April showers

I have come to the end of another busy week, but it was one that has left me feeling much less frazzled and much more positive than I have after some other weeks this month. I can't believe we're almost in May already, but I'm pretty thankful for it, to be truthful. A good portion of the end of March through April was pretty crappy, and I'm ready to move on. I have a new car that's working great so far (and getting great gas mileage, woohoo!), I had a nice visit from my parents and I will see them again soon, we're in the season of Easter and focusing on resurrection, I accomplished quite a bit this week, and I'm only 3 days away from the start of my vacation, and one week from Holden Village! I am now in the last few days of working to make sure everything that needs to be done before I leave gets done, both for work, and for my trip. I was able to make a lot of reservations/plans for the trip this week and I'm feeling much better about it (I was getting pretty nervous last week). Now I think I will spend the rest of my evening catching up on some TV shows and perusing my Seattle guidebook.

New Life

Well I made it through my first Holy Week as a pastor. It was tiring and a little stressful at times, but there were also moments, usually during worship, where I was still able to focus on the meaning of the days. My parents were here for a long weekend and though I was working for a lot of it, I was grateful for some family time to distract me.
In my sermon(s) on Sunday, I asked the people where they are seeing resurrection and new life in their lives and in the world and others around them. Often, the words that God gives me are ones I need to hear probably just as much as the people I preach to. So I am trying to look for new life as well. Even though I've had uncomfortable moments and frustrations with some people lately, I've also noticed there are people who have been making extra efforts at being positive and supportive. These are people showing me new life. Today I was able to take a day off to recover from all the extra work of last week, and it was a great day. I treated myself to breakfast out, did a little shopping, stopped for a quick visit with a friend and did plenty of relaxing. I saw new life today. I am hoping this day refreshed me enough to work hard the rest of this week, to get ready for vacation next week!
Where do you see new life?

Letting it out

My life has been a rollercoaster these last few weeks, and it has felt like one LONG, continuous, tiring ride that has had a lot more scary and upsetting moments than fun moments. I don't mean to be a downer, I just want to be honest. And I hope that putting some of my feelings out here will be cathartic and helpful. Personally, my car saga has just been exhausting and ridiculous (it's almost funny how many loaner cars I've gone through), but I'm in the home stretch. I put a deposit down on a new car, one that was coming in but not on the lot yet, so now I'm just waiting for it to get here so that I can actually hopefully feel some excitement. Between the car payments I will now have and the amount of taxes I owe that I was not expecting, I have had to adjust my financial plan. But crap happens, and I will just make some changes and deal. I recognize that I could be in a far worse financial position. I am so grateful that I have a steady income. I have also had a lot of emotionally draining struggles within my congregation, some that have been building for a while and I think it all just came to a head within the last week or so. It's been really hard. But I think I'm at least learning from all of it. And I have some goals and things to focus on moving ahead. And Easter will be here soon! :) And then vacation soon after that! ;) I've also seen and felt God's presence during some of these really difficult times... in positive comments and support, in friends, in meals shared with others, in Scripture and prayer, and through running. :) And any of your thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.