A quart into a pint pot

23rd August 2013

Trying to settle back in to some sort of routine after the last 2 months and all I have experienced.
In theory I had allowed myself Tuesday to settle back, go through the post and emails (though I’d dealt with most when I was in Mooresville and on holiday.) But church members had other ideas no sooner than I’d sat at my desk than I received phone calls from members of church updating me on some pastoral issues. Both important. One was dealt with over the phone but the next needed a visit.

The jet lag hasn’t been too bad for me. I’ve managed to sleep through the night every night. That said I have felt slightly spaced out all week. Though today I’m feeling close to what passes for normal.
Then I managed to have a meeting (Oh joy a meeting) with one set of church stewards. Useful meeting. But coming back and thinking about the cycle of meetings that will unfold over the next few weeks makes me depressed. I know that in September and October I will spend the equivalent of a couple of days in various meetings.

The stewards meeting included a debrief of how the exchange had gone on this i.e. of the pond. All very positive. One steward commented on how Rev Calhoun had quoted Wesley on quite a few times. And the steward said “It made me realise that I don’t have that much knowledge about John Wesley. It would be really good to have a series of classes about Wesley and what he believed.” I agreed but pointed that teaching that kind of class means I need time to prepare. It took me 3 or 4 days research to put together the John’s Gospel series at Fairview. And the only way I’d managed to prepare it was by having several days away from emails, phone calls etc.

Being in Mooresville made me realise how much I enjoyed the teaching that I did. But the reality is that in order to reach a subject I have to prepare it and research it. And that takes time. What do I give up or park to enable me to do that? And more importantly will the people of my churches allow me that space?

And it seems to me this is the constant problem. The expectation that I can fit a quart in to a pint pot.