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May 9, 2008
I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. That is mostly due to the fact that I was on vacation last week. I must say that my vacation was everything that I thought it would be. I did very little work. I did a lot of tv watching and painting, just as planned. Vacation really was good for me. I did feel sorry for Lisa on a couple of occasions and I helped her wash the dishes.
Everything is going really well with the pregnancy. I think this is the 14th week. According to one web site, the baby is about three and a half inches long now. That just seems amazing to me. We go back to the doctor on May 21 for another check-up.
I suppose that the other big, and sad, news is that Lisa and I will be moving to Roanoke in June. I will be serving as the Senior Minister at Bethany Christian Church. I can't tell you how hard it was to make that decision. All that I can say is that I have tried to do what is best and what God wants me to do. I have to go if I want to continue to develop as a person and especially as a minister. I constantly find myself thinking how fortunate I was to end up here with such a great group of kids and parents. Leaving will be hard.
I will be trying to get around to see everyone before the last week. I hope to talk to you then.
April 26, 2008
It is a bit last minute, but I will be on vacation this coming week. I plan on doing a LOT of nothing. In fact, I have been working furiously so that I can spend my whole week relaxing. All of my laundry is done, I am caught up on church work, the house is clean, the dog is washed, bills are paid, phone calls have been made, and groceries have been bought.
That leaves me with precisely nothing to do this week. Lisa has been instructed that I will not be washing dishes, opening mail, etc. I will take care of the cat's litter box. That is it. What will I do with the rest of my time? I am not sure. I know I will do a lot of painting, reading, running, and I plan to watch every episode of M*A*S*H ever produced. In short, I am going to do whatever I want. It will be a week-long Sabbath.
By Monday, May 5, I should be a completely new man. I can't wait to go on vacation. See you then!
April 16, 2008
One of the first rules a person learns in seminary is that churches do not like change. In fact, a general rule for ministers is to not make any changes at all during their first year at a new church.
I can't begin to say how frustrating this is at times. It is so hard to see a church (not necessarily Louisa Christian Church, but any church) that has so much potential to do ministry, but can't move in that direction because of a fear of change. As a minister, it is hard to understand why churches are not more open to change if it will make the church better.
Let me tell you another story. Recently, I bought a new cell phone to replace an old one that was, quite frankly, driving me nuts. Well, the new phone is what I call the Super Hero of cell phones. It is capable of making my life much easier and organized. The new phone gives me driving directions so I won't have to get lost anymore, checks my email for me, has a much larger keyboard so my fat fingers won't misspell words, and so much more. It is definitely an improvement over the old phone that would work sometimes and sometimes just refused to do anything.
Despite how wonderful the new phone is, all I seem to find myself thinking is, "I really miss my old phone." I don't really have a good reason to prefer the old phone. It is just more comfortable. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
Now I can honestly say that I understand why churches don't like to change. Well, I don't understand why, but I do understand that they don't want to change. I have not even been able to change cell phones.
Change is just hard. But, we have to remember to do what God wants us to do, no matter how hard that change is.
April 9, 2008
You probably don't know it, but today was a very exciting day ... at least it was for me. I finished my first painting after two and a half months of painting lessons.
I'll tell you what was so exciting about it. Actually, there were two things that really caught my attention. First, I was excited because after three months I was sick and tired of looking at my covered bridge. I still remember when I first looked at the picture, I thought to myself, "What a great picture!" I long ago lost that affinity for my covered bridge.
The second thing that made this accomplishment so wonderful is that I really did not think I would be able to paint. I do not consider myself to be artistic at all. I felt sure that I would quit before I finished my first painting. However, I persevered through my doubts and the result was surprising. It actually looks pretty good ... not great, but pretty good. Needless to say, I'm happy with pretty good.
It makes me wonder what else we can accomplish if we put our hearts and our time into it. That picture will be hung up somewhere in my house to remind me of what God is capable of doing through me.
April 1, 2008
Last week was a busy week here at church. We had a lock-in, bingo fund-raiser for the youth group, and Youth Sunday. I enjoy the busy times but also look forward to a slow-down. Things are slowing down as of this week.
I can't believe it, but that is my baby in the picture (the little white thing inside the black thing inside the white thing ... that is how I best describe it). At the moment, it looks like Lisa will give birth to a butter bean. I don't know what is more amazing: the fact that life starts at all or that it progresses so rapidly to the point that the butter bean stage is unthinkable. I don't suppose it matters a lot. What matters is that Lisa and I were able to see a heartbeat at our first doctor visit.
I have learned that a pregnant woman is a source of non-stop amusement. I looked over tonight and saw Lisa eating a lemon. Cheese has become the food of choice in our house. Puking is always a very real possibility. Every morning I wake up to the sound of my wife eating Cheerios. The Cannings and Hoyts told her about the bracelets that help with nausea. Lisa now wears them religiously and looks like Richard Simmons sweating to the oldies.
The summary is this: life is interesting, but good. Pregnant women seem to make life all the more interesting, and all the more good.