I Preached Today - This Is Your Time

Hey, I got to preach for my second time today. It felt really good to preach today. Charley is giving me some good opportunties to grow and develop in my ministry. You have no worries. This is a different place for me here. The people are good to me and Charley has been a great person to work with and work for. It is not like before. He trusts me, he has confidence in me and he accepts me for who I am. And he has been a good friend. How awesome is that? Imagine a church and a minister who can do that?!! He also has the cutest little girl (and one on the way) and the greatest wife - Mireille.
The sermon - I did it based on the book of Revelation 1:4-8 and Columbine High School, specifically April 20, 1999. Yeah I know that sounds a little strange but it was on my heart as I studied and read the scripture. I also got to put my favorite song into the sermon as well - "This Is Your Time" by Michael W Smith. It was not hard to put it in the sermon because the song was about the tragedy and Cassie Barnell.

The words to the chorus are below. What's the question? Do you believe in God?
This is your time;
This is your dance,
live every moment
leave nothing to chance
Swim in the sea
Drink of the deep
Embrace the mystery of
All that you can be
What if tomorrow?
What if today?
Face with the question
oh what would you say?

Thanksgiving was good

I had a good Thanksgiving. Yes, I missed not being home but the day was still good. I did get one thing wrong. I did not go to maine. We went west about 2 hours away. I went with the O'Donnell family (a retired minister) and his wife picked me up and we headed out to their daughter's home. Their son-in-law is vet in the country and their home is the hospital. It was wonderful to see. Their daughter in law is a professional photographer so it was good to see her at work with the family portraits. The twins had fun because they got to be "models" for the day.
Kathy was there with her family, including her twins and son Kevin. Emily, the daughter of the family that owns the home plays the fiddle with the celtic twist that I like. It was great to hear.
I enjoyed myself very much. It was a wonderful day. It poured down rain the entire time but we had fun nonetheless. They treated me so kindly.
I came home and called the family while they were eating dinner. hee hee

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry I have not written in a while. Things have been pretty busy up here in New England. Things are a bit odd though. Last week it was so warm that my windows were up and I was wearing shorts. Last night, it got cold enough that I pulled out a winter coat. I know. I can't stand coats. Today I made up for it and wore my Chowan College sweatshirt to work.
Well, as many of you know, I am not coming home for Thanksgiving. I have to wait until Christmas but that is ok. Several families in the church have invited me over to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and I will be headed to Maine in the morning to do just that with one family in particular. Thanksgiving in Maine. I am looking forward to it.
Guess what I am doing on Sunday? I am preaching for my second time at the church. I am excited about it and at the same time, a bit overwhelmed. Lots of stuff going on in the middle of everything. I am preaching from Revelation and am a bit nervous but I know it will come out fine. (pray pray pray)
I was a part of my first funeral up here last week and we have another one next week. Things went well I think. Not much different from here to the south in regards to this particular funeral. We will see what happens next week. Charley is really good about giving me opportunities to grow in my ministry and work on new pieces.
I hope you all (that is my trademark up here - they all laugh at me) have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Please send me pictures so I can see what you all did. I miss everyone so much, especially right now. So send those pix!!!

BC and Duke Football Game

Well. I went to my first Boston College football game and also my first Duke Blue Devil football game. I have GREAT news! Duke SCORED! But BC scored too - 28 points. The final score was 28 - 7. I had a good time, except the walk up to the game. We had to park a long way away.
I wore my Duke Tshirt and the fans were pretty nice to me. A couple of guys were in front of us and razing me a bit, but all in good nature. I do suspect that they had a few before the time they got to their seats. :-) I think the joke of the night was, "we didn't know Duke had a football team." Well. They are now 0 and 10. You decide.
I was hoping to have some pictures to show you but it was not meant to be. I purchased film for my camera and the battery was dead. So I took the digital camera from the church and got some great shots. Then something happened. Not sure what, but the camera ate all my pictures and I was not able to take anymore. Sorry about that.
On Sunday, Duke volleyball plays at BC. I may go to that. AND GUESS WHAT!!!! Duke Basketball starts Sunday night!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait.
It is late and I need some sleep. Good night.

A New Governor in Massachusetts

Ok. We have elected a new Governor in Massachusetts. Hey, wait a minute. I thought I just had a governor election. I did. I did. So I got to vote for Governor two years in a row. Anyway, we elected Deval Patrick. WU HOOOO!! And here is the funny part - at least in my case. Deval Patrick is only the SECOND African American man to become Governor. Guess who the first one was??? That is right - good ol' Doug Wilder in Virginia - and I voted for him too.
Did you know that Mass is also a commonwealth? haha.

The voting process here is interesting. Virginia is not as far behind as you thought. First, they did not check my ID when I came in to vote. They just asked for my street address and that was it. I had the chance to work the election during the Bush-Clinton race and so I notice this stuff. Anyway, no ID needed. Then I was given my ballot to vote - a large legal size sheet of paper. You fill in the holes next to the person or item that you are voting. You fill in the hole with a pen or pencil. A bit primitive I think. And I did not get my sticker that says "I Voted". :-(
Despite the differences, I was thankful to be able to vote. I almost forgot though - until I rode by a place that had red/white/blue balloons outside. "What are those fo...OOOO - I gotta go vote!!" My precinct is an elementary school. I have not been in one for quite some time - since I left teaching I think. It was a little surreal and memories came back - good and bad ones.

Anyway - it was a GREAT day for the Government!!! Congratulations to Virginia for voting for Jim Webb. I am so very proud of you.

Three - Almost Four Month Report

Hey There.
It is almost four months since I have been working here in Boston. Can you believe it? I am sitting around wondering and thinking about things. I enjoy being where I am at the church. I am still working on finding my groove but Charley is good enough to remind me that I have only been here for a couple of months.
The important thing is my confidence is up. I am in a church where I can use my passion of education and pastoral care. I am receiving compliments for the spiritual gifts that have been given to me. When I make a mistake while I am serving Communion, I am told don't worry about it. It happens and the important part is what matters. How awesome is that???? I have been able to preach, pray, instruct, write, and counsel. I do not feel trapped. I get to do what God wants me to do and not get yelled at, reprimanded, and made to feel like an outsider. People have included me in their day. I am welcomed and invited over to parishioner's homes for dinner.
It is a whole new world up here that I am not used to. I am doing a weekly bible study with the Senior Minister. The ministerial staff is doing "story telling" and practicing telling the bible story. I am sitting at the adult table now.
On the other side of that. I miss family and friends. I won't be home until Christmas morning. A SIX OCLOCK AM flight - AFTER an 11:00 pm service. How goofy is that?
Last week, a student from BTSR and his wife came to town for a visit with one of the theological schools. I got to play hospitality for the first time, when I picked them up from the airport, went out to dinner and showed them the church. It felt good to see a fellow Richmonder and seminary face. It was a good piece of homecoming. They left me a message thanking me for all that I had done but they did the most for me.
Is everyting perfect? Absolutely not. I have things to work on. The confidence is up but I still have a long way to go. Keep praying that I can work on that and allow myself to feel free to grow and develop in the way that God wants me to be.
This posting is a reflection on how things are going. Hope all is well with you. Thank you for watching and have a good night.
"It takes courage not only to make decisions, but to live with those decisions afterward." Coach Krzyzewski