THE SAGA AT THE VICARAGE CONTINUES

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

The very first post on this blog site was entitled, “THE SAGA AT THE VICARAGE BEGINS”.

YOU CAN READ THAT QUICK POST HERE IF YOU CARE TO KNOW FROM WHENCE WE HAVE COME.

Now that said, there has been so much water under the bridge since that post was written in 2019 that I have to say it hardly applies anymore. The world has changed, the town we live has changed, our ministries have changed, the Vicarage has changed and my family has changed.

These last few months have caused me to do some deep introspection. I have been asking the question “Where do we go from here?” over and over in my time of prayer.

So let me introduce you to the changes in the way I see the world. Let me introduce you to the changes that have taken place in our town, in our church, in our ministries, in the Vicarage and in our family.

LET’S START HERE:

WHAT IS THE VICARAGE?

The Vicarage is a Queen Anne style house co owned by Rev. J. Lillie (that’s me) and Rev. Brenda J. Lillie (that would be my sister). It sits on a piece of property in North Central Massachusetts that is currently what I call an out of control micro-forest garden.

WHAT IS “NOTES FROM THE VICARAGE”?

“Notes From the Vicarage” is a blog about the Vicarage and its micro-forest gardens and all the projects going on there.

It’s a blog about the characters connected to the Vicarage, both human and animal.

It’s a blog about what we believe and the ministries we all oversee.

And it’s a blog about the towns we live in and how they are changing with the times and how we are becoming influencers in them.

WHO ARE THE CHARACTERS OF THE VICARAGE?

PASTOR J. LILLIE- Part owner of the Vicarage. Older brother of Pastor Brenda J. Lillie, father of Joe, Pastor Amanda and Melanie; father-in-law of Kristine and James; Oz (grandfather) to Lela, Abigail and Sevy. Lead Pastor of Cornerstone Church. Currently resides at The Vicarage.

PASTOR BRENDA J. LILLIE- Part owner of the Vicarage. Younger sister to Pastor J, Aunt to Joe, Pastor Amanda, Melanie and their families. Missionary to The Netherlands where she currently resides.

JOE LILLIE VI- Son of Pastor J., husband to Kristine, father to Sevy, nephew to Brenda J, brother to Pastor Amanda and Melanie, Brother-in-law to James and Uncle to Lela and Abigail. ESL teacher in Jr. High School, Gideon, and missions team member at Cornerstone Church. Currently resides at The Vicarage.

KRISTINE BERNADETTE BARRAMEDA-LILLIE- Wife to Joe, mother to Sevy, daughter-in-law to Pastor J, sister-in-law to Pastor Amanda, Melanie and James, Aunt to Lela and Abigail. Teller at Athol Savings Bank and Administrative Assistant Cornerstone Church. Currently resided at The Vicarage.

JOSEPH LILLIE VII (SEVY)- Son to Joe and Kristine, Grandson to Pastor J, Great nephew of Pastor Brenda J., Nephew of Pastor Amanda, Melanie and James, Cousin to Lela and Abigail. Spends time being a little kid. Currently resides at The Vicarage.

PASTOR AMANDA LILLIE- Daughter to Pastor J, niece of Pastor Brenda J., Sister of Joe and Melanie, Sister-in-law to Kristine and James, Aunt to Lela, Abigail and Sevy, Next Generations Pastor of Cornerstone Church. Currently resides at The Vicarage.

JAMES FRANKLIN- Husband to Melanie, father to Lela and Abigail, son-in-law to Pastor J, brother-in-law to Joe and Kristine, uncle to Sevy. Pizza chef. DLT leader and Royal Ranger Commander at Cornerstone Church. Currently resides about 5 minutes from The Vicarage.

MELANIE FRANKLIN- Wife to James, mother to Lela and Abigail, daughter to Pastor J, niece to Pastor Brenda, sister to Joe and Amanda, sister-in-law to Kristine. Medical records transcriber. Worship leader and DLT leader at Cornerstone church. Currently resides five minutes from The Vicarage.

DANIELLA FRANKLIN (LELA)- Daughter to Melanie and James, Granddaughter to Pastor J, niece to Pastor Brenda J, Joe and Kristine and Pastor Amanda, sister to Abigail and cousin to Sevy. First grader! Currently resides five minutes from the Vicarage.

ABIGAIL FRANKLIN- Daughter to Melanie and James, granddaughter to Pastor J, niece to Pastor Brenda J, Joe and Kristine and Pastor Amanda, sister to Lela and cousin to Sevy. Practices being a little kid. Resides five minutes from the Vicarage.

SNUG AND MERCEDES: Elderly Maltese dogs owned by Pastor J. Currently reside at the Vicarage.

SUNSHINE, PARTLY CLOUDY, EGGPLANT AND SPOT-The chickens who live in the Forest garden at Tye Vicarage.

SO… This is us. This our home. This is our story. I encourage you to join us on the journey.

A WEEKEND WITH APPLES

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

It is not often that I get both Friday and Saturday free from ministry events or visitations. This week happened to be one of those rare occasions.

I ended up spending Friday night and Saturday at The Red Apple Farm in Phillipston MA.

On Friday Joe, Kristine and Sevy invited me to a dinner of wood fired pizza. I started with blueberry honey soda by the bon fire.

We played a game of Jenga.

and cornhole.

Saturday morning started out with work in the gardens at The Vicarage.

Please note I am working hard at not growing grass. I am specializing in moss and clover this year. It is keeping the rabbits out of the garden.

After about two hours playing in the forest garden, I met the rest of the family at The Red Apple Farm for lunch.

It was not age festival weekend, but there was free face and body painting and a stand that was helping kids make pet rocks.

I have to say the farm does a wonderful job with their musical entertainment. Friday night they invited a Caribbean kettle band to come out and play and Saturday they had zydeco. If you are going to be in the area of Phillipston MA, YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT’S COMING IN THE DAYS AHEAD HERE.

While Amanda and I ordered BBQ from the Brewhouse Abigail, Mimi and great aunt Andrea got coordinating body paint.

Then Lela and Abigail played a game pf checkers with their great Aunt while several of us chowed down on BBQ Ribs and chicken while listening to the band.

THE NEXT BIG EVENT COMING UP AT THE RED APPLE FARM IS THE SUNFLOWER FESTIVAL.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

INDOOR FOREST GARDENING

/ joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

My daughter-in-law has taken to growing house plants as one of her hobbies. She was given the spider plant about four months ago and she has been diligently replanting the babies. We now have nine spider plants. We also have three peace lilies., A lemon tree, coleus, and a Christmas cactus.

My intention is that as we move towards the winter, I am going to try some indoor herb and lettuce gardening to add to our indoor forest. So I bought some stands from Amazon to organize our collection.

Sevy and I opened the box this morning.

Sevy would help me out by taking little breaks from the Mickey Mouse Club to come and use the little rubber mallet on the stakes.

When Joe got home from his Gideons prayer meeting, he helped me to finish up and get the plants positioned. I think it looks pretty good.

PREPARE YOUR LOVE PT. 3

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

For some reason I have forgotten to post this last devotional thought own preparation. I thought about just skipping it all together but God keeps bringing it back to mind. By way of explanation… our church has been given a direction that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have also been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Here is the 21st devotional thought in the series on preparation.

DAY 21- Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).

Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com

WELL THIS IS IT! 21 devotionals have now come and gone and we are at the end of our talking about preparing. But we are at the very beginning of the actual acts of preparation God will require of us. I hope you gleaned something from these brief comments over the last 21 days.

As we launch out into what comes next here are some thoughts from our study in the Book of Revelation.

8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name Rev. 3:8

Remember we don’t need to create doors. We don’t need to kick down locked doors, either. God is going to open the doors for us. We just need to prepare our hearts to walk through them when He does.

LORD PREPARE US FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD!