Tie-Dye Dreams

August 12, 2023August 12, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

I love my little town in the North Central part of Massachusetts. These people are my tribe! We are greatly varied in the way we view the world, but we hold our region in common and the land ties us together in deeper ways than most of us realize.

The first line of our church’s mission statement is ‘WHILE DOING LIFE TOGETHER”.

DOING LIFE TOGETHER is how we are beginning to see the world. We are in this TOGETHER. We are better TOGETHER. It is WHILE DOING LIFE TOGETHER that we now share the LOVE OF CHRIST.

I am proud of our little town. Over the last few years I have sensed a growing spirit of cooperation. Oh, we still have our divisions, but I see a growing number of people willing to reach across the chasms of thought to join together in making our region a stronger community. I see it in the work of the HEAL COLLABORATIVE. I see it in the dedication of the Winchendon Community Park. I see it in the Taste of Winchendon Fairs and the Parks and Rec events throughout this summer. I see it in the library’s One Book One Community conversations.

AND I saw it today in the town’s first ever WINCHENSTOCK. A tip of the town’s hat to the 1970’s and a fundraiser for our local COMMUNITY ACTION COMMITTEE. My daughter, Amanda, and her team ran the tie-dye booth. I was afraid to tie-dye my own shirt, so Trinity did the art work for me. I can’t wait to wear this in the pulpit in honor of what is building in our little community!

MY SHIRT WILL NEED TO SET FOR NINE HOURS AT LEAST AND THEN BE RINSED OUT THOUROUGHLY AND DRIED

Family Weekend

August 7, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

This weekend we had a family reunion on my mother’s side. I was originally going to hold it at the church, but we all know we are in a season of lasts with Mom. This may be her last opportunity to see her family all together in one place, so I opted to hold it at The Vicarage.

Sevy and Kristine got to meet Uncle Tom, and my cousin Nada and her husband Ray

My cousin Matthew and his wife Brittney came with their children Justice and Aria.

My cousins Todd and Dan andMike and Barbara also came. Later my daughter Melanie came with her children.

The biggest hit of the day with the adults was the catching up with each others’ lives.

The biggest hit of the day with the kids was the solar bird bath and the pile of stones in the driveway.

WHAT DO YOU DO AT YOUR FAMILY REUNIONS?

Getting Ready

August 3, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

The Vicarage is hosting a family reunion of the Tenny cousins this Saturday.

Melanie, James and Joe helped me set up the three party tents as part of the yard work we have done. Amanda mowed part of the lawn and I mowed part. I did some hedge cutting yesterday and some weed whacking.

Now we just need to pick up some extra chairs and we should be all set.

ARE YOU HAVING A FAMILY REUNION THIS YEAR?

Overflowing

August 1, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This last weekend I had a family gathering with cousins from my father’s side. Most of these folks I have not seen for over a decade.

Friday night our whole immediate clan went to the Murdock Farm for ice cream.

There are so many wonderful things going on, and my days are full! I am loving the season

THE SPEED OF THE DAYS

July 28, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Has anyone else noticed that time seems to be going faster and faster?

Maybe it is just because I am getting older and so have less time on this side glory than I used to have but it just feels like there is less time for more things and I am saying “no” to more things than ever before.

Last week the Lillie VI family arrived at the Vicarage and began to settle in. I cancelled almost everything on my schedule before they got here thinking that the settling in was going to need most of my attention. I was right and I was wrong. It was good I had the time so that I could help ease my son and his family into life here in Massachusetts. Jetlag really effected my grandson’s sleep schedule.

And so my son and daughter-in-law’s sleep schedule was likewise effected. They muscled through and it got a little better everyday. Then I got sick with a bug my son brought back from The Philippnes. I ended up cancelling even the things I had kept in the schedule.

The week ended with a family party for my oldest granddaughter.

This week our schedules went back to normal.

My son had two job interviews and two job offers. My daughter-in-law’s social security card came in and today the Lillie VI family is beginning the search for an apartment.

My schedule of meetings has been completely full to make up for last week and Amanda’s schedule has blossomed as we approach the coming of fall and the restart of our children’s school programs (it is unbelievable to me that we are almost to the start of the new school year!).

I am filled with awe at how fast things seem to be moving. At the same time I have this sense that it needs to be this way. Something is coming and we must be prepared.

DO YOU FEEL IT IN THE AIR? THERE IS A CHANGE COMING!

DEAR FAMILY- BREAKING DOWN

April 7, 2022 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

Dear Family,

I have to admit I am feeling more stress about this move than I thought and truthfully I thought there would be a lot. It is different than I thought it would be though. I expected to feel constantly overwhelmed. I don’t feel that. I just feel tired.

The truth is there is so much going on not just with the house but with the church that I have little time to dwell on my anxieties. I am in a constant mode of response and each response seems to create a new set of realities with their own sets of responses which require more thought and more work.

In the last three years our church has been through a breaking down. Like our bathrooms we have been taken back to the studs.

It has been hard work and it has been good work. But the breaking down of our church….going from 350 to 120 has only caused me to realize how much more work there is underneath to do. The stress is not manifesting in feeling overwhelmed or like I don’t know what to do. I am just tired and I realize we are just at the beginning of a long journey. Here I am talking about bathrooms and churches like they are the same thing. Principles hold true for all forms of reconstruction I guess. The first step is the breaking down. The next step is the rebuild. It’s all good.

Love,

Pastor Oz

A Note To Joe and Kristine 2-5-22

February 5, 2022February 5, 2022 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Dear Joe and Kristine,

You two really amaze me! You have accomplished so much in your very brief time as husband and wife. I am so proud of you! I am also so glad that you are looking into the possibility of moving to the U.S.

God had spoken to me in one of my prayer times last year and told me to start preparing the Vicarage. I am not surer exactly why, but I do think your return is one of the reasons for the preparation.

So I have started to prepare.

The project continues in April with new gutters and the stone porch repairs. We are also going to redo the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms.

I bought a new mailbox yesterday. I am trying to do little steps everyday to make the house ready for your coming.

I am getting Gramma ready for the move to the next door neighbor’s house. We are so blessed that the neighbor has agreed to rent to us for the eight weeks we have to be out. By the time you get here it will be a whole new house.

Love, Dad

A Note To Sevy 2-1-22

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Dear Sevy,

We have not met in person yet, but I hope that is soon remedied. I love seeing your little face on Messenger every time I talk with your parents and I am amazed at how fast you are growing. It is hard to believe you are almost 5 months old now. Time really does go faster the older you get and compared to you I am OLD. Time is moving really fast for me.

May be an image of 1 person, child and standing — Joseph Elon Lillie VI, Joseph Elon Lillie VII (Sevy), and Kristine Barrameda Lillie

You know, I have not written a note on the Vicarage since you were born. For a while I thought I might close this site down as my time became so limited with this new position as lead pastor of Cornerstone. It has taken me a long time to figure out how to carve out even a little time to get back to writing (which is one of my great loves).

Even though I love writing I have found that this last season of life has been so full of wonderful things (your birth is one of those wonderful things) I just couldn’t pull myself away to write even a few words. But then in prayer this idea came to me.

One of the reasons I write is to create a legacy of words which will carry our family into the future. I want you and your cousins, your parents and your aunts and uncles and I guess the whole world to understand how we got here and what I think this whole thing called life is all about.

Sevy, I hope we get to meet in the next few months. I know your parents are working hard to try and get back here to the United States. If all works according to plan you will be staying here at The Vicarage by next fall. By then we should even have fully functioning bathrooms that do not leak every time you turn on the water. That will be nice! So far the project is going exactly to plan.

Love, Oz

Of Irons and Fires, Of Pots and Burners and the Peace Of God

October 26, 2021 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

These last several weeks have been full of living. The Vicarage project has been delayed by permits and weather, but that is probably a good thing. I have been so busy with God’s work these last weeks I am not sure how I would have handled the pace if we had the house project in full swing.

God really does know what He is doing! I am coming to accept that His timing is perfect and waiting is a good thing

There are lots of irons in the fire…..lots of pots on burners….and yet the peace of God is what is controlling me these days. I guess I have come to the realization I am not supposed to put all the irons in the fire at once. I am not responsible for all the pots on all the burners. I am one guy. I am one part of the body of Christ here in little Winchendon MA. The body is responsible for the irons and the pots. I am responsible to equip the body to handle all those irons and pots (well maybe not all of them but the ones we are called to).

This week as I was in prayer God told me He was going to show me many things that were to go on in the world but that I needed to be careful not to allow what He showed me to distract me from what He had told me to do……otherwise……

He has called me to lead the church to Doing Life Together and to discover our gifts. He has promised that if we did those two things He would help us to reach the lost, send the found and change the world!

I have come to it over the last several weeks that there are several pots I have been trying to get on the burners….several irons I have been hoping to put in the fire that for the moment will just have to wait so that I can fulfill the current call of God.

My book is one of those irons or pots. I am realizing that I will not have the time to finish it and do the work set before me. So….for the moment I am putting this pot back in the fridge….this iron back beside the fireplace. Maybe someday, but not today.

I am also realizing that the delays in the Vicarage project are giving me a better pace. These projects have to happen, but the idea that I was going to get all the work done in these few short months….well that just doesn’t seem to be in the proverbial cards and maybe that is in keeping with the plans and purposes of God.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PLANS YOU HAVE THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN OFF THE BURNER AND PUT BACK IN THE FRIDGE FOR THE MOMENT?

In the Constant…I Am Full

July 27, 2021July 28, 2021 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

I have to say, this has been an amazing summer! So much has begun! So much is happening! Life is a constant! And that means much is changing….because…..

Constant Change | Change quotes, Words quotes, Life quotes

We heard back from the bank. Brenda and I have more signing to do, but we are closer to the beginning of The Great Vicarage Project!

Meanwhile the gardens continue to mark the passing of this summer season.

As I sat to pray on the front porch this afternoon I heard the crickets for the first time, the sure sign that we are moving from Midsummer to late summer.

Midsummer brings a certain little girl’s birthday.

It is so nice having the kids living near us now. The birthday party this weekend will be at their new apartment which is five minutes away. One big change their nearness has brought is Sunday Dinners after church.

I haven’t tried anything fancy yet, but I am really enjoying the opportunity to do a traditional family dinner every week.

Meanwhile things at the church are moving forward as our DLT philosophy (Doing Life Together) becomes a DLT experience. People are joining groups and we are beginning to grow together in relationship.

Notes From the Vicarage

A minister's family living in a micro forest garden

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