The End is Near!!

No, I am not talking about the end of the world, I am talking about the end of the year, after Labor Day the retail industry starts they're marketing campaigns to help us spend our money for Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas. So I am thinking now about how to manage my finances and time in what is traditionally a very busy time of year for pastors. I can imagine this Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas spending season is very busy for you too. So what can we do now to help us prepare? I am going to start by thinking about what my priorities are, what really needs to be done, and what do I need to do to prepare for these events? What is my budget for these holidays? And what can I do to make sure I do not miss the meaning of each event, to remember the Saints, to give Thanks for the blessings of my life, and prepare my heart and soul for a new birth of faith? Maybe asking the questions of those who I share these days with is the best starting point, what do we want to happen, what do want to give, what do we want to receive? I know if I wait too much longer to start asking these questions, setting the priorities, before I know it I will be stressed out, tired, and broke by the end of the year! How about you?

Starting back

Starting back to work after a vacation week I feel energetic, omptomistic even, the mail is light, the emails are abundant the sermon needs to be worked, the worship crafted. I want to continue this feeling of being a part of creation, and am afraid I will submit to the conflicting demands of life and lose the peace now reestablished after a time of rest.
I wonder what causes me to fall down the pit of chaos when I am so firmly determined not to be? I would guess not being aware of the forces of doubt, despair, violence, that cause me to lose my connection to the Creator.
So to activily create, to create space, to create art, to create quiet, to create worship, to create, to create, to create is the force that helps me stay sane.

A day in the life of a pastor

Tuesday: the weather bug warns of severe hot weather until Friday, and right now I am comfortable in my home working on worship for Sunday, knowing there is a million things I should be doing since I was on vacation last week and the emails are building up and I feel like the house needs some attention, and what about those visits I have been meaning to do or the phone calls I need to make, and this is after I sat for 5 hours going through all the invitations, and check ins, and announcements from the week away that came through one sort of mail or another,and my daughter is still waiting for us to figure out how to get her back to work and the other is worried about her job, and my wife has a million things to do as well, and so writing seems just so time wasting when I need to check off my to do list those things pressing down...
BREATH IN , BREATH OUT
Okay, it is okay God is holding me, I can see the future just ahead, and I will get there in one piece, once I breathe, once I allow for the Spirit, once I trust.