Well it wasn't the seaside!
The cherry on today's cake goes to the person who asked whether I was enjoying my holiday and, "Was I at the seaside?" Today has been, according to a colleague, "Like his normal day!" and ironically perhaps I found that to be rather helpful and perhaps it can help me to set my high water mark for the rest of the year.
"Living over the shop means that the only way you can take time off is to go away," said another person (who lives almost two miles from their church); and they were probably right as I found myself engaged in pastoral matters which could neither be put off or done by anyone else (and I mean that - I'm not clinging to stuff or being a martyr). But the results and the conversations on the way made it a great day indeed.
So what have I learned today?
Sometimes you need to act boldly, stand in the gap, pray your socks off, and take a bit of control to see a solution take shape. Much like the 'God's garden' comment - you should have seen it before I got working in it! Poor old God, gets all the blame for outcomes where we have been inactive, doesn't He?
Paperwork will, like the poor, always be with us.
People will always expect you to do things, regardless of the label you've given the day!
God will always shine through.
So it wasn't a day off - but I can move that to next week - but it was a day to be thankful for and to celebrate encounters, successes and blessings. Feeling chilled and looking forward to a final day of paperwork.
Hallelujah!
1 comment:
I do hope that you actually get some down time. I know it's hard, but saying NO is something we all need. I find it hard to do, with a much lesser role in terms of content than you do as a parish priest - but I still at times find my diary fuller than it was even when I was working.
This week, I have three meetings (must attend) all in the evening, a Parish Lunch Club, which clashes with a mandatory eye appointment and people who I normally take to and from events and services will have to make other arrangements on that day.
Today, I attend a community coffee morning (Deanery based) a weekly commitment, which I value highly, only missed if I am meeting my SD in Canterbury - here the needy, vulnerable and loners come to meet, be fed and watered and nourished with food, drink, social chat and even some prayer and music. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by people's needs - but we strive to meet them. It's not charity, it's love and respect for human dignity, which is often missing in their lives.
I also have reading to do (5 books) for my LLM Trg restarting this Saturday, and my Saturdays between now and March (and two mid-week evenings) are taken up with that. When will I have time for family? God knows, and somehow it all works out.
Be good to yourself.
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