Week 3:

• Someone asked why I hadn’t taken any/many pictures of the family. Well…it rained for a lot of the time, so unless you wanted to see pictures of us sleeping (or eating!), it wouldn’t have been very interesting.
• Nevertheless, when the weather cleared, I decided to take a break from photographing the the fungi-tour of the Cherokee National Forest and post some pictures from our unsuccessful attempt to hike up to Rock Creek Falls.
• We had a blast harvesting homegrown apples and grapes (for pies) and crab apples (for jelly) at my Mom’s. Catherine prepared & froze as many of the apples as she could so we can have fresh pies and cobblers to remember the adventure.
• We spent part of one day at Bays Mountain Park in Kingsport, the largest city-owned park in the United States. They have a number of displays and trails, and we enjoyed a few hours there with the animals.
• For years, the Chamber of Commerce has referred to Unicoi County (where I grew up)  as “The Valley Beautiful,” and just before we left, the weather cleared enough for me to get a few pictures of just what they mean.  You can see them all here.
• For me, being able to take the time to slow down (sometimes figuratively) and take in the magnalia Dei–the marvelous works of God–through the lens of a camera  is deeply refreshing.  Pausing to notice the light coming through the lichen, or the mushroom no larger than the end of your little finger, or the butterfly pausing on the thistle-blossom re-calibrates my spirit. When I have my camera in nature, I force myself to slow down and look and strive to really see.
• One of the last things we did was to get a copy of the book about what may be the most well-known fact about Unicoi County: The Hanging of Murderous Mary the Elephant on September 13, 1916.  You can read the Wikipedia article here.
• Honestly, there are just some things you just can’t make up!
• We headed back to Virginia in the rain, which made it like driving in a 400 mile car wash.  No fun.
• Eventually we got ahead of the rain, and we stopped in Crewe, Virginia, where we discovered the pleasures of Mint Chocolate Moon Pies.
• The rest of Week 3 was spent unpacking, and getting back into the groove of some projects around the house.

Week 4:

• After 3 weeks out of the office, I began to ease back into the routine this week. Most of my first day back was spent over the trash can–sorting the mountain of mail that had accumulated.
• Tuesday through Thursday we had our Kid’s Music Day Camp at the church, so it was kinda crazy for most of the morning those days.
• There were several key phone calls and meetings that came together during the week, and I continue to be in awe of what God is doing and preparing.
• Now I’m getting back in the groove preparing for Sunday’s message, Don’t Go To Church.
• Next week we’ve got our Cradock Community Day, an outreach event we’re co-sponsoring on Afton Square, and I’ll be launching a new series called Mutant Christianity.
• For now, I’m back out to untying all the stuff we tied down in anticipation of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Earl. While I know some areas got hammered, we’ve had higher winds in March and more moisture in a heavy dew.  Oh well….
• Looking forward to the rest of the Labor Day Weekend, and to being back in the pulpit on Sunday.
• See ya there!

In the meantime, I’ve enjoyed playing with my camera and capturing some of the flora and fauna around the house where I grew up.  We’ve been visited several times this week by three deer–a doe and two fawns.   So..enjoy the photos.  Click on any picture to go to the whole album on Picasa. More pictures to come soon!

Shortly after we moved in, we hung our swing,  and Catherine’s Grandparents gave us a wonderful fan. I painted everything and replaced all the screen and we enjoyed many hours out on the porch. Unfortunately, through the passage of time we found ourselves taking time to sit out there less and less, and it got cluttered with all sorts of things–the snow shovel, the kids’ sleds, spare lawn chairs…the flotsam and jetsam of our life.

A few weeks ago, Catherine’s Mom came and worked her cleaning magic on it and reclaimed our porch. Sitting there over the weekend, I realized how,  over time, the paint had started to alligator and peel, there was a rip in the screen, and it was really needing some serious attention.

Tuesday, Catherine and I donned our masks and started scraping away at 80+ years of paint (and yes, I remembered all the important stuff we learned at the World Changer’s Lead-Based Paint Training session!).  We discovered that the trim on our house has been some hideous colors through the years: margarine yellow, battleship gray, and a lovely share of what can only be called “file folder” Yes, manilla. Yuck.

Today was painting day. Columns, window trim, door facings, and ceiling all got a fresh coat of bright white paint. One more coat on a few spots tomorrow, and we’ll be ready to put things back together so we can again enjoy our porch.

As I was working today, I began to reflect on how that porch mirrors life.

It’s so easy to let the clutter accumulate. Useful things stashed out of sight in a moment of haste, left there far too long. Sleds and snow shovels–faded memories now covered with pollen and dust as summer now draws to a close.  Columns and door frames and windows,  layered with paint picked and applied by those who enjoyed the breezes on that porch in another era now peeling under the unrelenting summer’s sun. Sometimes  a light scraping and a touch-up is all that’s needed. Other times, it’s the hard work of getting down to the bare wood so you can start fresh.

And sometimes we need to do that in our walk with God, too.  This song was part of today’s soundtrack. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

When I became the pastor six years ago, the Church held a  Celebration of A New Ministry service, and I entered into a covenant with the congregation.  Part of that covenant read:

I shall give myself to God in times of prayer regularly so as to be directed by God in service to you. I shall give myself to times of study regularly in order to have a thoughtful and authentic word from God to speak to you. I shall give myself to relaxation and rest, even as Christ our Lord did, so as to have energy to live out the Gospel among you.

After six years I’ve realized that I have not done a good job in keeping my pastoral covenant with the congregation. Namely, I have not given the attention I should have to times of study and rest.

Somewhere around fifty sermons a year for six years, not counting special services, funerals (of which there have been way too many for people that I loved deeply), and mid-week Bible studies. Layer on a generous layer of committee meetings, outreach events, World Changers projects and Angel Food distributions.

Consequently, I’m toasted. I’ve gone from 1 cup to 1 1/2 pots of coffee (yes–12 to 16 cups!)  in the morning just to get the day started. I’ve become an over-caffeinated, unpleasant, grumpy middle-aged man. Those closest to me have borne the brunt of it. It’s not fair to them, and I don’t like it.

So…today I begin an extended study leave.  I will not be back in the office until the end of August.  And I don’t preach again until Labor Day weekend.   For some of that time I’ll be unplugged and off the grid while we camp and hike in the Cherokee National Forrest. From time to time I’ll try to post, not only the happenings, but also the insights gained on this leg of the journey.

Let me say this to my fellow pastors (and I don’t just mean senior/lead pastors): If you are not taking time regularly and intentionally to be refreshed spiritually and physically, you are doing a dis-service to the people God has called you to lead.  Make a plan. Call an audible. Seek the counsel of those who are further down the road than you are.  Your spiritual survival–and that of your congregation–depends on it. Do it now!  (And if you don’t know how to get started, email or call me. I’ll be happy to help you connect with the resources you need to get the help you need.)