Christmas Cheer...

...to one and all this year!

Last week for me was a pretty busy one. We had my internship committee meeting at my house this time, so we could eat and celebrate the season and share some fellowship. It was pretty fun. Wednesday, we had our Sr FLY "roundtable" discussion about heaven and the afterlife. One of the questions was about how we can be sure we're going to heaven, and so that was right up my alley. I read a little bit o' Luther, and brought the Word. It felt like the most pure preaching I've done so far. We also decided that for next month's roundtable, we're going to watch Luther! That makes me happy. :D On Sunday, I did pretty much the entire liturgy, save for the sermon and the words of institution. Then we had our Sr FLY Christmas party, and then I headed solo to Albert Lea and Mason City to make a couple of pastoral visits. All in all, a busy week.

Here's my story of the moment, though. Yesterday, I went to the Cities to pick up my girlfriend and bring her home to Clear Lake for Christmas. When I leave my house, it's heavy freezing rain. The roads in the Cities are pretty much horrible. As I'm at about mile marker 80 (8 mi S of the E/W split) traveling north on 35, this Tacoma pickup two cars in front of me makes a hard right into the guardrail underneath this overpass. I've got enough time to hit my left turnsignal to let people behind me know I'm going left. The guy bounces off the guardrail and slides into the left lane. I can't go back right, because I'll crash into an SUV-looking thing that's still back there. So, much like at Daytona, I take it into the infield, aka the median. In the grass, I can get enough traction and momentum to get my car out and back up onto the road, and continue on down the line. All this happened in about 15 seconds. Luckily, the rest of the trip there and back was uneventful.

This week, I'm preaching on Sunday, because my supervisor is going to be gone from Christmas Day night until New Year's Eve Day. So, during this week of preparation, I'll be preparing for a solo shot at ministry. We have Christmas Eve services at 5 and 11, so hopefully the Purple have built up a 30-point lead by 5 (yeah, right). So, I may not post next week, or the next, because once my supervisor comes back, my girlfriend and I are heading way north (home) so I can show her around my old haunts and such. God bless us, everyone! :D

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher

The hardest time of the year....

We always hear about the most wonderful time of the year when it comes to Christmas. We as pastors-in-training need to realize that for many (most?) folks, this time of year stinks. If you're not happy, you feel like you're outside of society's happiness, which is pretty much a sham to begin with. I had a harsh reminder of pain in the midst of joy this week with three funerals on consecutive days.

The first was a family who lost a son (33) to suicide. The second was a man (late 60s) who finally succumbed to cancer. The third was the grandfather of one of my confirmation kids who died suddenly in his sleep (66). These three in a row, plus going north Thursday AND Sunday to take care of a sick girlfriend, a wedding to do on Saturday, preaching on Sunday (one of my shortest sermons so far, unfortunately), and helping with the children's Christmas program Sunday afternoon, combined to make up one of the most stressful weeks I've had here so far. There was one moment during the committal of the second funeral that really got me. My supervisor and I did our part for the committal, and then a friend of the deceased played "The Cowboy Rides Away" which I had never heard before, but was one of his favorite songs, apparently. During the playing of the song, pretty much everyone is crying. Two of the daughters are even wailing. It's the toughest time I've had so far, coming face to face with pure, unadulterated grief. Good luck being the "non-anxious presence" in the middle of that. But, by the grace of God, I was able to be. Really tough.

As the Christmas season approaches, there's plenty to do. This next week includes my internship committee meeting tonight at my house (which means I need to clean! :D ), a roundtable discussion with our Sr FLY kids about Heaven (sweeet), and the Sr FLY Christmas party on Sunday. I don't preach Christmas, but I do preach the next day! My supervisor will be preaching at his home congregation on the 26th, so I get the task of post-Advent preaching on that day. For you and yours, I wish you the best for this Christmas season, and if you do get down in the dumps, just remember, Christ has to be born that he may die on the cross FOR YOU! Merry Christmas!

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher

Two new bloggers....

Just wanted to let you all know that I just sent out invitations to Jon Rhodes and Rachel Oldfather to join our merry band of (wo)men. We look forward to hearing from them!

Quick update on me: 2 funerals down, 1 to go, seminarians coming here on Friday, a wedding to do on Saturday, and preaching on Sunday! AAUUGH! It's all good though, because there's ministry to do! God bless!

It's been a long time...

...I never left you!

Wow folks. Crazy last couple of weeks, only to get crazier. Major points: Thanksgiving went well. I met my girlfriend's mom, which is always fun. :D The 1st was our Soup and Pie Supper, which we served 610 people in about 3 hours. I ended up taking over "hosting duties", letting people in when we had room for them. And that morning of the 1st is when all heck broke loose.

You see, that morning, we got a call that a member had committed suicide. My supervisor and I ran to Albert Lea to take care of the family, who was at the hospital with the mom who was having heart trouble. That visitation was last night, and the funeral is in about a half hour here. Add onto that, we have two more. Yes, back-to-back-to-back, Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. Well, the three months without one was a nice run. I'm kind of nervous about these, but I'm going to get a lot of experience real quick. Pray!

Gotta go bring the Word. I love you all!

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher