Next Step

After a productive (I think) interview with a church at the end of April, the time is finally here for me to preach for their PNC. The delay between the two events is due to the travel schedules of a couple of their committee members and the schedule of a "neutral pulpit" church. So this weekend it is.

Rosemary and I leave tomorrow for City by the Sea. (The little ones will be staying with grandparents.) We will be staying with a former colleague of mine who is now a new church development pastor there. He and his wife have offered us a night on the town Saturday night. :) Sunday morning I will preach in an island church that, I'm told, has a view of the ocean from inside the sanctuary. I'm hoping that will be more of a calming factor than a distraction. It would be more calming if I could hear the waves - love that sound! - but the view should be beautiful as well. After church I'll have lunch with the committee. Rosemary is old enough to go her own way for awhile. In fact, I rather imagine that she will enjoy it! I'm a little nervous about being at the transportation mercy of my exploring daughter and the committee, but I'm pretty sure I won't get stranded!

After that, who knows? That will be our time to play! Weather permitting, I'm sure we'll hit the beach awhile. Unless I tank Sunday morning, we'll probably explore the various communities/neighborhoods a little more seriously. Maybe meet up with other friends down there - maybe not. The kids are out of school on Monday, so we won't have to head back home until then.

I originally planned on preaching the lectionary text from Acts. The choosing of a leader to replace Judas seemed appropriate. (Then again, Matthias was never heard from again. Not a great precedent! LOL!) I carried some ideas around in my head for a couple of weeks, but none of them wanted to gel into any coherent form. I had already decided that whatever I planned to preach for the PNC, I would write a week ahead and preach at Small Church last Sunday. After struggling with the prescribed text, I finally gave myself permission to scrap it and write what I wanted to write. I am as satisfied with the effort as I think is possible, although I'm rarely satisfied as a whole with what I write. It was well received last Sunday. Hopefully it will be this Sunday as well. I still have some liturgy/prayers to write. I rarely write my prayers. I'm not sure why I am now. It's entirely possible that I will scrap the written prayer at the time anyway, but at least I'll have the choice.

I know that many of you are already quite busy on Sunday mornings, but if you happen to have a minute to spare, please say a prayer that all goes well and that discernment will be clear. I am so ready to leave the land of uncertainty. I've been here way too long. I'm ready to have a clear, definable goal to work toward again. I'm hoping that it's a good sign that while butterflies are present, the nervousness isn't nearly as strong as the excitement.