Searching For Feedback

For me the biggest downside of being primarily solo staff (for the most part I only see our music director on Sundays), is that I really enjoy and appreciate brainstorming and feedback and I feel like I don't get them as much as I should or I'm used to.  

At my internship and the year following when I worked as a youth minister, the music director and the Children's Ed director and I worked together really well and were able to come up with some wonderful ministry ideas through brainstorming and give each other honest feedback that was both critical and helpful.  And I really miss having a built in network for brainstorming ministry and receiving feedback.

I have found some ways to brainstorm in my current call: I have a few people in the congregation I can get together with for a cup of coffee on occasion and think out loud on different ideas; I often come to the worship committee with ideas and from there we are able to expand upon those ideas; in person and through Facebook and the internet I have connected to other clergy to learn and share ideas with (which the good ideas I promptly steal and adapt for Bethlehem). 

However I'm still missing good feedback.  

Now I often received feedback, but it is not good feedback and by that I don't mean that I don't like what the person has to say.  Instead the feedback is vague, and non-specific: "That was such a lovely worship service." - well that is great, but what can I do to make you experience this feeling again?  "Loved the sermon." - did you like the topic, the delivery or were you just listening more today than most days.  (To be fair, I do love those comments and they do make my heart sing, but they are not helpful a few days later when I preparing for the next week's worship or sermon.)  To me good feedback is prompt, critical and detailed. 

Prompt does not mean immediate.  I don't need to know the person's thoughts or opinions on a worship service, sermon or event before they leave the building - in fact in many ways, waiting a few days is better because it allows you to formulate your thoughts and reflect on things better.  But waiting a few weeks to bring up something that I said doing worship is not helpful because well often by then I have forgotten what I have said or done (not that I remember every word I've said during worship by the time worship is over).  

It is also critical.  I really want to hear "I didn't like it when..." because if I only hear positive thought it makes me keep doing what I'm doing.  That doesn't mean tear my heart out by telling me that I can't do anything right, but be honest about what you don't like.  2 Christmases ago when we ordered white poinsettias to go with all the white Christmas decorations we (the worship committee) heard for multiple people that while they liked the white decorations more, they prefer the red poinsettias, we got red ones this past Christmas. Had we just heard about how much people loved the white decorations, we would have ordered white poinsettias again. People can be critical but nice about and I promise I will try to respond to those criticisms nicely as well - often for the betterment of everyone.

Thirdly feedback is also detailed.  As I stated earlier, while the comment "it was a wonderful worship service" is great to hear as you people are leaving worship, it is not helpful when it comes to planning the next worship service.  Saying things like "I really enjoyed how we did the prayers today." or "I'm not sure how I feel about moving the sharing of the peace." are specific that I know which elements to keep, change, switch back to the way they were, or at least what others are struggling with so I can be sensitive to those changes in the future.  

So why am I writing all this?  Well there have been a lot of changes are Bethlehem lately and I often feel like I don't get feedback even when I specifically ask for it.  

For the past few months we have been having more conversational sermons and for the most part I love them and the feedback I have received has been positive.  But it has also been vague and has mainly come from the more extroverted (and therefore  more likely to talk during the sermons) parishioners.  Then there are sermon conversations like this pass week where I felt like I was pulling teeth and I when I asked in my Monday Morning Church email what would make this better, I have received no response - so now I'm fearful that this week we will have yet another pulling teeth sermon conversation but I will not be able to tell you what I did differently to make this happen. 

We have also changed the prayers.  A few weeks ago the sermon was about prayer and I asked people to write their prayers on note cards that were in the bulletins and those were our prayers that day.  It went wonderfully and I heard great feedback about that.  Well now we have adapted our prayers so we still ask for those prayer cards and have the written petitions, but I have not gotten any response if people like that or now.  So I'm just continuing doing what we are are doing, unaware if people love it, hate it, or are indifferent. 

And more changes are coming.  In the fall we will be moving to the Narrative Lectionary.  This means there will only be one slightly longer reading each week, instead of 4.  We will also no longer have the scripture readings printed in a bulletin insert each week but encourage people to bring their bibles with them. I know there are some concerns and worries about this transition but for the most part those concerns are not coming to me so I really don't know if it is about having 1 reading instead of 4, of not having things easily printed in front of them, or are there deeper concerns about looking like a fool because the person doesn't know how to look things up in the bible. 

So I'm searching for feedback, I'm longing for feedback.  What are your thoughts? What are your concerns?  What do you like? What do you dislike? What made your heart sing? What fills you with dread? If you were in charge what would you change? 

I've Survived October!

I was going to write on Saturday about surviving my crazy October but instead decided that there were a few days left of the month so I wrote my week away.  And it is a good thing I waited to talk about surviving the month.

At the end of September I wrote about how crazy my October was going to be. I had a 10 day trip to Minnesota for a continuing ed preaching conference followed by some vacation time with family and friends.  Then a weekend trip to Rhinebeck for the New York Sheep & Wool festival with my Stitch and Bitch ladies.  Following that with a dessert/bon voyage party for Bob and finishing up with bishop's convocation.  Well just when I thought I had survived and actually enjoyed the craziness that October brought, it ended with a snow storm.

Now being from Minnesota I'm use to snow in October, but flurries and maybe even some sweep-able snow, but not anything measurable in inches or even feet.  A few years before my family moved up north, there was the Halloween Blizzard of '91 that lasted 4 days and piled a foot and a half to two feet of snow in many places.

But this was different.  It was snow, but it was the heavy icy snow.  And being Connecticut, many of the leaves were still on the trees.  Maybe it was just because I was gone for most of the month but I had yet to be driven crazy by the sound of leaf blowers this year.  So between the ice clinging to the leaves many of the limbs, branches and trees that did not fall over or break off during Hurricane Irene just two month ago came down.  And with the limbs they brought down the power lines.

We were for the second time in 2 months left without power for multiple days.  And this time, being without electricity also meant no heat.  Fortunately with candles, many blankets, long underwear and two compact heats I refer to as our dogs Daisy and Koko, we kept warm.

Worship was cancelled on Sunday, we spent much of Monday at a local library, took showers at the Y, ate out more than normal and about 67 hours later our power was restored.

But we are the lucky ones.  Many people are still without power and will be for over a week by the time everything is restored.

The local schools have been cancelled all week meaning they already have 10 "snow" days and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet.

But life moves on.  Bob is still hear for now, but we are headed to New York City tomorrow so Bob can apply for his student visa at the French Embassy.  Afterwards he will book his flight and will probably be off to Paris before Thanksgiving.

And I'll be home alone in Connecticut hoping that there won't be any more long term power outages because they are much more bearable when we lay in the bed piled with blankets and surround by candles playing cards.

Hope you all are staying warm!

Changes in October

I have been pretty quite on my blog lately, well other than sermons and Monday Morning Church updates.  But things are going to change soon because things are changing in my personal life as well.

October has been a scary month on my calendar for awhile now, one that I have looked at starting in August and wondered how I was going to survive until then and how I will survive through October.  And now as we have neared closer to that elusive month, October means even more things me.

For the last few years, my Stitch and Bitch friends have talked about the fun and excitement that is Rhinebeck, aka the New York Sheep and Wool Festival.  This year I decided that even though I'm not a knitter I'm going to go.  It has been a long time since I've had a girls weekend and I'm looking forward to hanging out with my friends for a full weekend with stitching, wine, fiber and our sexy hats (pictures will be kept a secret until Rhinebeck). So I've taken that weekend (October 14-16) off of work.  Well for me since a lot of my work Monday through Friday leads to stuff on Saturday and Sunday, if I'm not going to be there on the weekend I might as well take the whole week off, plus I had an extra week of vacation so I might as well use it.  Woo-hooo vacation week!  Nothing scary about that.

Also Bishop's Convocation, our synod's annual gathering of pastors and rostered leaders is always the last full week of October.  So Monday through Wednesday, October 24-26, I will be on Cape Cod enjoying the company of my colleague in ministry and listening to our awesome keynote speaker, Nadia Bolz,-Weber who is probably the most predominant Lutheran emerging church voice. Okay that seems do-able a week off and another 3 days away at a conference.

Back in July I realized that I still had half of my continuing education budget to use so I started looking at conferences to attend.  Well the Celebration of Biblical Preaching stuck out at me as something I wanted to attend.  It had many more pros that cons.  Pro: Interested in the topic. Pro: Really enjoy some of the presenters work and want to hear more from them. Pro: Stuff I will actually use in ministry.  Pro: Also going over the lectionary for the next year - very helpful. Pro: It is in Minnesota so I'll get to see family and friends.  Con: it is also in October (the 3rd - 6th to be exact) Pro: I have the week off afterwards with nothing really planned in Connecticut, so I can take a few extra days.  Sweet I'm going.

But now you see my October has been scary since August.  It basically means I'll have about a week and a half in the office/at home all month long.

And now the changes in my personal life:

In July Bob heard about a PhD fellowship opportunity and applied in August.  And he got it!!!  Bob will be researching ancient Assyrian mathematics at the University of Paris Diderot (as in France!) and he starts:

November 2!

When he applied we thought the fellowship started at the beginning of October, so I thought if by some chance he got it, it would be a good thing that I would be so busy in October so I wouldn't miss him as much.  Ha!  Now instead of just being busy for that month, and only home for 1 1/2 weeks I also have only 1 1/2 weeks left with Bob really before he leaves for Paris for a few months, though he might sneak up to Bishop's Convocation with me (shhh....don't tell the bishop or really don't tell the hotel staff)

So yes things are going to be busy, and things are going to be changing.

Hopefully I will get back into the habit of adding some non-sermon or MMC posts on a regular basis.  And you will get to hear about me adjusting to living alone.  Stuff like Bob and I figuring out skype dates with the time difference, and me buying Lean Cuisines and other meals for one, or me learning to go to the library or coffee hours on a regular basis just so my 1 minute interaction with the librarian or barista can be my one face to face interaction for the day.

I am really super excited for Bob, he has worked so hard for this and unfortunately has dealt with a lot of rejection thus far in the process.  But I know this is his calling, and this is where God wants him to be.  We have spent time apart before - most of the time we were dating we were in different states or different countries - and last year he spent a few days a week on the other side of Connecticut.  But I also know it will be hard to adjust to not seeing him on a regular basis, not being able to talk to him to brainstorm a sermon or to rant about something that is bugging me.  Or not being able to give him a hug and a kiss good bye in the morning.  But thus far I have yet to mourn me missing him yet, because I'm still trying to survive till the end of October.

How to Survive in an Un-Air Conditioned Church

The Lutheran Handbook, a witty little guide about all things Lutheran, has a sectioned entitled "How to Survive for One Hour in an Un-Air-Conditioned Church" and it must be an important item because it is very near the beginning on page 18.  Well this last Sunday was a day that those tips would have come in handy.  The official high temperature for Sunday was 86 degrees, and I think it hit that high before 11 as rain came through in the afternoon.  This was also after two day of high 90's if not 100 degree, so it was just warm.

And since I knew we in Connecticut were not alone in this heat wave as it was almost nation-wide, I posted the following on the ELCA Clergy group on Facebook:
Today is one of those Sundays that as a pastor in an un-air conditioned church building I ask myself what is the least amount of clothing I can wear and still be socially acceptable. Blessings to you all that find yourself in this situation - may you not pass out during your own sermon.


Boy, did that start a flurry of comments - people commisserating on the heat, tips on how to stay cool while wearing albs (robes), a debate on if you should wear them or not, stories of people who have passed out while leading worship, another discussion about whether it is appropriate to shorten hymns or lessons on account of the heat, and tips on how to get churches to invest in air conditioning.

Well last November I wrote a post entitled "What I Don't Wear to Work," in that post I talk about how I don't wear clerics during the typical week other than on Sundays or other worship occasions. Well I have to say that summer and heat trumps clerics any day.  

After posting the above on Facebook, I went to my closet and found a nice sundress that is not completely casual  (I actually wore to my sister's wedding and my seminary graduation), then went to the church to open every window and door and turn on every fan.  And I was still hot! I can't imagine how much warmer I would have been with something tight around my neck (I've never been a fan of high neck t-shirts or turtle necks for that matter). 

And this isn't the first time I have worn a dress to worship instead of clerics.  The first time was Easter.  It was the end of April, it was a beautiful day and between being a tomboy who hated dresses from the age of 8 to 25, plus living in Minnesota/Wisconsin where it is always too cold to wear a dress on Easter, and then being in seminary or a pastor I have not worn a dress on Easter since well I was probably 8 and damn it, I was going to wear an Easter dress!  During worship I wore an alb and stole over the dress but before worship during the pancake breakfast and afterwards when the Easter Bunny came for a visit, many people complimented me on the dress and that I looked nice and springy.  

Since then I have worn a dress instead of clerics a few other times to worship, and no one at Bethlehem has ever said a word about me not dressing professionally.  And while the dresses have helped me survive in an un-air-conditioned church, I also feel that they have helped me realize that I am just a fellow worshiper in the Body of Christ, one that is just as effected by heat as every other member of this body. 

What I Don't Wear to Work

A pastor friend of mine, just posted this blog post about what he wears to work and why.  I started to write a comment and realized it was going to be really long so here is my response to What I Wear to Work.

On the typical day other than Sunday, you will find me in jeans (or a skirt in the summer), a blouse, sweater or polo and even occasionally a t-shirt.  I only wear clerical shirts on Sunday or for other worship services.  I'm defiantly the minority on the east coast, especially in New England where black clerical shirts reign supreme.  Oh which reminds me, when I do were clerical shirts, they are hardly ever black unless I have a bright colored sweater over them.

So why do I not wear clerics?  Partly it is my "spiritual heritage."  I grew up in the St. Louis area where my pastors wore black clerics every Sunday (though I don't remember what they wore during the week).  My family then moved to Minnesota when I was 14 and I hardly saw clerical shirts on a Lutheran pastor (the one exception being my campus pastor who wore them just about daily).

Once I went to seminary in Philadelphia I was shocked how often people wore clerics.  There was one particular classmate who I swore slept in them cause he wore them anytime he was doing anything in a class that might be collar worthy (i.e. saying the prayer at the beginning of class).  I also started playing "Spot the Collar" which is a delightful game when you count the number of people who are wearing clerical shirts even though they are not doing anything that would require "pastoral authority" that day.  The seminary record came the day that past and present presiding bishops of the ELCA came for a lecture series - it was like pastors thought that if the presiding bishop saw them in a clerical shirt they might be asked to be on the national church staff or they might get called to a nicer church.

Around this point I came home to Minnesota and had to ask my home pastors if they even owned clerical shirts because I could not remember seeing them wear any.  The male pastor said he owned two, one long sleeve, one short sleeve, both black and he wears them at Christmas, Easter and funerals.  The female pastor said she normally wears them on Christmas and Easter but that pastor Easter the clerics didn't go with her outfit.  (I love this as it is so hard to find a skirt that looks nice with clerics that is not black.)

I then went on internship and started wearing clerics on Sunday as was the custom of my internship supervisor.  On my second Sunday of internship, I arrive at the church 20 minutes before adult forum begins, almost 2 hours before worship begins.  I'm wearing a blue clerical shirt, but I don't have a tab in yet.  One older member of the congregation wheels by my office door then backs up his wheelchair, looks at me and says "I have to say you look much better when you wear your uniform, then you don't look like one of the other little girls running around here."  It was a WTF moment!

After much processing and further incidences with that same gentlemen (though he wasn't too gentle) I realized that my clothes really did not matter to him or to anyone else in the congregation.  What mattered was what was in my heart and what was in the other's heart.  If I care about someone's spiritual health and they know that I care about them, they will respect me both as a person and a pastor regardless what I'm wearing.

And what is the one place I wear my clerics the most outside of the church building? The bar!  We have a theology pub on Sunday evenings and sometimes my day is too busy to change beforehand, or since we don't have a working television I'll head down there in order to catch a Vikings game (okay not so much this season).  I have had some wonderful conversation with strangers at the bar, both while wearing and not wearing "the uniform", about faith, God, and religion.  I have found the shirt doesn't matter, again what is in your heart does.  When I respect the other's beliefs, the conversation for the most part is civil, engaging and insightful.

But I do wear the "uniform" to worship because I see it as a sign of the office of word and sacrament to which I have been called.  So when I preach the word or preside at the sacraments I wear my collar to remind myself more than others (since most of them can't see it under my alb) that this is my vocational calling and worship is the most important thing that I do every week.

I still wrestle with this issue, should I wear clerics more often.  Should I wear them to homebound visits?  Well most of the homebound members don't care what I'm wear but that I'm there to visit with them.  What about council meetings or other church meetings?  But clerical shirts have often been used as a sign of pastoral authority and to bullying people into do what the pastor wants, I am no more important than the other members of the congregational council, in fact I'm less important because many of them will still be worshiping here after I have moved on.  Should I even wear them to worship?  Still wrestling.

I've been called to preach God's word and deliver the sacraments but I am also who I am and that is part of my calling.  I'm a grown-up tomboy who used to always play with bugs and mud instead of dolls.  I'm a "domesticated feminist," as Bob calls me, who loves to bake, cook and needlepoint but yet I do it because I enjoy doing those things not because it is the "woman's role."  I'm someone who is more comfortable in jeans than in a skirt and therefore only wear them when it is hot out or for appropriate occasions.  I'm someone with horrible feet and therefore can't wear heels for more than a few hours at a time and never two days in a row.  I'm someone who loves bright colors and dislikes winter not because of the snow and cold weather but because the beautiful colors of spring, summer and fall are not with us and everyone tends to wear black.  I'm someone who has never gotten use to carrying a purse, as much as I have tried.  I am called to preach and serve but to also be myself, and I cannot be myself if I'm not wearing what I am comfortable in or if I'm wearing clothes that don't allow me to be me.  

Living Without the Interwebs

I knew that I was reliant on the internet, and I would even admit to times being addicted to the internet, but I did not realize just how much the internet effected a large majority of my life until earlier this week.

On Sunday mornings, I get up and head over to the church by 8:30, (I normally try for earlier but 8:30 is about the earliest I tend to make it).  Bob meanwhile takes his time and comes over at 9am for bible study.  After worship and coffee hour, I normally have a meeting have some office work to do, or stick around and chat with people.  Bob normally sticks around for coffee hour and heads home and studies or works until I get back to the house.

This past Sunday Bob bible study was sort of canceled since we were the only two that showed up and I didn't have much time to prepare due to the pasta dinner this past Saturday.  So Bob went back to the house to study.  (It is very convenient that we live only 50 yards from the church).  When he came back for worship, a little earlier than normal he said something about the internet not working (not entirely a new thing for us) and played with the modem which in my office.

After worship and coffee hour he went home and came back a little while later again saying that the internet wasn't working.  He looked up AT&T's phone number in church's file but when he tried the church's phone there wasn't a dial tone.  So he got on his cell phone and 20 minutes later proclaimed that the autobot told him that the internet will be fixed by Tuesday!  What 3 days without the internet!

A few phone calls later to talk be able to talk a real person, we were told that there was a major malfunction and crews were working on it but it would be out till Tuesday.

Okay I can live without the internet for a few days, it is no big deal.

But Saturday I made a mint cheesecake for Luther House at Yale were I was bringing dinner to that evening.  I still needed to make the topping but the recipe is on the internet.  So I called my parents and after a failed Google search for the recipe, I was able to give my dad the web address for the recipe and make sure I had the right amount of ingredients (good thing I had made the the cheesecake a few times before).

After making the cheesecake and taking a nap, I really just wanted to take an hour or so and veg watching while watching tv before going to Luther House and then theology pub.  But we don't have cable and we do not get any reception here in the hills of Connecticut so we watch all of our tv online, mainly on Hulu.  Okay so no tv watching for me.

I decided to read instead, but I have a hard time reading in silence and often have pandora.com on while I read or I listen to npr.org while typing.  Because like the tv reception we get about 3 radio stations fairly spotty in our house. And this is how little traditional radio we listen to, I had to go find a radio and plug it in.

After Theology Pub, I checked my email on my phone (YAY phone technology) and also checked my calendar for the upcoming week since it too is on the internet.  Luckily there was nothing that I forgot about.

Bob works from home on Monday, normally writing and coordinating volunteers for later in the week, via email.  I spend a good part of my Monday sending emails about upcoming events or coordinating with people, getting and reading commentaries on the upcoming Sunday's lectionary text via the internet, sending out my Monday Morning Church email, posting it on this blog, etc.

So we decided to work from the library on Monday (gratefully they do not use AT&T and therefore had internet).  But we didn't know the library hours since normally we would look that up on the internet or their phone number (again needing the internet) so we ended up showing up an half hour before they officially opened an hung out in the lobby until the rest of the building opened.

We ended up renting movies from the library for our evening entertainment, and luckily by the time we were done watching them the internet was back up so I didn't have to figure out what else to do with myself.

Ohh internet, how you have seeped into just about every aspect of our lives.  Please do not leave me again soon.

Holy Crap! What Happened to my Calendar?

I've been sick this past week, nothing major, just a head cold.  But it pretty much knocked me out for a good portion of Monday through Thursday.  I thought this was a bad week to get sick, already having Monday off, I had one less day to do work, plus later today I leave for Hammonasset, the synod youth gathering.  (BTW, super excited about going to Hammo since I've been hearing about it since I started seminary in 2004).

But then I went to look at my calendar to figure out a date to go up to New London to see Bob's new place of employment.  And all I can say is: "Holy Crap! What happened to my calendar?!"  This summer I had a very open calendar with worship on Sunday mornings, followed by the occasional meeting and text study group on Tuesday mornings, and I go to Stitch and Bitch on Thursday nights.  Wednesday evening bible study was canceled for most of the summer.  So for the most part my calendar was free, in all honesty it was a little boring and I had to strive to come up with things to do.

But now!  Geesh!  Next week kicks of our Wednesday evening bible study (which I'm actually super excited about as it is a women's bible study that I'm calling "The Finer Things in Life" as we indulge in chocolate, wine and scripture).  On Thursday and Saturday are the first Worship Together events (again really excited, but a little afraid that people won't show up).  Next Sunday is Rally Day and the start of Theology Pub on Sunday nights (again excited but afraid people won't show up).  The following Saturday is the Pasta dinner, and then Sunday starts the Sunday morning bible study.

Whew!  I think I'm free a few days around Thanksgiving.

I'm excited for these ministries and I know many congregation members are excited as well.  Let's just hope that I feel better next week, can get my butt in gear about advertising many of them (good thing for social media that I can advertise from my computer) and that they start off well.

So maybe it was a good week to get sick, to remind myself to slow down and hopefully things will grow at the pace that God wants them to.

Love for the Neighborhood

The street we live on is about a mile long and pretty self contained, as in there is only one road that leads to other road, and that road is at one end.  Starting at the south end of the street, the road curves around a man-made lake and spits out at a train station.  The street is our neighborhood.  

The church and our home is located near the south end, with one house, two preschools, a post office, vet and a factory south of us.  In the other direction is a 3/4 of a mile of homes and one synagogue before coming to the train station; this is are normal path for walking the dogs.  In fact last school year, most days Daisy (the chocolate lab) and I would walk Bob to the train station where he would pick up his train to school, and then Daisy and I would walk back home.  Since I would drop Bob off shortly before one of the buses came through the neighborhood, I especially got to know some of the kids and moms as they waited at the bus stops.  Over the course of the last year, I have gotten to know many of the neighbors, some by name, even more by face.  

As I have walked to and from the train station or the post office, I have watched the synagogue's new addition come to a completion.  I have seen one house get a much needed new roof, and now I'm currently keeping update on a massive renovation project going on at another.  I have seen new landscaping projects, people move out and new neighbors move in.  I have met many people, their kids and their dogs.  

But this summer has been fairly quiet.  Due to Bob's and mine more relaxed schedule, we haven't taken the dogs on as many walks.  And due to the heat this summer, one of the hottest on record, when we have gone out to walk the dogs, we often have seen fewer people outside.  

Well this morning was the second day of the school year and the dogs and I went on a walk as the middle school kids were waiting for the bus. It was amazing how much I missed this simple neighborhood walk in the morning.  How I missed seeing people waiting outside.  It was great asking some of the kids that I know how their first day went, and quiet a few people I saw remarked at how big Koko has gotten since many of them have not seen her since June.  

I'm glad that the school year has started again, that the weather will soon be cooling off some (it was in the 90's yesterday), and I look forward to my morning walks through the neighborhood, though it might be a little harder to be motivate to go since I'm no longer dropping Bob off to catch his train.  And I'm especially grateful to live in a neighborhood with some wonderful neighbors.  

Motivation

One of the joys of being a solo employee is that I get to work my own schedule. There is no clock to punch in and out of, I don't have to worry about being late to work or having to find comp time in case I need to leave early for a doctors appointment. However one of the major downsides is motivational support.

This week I have been mainly working doing "office work" at the house instead of the office. The main reason for this is that the church is uninsulated. And while the weather has cooled off enough that the windows are closed, it is not cold enough yet to really turn on the heat. The house (which is insulated) has remained a comfortable temperature, but the church building has been freezing since it also doesn't get much morning. Okay I'm rambling, the point being, I've been working from home.

And for the most part I love it! I normally have to walk back and forth between the two buildings a few times a day, to get something, drop something off, etc. However the downside is that I end up sitting in the same chair to work on my sermon that I watch TV in. Oh so tempting. Soon you are checking your email, checking up on the news, reading a few blogs, etc and then an hour goes by without any work getting done. Another hour sucked into the void that can be the internet.

So I decided that I need to actually create a schedule for me in order to keep me on track. I broke up Monday, Wednesday and Thursday with general things that i need to accomplish each week. Monday I need to print off commentaries, call at least 2 people, and get any thank you, birthday and anniversary cards written. Wednesday I need to prepare for both bible studies, have one visit or community thing, and Thursday I need to write my sermon, have a visit or community event and get any odds and ends done for the weekend. I also decided that I need to start each day out with a walk/workout, some personal Bible study and some time, but only 45 mins, to check my email, facebook, blogs, etc. Ohh and I didn't do anything for Tuesday because Bob and I leave the house VERY early on Tuesdays so he and go to the train station and I hang out at a coffee shop reading commentaries before going to the local clergy gathering.

Since making this list yesterday, I have felt much more focused and on task, knowing that I can take a 15 minute break later in the day to check more email but also not feeling attached to the internet. I also have been leaving my chair a bit more to work at the table or in a different area, which also keeps me more focus. Here's hoping and praying that my motivation continues.

New Routines

So for the last few weeks I have been trying to adjust to new routines, somewhat successfully. Before starting at the church I was working at a warehouse and my work hours were 7:30am to 3:30pm Monday to Friday. While the 7:30 am portion was way early and hard to get used to, I loved being done by 3:30 every day. The other good thing about it, was even though I would press snooze multiple times each morning, eventually I would get myself out of bed knowing that I had to be at work by 7:30.

Well now my schedule is a little more flexible which is both good and bad. I refuse to set my alarm on a daily basis for 6am but due to my husband needing/wanting to go to the school library to work on his thesis project we have been setting it for around 7am. But without the need to be somewhere by a specific time, the snooze button is winning many mornings - we are pressing it now more each morning than we did at 6am. But once we finally get out of bed the new routines have been nice.

Because I know have time in the mornings, which is my preferred exercise time, I have been running with the dog on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. I don't run far, long or that fast, but I have been running. And Monday, Wednesday and Fridays when my husband is running the dog I have been doing some abdominal work outs.

After working out I have found taking some time for a devotional is also a great way to cool down. I have tried many different personal bible study routines over the years and lately have found what used to work for me to be extremely difficult to follow. As a teenager and in college I would just read a few chapters of the Bible every night. A few years ago I started reading either Word in Season or Upper Room each evening. At first I found these reflections very nice. However over the course of seminary I started to have issues with them. The one page reflections were just too surface level for me. I wanted to dive deeper into the text, to learn some background to the culture that the gospel/letter/prophet was writing to or learn why certain words are used and not others. So as a result, sticking to a devotional (they are excellent for many people, I am in no way knocking them) I had a hard time sticking to reading them.

So now I have invested into the Interpretation series by John Knox press. I'm currently working my way through Matthew. Each day I have been reading a small portion of the gospel, normally just a few verses, and then reading the commentary. I have enjoyed it thus far, to dive each day into some gospel text that is especially not the text I'm preaching on that week. My only complaint is that I'm so used to wanting to finish books in a short period of time, that I have to stop myself from moving on to more sections, so that it is a time for reflection and not work.

Also on the top of routine is getting used to the drive to Georgetown. My drive is about 45 minutes without traffic and fairly easy. But my previous commute was less than 15 minutes. This change has lead to so lull time in the car. But thank God for Audio books. I'm currently listening to Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Stout. I'm not sure if I would listen/read it otherwise, but it was on of the few books on CD that the library had in stock that I have not already read that seemed interesting.

All and all I'm enjoying my new routines, but it is also hard trying to get used to them knowing that in a little over a month when we move to the parsonage, many of these routines will change.