Dear Family, One thing ministry has taught me over the years is that there is never a perfect rhythm than meets this lifestyle and stays with it.

The song of my life and ministry does not and never has conformed to a standard beat. It keeps changing meter and speed and no two days are alike and no two days in any given week are alike.

Oh, there are standard big rocks which go in my schedule every week: Sunday morning church, Monday Men’s group, Tuesday Morning staff meeting, Wednesday senior staff meeting, but each of those big rocks is effected each week by all the different things that go on around it. Those other things are like the water that moves around and through the rocks.

Some days the big rocks are met by a trickle and the and the stream is happy, peaceful.

Other days those rocks are all but submerged in a torrent I can hardly keep ahead of. I suppose it is the same for everyone and my particular experience of life is simply in the context of ministry. But I do think that people looking from the outside in consider that somehow my experience as a pastor is different from theirs and that life for me is one long private prayer time.

The truth is I do get at least three hours a day in prayer as a general rule. But I have learned that the only way to do that is to make it a big rock and put it at the head waters of each days river. If I choose otherwise my rhythm become a wild dance that ends in a stumble.

I still stumble a lot. But I am learning more and more how to avoid it and for that I am very appreciative.

Oz

Dear Family, When I returned home from grocery shopping today the painters were back at The Vicarage to finish up the next phase of painting. By the time they left the kitchen was almost complete.

From these pictures it may not look like it, but walking into our kitchen now is like walking into a summer sky. It is so refreshing and relaxing.

The day was actually pretty busy for a holiday. I spent quite a bit of time at visitation. Two of our parishioners are walking in the “in-between”. One knows it is time to pass on to the other side and the other is waiting for further direction from the Lord as to whether to stay here or go on and be with The Father in Heaven.

Life for both of these ladies is like my kitchen. It is almost like walking into the sky but not quite.

I could never do the work the painters are doing on my house, but they are doing what they can to bring my Vicarage project to an end. I have to trust them to complete the work. These two wonderful ladies who have served God with their whole lives are coming near to the end of much more momentous projects than mine. But they, like me, are reliant upon Another to finish their projects for them.

My part of this walk is akin to what many of my friends are doing with me now as they come and see the progress of the work at The Vicarage. They pat me on the back, give me an encouraging word and tell me, “Soon and very soon.”

Walking with these ladies and their families as they approach the end of their time on this side of the glory veil is an honor beyond comparison in my eyes. As they prepare to walk into their own skyward journey I am humbled to walk even a part of it with them.

Dear Family,

Normally I would not be writing on Wednesday as it is one of the busier days in my week, but as yesterday was awash with work I did not have time to get to my posts for the day.

Yesterday was a constant pace through most of the daytime hours and by night my brain was mush and the rainy weather made me a candidate for Motrin therapy. I got a lot done for sure. The house got cleaned. Paperwork got done (well at least some of it…I am amazed at how much paperwork there is for a lead pastor to do and I am minimizing my paperwork compared to my predecessors). The weekly staff meeting was finished. Grocery shopping and library run was finished. I even had time to do my daily devotional for the church before I had to go off to a hospital visit.

I did not complete my prayer regimen yesterday, but today is another day and so I am getting off to a good start finishing up this work and a few other bits before my my senior staff meeting. I will also fit in at least 45 minutes of prayer before that meeting happens and then I have to go into the church to get a check signed for one of the two funerals I planned this week and then I need to get a court waiver filled out and sent for one of our widows who the church is helping with guardianship proceedings. All that will be accomplished before our prayer meeting tonight.

It is a season full of ministry. And I am learning that in all things…like Dory…I need to just keep swimming.