Friday, July 2, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
the latest
Hello. I haven't written anything since May and it's already July 1st. This summer has been an interesting one, far more interesting than last summer, when I struggled with unemployment and discernment of God's call.
This summer I have continued to work at the same school where I am their receptionist. I like them and I like my job (most of the time). It is stressful and challenging for me to remain on task at times with critical things. I forgot how long it can take a person to truly adjust to a new job (I started in September) and realize how much you continue to learn as time goes on. They have been grooming me to have a managerial position because I think they realize that I have much more to offer than what I do right now. I am considering it; I need to be in a position that allows me to do more of my ministry as a pastor/chaplain. I don't know how that will pan out.
This summer Marlin and I have been gardening again. We have 3 types of peppers (jalapenos, Big Jims, serranos), grape tomatoes, green beans, green leaf lettuce and many onions. I hope for Marlin's sake that all the onions do well because he loves onions! I really look forward to the tomatoes, beans and peppers maturing. Right now most of them are still small. This is my first year with green beans and grape tomatoes. When I was exploring last weekend I accidentally snapped off a small sprig with two micro-beans on it. Of course, waste not, want not, I ate the micro-beans and they tasted just like they ought to! We have a number of other little beans still on the plant. The tomatoes are small and green still, but I can see quite a few of them and they continue to multiply. Peppers and lettuce, which we grew last year, are not doing quite as well this time. We had a really late snow, then massively-high winds, hail storms, all which did some damage to them, but I think they are going to make it through. I have already been eating the lettuce on my sandwiches at work. The peppers just have flowers on them now, just in time for the NM monsoon season!
I have been speaking wih a couple of churches about their pastoral needs and whether we might be a good fit for each other. This has been a blessing because even if we decide we do not fit each other's needs, at least it feels like something is happening on that front. I have also heard of a couple of other churches in the ABQ area that may begin looking for a pastor soon, so I am going to be getting in touch with their folks somehow.
I am home from work today. I am not feeling so great, but I think I will be back tomorrow.
I get to visit LA very soon! Marlin and I need to fly out and get his great-aunt Frieda's cadillac and then drive it all the way back to ABQ. It's going to be an awesome, yet fast, trip. I will finally get to see the Pacific Ocean because he wants to show me Venice Beach, for all it's sights and sounds. I haven't actually been to a beach since like, 1996, when I took a trip to Galveston for the day with my Houston relatives. I plan to post some photos.
Since we're basically just going there overnight, I won't be packing much either. I will have a change of clothes, a good book, some knitting and stuff so I can work on my next sermon. The next one will be July 11th and I'm preaching from Amos 7:7-17. Here is the passage:
Amos 7:7-17
7. This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said, "Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.' "
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there;
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom."
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,
15 and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
16 "Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. You say, "Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.'
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: "Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.' "
It sounds like a real downer but I think it can work out to be a good message for that church. Their pastor will be leaving them soon and I would like to address feelings of judgment that they might have towards themselves or others. I would also like to remind them that prophets, while gifted people, were also ordinary people. We are too. We have gifts of God's presence with us and yet we are quite ordinary.
I want to think more on plumb lines and spend some time on the textual criticism as well.
On another note, my cats are happy I am home sick today. I think we needed some time together. I have been so easily distracted lately it has been hard to just focus on the kitties some. I bought them a live catnip plant that sits on a table in the living room. I have seen evidence of nibbling on some of the leaves, which makes me happy.
I guess I will sign off and say "so long" Happy Independence Day!
Amy
This summer I have continued to work at the same school where I am their receptionist. I like them and I like my job (most of the time). It is stressful and challenging for me to remain on task at times with critical things. I forgot how long it can take a person to truly adjust to a new job (I started in September) and realize how much you continue to learn as time goes on. They have been grooming me to have a managerial position because I think they realize that I have much more to offer than what I do right now. I am considering it; I need to be in a position that allows me to do more of my ministry as a pastor/chaplain. I don't know how that will pan out.
This summer Marlin and I have been gardening again. We have 3 types of peppers (jalapenos, Big Jims, serranos), grape tomatoes, green beans, green leaf lettuce and many onions. I hope for Marlin's sake that all the onions do well because he loves onions! I really look forward to the tomatoes, beans and peppers maturing. Right now most of them are still small. This is my first year with green beans and grape tomatoes. When I was exploring last weekend I accidentally snapped off a small sprig with two micro-beans on it. Of course, waste not, want not, I ate the micro-beans and they tasted just like they ought to! We have a number of other little beans still on the plant. The tomatoes are small and green still, but I can see quite a few of them and they continue to multiply. Peppers and lettuce, which we grew last year, are not doing quite as well this time. We had a really late snow, then massively-high winds, hail storms, all which did some damage to them, but I think they are going to make it through. I have already been eating the lettuce on my sandwiches at work. The peppers just have flowers on them now, just in time for the NM monsoon season!
I have been speaking wih a couple of churches about their pastoral needs and whether we might be a good fit for each other. This has been a blessing because even if we decide we do not fit each other's needs, at least it feels like something is happening on that front. I have also heard of a couple of other churches in the ABQ area that may begin looking for a pastor soon, so I am going to be getting in touch with their folks somehow.
I am home from work today. I am not feeling so great, but I think I will be back tomorrow.
I get to visit LA very soon! Marlin and I need to fly out and get his great-aunt Frieda's cadillac and then drive it all the way back to ABQ. It's going to be an awesome, yet fast, trip. I will finally get to see the Pacific Ocean because he wants to show me Venice Beach, for all it's sights and sounds. I haven't actually been to a beach since like, 1996, when I took a trip to Galveston for the day with my Houston relatives. I plan to post some photos.
Since we're basically just going there overnight, I won't be packing much either. I will have a change of clothes, a good book, some knitting and stuff so I can work on my next sermon. The next one will be July 11th and I'm preaching from Amos 7:7-17. Here is the passage:
Amos 7:7-17
7. This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
8 And the Lord said to me, "Amos, what do you see?" And I said, "A plumb line." Then the Lord said, "See, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by;
9 the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste, and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword."
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos has said, "Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel must go into exile away from his land.' "
12 And Amaziah said to Amos, "O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there;
13 but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom."
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, "I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,
15 and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, "Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
16 "Now therefore hear the word of the Lord. You say, "Do not prophesy against Israel, and do not preach against the house of Isaac.'
17 Therefore thus says the Lord: "Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be parceled out by line; you yourself shall die in an unclean land, and Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.' "
It sounds like a real downer but I think it can work out to be a good message for that church. Their pastor will be leaving them soon and I would like to address feelings of judgment that they might have towards themselves or others. I would also like to remind them that prophets, while gifted people, were also ordinary people. We are too. We have gifts of God's presence with us and yet we are quite ordinary.
I want to think more on plumb lines and spend some time on the textual criticism as well.
On another note, my cats are happy I am home sick today. I think we needed some time together. I have been so easily distracted lately it has been hard to just focus on the kitties some. I bought them a live catnip plant that sits on a table in the living room. I have seen evidence of nibbling on some of the leaves, which makes me happy.
I guess I will sign off and say "so long" Happy Independence Day!
Amy
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