An Interim Ends

Every time that I have been "called to serve" since retiring,  I have strongly believed that to be God's doing.  I have had four interim opportunities in the past four years.   I have always expected each time, that it will be the last, and indeed,  that could certainly be the case.

This time, I have preached for the past three months, filling in between the last pastor, and the next Interim, who arrives tomorrow.   Those weeks included Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter.  It also included Pentecost Sunday and Mother's Day, all of which are some of my favorite occasions for leading worship.   I have served this congregation before, so there is a very special connection there.   They had a specific need, and I suppose, so did I.   My time there these months fulfilled both my need to preach occasionally, and their need for a temporary pastor.

 For me, the good part about doing interim ministry, and having an end-date, is that it keeps me from emotionally and spiritually taking on the full load of responsibility.  While I might not have been entirely ready to give up preaching,  I definitely was and am ready to give up being the pastor in charge.

So, today, I could step away with gratitude, and without sadness.  I believe they will be in good hands.

It has been a long and arduous journey getting to this point--where I am at peace, and have no unfulfilled ambitions, or burning needs to accomplish. Contentment is a very very good place to be.  I highly recommend it.

This is not to say that I do not have goals;  indeed I do.   It is just that they are smaller, and less compelling, and pressing.  Mostly they have to do with doing things that bring me joy.

Learning to live in the present moment is a big part of serenity.

At certain moments,  serenity is mine!

Garden Battle Revisited

These plants were supposed to be cucumbers, climbing up the black iron trellis.  But alas, the critter is back.  My guess is that it is a woodchuck, though I haven't actually seen it.  It's hard to imagine that it could be the exact same one, because we trapped and transferred that woodchuck ten miles away.  But the hole under the sun room is dug out in exactly the same spot as if the animal remembered from last year and came home.

When I first saw signs in my garden of the plants being eaten, I said, oh well,  I'll just plant flowers, so I went out and bought some marigold-looking flowers. (couldn't find any actual marigolds).  And the next day, the tops of the flowers were gone.  It ate my flowers.

I should just give up on gardening, except for tomatoes.  There don't seem to be any animals that will eat the tomato plants.  At least there is something that I can grow.

For the past few years,  the critter ate off my climatis plant when it first put up shoots from the ground.   In fact, up until this year, I have never even seen any blossoms on that plant.  Perhaps because of the late arrival of the woodchuck  (who after all had to travel ten miles),  the plant got a good headstart and is now producing flowers.

I live in a residential area with lots of houses.  I would not expect for there to be deer, woodchuck, rabbits, etc.    But they are around, and seem to prevail in my garden battle.

On the positive side, we do have a rambling rose bush planted just a year or two ago, which has increased in volume tenfold.

And the trees are growing enough to provide just enough shade to sit under.

Birthday Week

Opening Night of Grease

I really do like to stretch my birthday celebrations out as long as possible.   We had a family gathering early in June, because that's when V&M were home, but that was a bit early, for both Father's Day and my birthday, so further celebration was called for.

If hubby and I are going out for a celebration, I actually prefer to do that at lunch, rather than in the evening.  We went to a nice, very fancy, upscale restaurant in Ithaca the day before my birthday.  I do, once in a great while, like to pretend to be among the privileged and affluent, though most of the time our lifestyle is not at all like that.  I just like to occasionally pretend.

Then on the actual day of my birthday,  I got lots of Facebook greetings, and lots of wonderful cards in the mail.    Oh yes,  I opted for a piece of birthday cake, rather than a whole cake.  On Monday, I found a beautiful piece of coconut cake at Wegmans, and had a celebration with that.  It was very delicious.  And now I'm not tempted with all the rest of the cake!

Last night (birthday evening), we went to a production of Grease, the musical.  I didn't realize it until we got there, but our seats were on the front row, floor level.  The play's action took place on the same floor level, not more than two or three feet in front of us, literally!  Neither of us remember seeing Grease on stage.  Of course, we have both seen it in a movie.  It was a rousing, lively, most entertaining production.   Gerry especially enjoyed it, as the story was set in the fifties, and he recognized the music, and could even follow the dialogue!

Monday night I am having a "girls night out" with the daughters who live in the area  (all but one, who doesn't)   Everyone is excited about going to Just A Taste, a restaurant that specializes in tapas, a kind of Spanish appetizer.

After Monday night's dinner outing,  I will declare my birthday officially over!   It's been a good one.  I guess I have to put it away for a while, and wait for the next one!

Happy Birthday to Me

Father's Day Special

I could not be more blessed when it comes to the "father" in our family.   The person to whom I refer is, of course, my husband Gerry.

When we married many years ago,  he had already raised his first family, three children.  Yet, he was willing to take on the task of raising three more, to take a chance on love! I was a single parent who had three young children when we met and married.   I don't think I ever really expected that any man, especially a good man, much less a great man, would be interested in that particular responsibility  (and risk, I might add, as half of all second marriages end in divorce).

As if that were not enough,  he even showed a keen interest in having a child with me, something I had never considered.   And had it been anyone else but Gerry, I probably never would have agreed! [we were both beyond the age!!]

 It wasn't that I had a need for more children.  But the one need I did have, the unfulfilled part of my own adult emotional life, was experiencing a man fulfilling the role of a caring, devoted father, and participating as full partners in parenting.  And indeed, that dream came true.

For quite a few years, Father's Day was a sad time, mostly about the father who had disappeared.  The healing is so complete now, that I rarely ever think about that sad reality any more.

Ours has been an incredible partnership, allowing both of us to be greater together than we might have been individually.   I believe that applies not just to our parenting, but also to our personhood.

Thank God for this special father I am privileged to have married!

Father's Day Special