a really good move for Joe and Kristine and for Sevii. They need their own space so they can grow as a family without my interference. It’s not like I am heavy handed or anything, but The Vicarage is my house not theirs. They need their own space to spread out and to become.

It has been a blessed season. They needed us and we really needed them, but now…it is time. It just feels right.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

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This is my first full week back in church and it has been a full one:

The morning started as usual at about 3 A.M. with dog walking and prayer. By 7:30 I was on the road taking Kristine to work, and then Sevii to daycare. Then I was off to a full day of visiting and planning next week’s visitation schedule.

I started at one of our local nursing homes. Then I took Amanda out to an early lunch. After that I was off to a congregant’s house for visitation and healing prayer. I have a sense that visiting and praying for people is going to become an even bigger part of ministry going forward.

Tonight concluded with Joe, Amanda and myself attending A Pastor’s appreciation banquet hosted by The Wachusett Camp of The Gideons.

It was a great day!

MEET/ RESET/ PRAY

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This is my first full week back at the church after my sabbatical. It is also my first week employing the new work rhythm.

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The biggest challenge I am finding so far is to take my time with things and to make sure I am actually producing not just checking boxes. I guess I am also finding it a challenge to add the work schedule in and figure out how to flow in and out of the prayer space around that.

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It’s all a process, I realize. My friend JODY CLAPP preached a great sermon on Sunday about embracing the process and being gentle with ourselves as we walk towards progress. YOU CAN FIND THAT SERMON HERE.

Part of the process is relearning the buffer time I need between meetings to reset my brain space and giving myself permission to take that reset time.

Tomorrow will be my first great challenge with the meeting/ reset/ prayer rhythm. My first meeting is at 10 and my last meeting starts at 6. I think I have planned well to balance meetings/ reset and all the other work I have for the day. We shall see.

NEW KEYS, NEW TIMES, UNEXPECTEDLY WEIRD

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My son and daughter-in-law signed on a new condo yesterday. They got the keys to their new home today. That’s where they are right now, beginning the cleaning process before the big move in. Amanda is at the church preparing youth group. It is quiet.

I do love quiet.

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I have to admit, though, as I sit in this, there is a part of me that has become very unfamiliar with the silence, at least during this part of the day. It feels like there should be pots banging in the kitchen. The smell of Philippine spices should be wafting up into my nose making my mouth water. The TV should be blaring “Mickey Mouse Club House”. My son should be snoring in my recliner after a long day’s work at the middle school. I feel like I should be contending with several distractions to my concentration as I write this . Not having all that is kind of a…. distraction.

Now that is unexpectedly weird

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I know that what I am feeling is just the shifting feeling of another change coming in a season of changes. When Joe, Kristine and Sevii moved in, Mom was still alive. Brenda was home for a big part of their time here with me. The house was bustling. Now Mom is gone, Brenda is back in The Netherlands and by next week it will just be me and Amanda in the house. I think the quiet is going to be a truly new atmosphere and I know I will enjoy it….once I get used to it.

That said, who knows what tomorrow brings? I am learning to hold the future loosely and that is another weirdly unexpected thing for me. But we can talk more about that another day.

HAS ANYTHING WEIRDLY UNEXPECTED HAPPENED TO YOU LATELY?