TODAY I WILL MAKE IT COUNT

January 20, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

I heard from one of you that my blog which got posted at 12:01 A.M. today did not count as writing for yesterday, even though most of it was written before the stroke of midnight. Well, I am not going to let that happen again. It is 4:48 P.M. and I am finishing up my writing for the day. This one will “count” as being written today!

Actually today I managed a lot of writing. I finished up the last devotional thoughts for our churches annual 21 days of fasting and prayer. They are ready to be printed off in hard copy form tomorrow morning.

Our theme this year for the 21 days was, “PREPARE” and as we finish up our time of prayer I am asking the Lord to show me what our first steps are to do the work of preparing our church for what lies ahead. I am also asking God to show me what I need to do to prepare myself personally.

I don’t have all the answers yet. This one thing I know, I want what we do as a church to make a difference. I want what I do as a human being and as a Christian pastor to make a difference. I don’t want to show up only to find I am too late to do any good. I want this moment in time, this year, to…count.

2024 Day 18…TIME MOVING FASTER

January 18, 2024January 18, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

I feel like I am moving in slow motion while the world is speeding up around me.

I can’t believe it has been six days since I have taken a moment to breathe and write here on “Notes…”.

It’s not that I haven’t written anything. I am doing daily VLOGS and daily written devotionals during the 21 days of fasting and prayer. Our congregational word for the year is “PREPARE”

God is sharing with me during this season, that I will be leading the church through a time of preparation and carrying out the fruit of that preparation. I feel like we are at the beginning of a great race. I also sense it may not be a very long race once it begins, but it is going to consume every bit of energy and resource we are preparing.

One thing I am learning is that oof I am going to prepare I need to do a little everyday without missing a day. Consistency is going to be a very important part of my days ahead.

WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF YOUR YEAR AHEAD?

2024 DAY 12… THREE DAYS SINCE

January 12, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

It has been three days since I have written here. In my defense, I have produced two daily devotional videos, and I have written six meditations for our 21 days of prayer and fasting.

So I have been doing a lot of writing…and other stuff.

Brenda flew in on Wednesday. She is home to help us care for Mom. It was a long drive into the airport and an even longer trip home.

She sat with Mom on Thursday while I dropped off Kristine at her babysitting job and got my much needed haircut.

Mom can’t be left alone now. It is really nice to have the extra hands especially now that the interviews are starting to roll in for Kristine.

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I have also been doing some pastoral care for sick parishioners. Phone calls, visitation and what not.

Today was given to more writing and a trip to the Verizon store to reactivate Brenda’s American cell phone and then to Walmart for supplies for all of our weekend activities.

It does mean I did not get my music planned out for Monday or my class prepped. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.

2024 DAY 9…MARATHONS NOT SPRINTS

January 9, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This day started at 1:30 A.M. Mom was struggling to get up to the toilet. I heard her on the baby monitor in my room and went down to help. She has been having a lot of muscle and joint pain. So I massaged her back and got her settled back in after she used the bathroom. Her legs are getting very weak now and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone. So I opened up the recliner and went back to sleep.

I heard Joe leave at 6 and then prayed until I got the dogs up to walk at 7.

By 10 I was t the office for staff meeting. (Kristine was home with Mom today. I am so grateful for extra hands).

At noon a group of us hosted some missionary friends from China for lunch.

By 2 I was home walking the dogs and spending some more time in prayer.

I actually fell asleep in the recliner again. At 4 I made supper.

Then Joe and I braved the weather to Walmart to pick up pillows for Brenda’s bed. She flies in tomorrow to help with Mom for the next few months.

By 5:30 the storm had really picked up, but we were home for supper and tucked in for the night.

After supper I walked the dogs and then settled in to write for a bit.

Now I am ready for my final prayers and sleep. Life is not a sprint for me. It has become, is becoming a daily marathon. I think I need to get in better shape.

IS YOUR LIFE MORE A DAILY MARATHON OR A DAILY SPRINT?

2024 DAY 7… HAPPY BUSY

January 7, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

“HAPPINESS IS A STATE OF ACTIVITY.”-ROSE LANE, THE WISDOM OF ALPACAS

If that is true then we, at The Vicarage, must surely be among the happiest people on Earth. Yesterday was Abigail’s 3rd birthday.

Joe and Kristine went house-hunting.

Amanda had a meeting of her cohort of women ministers.

Meanwhile I watched Sevy.

When Amanda got home, she and I bounced back and forth between keeping an eye on Sevy in the playroom and cleaning the front office in preparation for Brenda’s arrival on Wednesday.

Mom’s health has reached a place where we are beginning to need the extra hands (even with everyone residence). So Brenda is coming home on a quasi-leave of absence/ fund raising tour.

Sunday morning has begun as most Sundays do with a few hours of prayer in preparation for the on-line service. Then morning chores: shoveling snow, setting up pills for the week, walking and feeding the dogs, making the coffee and getting Mom up and ready to meet the day.

The air pressure has set off Mom’s arthritis so it is a Motrin and Aspercreme morning ( the type of day that is becoming most common for her recently). She seems to be settling in well now, though the pain was bad enough to bring tears first thing this morning.

Amanda is setting up for her children’s on-line meeting at 9. I am getting ready for the morning service at 10. Joe is doing pre-approval paperwork for a home loan and Kristine is out cleaning off the cars from the five inches we got last night.

So… happiness…activity. I am pretty happy, but I would say it’s not just any activity that makes me feel that way but activity that builds family…activity that makes a difference.

2024 DAY 6…MISSED DAY 5. WHAT WILL THE FUTURE HOLD?

January 6, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

I missed yesterday’s posting time. It just got busy. That is always my excuse…. I got too busy. At some point I have to stop making excuses about the things I say I want and just do them.

Today I am answering the question from NOOM entitled, “EXPRESS YOURSELF PT. 2”

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JOURNAL ABOUT A DAY IN YOUR FUTURE LIFE, WHEN YOU ARE LIVING FULLY AND CONFIDENTLY. THINK ABOUT THE QUALITIES YOU SEE IN YOURSELF AND HOW YOU ARE INTERACTING WITH OTHERS AND THE WORLD AROUND YOU. HOW DO YOU FEEL? HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE SEEN BY THE WORLD?

I was just talking with my daughter, Melanie, today about some things I am praying into for change during our annual fast which starts tomorrow.

I am praying for increased dedication to losing weight and to increasing may flexibility. I have a lot of muscle and joint page now. Stretching really helps. I get busy (there it is…my go to excuse). Losing weight will also help significantly… I know it. I say I am too busy to meal plan (and again). So I see that one of the changes I am praying in to my heart is that I stop feeling too busy. Some of it is just about addressing the lie (the stronghold) that I am too busy.

I also have to pray about what I should stop doing.

On that day in the future I will wake up to a fully scheduled day…but I will not be stressed about it. Nor will I rush to get into my day but I will rise to a slow, constant and intentional pace. I will make the breakfast I planned the day before and I will spend time in prayer and then in stretching.

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As I launch into the day I will work according to my schedule and pray according to the bells (on my phone that remind me when it is time to pray and study the Scripture). The people around me will be aware of the lifestyle I live and will let me live it, knowing that I am a better pastor and leader and man of God because of it.

WHAT DOES A FUTURE DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

DAY 1 2024

January 1, 2024January 1, 2024 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Happy New Year!

2023 is history. Here is my favorite picture from the last year.

This is a picture of night time at The Vicarage during a full moon. I was pleasantly surprised by the filter edits I was able to impose on the original.

I am setting my sights on 2024 now. I am praying close into what God will give me for the year ahead. I already know my word for the year…”PREPARE”. I am asking now what I should use for filters on the raw material God gives me so that I might be prepared for God’s best outcome.

I know I am going to be working on my weight, strength and flexibility.

I know I am going to be working on my administrative capabilities.

I know I am going to be working on my writing again.

I know I am going to be preparing for some big changes at The Vicarage which will affect me spiritually, emotionally, and practically.

I know there are opportunities and challenges in my pastoral work that I need to get a better understanding of.

I know there are coming changes in The United States and the Earth which I need to understand better.

I know God is about to move in our church in some new, exciting and challenging ways.

I know God is about to move in our region in some new, exciting and challenging ways.

Lord Prepare me! Lord prepare us!

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WHAT DO YOU THINK THE NEXT YEAR WILL BRING?

WHAT DOES A DAY LOOK LIKE?

December 30, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

People might wonder what a day in the life of a minister looks like. Well every day is different, but each day does have its commonalities.

PRAYER

No call to ministry can be carried out without much prayer. For me prayer is a practice I call myself back to seven times a day. Some of my prayer sessions are short, some are long depending on the rest of my daily schedule, but everything I do must be hemmed in by prayer.

BIBLE STUDY

Every day needs the Bible to be read and studied. Today being Saturday I spent time in devotional reading (Revelation and Deuteronomy) and then I spent some time studying Greek tenses for my sermon tomorrow.

PEOPLE WORK

There is never a day which does not involve connecting with people: Visitation, services, group studies, outreach, phone calls, letter writing, e-mails, texts, Messenger. I use them all and more in order to make connections with my congregation and community. Building relationships is a part of everyday’s work.

PAPER WORK

Photo by u0410u043bu0435u043au0441u0430u043du0434u0430u0440 u0426u0432u0435u0442u0430u043du043eu0432u0438u045b on Pexels.com

Paperwork and administration is also an essential part of the everyday work of a minister. It is my weakest area of ministry. It is what I call “swallowing the frog.”

FAMILY

Unlike most jobs the family life of a minister is an important consideration. The other works of ministry often make prioritizing family health very difficult. Lord knows, I have done a poor job of it during many seasons of my ministry life. It certainly effected my effectiveness as a minister. Now I try everyday to make at least some small move towards greater family health.

I don’t think of the ministry as a job, really. It’s more of a life rhythm that helps influence a community’s health.

Finishing Up and Getting Ready

December 29, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

The season of lights is almost over. 2023 is nearly done. My son and his family took me to Lancaster Nights on Wednesday to see the year out. We enjoyed the ride through the park of lights.

Each light display, each tunnel reminded me that we are on a journey here at The Vicarage. 2024 is right around the corner and I sense something momentous is coming in the year ahead.

Today Joe, Kristine and Sevy are on a two day breakaway, in Wells Maine. Amanda and I began preparing the house for the arrival of my sister in 13 days. She is coming to help with Mom for the next few months.

Mom’s health has taken a turn these last few weeks. It feels like this is a part of the momentous change that is coming in 2024. It is, certainly, one of the most important things I feel our family needs to prepare for. I am praying much into the “how’s’ and “wherefores” of this preparation as well as into what else the word preparation is going to mean for The Vicarage in the next 365 day span.

PREPARE IS MY WORD FOR THE YEAR. WHAT IS YOUR WORD?

Memories Of Christmas 2023

December 26, 2023December 26, 2023 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

Christmas 2023 created so many wonderful memories for me. It was a season of old traditions and new experiences blended together. We started the Christmas celebration with Christmas Eve service and communion followed by a quiet family dinner. We had shrimp with cocktail sauce and roast beef pinwheels, Eggnog and Christmas cookies, and chips with salsa and cream cheese dip as usual. But this year we added lumpia to the mix.

It was Sevy and Kristine’s first American Christmas so we blended American tradition with Philippine tradition.

Christmas Day we started the day with stuffed French toast and bacon.

For lunch I made lasagna, cole slaw and buttermilk biscuits. Kristine made more lumpia….soo good!

maja blanca….soooo good!

and lechon….sooooooooooo good!

The day was ordered around keeping Sevy on track with the Christmas plans. We knew it was time to move onto the next tradition when Sevy started climbing the walls.

Opening presents with four generations was one of yesterday’s great blessings. It is not every family that has the privilege to have four generations living under one roof.

The Christmas season has come and gone and now we are rushing headlong into the New Year. My word for 2024 is “Prepare”. I believe next year will be a year of great upheaval and change. Holding on to our hope, peace, joy and love is going to need that preparation.

Notes From the Vicarage

A minister's family living in a micro forest garden

God