What's been going on...

I'm not sure why I haven't been posting as much lately. I guess I've been busy. My life feels full of small details that steal away my time. Now that the church council at Jordan in Jerusalem voted enthusiastically to forward my name to the congregation, the pace of life has picked up and there's much to be done. Jordan wants me to be their pastor. What a trip.

When I spoke to the council president the other night, he told me that the roof at the church is leaking and that he's planning on resigning (for good reasons that have nothing to do with me or the roof) on February 1. So much for the honeymoon period, huh? ;) I really like the guy - he stopped me mid-sentence at one point and said, "I'm sorry to interupt, but I've just got to tell you what a breath of fresh air you are. You just don't sound like a pastor," he concluded with a mixture of surprise, jubilation and mild contempt for the profession. I took it as the huge compliment he intended.

On Saturday, C and I are headed to Jerusalem to look for houses. It will be an interesting experience. The homes we've owned in the past were in suburbs of a large city. This time, our choices are a bit fewer and further between. Rather than our standard 20 or so tours, it looks like we'll choose from 4 houses. Yep, four, as in 1-2-3-4. We're in for some life changes with this whole small town deal. I was telling Yoda about that today and he just giggled. "Yep," he said, "you are in for some dramatic shifts in your life...heh, heh, heh."

On another note, Paul Shepherd spoke at the Castle last night. He's a writer and he spoke about the topic "wrestling with God." I'm so glad I went. He read from his book, More Like Not Running Away. I'd recommend it. His lecture and the discussion that followed were enlightening. I appreciated hearing about theological issues from a novelist's point of view and I was also intrigued by a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the profession of writing. Someone asked him what message he hopes his writing conveys and he said, "Believing matters. Faith can cross big caverns of doubt and darkness." That's cool.

I've also been substituting a lot. I've become known in a couple of the local elementary schools, which is a mixed blessing. The other day, when I turned down a job request through the automated system, the school secretary called me personally and begged. The experience was a mixture of ego boost and exhaustion. Yeah, I took the job, but I told them I could only work 9-2 instead of 8-3. Somehow, that helped me not feel so put out about going in on my self-imposed day off. In the class (1st grade), the kids were talking about how the city has changed...new people, new businesses, etc. One kid, who just moved here, said his favorite new development was the mixture of his 2 favorite places, McDonalds/Walmart, into one building. When the teacher said our town didn't have such a thing, he said with resilient confidence, "Well, then when I grow up, I'm going to create it." Right on, little man!