Happy New Year

It's 3 days into 2009, and I've mostly been taking it easy. Working some, reading some, praying some, walking some. I had a great visit with my family in Fayetteville between Christmas and New Year's, and I even got to see some of my old friends from high school. It was great to catch up and to see how very healthy everyone is. All of us had made some kind of drastic changes in our lives, and we are all reaping the benefits of making those changes. It seems our generation is willing to take risks to make our lives better - or at least those of us sitting at the lunch table last Sunday.

Christmas Eve was a great joy to me - my first as a priest. At the early, family service, instead of a sermon, I dressed up like a shepherd, the great,great, great (repeat 30 times) granddaughter of Hezekiah the shepherd. I was Jezekiah, and I had all the kids come up and gather around me to hear the story of Jesus' birth told from a shepherd's point of view. It went over really big, and I was gratified when some parents came out and exclaimed that they wished church had been that much fun when they were kids. The later services filled me with joy as I realized I was right there doing what I wanted to do. I preached, and the sermon went well, though my Advent IV sermon was better. The whole night was everything I could have wished for, except being so tired by the 11:00 service that I had to struggle to keep my energy up.

Now I'm facing into a new year. I have all these plans each day, and I never live up to them. I received the new Orson Scott Card book about Ender for Christmas, and I'm spending a lot of time speeding through it. I have more books on my "to read" list than I know what to do with. I'm leaving my Christmas tree and decorations up until Christmas is over.

I'm very excited about teaching our Adult Forum tomorrow. And that's saying something, because teaching is not what I consider to be my great strength. We're doing a series on the lectionary in which we look at the lessons that will be used in worship the following week. The preacher for that week will give some background and then facilitate a discussion about the readings. I'm hoping it will make the lessons familiar and provoke thought and conversation. We're also starting an online discussion group to continue the discussion that gets started in the classes. I don't know if anyone will participate, but we've got the group set up, and I've made my first post with the outline of the class. I'm very excited for the potential of this.

I don't seem to have the time to post very often, and of course, Facebook is an ongoing distraction. Hopefully, though, I'll keep everyone updated in the new year.