Sunny Day

(photo from flik'r)

It was a beautiful day. We stayed outside for hours today when Lil' Princess got home from school, we washed my car, played with chalk and bubbles, checked out the progress of the flower bulbs, chatted with neighbors about gardening, and took a walk.

Sigh.

So very nice. Nice to have mild weather and a sunny day. At one point I sat in a camp chair and just soaked in the sun while reading a gardening magazine. Tomorrow and Wednesday are supposed to be even better, with temps getting into the 70's. I can't wait! Of course, then it's supposed to rain from Friday through Monday, but at least it isn't snow.

The concerns about flooding continue around the state. RevDad is supposed to go to a meeting and I have a class I'll be going to on Sunday, and both activities are in towns that are battling flooding right now. So we'll see if our Sunday goes as planned!

Easter Sunday

Can I sleep yet?

It was a good morning, all three services went well, with decent turn-outs at each. I had no problem on the back roads to the country church, though my car is even more filthy now. I found myself missing special music, organ music, and trumpets playing for Easter, but none of my congregations are able to supply those. They were meaningful services nonetheless, and it was a beautiful morning. I was pleased with the sermon, which is always a good feeling.

I got home an hour before RevDad and Lil' Princess. As I dragged my carcass into the house, my first thought was, "I'm so tired I could puke." And I meant it! But I still needed to make lunch. By some miracle, it turned out OK, considering I was stumbling around the kitchen like a zombie. Though there were some bumps on the way! I took the outer wrapping off the precooked ham, but forgot about the paper-like covering still on it until about halfway through the cooking process. Oops. It turned out yummy anyway. When I put together the green bean casserole, I grabbed the wrong can, and put in cream of celery instead of cream of mushroom soup. The rest of the family was not impressed, but I thought it tasted all right. Some really good corn and fruit salad rounded out the menu. Not bad for being half conscious through the process of putting it together!

Our Easter afternoon has been quiet and low-key. Called relatives to wish them Happy Easter. We've watched Mary Poppins and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (older version). I managed to doze off for a couple of minutes, but both RevDad and I are trying to stay up till bedtime, so we get a good night's sleep. An egg bake with cheese and leftover ham for supper, and now Lil' P is playing with the things from her Easter basket.

And I just want to go to bed for the night! It was a nice Easter, and I'm glad to be done for another year.

Holy Saturday

It's been a rather nice quiet day. Easter egg hunt and grocery shopping in the morning with Lil' Princess. Dying eggs in the afternoon, and hung out around the house. RevDad and I have had next to no energy today, so I'm hoping we will be able to get through tomorrow.

We're still trying to work out our sermons...Come Holy Spirit!

Maundy Thursday & Good Friday

The rubber meets the road at Maundy Thursday, and doesn't stop till Easter Sunday afternoon.

I was pleased with the service on Thursday. The altar guild ladies really came through, so the prep and divesting went smoothly. The gentleman who did the dramatic reading (from the perspective of Judas) did a nice job, spoke clearly and good pacing. It was a reading that could have been much more dramatic and have lots of umph, but I am just grateful I had someone willing to do it and practiced it. 16 people showed up for the service, which is 6 more than the average Sunday attendance at this small church. The extra 6 were made up by people from the largest church in the parish who came over for the service. We would have had a good number from the little church in the country too, but the roads got icy in that direction, so they all stayed put.

Tonights Good Friday service was very good. It really emphasized the cross, and kept everyone's attention on the theme through readings, music and extinguishing candles. The pacing was good, and the reaction to my sermon was very positive. It was a satisfying night as a pastor. Since this service was supposed to be at the church in the country, but got moved to the biggest church because of bad roads, I arranged for the ushers to be from the little church. It felt right to keep that connection. There was a decent turn out, and I was relieved that the weather and road conditions cooperated overall.

RevDad and I are pretty exhausted right now, but not ready to sleep. We both need to finish our Easter Sunday sermons. But it will be nice to have tomorrow free of services. There is an Easter egg hunt tomorrow morning in the town RevDad works in. When we get back from that, we'll color and decorate our eggs. It'll be a nice day!

Holy Wednesday

(image from flik'r)

It was a quiet day. The morning and early afternoon was spent dealing with a migraine. I'm hoping the headaches will run their course, and I'll be free of them for Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

This later afternoon, Lil' Princess and I went to the town RevDad works in, to run some errands, and have supper with Dad. He had a long, full day and evening, so it was nice to get some family time together.

When we got home, Lil' Princess rode her bike for the first time this spring as I walked. We went over to the home of one of the ladies of the parish so that Lil' P could apologize for her bad behavior yesterday. That went really well, and everybody felt good afterwards. The wind really came up, so it was a nippy trip back home.

Tonight I got Lil' P to bed, and then ran over to the church for a few minutes, to catch part of the council meeting. Fortunately Lil' P was perfectly happy to look at her books while I was gone - I HATE when we have a schedule crunch like that, but it worked out. I was able to report the flooding concerns for the parsonage, and the possible problems with the Holy Week services.

When I got home, I got to spend several hours trying to get a hold of the right people at the various churches to verify Holy Week services. The results of this phone tag are that we can have Maundy Thursday service as scheduled at the small church down the road - they finally were able to get somebody to come and plow out the parking area and road. The Good Friday service has to be moved to the largest church from the church in the country, because the roads are impassable to get to the small church. So I have to do some quick rearranging of details. Easter Sunday out in the country is up for grabs, we'll just have to wait and see.

And right now I'm going to review the Maundy Thursday service, and make sure I'm ready. Or maybe I'll just zone out to the TV until I'm ready to sleep. Which way to end Holy Wednesday?

Holy Tuesday

How to summarize today? It started with a migraine. In the middle, the plumber finally showed up to fix our furnace. And I got the Easter bulletin done finally. At the latter part, Lil' Princess went embarrassingly postal on me in a public place, and then fell apart completely when she got in trouble for it. Tomorrow she will be calling a lady from my church to apologize for her behavior. Now this evening, I hope to sketch out some ideas for my Good Friday sermon.

So pain, some necessary tasks done, some embarrassment and punishment, and now thinking about Christ's death.

So that's Holy Tuesday!

Holy Monday

Monday of Holy Week is over...and almost all of it was spent at doctor's offices. Didn't feel all that holy!

In the morning, I drove RevDad to his clinic in the town where he works, because he was feeling too ill to drive himself. It was an unsatisfactory appointment, the NP is totally puzzled by his escalating symptoms. We've been dealing with this stuff for over a year, and it's just getting worse. I think I finally have him convinced to get a second opinion, with an internist or specialist. The timing of this is horrible, of course, it being Holy Week. So I've been trying to give him as much of a break to rest as possible.

This afternoon, I went in for my prenatal exam, which was a much more positive, happy appointment! There's nothing like listening to the baby's heartbeat to lift your spirits and make you think anything is possible. Apparantly I'm still not drinking enough fluids, but other than that, it was a good report. And the ultrasound has been scheduled - yay!!! We're really looking forward to finally seeing this little one. And we're pretty sure we want to know whether its a boy or girl this time, so there's the anticipation of that.

So it's been a day of great frustration, and great joy. Fear and hope side by side. So I suppose it has been an appropriate day for Holy Week. And prayers ascending for it all!

Friday Five - Holy Week

From the RevGal blog;
Holy Week is almost upon us, I suspect that ordained or not, other revgal/pals calendars look a bit like mine, FULL, FULL, FULL........

Jesus was great at teaching us to take time out, even in that last week, right up to Maundy Thursday he withdrew, John's gospel tells us he hid! He hid not because he was afraid, but because he knew that he needed physical, mental and spiritual strength to get through...

So faced with a busy week:


1. What restores you physically?
A nap, a walk with my family, more napping!

2. What strengthens you emotionally/ mentally?
Prayer, talking with friends and family, reading good books, getting things accomplished.

3. What encourages you spiritually?
Interacting with my parishioners in positive ways, prayer time, meditating, reading devotions.

4. Share a favorite poem or piece of music from the coming week.
Holy week music is so stirring...from the heart-wrenching "Were You There" to the joy of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today." It runs the full gamut of emotion. I love it all!

5.There may be many services for you to attend/ lead over the next week, which one are you most looking forward to and why? If there aren't, do you have a favorite day in Holy week, if so which one is it?
At my former parish, I really looked forward to all the services - Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, Easter Sunrise - because the members were really into them, and attendance was excellent. It was obviously so meaningful for the parish. Now its harder, because my current parish does not get into Holy Week. Easter Sunday yes, but the rest of Holy Week, no. It makes me a little sad and wistful. But I am looking forward to Easter, it's such a big full-on happy day.