8.17.10 6:30am

Today is Jenny's birthday. I can not explain how much being married to her makes me a better man. She puts up with me a lot more than she should, and that is a gift. I hope today is a great day for her.

Last night when we came home after class, Jenny found a recliner in her office. It was from her sons for her birthday today. She is always looking for a comfortable place to read, and they saw it at goodwill and bought it for her. Those boys love their momma.

Happy birthday my love...

Sunday report

Today has been a pretty amazing day. It started with worship this morning. Any Sunday that we get to do a baptism is a great day, and today didn't disappoint. When we baptise a a child from our children's ministry, they bring all of the kids down, and stack them in front of the stage to watch one of there own get baptized. After the baptism, the kids usually file out during a song. Today, they lingered a little bit. I think it was because they knew the song. It was amazing to see them sing along with us. Have you ever seen a child that was mesmerized by something, and they couldn't break away from it? That is what they were like. They were singing and smiling, drawn in by worshipping.

I also started being the regular host for our 11 o'clock traditional service. I really enjoyed the service, and getting to see people that I don't get to see very much. I am really looking forward to being in there more consistently, for several reasons, mostly because I like being around the people, and being a pastor that takes call for pastoral care, I want and need to get to know the people in that service.

After lunch, I went to our local hospice facility to see Brenda Killabrew and her husband Martin. Brenda has been battling cancer for 3 years, and is at the end of her fight. She has fought valiantly, and Martin has taken such good care of her. It was an honor to get to visit with them, pray with them, and just listen. In our time together, Martin shared that one of Brenda's favorite songs was "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)", and asked me to sing it for her at her funeral. It is always an honor to be asked to sing at a funeral or memorial service. Her suffering will end soon, I look forward to her service, and celebrating her life. I enjoyed our time together today very much.

Bishop William Willimon says that, as worship leaders, one of the things that we are called to is the pastoral care of the congregation, both in and outside of the worship service. I believe this whole heartedly, and relish the role. More about this later this week.

It truly was a great day.

later kids...

I hate this time of year

I hate this time of year. I have several reasons, both personal and professional.

First, and foremost, I hate the heat. Today, we are likely to move into triple digits, and the heat index will get over 110. This is not good for me, being a fat little Italian man. Because of this, I sweat a lot, and I don't like that.

Second, it is budget time. Now, if you know me at all, you know that I don't do numbers very well, so naturally having an important, big project, that is wrapped around numbers is maddening. I get through it, but I hate it.

This time of year also means, goals and evaluations. Every year, we sit down, individually and as a staff, and try to set goals for the coming year. I understand the importance of trying to look forward, and do what we do better. I tend to find myself writing the same things, only in different wording... except for one goal: same goal, same wording... "More pastor, less tech." This problem is for another post.

Lastly, evaluations. I get really uncomfortable sitting in a room with people, even people who I know love me, and like what I do. I always feel like I am going to have to justify every little thing that I do, which is usually not the case, but that is really stressful for me. I end up being much harder on myself than the people who are evaluating me.

This is why I hate this time of year. It will get better for me in about a month or so.

Thanks for listening to me whine.

Later kids...