#reality

ALARMS AND CHICKEN ENLARGEMENTS

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This week my goal has been to begin clearing the land for the chicken paddock we are going to build. I have to cut back the bushes around the trees where the chicken coop sits.

All of this has to go and so does…

most of this.

My daughter asked me tonight how my week has been. My word was “constant”. It has not been a bad week. It has been a really good week actually. It has also been a constant work of preparing for ministry or working on little unexpected projects.

Today I had a small unexpected project pop up at the church. Our building and grounds crew has begun another project for then church. They are working on refurbishing the green room (which is a large meeting room with couches and a kitchenette. When it is all said and done, it is going to be amazing. This week the volunteer crew began taking down the popcorn ceilings which were put up in the 1980’s.

My friend and one of our deacons, Jody Clapp

All was going well until one of the smoke detectors got some of the oil being used to remove the ceiling goo on it. That set the fire alarm off which caused the alarm company to contact me (the lead contact on the fire alarm list) and then the fire department.

With the fire captain’s help we tried to reset the system to no avail. So the fire captain gave me instructions about how to clean the smoke detector. We got the alarm silenced (though we were unable to shut of the emergency strobes throughout the church) so I went home for lunch and to clean the chicken coop while Jody finished up the ceiling. Then I went back to the church and followed the instructions on cleaning up the smoke detector. It involved paper towels, Q-tips and a shop vac.

In the end, I got the detector cleaned, the fire alarm reset and I even got a wheel barrel load of brush cut from around the chicken coop. I feel really accomplished. Still, I can’t wait to get the chicken paddock built. It is a lot of work moving the chickens back and forth between their coop and their play pen.

WHAT PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON AT YOUR HOME?

SIPPIN’ SERENDIPITY

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There are so many wonderful things about OUR TOWN, WINCHENDON MA. I want to make revealing those wonderful things a part of this blog experience. It’s a wonderful place to live. Many wonderful people live here. And there is a growing list of exciting places to visit and events you can be part of if you come here for a visit.

One of the places I am coming to love is a new coffee shop in town called SIPPIN SERENDIPITY.

This little coffee shop is becoming one of the places my staff and I take parishioners for meetings. I was at SIPPIN’ SERENDIPITY on Thursday last week for such a meeting. We met over coffee, pastry and a game of checkers. Some of the pastry options we considered were made by one of the ladies who attends Cornerstone, Alicia Croteau.

I settled on the coffee cake and my Parishioner settled on the macarons, both great choices.

Here are the hours of operation from their website.Hours: 

Thursday6 AM–2 PM
Friday6 AM–2 PM
Saturday7 AM–2 PM
SundayClosed
MondayClosed
Tuesday6 AM–2 PM
Wednesday6 AM–2 PM

And here is a menu for your perusal along with some shots of the pastry.

May be an image of turnover

If you are in Winchendon anytime soon plan a stop at Sippin’ Serendipity.

Here is a bio piece from the TWO GRANNIES.

WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE FOR COFFEE OR TEA IN YOUR HOMETOWN?

THE ABIDING WORD IN PRAYER

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Reading the Bible is an integral part of my prayer life.

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I have set a current goal of reading at least 12 chapters in the Bible everyday. I break my BIble reading up throughout the day to read a few chapters in each of my prayer sessions.

Over the years I have tried all kinds of different reading and study plans. The pattern I am currently following is reading the Bible sequentially from the beginning straight through to the end. Each time I finish book of the Bible I read one book of the Bible before I move on to the next. Currently my chosen book for rereading between books is Genesis; so my current reading looks like this: GENESIS, EXODUS, GENESIS, LEVITICUS, GENESIS, NUMBERS, GENESIS DEUTERONOMY, GENESIS….This means by the time I reach Revelation I will have read Genesis 66 times.

WHY IS READING THE BIBLE NECESSARY FOR PRAYER?

John 15:7,8 reads, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

To abide means, to be continually present with. the Bible verses from John indicate that if I want my prayers to be answered or my life to bear its greatest spiritual fruit, the Word of God must be continually present in my life. It is not enough to read it once a day and be done with it. I find the Word of God (like my prayer times) must be peppered throughout my day to create greater effectiveness for my life and ministry.

MINISTRY LIFE AND TWR

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I think the most important work a minister does is the work of prayer. Without the work of prayer everything else we do is devoid of power. I try to spend between three and five hours a day in prayer around the rest of my schedule. If you have read my blog before you know that much of that is restorative prayer. “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” Isa. 40:31

But restorative prayer is needed corporately as well as privately. I believe that the prayer ministry is perhaps the most corporately neglected ministry in the church, and if the church is to have power in the days ahead then the people of the church not just the pastors must learn to pray deeply.

One of the ways I am encouraging that in my own church is by encouraging people to attend The Worship Room House of Prayer in our town.

According to its website. “TWR is a missional ministry where singers, musicians, and intercessors lead live prayer and worship meetings with a focus on growing in intimacy with the Father as well as doing the work of missions from the place of prayer. This Worship Room is open to the public providing a place to pray and be in the presence of God. We believe the Lord is strategically calling His Bride to walk out the prophetic promise of Isaiah 56:7 that declares, “Gods’ house shall be called a house of prayer”

I feel so strongly about this I spend two hours of my prayer time each week at the worship room. One of those hours is spent leading the devotional hour on Mondays from 5-6 P.M.

https://fb.watch/tX1Ys35UwB/

SNOW WHITE OR THE FARMER?

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I went for coffee with my daughter the other day and we were talking about the forest garden at the Vicarage. Amanda said, “It’s like we live in Snowwhite’s Cottage, Dad.”

Today I was on a call with my sister and she commented, “You have let the gardens go for so long that what you have is a mature forest. You don’t need to make it into a forest garden you need to prune the forest and make it more usable.”

She is right, of course, Our little micro forest is severely overgrown. I do need to make it more productive as I practice permaculture.

I guess the questions I need to ask are “what do I really want my forest to do?” and “what do I want my forest to be?”

Honestly I love the gardening aspect. As I have turned back to it this year I have loved cultivating my own flowers and my own food. I want to do more of that next year.

Eggplant, tomatoes and green beans from the forest garden.
African daisies in the front garden

But it is not just about the productivity of the gardens; I also love the wildlife and the domesticated life we have in the garden.

The chickens in their playpen
a red squirrel at our feeders
One of our wild rabbits at The Vicarage

I love the animals. As I prune the garden I want to make it a more usable habitat for us as a family but also for the little creatures that live in the forest around us. I can’t imagine not having cardinals and woodpeckers and bluejays and grackles and squirrels and rabbits and chickens. I love that I have to leave the clover long for the rabbits to eat and I love that I have to buy birdseed and suet for my winged critters. I even love it when the squirrels and chipmunks come to steal the food from the birds for their midwinter snacks.

I love being able to cook a meal straight from the garden and I love being able to eat that meal while watching God’s creatures from my dining room windows. I realize that everyone had goals in gardening. These are mine.

IF YOU HAVE A GARDEN, WHAT ARE YOUR GARDENING GOALS?