The Home Photo Challenge was fun for me last year. Since I do not think much is going to be changing for me in the way of travel this year, I am going to continue the challenge for myself into 2021. This year I am going to add a little twist. I will give a brief description of each photo I take and write a Haiku to go along with it
IF YOU WANT TO JOIN IN THE FUN.JUST TAKE A PHOTO IN OR AROUND YOUR HOME AND WRITE YOUR OWN BLOG AND POST THE LINK IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
It is hard to believe we are 10 weeks into this new year. It is true what they say, “The older you get the faster the years go.” So much has already happened this year and there is so much more in store!
March 5- Cinquo De Marzo. I am still sleeping downstairs to help Mom, but she is needing less and less help. Soon I think I shall buy a baby monitor and return to my own bedroom. I am also thinking of a Life alert System so that we can begin leaving Mom alone for brief periods again.
Last night my brain was so full of Vicarage needs and ministry possibilities, I got up to pray at 12:30 A.M. and finally got to bed at about 2:45 A.M. Was up for the day at 4. God told me this was part of the new mantel He is resting upon me and that there would be many more nights spent in prayer, but that He would give me the power to run in this deeper race.
March 6th– I made up for last night’s sleeplessnes. Mom and I slept through until 7:30 A.M. this morning. The dogs didn’t even stir.
Today Mom and I folded and put away clothes from the week’s laundry. Then I started cleaning my old office upstairs. I don’t know what we will turn it inot yet, but I am determined not to let it become the junk room again. Admittedly that is what it is now, but not for long!
March 7th– Today was part 2 of our sermon series Enter the Promise. Today’s topic was “entering the promise by building a mindset of honoring and obeying the Word of God.”
After service I met with the board for our 1st official interview conversation. We went from 12 noon to about 3 P.M. It was great conversation. The pathway is opening up before me and us I think.
March 8th- This was writing day and I wrote and wrote and wrote.
March 9th- I led staff meeting today. Our staff discipleship question today was….
March 10th- This has been a busy week, meetings everyday…. but I am learning this new pace. This morning I had a meeting about our practical philosophy of prayer as a church with one of our prayer warriors. I know that we must give a place of honor to prayer in our community. Our corporate prayer life must deepen.
Going forward the lead pastor of Cornerstone will have three top priorities, whether that person is me or someone else the prioroities will be the same…
This is our prayer/ discipleship meeting from tonight.
March 11th- Today lacked personal balance. I did not give myself enough transition time between events and I did not close my night with enough prayer. It left me feeling a little catywompus on the inside. It makes for bad dreams.
The purpose of these posts is to give you a quick glimpse into our lives at the Vicarage.
Feb. 26th– Today we met with Tamie Charbonneau a lady from the church who is going to come and sit with mom while we are at church on Sunday. Tamie is a member of our church and an EMT. I am thankful she has offered to help us.
After she left I finished writing my sermon for Sunday. I have not actually blogged at all in a few days. Sitting down to do anything more than ministry writing has been out of the question.
When Amanda got home from work my friend Ray and I headed up to Cheshire County Medical Center to pick up our elder friend who was just being discharged today after a week in hospital.
Feb. 27th- Saturday. I don’t think I have mentioned it before but Brenda has been away this week house sitting for one of her supporters. It has been good as Amanda and I are discovering what it is going to be like when Brenda goes back to The Netherlands working our schedules around Mom’s needs. I know it has only been a week, but I sense that perhaps we are not going back to our old normal where mom could get up and around on her own. I am beginning to plan for the long haul here. My friend Ray reminded me just yesterday that I had to be sure (especially if this was a long haul ahead) to give myself time to be a human being not just a human doing.
Feb. 28th– Today I preached the first sermon in a series called Entering the Promise….
March 1st– I have decided Mondays will be writing days. I have had Carrie (my secretary at Cornerstone) book them in my calendar. I am working on several writing projects this week…sermon for Sunday…. Bible study for Wednesday…. a list of questions for the board, and at last I have gotten back to blogging. Yay!!!
March 2nd– Staff meeting today. We have been having a conversation about our purpose, mission and vision. Today we spoke about genuine life change.
March 3rd– Today I had an appointment with one of our elders to meet with a nursing agency which is going to help her around the issues of aging.
This evening was our on line prayer….Bible study to discuss the letters to the churches in Revelation. Our subject tonight was the letter to the church in Thyatira.
March 4th- My day in office is such a busy day. It is admin and paperwork and people contacts. Aside from Tuesday staff meeting it is the one day the staff can really grab hold of me in person. The rest of the week I am prepping for sermons Bible studies meetings and doing visitations.
While I met with staff in office today, Brenda was home introducing my mother to Carol Marion who is coming to visit with Mom while we are all away at meetings on Friday night.
Tonight I met with Paul; Hackett at the Vicarage to go over the results of my DISC personality assessment.
I am and SC.
Feb. 12th– Today was a day of deep prayer at the Vicarage. Hours were spent in the Word and in the prayer closet. I am learning that days like this are days of preparation for the days of action….those days when I must be about the Lord’s business in the harvest field. Sunday is coming and it will be a day in the field. So today was more like this.
Feb. 13th- Another day of prayer in preparation for tomorrow.
Feb. 14th– Valentine’s Day and the Lewiston’s final service with us at Cornerstone.
We took the Lewiston’s to lunch afterwards just before they departed. We cried and prayed one last time in the parking lot of 110 Grille. Well the Lewiston’s cried….Lillies are not known for their tear-ducts.
Feb. 15th– Today was a day of meetings and preparation for the transition which lies ahead. I am working hard to try and make sure that my slow, constant, intentional routine while adapting is not discarded….especially the prayer piece. It is very easy to allow the weight of ministry in the moment to steal away the very things that feed the anointing for ministry.
Feb. 16th- Today was my first day running staff meeting without our lead pastor. It was a good meeting. We are determined to carry on the vision God has given to the body. God will fill in the gaps.
We may not know what lies before us as challenges, but we have our mission firmly in hand.
Feb. 17th– My mother has taken a fall. At first we thought she broke her hip, but after a trip to the ER via ambulance and a few xrays the doctor has diagnosed her as badly bruised. Of course we weren’t allowed to go with her to the hospital because of COVID but I was able to pick her up and bring her home after her xrays.
With my friend Jody’s help Brenda and I were able to reaarange the downstairs so Mom’s room is near to the bathroom, which is still too far for her to walk at the present moment so thanks to another friend, Sandy Freeman we now have a protable commode for Mom to use as she convalesces.
There will obviously be a lot of cleaning and putting away tom do tomorrow but the furniture is moved….That is a super big deal.
Feb. 18th– Mom has been in a great deal of pain. She isn’t sleeping well which means the rest of us are not sleeping well. I have called the Dr. to see if they can prescribe something stronger than Tylenol….Her is hoping we sleep better tonight!
I know after the year we all just lived through many of us were hoping to get back to “business as usual” or at least business as it used to be. Maybe somewhere out there that is happening for someone, but that isn’t how it is for me.
And you know what? I am good with that!
I have said to many of my friends that as frightening and difficult as 2020 was, it changed me in ways that I want to abide in for a while…maybe forever. I don’t want to go back to what was. I want to forge ahead into something new.
And 2021 seems to be delivering on the age old promise, “You can’t go back again.”: With my lead pastor leaving and the church looking for its next leader, I can’t go back again; With the birth of my second grand-daughter and the promise of a third by fall from these two….
I can’t go back again; With the upcoming publication of my first novel, Pork Chops With the Sentinels Of Azatan , I can’t go back again; With my sister finishing up her itineration and getting ready to head back to The Netherlands, I can’t go back again; With the Franklin family looking to relocate to this area, I can’t go back again;….
I suppose as I think about it I could go back…..but I really don’t want to. I feel more ready for an adventure now than I ever have before. I feel more ready to move forward into something new than I ever have before. Somehow 2020 got me unstuck. I am no longer willing to settle for business as usual. I also feel less inclined to accept the status quo as it is set up by other people.
I know how I want to live my life now.
I also feel strong enough to not let others tell me how to live it. I am ready to move forward and not to go back to what was.
Feb. 5th– I have wanted for a while to give everyone an update on my book, Pork Chops With the Sentinels of Azatan. After being released officially by my publisher, I contacted one of my former students who has started an editing business and I have entered into an agreement with her to do the final edits of the book. This time it is happening folks. I am going for the finish line.
Feb. 6th– I was supposed to meet a men’s group for breakfast this morning, but I was so far behind on my morning chores I had to cancel with them. The importance of scheduling and not underestimating the time it takes to do things is going to be very important in the days ahead.
I have learned so much about scheduling and prioritizing over these last years and I sense a new challenge is on the horizon. I feel ready for this challenge.
Feb. 7th- Today was Pastor Dan’s next to last service…..
I have enjoyed working with him and as this next week speeds by I am mindful of the fact that this is an end and beginning all at once.
Feb. 8th- Today was a busy day. I started out by singing a funeral for a very dear woman who was once a member of our church.
After the funeral I went to do some work at home: lunch, laundry, prayer, and writing. I am working on my next book, The Remember Man. While I await the edits on my first book, Pork Chops With the Sentinels of Azatan.
The afternoon was a music lesson and then an impromptu visit with Pastor Dan and one of our deacons, John Russel. Then tonight I met via Zoom with a group of men engaged in study called Jesus Is Not Nice.
Feb. 9th– Final staff meeting with the Lewistons this morning. So much is about to change and my mind is just trying to race to catch up.
Feb. 10th – Tonight was The Wall and Pastor Dan and I shared the teaching space together one last time. I won’t lie there were some tears shed at the end.
Feb. 11th– It was a busy morning. I am noticing that my schedule is experience an uptick in the busyness factor. I am going to have to watch that closely. Tonight I have worship rehearsal, but before that I have quite a bit of housework to do around the Vicarage. It is good I got my errands done this morning!
Those of you who follow me closely know that at the beginning of this year I made some changes to my artistic and blogging priorities. Over that last few years I have really been consumed with the idea of building an audience.
Someone told me that was important for the writing portion of my life. Platform Size! Platform Size! Platform Size!
For some reason I listened and it has taken God a while to break through that false word….
Last year I was posting at least four times a day and I was garnering several hundred hits a day….but it felt really empty. I was getting more hits than ever and loads of likes but I felt most of the time like I was running alone.
In my prayer time at the end of 2020 God showed me that none of my work is done for the size of my audience. It is done for the glory of God and to build a community that brings honor to Him.
Community does not depend on numbers or on likes. It depends on relationship, collaboaration and communication among other things.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE IMPORTANT BUILDING BLOCKS OF COMMUNITY IN YOUR MIND?
So I had to shift the way I blog, and that has further shifted the way I live. If it is about relationship, collaboration and communication then it cannot be about hits and likes. It has to be about conversations…. and sooooo……
I have had to slow things down. I have had to post less, and post more conversationally. I have had to start reading more with the mindset of finding those posts I want to comment on.
It takes a little longer now to blog this way. I get less hits….fewer likes…..fewer bloggers are reading my work….but more of you who do read are commenting and I am entering into some interesting conversations and some have even begun to private message me to have side conversations over things we have discovered in common.
I am not saying the way I did it before was wrong and now I am doing it right. I am saying what I was focusing on before was not working FOR ME. What I am doing now is working FOR ME. In the end this is about ministry, artistry and community. I fell like I lost sight of that for a while.
I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT HOW YOUR BLOGGING HAS CHANGED OVER TIME.
This has been a year of seismic shifting for the whole world. It’s left all of us feeling a bit out of breath and a bit cracked. It’s left us reeling at the sudden shifts in culture and the big problems those shifts have seemingly caused.
Here’s the thing….all of this is part of God’s plan and if we can accept it, it is happening for our blessing. Not that it is all a blessing but…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Sometimes I doubt that verse…DO YOU EVER DOUBT THE PROMISES OF SCRIPTURE?
Well when I find myself in doubt I have learned a few habits that help me regain my equilibrium. HERE ARE FOUR:
2. I REALIZE WHILE THE WORLD MOVES FAST I DON’T HAVE TOO. I SLOW DOWN AND TAKE THE TIME I NEED TO MAKE THE DECISIONS I NEED TO MAKE.
3. I REALIZE THAT SMALL SUCCESSFUL STEPS ARE BETTER THAN BIG MISSTEPS. SO I FIND A SMALL STEP I CAN TAKE.
4. PART OF MY PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS IS TO REALIZE THAT SOME PROBLEMS ARE NOT MINE TO SOLVE. SO I FIGURE OUT WHICH PARTS OF THE PROBLEM CAN BE SOLVED BY MY GIFTS MIX AND WHICH PARTS I NEED TO ASK HELP FROM OUTSIDE.
There are other habits too, but for the sake of space we’ll stop here. I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Jan. 29th– Final day of quarantine! Freedom lies before us…..It has always been within us.
Jan. 30th– Today was our first day out of quarantine.
I did the grocery shopping which was very exciting for me. I love grocery shopping. Then Amanda and I had a meeting with our lead Pastor. He has felt the leading of the Lord to a new church in Tennessee. He will be leaving on Feb. 14th.
Once again I must consider whether the time has come for me to let my name stand for the position of lead pastor of Cornerstone.
Jan. 31st.– Pastor Dan preached the final sermon of the 21 Days of Fasting and Prayer….Souls Saved and Lives Changed…..
Afterwards he resigned officially to the board in the presence of our Network Superintendent. I was asked to meet with Pastor Nick afterwards just to get to know him and to lay out a timeline for the move forward. This is a season of honoring the Lewiston family for their work among us and prayer to discover God’s plan for what is next.
I am sensing this is heading in a certain direction for me. The road before me is set by God who has ordained the path from the beginning. I will walk into His will.
Feb. 1st– Big storm coming in today.
Feb. 2nd– The phone calls and FB Messages have begun picking up with people asking me what my intentions are as to Cornerstone Church. I am trusting myself to the process.
Ray Parker came to help us clean out our driveways……BIG SNOW!
Feb. 3rd– Pastor Dan and I hosted The Wall Prayer Meeting tonight.
Afterward we talked until about 10 P.M. I am going to miss our conversations .
Feb. 4th– Music lessons this morning and then grocery shopping with a lady from church tonight.
Jan. 22nd– The week has been really busy with housework: cooking, cleaning and laundry…. I am realizing that I am allowing the pace of life to steal away from me the important moments of life’s beauty and once again I am struggling with the pull between being a human BEING and a human DOING…..I get lost in the work and forget the beauty…it makes me mad.
So today I decided to be proactive about being by giving space to some art work.I took my phone out when I walked the dogs to find a few pictures and then I gave myself time in the evening to photoshop them.
These are the results of my work. Tomorrow I might try sketching one of these.
Jan. 23rd– Well I never did get to sketching yesterday’s photos. But I did get more laundry done and the dishes and three meals for everyone and almost five hours before the throne of God. This has been a wonderful season of prayer and fasting. The fasting isn’t going so well but the prayer has been amazing.
Here is today’s prayer point….
Jan. 24th– Today was church…..
Jan. 25th– I finished a video Bible study called “Thriving In Babylon today.” It is a powerful word about how to live your faith out in a culture that is increasingly oppositional to it. Here are some thoughts from it.
Jan 26th- Today was my first staff meeting since before Christmas! It was nice to see everyone even if it was by Zoom. Soon and very soon we will have the vaccine and be able to be in the same room!
Jan. 27th– Today was day 18 of our 21 days of fasting and prayer. It was also our evening of prayer at the wall prayer meeting. Pastor Dan shared from Acts chapter 16…..I am two days away from being out of quarantine and am looking with some trepidation to being “back to normal”. I have enjoyed this time of seclusion to pray. I don’t know maybe this is what is normal for me.
Jan. 28th– Today has been a day of family conversations. I got to speak with Melanie and Joe and Kristine for some time today. It was wonderful. Joe and Kristine have just crossed their first anniversary and today they told me they have bought enough land for a house in the Philippines! I am so excited for them!
Melanie and James are still adjusting to having two little ones in the house and their near sleepless schedule.
Lillie-Put 