#reality

A Day Off At the Vicarage

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

Sabbath days at the Vicarage come on Wednesdays. One of the things I’ve learned about Sabbath is that the rest that comes with it is really just a change of rhythm.

I spend a lot of time in prayer on Sabbath. That is not different than any other day, but I am not preparing for a ministry work on Wednesdays so the prayer I do on Sabbath is more of a restorative prayer.

I love to start the sabbath with a gentle walk through the gardens.

Again,that is not different than any other day, but the purpose is different. On my sabbath, I walk the garden to notice what is growing, to take time to enjoy the scent of the garden. Every other day of the week I am planning on what job I have to do in the garden.

This morning, I walked the garden with my cell phone as I was talking to Brenda. She enjoyed the garden with me.

I had Sevy with me for the sabbath morning. Again that is not different than any other day. I have been watching him while his mother works at the local community college. Usually my daughter Amanda watches him, but she is recovering from surgery so Sevy has been staying with “Oz” (that’s what the grandkids call me).

Today, Sevy and I went shopping for some new summer shirts, but only after we watched a few episodes of what he calls “Bickey Bouse”

Then we went to one of the local playgrounds.

After picking up my daughter-in-law from work, I went to have fun in the garden.

After some more prayer and a supper of pork Sinagang, white rice and watermelon, the dogs and I are enjoying a cup of coffee while the sun sets.

It was a perfect day off.

What’s your idea of a perfect day off?

SABBATH THOUGHTS ON READINESS

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I am getting myself ready for Sabbath tomorrow. I will probably be spending a good deal of the day in prayer and in gardening. I am preparing for the summer…and beyond. Here are some of the meditations I will be considering on the subject of readiness.

WOW! I NEED TO THINK ON THIS ONE!!!

PREPARE YOUR HOPE PT. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Each of the seven prepare statements will be broken down into three brief devotionals each over 21 weeks. We are currently on week 17.

WEEK 17- Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

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Jesus said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45

The reason it is necessary to change our minds towards hope may be self evident. A life filled with thoughts of hope is preferable to a life filled with hopelessness, but changing the way we think is only a part of the battle. What we think only changes us not the world around us. If we would change the world around us we must speak the change and act the change. What we say is vitally important to changing the world.

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Prov. 18:21

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Rev. 12: 10,11

WHAT WORDS DO YOU NEED TO START SPEAKING INTO YOUR WORLD TO CHANGE IT TOWARDS HOPE?

Festival of Spring 2024 Week # 10

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I AM WRITING THIS POST IN RESPONSE TO DAWN’S FESTIVAL OF SPRING CHALLENGE.

Spring is about new things coming into the world. Today our new furniture arrives for the living room. My grandson, Sevy approved especially when he realized the seats went up with the push of a button.

We have been working on the gardens for weeks now, and they are really starting to come together. Today I pruned back this hydrangea so we could see the hostess.

I pulled up some of these daffodils so that we could plan them in a new space in the fall. Soon the lilies will be in bloom and this garden will be filled with color.

I just added this lupine to bring a bit more Spring color to the garden

This was the last year I was giving this Korean lilac before I pulled it up once and for all. It is flowering beautifully this year.

The irises will probably be out for Memorial Day

Joe and Kristine started filling the raised beds with soil for our vegetables. I put in the squash and the basil today.

WHAT DOES YOUR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND LOOK LIKE?

SHARING MY WORLD 2024 FROM MAY 20TH ON MAY 24TH

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

THIS POST IS WRITTEN IN RESPONSE TO THE SHARE YOUR WORLD CHALLENGE.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS AND MY ANSWERS ARE BELOW BUT YOU CAN CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO SEE HOW ALL OF THE SUBSCRIBERS ANSWERED.

  1. Do you have a favourite movie you never tire of watching? I really love the Lord of the Rings movies and I think I could watch them over and over if I had the time.

2. Do you have a favourite song or special song as a couple? I love music of all kinds. To name my favourite is really hard. I am a big fan of David Phelps.

The song WATER IS A GOOD ONE.

I also really like Dimash. Here is a link to his song OLIMPICO.

3. How do you relax in the evenings? Lately I have been relaxing by gardening and spending time in extra prayer.

4.Do you celebrate special birthdays or anniversaries? Our family is what I would call celebrationally challenged. We don’t celebrate most things to the extent I would like to. I am trying to change that.

GRATITUDE: I am grateful for the beautiful weather this week and the lengthening days in which to do extra gardening.

WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR THIS WEEK?

FEELING LIKE AN ELDER

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I remember the first time I felt like an adult. I was thirty-five. I was married and had three teen-agers, but it was the first time I actually felt like I had moved from childhood into adulthood. I couldn’t find a rhyme or reason for why my mindset suddenly changed back then. Honestly, until I suddenly felt like an adult I didn’t know I didn’t feel like an adult. For the most part I was acting like and adult. I was paying bills. I owned a house. I was working hard. But not until I was thirty-five did I realize I had the position of an adult… the authority of an adult. It was the first time I felt like I was ready to take on life. The first time I felt like I could take on life and life didn’t just have to happen to me.

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Something is changing again. It is just as strange and unexpected this time as it was when I was thirty five. This time I am moving from adulthood into feelings of being an elder.

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Maybe it is my mother’s passing, maybe it is that I am entering my fourth year as a lead pastor, maybe it’s that all my grandchildren are now talking and the last of them is potty training, maybe it’s that the children of the children I had in nursery Sunday School are now getting ready to graduate, maybe it’s a lot of things, but I am beginning to feel old. I am feeling these days like an elder.

I guess I am one. There is more snow on the chimney now than soot. I feel it in my bones. I feel it in my energy level. I feel it like a new power in my soul. There is weakness in it…and strength.

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I am feeling my age in ways I was told to expect (but refused to accept). I can’t seem to do what I once did as easily as I once did it. I feel weaker, but I also feel a new kind of strength, an assurance, a wisdom, a grace I have not had before that makes me feel that I can do just about anything. I just have to begin learning how to do it differently and maybe a little more slowly.

So how about it? What advice would you give to this new old guy?