End of the Liners

Over 280 people were fed by our confirmands on Sunday! It was terrificaly busy and hard work, but very very worthwhile. There was not much food left over.

What I appreciated most from our group of students were their questions,

"Michelle, I'm done with this job. What do I do next?"

"I want to switch jobs with him, Can I?"

"This guy asked for a cup of water. Can I take it to him?"

"Michelle, what do I do now?"

Great questions and great response to direction! Thanks Confirmands for making us proud!

Last First and First Last!

Today we are taking our confirmation students on a service project to a fellow United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. We are going to prepare, serve and clean up the noon meal for folks in need. Many of the folks we are serving the world considers to be the 'last' among us, but this afternoon they will be first and we will be last to eat a hot lunch.

I always get excited about this project with our confirmands. It is a lot of fun. I get to see them work hard and many of them try a new talent in the kitchen. The guests we serve are terrifically warm and appreciative of our students and there are smiles galore! What I value most is the life lessons we are teaching, modeling and doing with these confirmands. They are learning to be servant leaders!

I always appreciate even more what I have to eat after we have served so many. Hard work and generosity are very filling too!

So, see you at the end of the line today! That is a great place to be.

Jill of All Trades

Serving as a pastor often means that you are a jack or jill of all trades. Leader, fundraiser, counselor, organizer, recruiter of volunteers, editor, writer, social worker, teacher, speaker, life-coach, priest (in the sense of leading others in worship), manager and building and grounds supervisior are just a few of the various jobs that I do under the title and role of pastor. Some of these were discussed while I was in seminary, others were not. And I am sure that my colleagues would add jobs that I have overlooked.

Being a jill-of-all-trades in the service of Christ and His church can be frustrating. There are a lot of interuptions and role switching throughout the day and/or night. It can be exhilirating or exhausting depending on my attitude in that moment. It is definitely NOT boring! Which I have discovered, is one of the reasons, that I enjoy pastoring. I have the great opportunity to 'mix it up'! I get to use a variety of skills, try new skills, and strengthen weak skills.

Now if only I could get to my to-do list accomplished!

Stories of Sacredness

We have been collecting sacred stories from our congregation since last fall. The plan all along has been to publish our own Lenten Devotional written by members of the congregation. As of this blog, we are still a dozen devotions short of our goal. (If you have a story- send it! 350 words of less.)

I have been teased that doing an Advent devotion would have been easier. We would have had too many submissions at this point in the process instead of not enough. Advent is a shorter liturgical season than Lent by two weeks.

Oh well. Maybe next time I'll be less of an overachiever!

While I have been amazed at the pragmatic approach to recruiting stories (it seems a personal invitation is always answered rather than an all call out to the community) , the stories and the people who have written them put me in a state of awe.

I can barely edit anything for the tears that pour out. People are sharing from the deepest places of pain, sorrow, regret, loss, fear, horror, and struggle. What courage! What amazing testimony to what GOD does within us!

I am so proud to share these stories that I cannot wait for Lent (Ash Wednesday is February 6th) to start! Please pick up one of our Devotionals and read and pray. Read and be inspired. Not only will you support our Spiritual Formation Ministry team's efforts, but you will be awed by God's power at work in the every day lives of people as well.

Good News

Good news (yah beside the Jesus thing) is that Dickie Vitale will be back at broadcasting again soon! And guess what?!?! His first game to call will be the UNC versus Duke game on Ash Wednesday night! I cannot wait for this game and also to hear those treasured phrases only Dickie V can holler!

Go Duke! And Carolina go to... well... you know...

Goals

I cannot get myself coordinated to write my goals for this year. Just not happening.

However, as I have been preparing for a funeral service of a Calvary member today I have been reminded of all the things that I want to do before I die.

So here is my list of Life Goals (in no particular order).

• visit the Grand Canyon
• swim with dolphins
• have a book or two published (one of them being poetry)
• take ballroom dancing lessons with my sweetheart (husband)
• introduce my daughter to the giant Sequias
• go back to Paris and Chartres, France
• ride in a convertible in the northern Italian country side
• walk as many different labyrinths as my feet will allow me
• try out for the Pace Mates before I reach 40
• Meet Dickie V (again)
• Take my sweetie to Hawaii so he can eat at the original Roy's
• add more great things to this list!

Puppies, Pizza Places and Parking Lots

Having a preschooler means that the questions, "Why?" or "Where?" or "How?" occur frequently in our home. A lot of time is spent answering where things come from particularly people, places and things. God is referenced a lot and has been a satisfying answer.

One day in mid-June after we adopted our puppy I decided to ask the question myself. I had a sense my daughter could give a great answer. We had spent months borrowing books about puppies and dogs from the library to prepare for our canine adoption. We had talked about dogs and their families, packs. We had even played with all of her stuffed animal dogs in preparation and had visited several pet stores and breeders.

"Where did our Duke Puppy come from?" I asked. I was stunned by the answer I received. After the slightest bit of hestitation I heard my preschooler say, "Parking lots of pizza places."

What?! For a moment I felt like a complete parental failure, then I reminded myself that preschoolers deal in the concrete aspects of the world... so I thought about how and why she gave that answer.

I soon recognized that she was right. Puppies do come from the parking lots of pizza places. At least ours did. The day we brought our pup home we met the breeder in the parking lot of a local pizza restaurant to make our 'transaction'.

What the new year will bring??

I haven't made my new goals for 2008 yet. I guess you could say that my first goal is to write my goals down. At least that would be a start... hope springs eternal, they say. So I am hopeful about lots of things this year. 2008 will be great...

• because I'll be another year closer to 40! Wow!
• because my family is on the road to financial peace via Dave Ramsey and the Lampo Group.
• because ministry at Calvary is exciting, challenging and fun- made that way by the great staff and super-duper people of this congregation!
• especially because my favorite basketball team has a deep bench this year!
• and because maybe, just maybe my toddler will decide she wants to wear big girl pants!

Yep, I think 2008 will be great!