I have a cool job...most of the time!

I have a cool job.  I get to meet all kinds of different and interesting people, I get to pray, sing, preach, and visit the sick.  I get to perform wedding ceremonies and baptisms.  I get to create worship services and liturgies. I get to lead Bible studies called "Bad Girls of the Bible."  I get to take an hour a week to volunteer my time with an elementary school girl.  I get to be involved in things that people in other professions would not even think about being involved in.  I get asked to do neat stuff.  For example, today I got to sing a solo in our victory celebration worship which was held this afternoon.  The church just ended its Capital Funds Drive where we raised a lot of money to fund a building project for the church.  It was a neat service because it was held in the afternoon, it was a smaller crowd, and we got to do some different things.  I sang the song, "Who am I?" by Casting Crowns, and everyone really liked it.  Then I was asked after the service if I would consider singing "You Raise Me Up" with the pre-schoolers while they used sign language to the words.  How cool is that?  I'm already excited!

I preached last week and it went really well.  My DS showed up with his wife and I got some good feedback from him.  Corey and I actually had lunch with him earlier this week and we talked about a lot of different things going on in the life of the church as a whole, and Corey is being asked to put together a possible district-wide youth program.  Things are looking up as far as that goes.  

There are still issues surrounding the contemporary service, particularly the praise band.  Grown men are still acting like teenagers, and I don't see an end coming to this anytime soon.  We are trying to set up meetings to talk honestly about these things, but I don't know if that is the best idea right now.  We might be losing our keyboard player in the next few weeks, which is positive and negative at the same time.  I just pray that we can hold it together and that we can be adults and talk through these issues, because if we don't, then we won't be able to move forward.  Period.  

It's been a really busy fall, and this month is probably the busiest so far.  Corey and I have something planned every weekend this month.  Next Saturday at 7:30 (ick) I get to be the speaker at the UM Men's breakfast.  I have no idea why they insist on meeting so early in the morning on a Saturday!  Anyway, then I am speaking at a UM women's group the week after that.  Oh, and next Sunday I get to spend from 2-9 pm at a seminar!  On a Sunday!  Booo...that's all I need to say about that!  Then the next week is our charge conference, followed by the normal weekly meetings, and then there is a workshop that next Saturday.  It seems that all of my weekends this month are shot.  Oh, and did I mention that I get to perform my first baptism next Sunday?  It will be 2 boys, ages 6 and 8.  And then a few weeks after that, the dad of these 2 kids wants me to perform his wedding ceremony- he is getting remarried.  This was an unexpected phone call I received last week, but luckily they took me seriously when I told him that they would need to meet with me at least twice before I married them, so we set up meetings.  The unexpected- such is life in ministry I suppose.  Anyway, I'm done rambling for now.  The Colts game is on tonight- GO COLTS!  :)