DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL NOV. 9, 2024
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
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!
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL: NOV. 8, 2024
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL NOV. 7, 2024
MEET/ RESET/ PRAY
This is my first full week back at the church after my sabbatical. It is also my first week employing the new work rhythm.
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.
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
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.
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
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?
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL: NOV. 5, 2024
Digging Deeper Devotional Nov. 4, 2024
MONDAY MORNING KICKSTART 11-4-24
WINTER IS COMING
Forgive the Game Of Thrones reference please. Today was the first day of daylight savings time. Two days ago it was 75 degrees here and we had enjoyed two more days of Indian Summer in Massachusetts. This morning the dogs were up at 2 A.M. and it was down in the 20’s when I took them out for a walk.
I got a lot done last month towards the winterizing of The Vicarage and the forest gardens, but there is much more to do before the true winter settles in.
There are still cellar windows to be covered in bubble wrap. It’s a new thing I am trying in the cellar to see if it improves the insulation in the dead of winter. This came as a suggestion from my sister who uses it on certain portions of her apartment in the Netherlands. The plastic at the cellar doors also needs to be hung. It was a big help last year with the winter wind.
Most of the leaves are gone now. Just the Norwegian Maples still hang onto their leaves. They light up the forest garden in the early mornings making the light almost magical. I still have some garden areas to prepare for next Spring. I am planning on planting a stand of Jerusalem artichoke out by the grape vines.
And I have plans for a pumpkin patch next year. So there is some cutting and dirt turning to do before the ground seriously freezes. I also have a few more rocks to move into place around the picket fence area before they freeze together in the winter storms.
It was a beautiful fall. Now it is time to get ready for the holidays and the New Year.
