DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL JULY 23, 2024
inspiration
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL JULY 22, 2024
THE BATTLE SINCE JANUARY
Life has really changed this year. In January my mother went into hospice.
My sister came home to walk with the rest of us through the process.
In February we almost lost mom to some kind of violent attack that left her completely bed ridden.
In April Mom passed.The week my mother died our last uncle had a heart attack and since has been dealing with very delicate health.
At the beginning of May one of my daughters was diagnosed with cancer. My other daughter was struggling with gall bladder disease.
In June my daughter had surgery to remove the tumors.
In July my other daughter had emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder and the family cat, our little flerkin, died all in the same weekend.
Also in July my sister took several financial hits due to tax changes because of her Dutch immigration status.
In the church Since January we have faced many very serious situations: severe illness, severe money issues, accidents and spiritual falling away. It has felt like a war of attrition. It feels like we are the besieged army sitting inside the castle walls and the enemy is trying to starve us out.
I realize that this is the exact opposite of how it really is. This feeling of being hemmed in and harried is not how the Scripture depicts the position of the church. We are not the besieged army at all. We are meant to be the attacking army…
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[a] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[b] shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[c] in heaven.” Matthew 16:17-19
I have to admit, all these attacks on our family life have left me feeling a little destabilized. It is time to fix that. So I have reached out to my spiritual presbyter ( a spiritual director if you will) and I am getting ready to take the fight to the enemy.
I realize this is not a time for shrinking back. It is a time for pressing in. But the battle must be fought with spiritual weapons. Prayer, faith and The Word of God are how we are to fight. It is time to overcome!
CHOICES AND LIMITATIONS
Everyday we make choices. Even “not choosing” is a choice. Everyday we face the consequences of those choices. Consequences are unavoidable. We can choose whatever we want, but we cannot avoid the outcomes our choices create.
Everyday we become more and more limited by the choices we made yesterday.When I choose something today it sets me on a pathway. If the choice I make today reinforces the decision I made yesterday then I go further down the pathway I chose and further away from my starting point. The further down the path I go the more distant I get from other paths and other choices. I cannot now easily reach the choices I decide not to make five, ten fifteen years ago.
I remember the day I chose to shut down my father’s restaraunt and move into another area of business. I remember the day I left business altogether and came back to the ministry. I remember the day I threw over ministry to enter the disabilities field. I remember the day I gave up work in the disabilities field and moved back into ministry. I am now so far away from that first choice to leave the restaurant business that I don’t think I could get back there if I tried. I am even, now, so far removed from anything that is not ministry I am not sure I could make a choice that didn’t include ministry. I have limited myself.
BUT… I am at a point now where I am at peace with most of the limitations. I accept them like old frenemies. My limitations and my choices work together these days to make up this glorious mess I call my life. Not all my choices were good. Not all of the limitations started out helpful, but somehow they work with my destiny and my acceptance of it to drive me on towards whatever God’s plan for me is. I don’t always like the limitations or the choices that go with them, but I am comfortable with the necessity of them. And so I go on making choices prayerfully and accepting the limitations they bring peacefully until the goodness that God can make out of both of those things is revealed.
AND DISCUSS…..
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL JULY 20,2024
WHAT’S BLOOMING AT THE VICARAGE JULY 20,2024
It has been a very stressful week. Looking at the things are growing in my yard helps me keep my head on straight.
The St. John’s Wort is blooming.
These delicate little flowers are from the lemon balm.
The green beans are also flowering
A wall of hydrangeas
Bee Balm
African Daisy
The double helix daily
Torch Lily
The beginning of the giant phlox
DIGGING DEEPER DEVOTIONAL JULY 19, 2024
LIFE IN THE FISHBOWL
I have a term for the life of ministry. I call it “life in the fishbowl.”
This life has many benefits: It offers flexible hours; It is never boring; It helps me keep on top of the spiritual disciplines; It has the potential to create healthy and long lasting friendships based around more than just work; There is an experience of the supernatural and transcendent that no other vocation offers; There is a level of respect and admiration that is gained by serving a community out of this lifestyle.
But there is a cost as well. One of those costs is “life in the fishbowl.” The life I live I live largely in the public eye. Much of who I am and what I and my family do is up for public inspection and comment. It is a fact that is true for every person whose vocation is in the public arena: entertainment personalities, political figures and clergy.
I have lived in the fishbowl for such a long time now that many times I don’t even pay attention to what people are watching. And like most fish in fishbowls I have found my places to go when I need to be “by myself”. I know how to create boundary space: Send calls to voicemail, stay away from e-mail or Messenger, hide in the Vicarage or in my room.
Still sometimes living in the fishbowl it is hard to know when I should be going to my private space or when I should be letting people see me in all my glorious triumph and ruination. I struggle sometimes with how much of my victory to share and even more how much of my pain to share. I don’t think I am alone in that struggle. I just think in my position it takes more work to hide both triumph and trouble so perhaps for me it is a more intentional hiding, when I do hide.
HOW MUCH OF YOUR LIFE DO YOU KEEP UNDER WRAPS?
DIGGING DEEPER DAILY DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT JULY 18, 2024
SHARE YOUR WORLD FROM JULY 15, 2024
It is July 16th. I am only one day off this week in my sharing post!
I am sitting at my dining table writing this at 8 A.M. because I want to make sure not to miss another week of SHARE YOUR WORLD. This is the challenge where we answer four questions and give an affirmation at the end. By doing so we the contributors all share bits of our worlds.
HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS AND MY ANSWERS:
- Do you have a bestie (ie. best friend) YES! Jody Clapp has been my friend since 6th grade. We met in Mrs. Lapointe’s math class. We were in marching band together and concert band. He was Snoopy. I was Charlie Brown in the school musical. We went to church together and were best men at each other’s wedding. He is the worship director at the church I pastor, the head of building and grounds and one of the church deacons. My kids all call him “Uncle Jody” and his wife “Aunt Paula”. He is one of my most precious friends
- Do you have a lot of friends? I do have a lot of friends. I have a whole church that I call extended family. We do life together.
3. Has a friend ever let you down to the extent that the friendship has died? Yes. Although dead things can be resurrected.
4. Are you more likely to confide in a friend rather than family? My family are my closest friends.
GRATITUDE:
SO THANKFUL MY DAUGHTER SENT ME THIS SONG YESTERDAY.
AND SO THANKFUL FOR THE YOUNG MAN FRPOM OUR CHURCH WHO WROTE THIS SONG.
Notes From the Vicarage 