I Love to Tell the Story

I've had a great time preaching each Sunday this Summer.  I've learned a lot about myself and my preaching style, but I've been getting really excited for the chance to preach every Sunday in the same place.  It's pretty stressful to learn a new routine every week.  Each church has different deadlines and different ideas of how much a service should be rehearsed beforehand, and, to be completely honest, I hope my days as a "traveling" preacher are over soon and I'll have an office with a hymnal in it so I don't have to drive down to First Church in Oberlin in order to choose hymns.  

Well, this Sunday is the last Sunday that I have booked this Summer.  I'm so looking forward to just showing up at church and worshiping on a Sunday morning for a little while.  I will not take it for granted.  Anyway, all week I've been thinking about how much I love preaching, and I've had this hymn stuck in my head.  I was going to just post it as a link on Facebook, but then my description of it kept getting longer and longer, so here it is-- as a blog entry.  

"I love to tell the story of unseen things above-- of Jesus and his Glory, of Jesus and his Love.  I love to tell the story because I know it's true.  It's satisfy my longings, as nothing else can do."

I really do love it.  I remember the words of my atheist college English professors, who said, "If you actually open the darn book [the Bible] you'll find that it's full of the craziest stories of all time."  So, so true.  The Christian story is a good one, and I'm excited to go on telling it for so many more years.  

Preaching Schedule

Hi All!  For those of you who are in Ohio and/or interested, I wanted to post a list of the places I will be preaching for the next several weeks.  I will update it as needed. 

June 17th: Disciples Christian Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio @ 9:00 and 11:00 

June 24th: First Church in Oberlin, Ohio @10:00

July 1st: First Congregational UCC of Berea, Ohio @10:00 

July 8th: Not Preaching (In Arizona)

July 15th: Magyar UCC in Elyria, Ohio @10:00

Some Catching Up

It’s clear to me that I’m a product of an internet generation.  We moved to Oberlin slightly less than a week ago, and won’t have internet access in our home until this coming Tuesday.  I’m amazed at the anxiety that comes out of not checking my e-mail for a whole day.  Surely there’s a part of the anxiety that comes from being in the midst of a job search in which most of the communication is via e-mail, but the part of it that exposes me as inept at communicating with people/getting from one place to another/finding out information/listening to music is kind of embarrassing.  In desperation, I contacted the pastor of Oberlin UCC to see if I could use the church’s internet instead of having to pay for coffee every time I wanted to check my e-mail at a café.  Pastor David is so kind that he’s even issuing me a key to the church so that I can use it as a place to do my Skype interviews without a dog barking and a baby crying in the background (or incessantly screaming her version of “yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay”—totally my fault for egging on a cute new vocal discovery). 

Speaking of dogs barking, our dog Nos is living with us once again.  We had to send him on vacation to Gramma and Grampa’s house for a few months back in October because this Mama could only handle so much.  It is awesome having him back.   He’s so good to Evelyn and she is just totally enamored with him.  Until you see a nine-month old “throw” a tennis ball for her dog, you’ve not seen cute (this is kind of where the incessant “yay” started). 

Having a house is just amazing.  Evelyn has her own bedroom, there’s a window in our kitchen, and we have a washer and dryer in our house.  With both of us temporarily out of work, we are having the best time just being a family.  We take walks every morning and sit out on the porch and talk or read.  We take family naps sometimes.  Life is so good, and I think when the time comes, I’ll be ready to go back to work. 

The search and call process is encouraging.  I think the UCC has a great set-up that allows for prayerful and intentional placements.  In the meantime, with the exception of this coming Sunday and the week I'm in Arizona, I'm preaching every Sunday for the next month and a half--making some money, doing what I love, getting to know other congregations.  

On Tuesday I'll be able to update more often.  I'll post some photos of the inside of our house and I'll get a list up of the churches I'll be preaching at this summer so that if you're interested and nearby, you can come worship with us.