Friday 5, just making it under the wire!

Here then is this weeks Friday 5 from RevGalBlogPals:

1. You have a busy week, pushing out all time for preparing worship/ Sunday School lessons/ being ready for an important meeting ( or whatever equivalent your profession demands)- how do you cope?
Try to get as much sleep as possible, take tea breaks whenever I can, get some hugs from my little girl, eat chocolate, and complain to my husband.

2. You have unexpected visitors, and need to provide them with a meal- what do you do?
Spaghetti is my tried and true life-saver. Who doesn't like spaghetti? That, or we go out to eat, to give them "an experience of local culture." Works for me!

Three discussion topics:
3. Thinking along the lines of this weeks advent theme; repentance is an important but often neglected aspect of advent preparations.....
Repentance is definately less emphasized during Advent than in previous generations. It just feels like it "belongs" in Lent. However, with the obnoxious things that go along with the pre-Christmas season culturally, maybe a braceing dose of call to repentance is exactly what we need.

4. Some of the best experiences in life occur when you simply go with the flow.....
Absolutely. Life is complicated, and things NEVER go the way you plan or expect. You have to be ready to duck and weave. If you allow yourself to relax and not get uptight about it, some sweet blessing can come of it. Some of the best laughter I have shared has come out of these kinds of moments, as well as some of the sweetest shared tears.

5. Details are everything, attention to the small things enables a plan to roll forward smoothly...
I learned that from the first senior pastor I worked with. You save yourself so much headache and heartache if you just are mindful of all the little stuff. Not that I am good at this, however, but I do try. I know how much it can matter, and not just to make things convenient for folks. Small details can be incredibly pastoral to people who are suffering or going through a tough time.

Bonus if you dare- how well prepared are you for Christmas this year?
Well...I'm getting there. I'm about half-way done with most everything; presents, decorating, cards. No baking done yet. I'm not hyperventilating yet, though. That will come the night before the Parsonage open house on the 15th that I was crazy enough to agree to!