june 30

We are at The House of the Open Door now and resting well in the peace and quiet. The story of this place is one I will try to tell when I can type with more than my thumbs. Hopefully later today I will be able to pick up the connecting cord that will allow my computer and blackberry talk to each other. Until then may we all rest in the one who brings us peace.

Test Run

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I'm running a test tonight to see if I can connect directly from my computer through my phone to be able to post here. I want to see if it will take pictures as well as text so that I'll be able to upload things over the next couple of months and not just run around trying to find a coffee shop with wi-fi access.

So here is a picture of the Gate Way Arch at Saint Louis from this Spring. It looks like it takes a while to upload at this size so I might have to compress the pictures before I publish them but it still should work.

What am I forgetting?

The hours are ticking down before we leave for England on the first leg of our trip. There are a couple of reservations that need to be made and of course the packing hasn't even begun yet but one way or another the time will come to get on the airplane and venture off across the pond.
The list at work of items that are incomplete is getting smaller and smaller and yet there is a nagging feeling that I'm forgetting something rather important. So if you know what that might be you have about 48 hours to let me know before there won't be anything that I can do about it.

Staying Connected (or at least trying to)

Over the last several days I have found myself in a number of conversations where my mind has just drifted off into other places. It isn't that I don't care (as much as some people might think otherwise) it is just that I know that I will not be present for the things that people are talking about, planning for, or concerned about. So should I be trying harder to stay connected to the work and people that are around me and before me right up to the very end? Or is this disconnect just one of God's ways of allowing me to transition from very active involvement to a time of rest and refocusing?
One way or another my list of things left undone is getting smaller as the time is getting closer for the Sabbatical to begin. Am I excited? YES! But I'm also sorry to be leaving so many people who I love dearly and times in their lives that I would truly like to be a part of. I guess I can't have it both ways.

Saying good bye

Saturday and Sunday were emotional moments in worship for me. As I was able to offer a prayer for each of the gathered worship services and then to be prayed for before my Sabbatical begins was very touching in so many ways.
The hardest part was looking out over the gathered people and knowing what I was going to be missing in their lives. I know there will be marriages of children that I won't be able to participate in. There will be surgeries that will happen that I won't get the call that says, "Everything went well." There will be births of babies that I won't get to hold until they are months old. There will be the saying of good bye as students go off to college that I will miss. There will just be so much of ordinary and everyday life that I will not be a part of that I know I will miss.
I know that there will be many good things that I will experience over the months of my Sabbatical but for the moment I'll just allow the bittersweet moments of the past weekend to be what I'm feeling right now.
For all of those who placed hands upon me, who offered words of encouragement, who promised prayers, and who told me how much they will miss me and look forward to my return. A simple word.
Thanks!

Finding a rhythm

I know that writing is all about doing it often even when you don't think you have something to say and making yourself use words in complete sentences. (or as close to it as you can when you might have missed that part of your education) So I'm forcing myself to come back to the blog and get used to writing in anticipation of my Sabbatical updates. What I really want to be doing is taking and posting pictures but that just isn't happening much right now as I'm trying to get so many different things wrapped up so that I can leave without feeling to bad about what I'm dumping on everyone else.
So I'll try to find my rhythm and trust that there really aren't to many people reading this yet until I post the links up next week for people to follow along during my Sabbatical. In the mean time if you want to comment feel free because once I'm on Sabbatical I'll be turning off the comments section and you will just have to wait until October.

Things Looming

The days before leaving on Sabbatical are growing shorter and the list is not shrinking to match the reality. So now the priorities begin kicking in and the must does will take precedence over the would like to have dones. It will all work out and if there is anything left over I'm guessing that it will still not have the same level of importance by the time I get back the first of October as it does today.

Seeing

In my profession (a pastor) I often talk with people about what they are seeing and will ask very specific questions such as: "Where do you see God at work around you?"
But right now I'm having trouble seeing.
It is actually my contacts that are causing me trouble. I've been wearing glasses for a long time and am now trying to go back to contacts at least for part of the time and it just isn't working.
I'll see what I can see after awhile to see if it helps me see any better.

I'll need your help

I'm counting down the days until I begin my Sabbatical and there are still a few things on the 2 do list that just don't seem to be getting crossed off. But I'm at least to the point of not adding anything more to the list.
So if you ask me to do something for work in the next 10 days the response is probably going to be something along the lines of: "Given everything that I need to do between now and June 28 if that is going to get done I'm going to need your help in making that happen."
So now back to the list and the attempt to get at least one more thing crossed off before going home for the day.