I will be posting my sermon later today, if I'm up for it. I have a monster cold. I haven't been this congested in years. And I'm not taking it very well. I'm crabby and whiny and kleen-exy all at the same time. I just took Benadryl and hope to nap now, and perhaps get a little perspective back. In the meantime:
1. Today I noticed a visitor at our 8:00 a.m. outdoor service. She was a woman who had come to the church to pray earlier in the week. We are used to having people come to get gas or food money, but she just wanted someone to pray with her, as she had just gotten a hard diagnosis to bear. She hadn't been in a church for a long time, and noticed our (new, light-up) sign. She asked what time our services were -- and then showed up! She said it felt good to pray. I was happy to see her.
2. At 10:00 we had the rhythm instruments out for the beginning of the service, as we often do. We sing some "praise songs" to open worship in the summer. We often have a signer at the service, but we have not enough money for the whole summer, so she didn't come today. This disappointed me, especially when I saw K, a young woman with Cerebral Palsy (I think). She communicates by signing. But she is also awesome on rhythm instruments. She played percussion in the high school band. I went to several concerts because my stepson was also in the high school band. Anyway, while I was fretting about the lack of a signer, I noticed that we were singing "Jesus Loves me" and she was signing. I know some of the signs for that song too, so I signed along. We had a little "sign-along" (not a typo). She ministered to me this morning.
3. Oh, I almost forgot. At our early (outdoor) serivce this morning, a very pregnant (should have given birth 2 days ago) woman came up for communion. She said, "will you bless my baby?" At first I thought I had heard her wrong, with the cold and all. Also, I have never been asked to bless a baby before s/he's born. So I hesitated for a moment, and then, put my hand on her stomach and asked God to bless her baby and keep it safe. What a holy and intimate moment. I was all caught up in thinking, "No one will want me to touch them. I'm contagious."
What are some small moments of grace in your ministry, and your life?
12 comments:
loved this
but it also made me sad that the signer will come only when paid. I feel the same about organists (and pastors!) ... and long for the day that we serve our churches more out of love and a vocation than as a job.
blessed week ... hope the cold shifts very soon
I'm not blaming our signer, tho. She LOVES this work, has connected with all all the deaf families, and really does consider it a calling. She actually has her own church which she hardly ever gets to go here, because she's always signing for us. So it's hard for me to be so hard on her. Plus she does a lot of extra things for us.
The blessing of the (overdue!) baby made me smile. I think there are some really cool things about being a pastor -- that must be one of them!
I noticed your cold this morning at the 10 a.m. service, and thought you were awesome in spite of it; of course, that was between bouts of "blubbering" for me because it was just such a touching sermon; this one was one that I really needed to hear this week. I am NOT alone and I DO have people who care about me, but sometimes I still feel alone, just by virtue of being "left behind" when Bill died. So, your efforts were very, very much appreciated. I also noticed you "talking" to K during the songs and it made me smile, and touched my heart. This is why I love our church. This is why I cannot miss two Sundays in a row. My life doesn't feel right when that happens, so it will NOT be happening again.
And Scout the Wonder Dog is beautiful; I was so excited to finally get to see her! Also, THANK YOU...The Beatles' "Good Day Sunshine" is EXACTLY what I meant; I'm glad I'm not the only one who knew that!
See you Wednesday
what a beautiful day .. God really does good at sending gifts of grace moments just when we need them most! Since you asked mine include so many people telling me how glad they are that I am here ... and this morning someone left a beautiful single rose bud floating in a beautiful vase on my desk ... no idea who!
Get well soon, Diane.
I hope you feel better soon. I used to get two BAD colds a year, one in the fall and one in the late spring...really nasty. Haven't had one in awhile, I think because I stopped eating ice cream EVERY night before bed...but I know, that's a simplistic response. I do hope you feel better soon.
Sounds like you had a great day of worship and community.
Don't you love it when Sundays feel like they're supposed to - somehow holy, and mysterious and fun all at the same time! yahoo! And Scout got to go to worship? oh Mocha Java Puppy looked in the church doors but that's as close as he came...
Here's to a great day! (I'm toasting you with a glass of diet 7-up)
hot cup -- Scout didn't go to church yesterday. She went to the outdoor trunk sale in the church parking lot on Saturday. She had fun!
Hi Diane (you stopped by to visit my blog this weekend -- I am a pastor in Jackson, MN). Anyway, I enjoyed your little moments of grace from Sunday. Mine happened after worship. I was in the back greeting people as they left the sanctuary when little Hudson came out (he's almost 2 years old). After running around in the narthex for a while he ended up by me. I reached my arms out and asked him if he wanted to help me greet people. He then reached his arms out and I picked him up. Hudson then proceeded to reach out his hand to shake people's hands with me. It was really cute and even more cute when Hudson got impatient when people stopped to talk and didn't notice him with his hand extended. Even the "little Christians" know how to engage in fellowship.
Thanks for your post.
Eric
Ok. I got "tagged" this morning for a meme game on eight random things. And now, I've tagged you. Check out my blog for details, and if you play, let me know. (And if not, I understand, these games are not for everyone...)
Play whenever you are able! It takes awhile to do all the stuff.
'Small' signs indeed... precisely the signs that draw us to a closer and more intimate relationship with God in my opinion!
Hope your cold gets better soon!
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