It is Wednesday evening. Tomorrow in the USA, it is Thanksgiving Day. I miss Thanksgiving Day. It's a special day that has many memories associated with it. I will not experience anything like that special day tomorrow here in Scotland, but that's ok. I enjoy being minister at St Fergus Parish Church and being involved with Presbytery of Buchan.
I have had my hands full since Tuesday, and things get pretty hectic through the weekend and into the following week. Monday was my Sabbath, my seventh day of resting in the Lord. How good it was. It is a holy habit I need in order to survive the wear and tear of pastoral ministry, wherever I am. The next day, Tuesday, I had planned to prepare for a teaching time I do on Fridays, the Sunday morning service at St Fergus Parish Church, and a Sunday evening service at another church in the area. I was not looking forward to the weekend because of those three engagements I had. I planned for a con-siderable amount of time for preparation for a teaching, one service, and two sermons.
But early Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from a funeral home to do a funeral. I was covering for a fellow minister who was on vacation for a few days. Before I knew it, I was agreeing to a funeral service the following Monday in a nearby town. The family couldn't do it later and the funeral home could't do it earlier. I dropped my preparation, made necessary arrangements, and went and visited the family. A 39-year-old father of two young children had died from cancer the day before. I came back home and received a call from another funeral home for a funeral on Tuesday. Again, I was cov-ering for another pastor while he was on vacation. The family is coming to town soon and I will meet with them tomorrow. Fortunately one minister returned home earlier than expected and assumed the duties for the Monday funeral. That will give me some breathing room for my Sabbath rest on Mon-day.
There's always things to do. Yesterday I met with three members of a Presbytery committee to dis-cuss certain matters. This afternoon I took communion to five people at a nearby nursing home. I was assisted by one of my elders who has become a close friend. He is able to converse with me in proper English and then interact with the persons in the Doric Tongue. He has a real gift of ministering to people. I enjoyed the flirtatious attention of a late eighty-something resident as she received com-munion. We served a ninety-eight year old and a one hundred-year old. It is amazing how they joined with me in reciting Psalm 23 and the Lord's Prayer. Tonight I visited a village man in the hospital down the road. He hasn't been to any church in years, but I sense that God is doing something in his life. That excites me. They were involved in a serious car accident ten weeks ago. Both of them were near death, but have survived. The wife got out of the hospital several weeks ago. They are talking about coming to church when they are able.
I teaching a Bible Survey course on Friday evenings at a Church of Scotland congregation in Peter-head. Tomorrow I tackle Deuteronomy and Joshua. This is the sixth in the series that I expect to take into February of the new year. I enjoy the students who come from a variety of churches in the area, including one from St Fergus. It is a small class of fifteen to twenty people each Friday. They express a deep hunger to know about God and Scripture. I put in a lot of time in preparing for the class. It is fun for me to do. Saturday mornings I help lead a prayer meeting that attracts people from churches in the area, including two of us from St Fergus. This Saturday I will also be attending an area wide prayer meeting that comes together every two months. We enter into the Advent Season at St Fergus Parish Church on Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent. The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of the new Christian year is Matthew 24:36-44. We always recite the Apostles' Creed on the first Sunday of the month. I will preach on the Second Coming of Christ, the theme of the first Sunday of Advent. I haven't decided what I will preach on at the evening service of another church. I will probably work on that tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday. I will seek every moment to prepare for the teaching and preaching. It is amazing how ideas develop and click together as I am forced to use my time wisely. I look forward to resting on Monday for most of the day. Then there is the funeral noontime Tuesday.
That's my week, although most weeks aren't always so full of things to do. When things get hectic, I have to rely on the Lord more and more in order to get things done. As always, I ask for your prayers.
Blessings to you and yours,
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