I'm Learning

The last couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to ask myself what I would do with various situations if I encountered these situations as a pastor in my first call. I'm glad that these instances are occurring during internship. Here I have the opportunity to learn from a very wise and experienced pastor as my supervisor.  

Good self-care is one of the issues we are working through. I am on my second round of prednisone for my asthma which has been troubling me. I'm not sleeping well at night because of the cough and wheezing associated with it. I have responsibilities and duties in the church and for the members of Grace. When I saw the doctor Thurs., he was concerned about my nasty cough. This week I was scheduled to go to the nursing home to visit members there. I knew I wasn't contagious, but was uncertain as to whether or not it was a good idea for me to go there, so I asked him. The last time I was at the nursing home, there was a lot of respiratory stuff going around and I got sick. Doctor's orders were to stay away from there for now. So, I did and spent the time resting to regain my strength and resistance. I also had to be ready for Sunday to lead worship and preach as well as my usual responsibilities.

God is good, by grace I was able today to fulfill all of my responsibilities. This also provided an opportunity for me to kick off my internship project, which is raising up a team of assisting ministers and prayer leaders. My voice held out for Bible study, children's time, and preaching. I was sure glad to have Kay with me as assisting minister to do the other parts of the service.

After church, a group of us went out to lunch and enjoyed the fellowship and food together. 

This is just one example of what I have learned so far this year. When I am in my call, developing strong lay leadership will be essential, especially when I have trouble with my asthma. I realize too that this will have an impact on hospital visitation and nursing home visitation at times. The clergy in this town really cooperate well together. God willing, I will find myself working with such wonderful colleagues in the faith who I can call upon to help out. This too, would be another opportunity for development of the laity. Some churches have Stephen Ministers, while others have members that help with visitation. This too is something I would hope to work on.

So, the learning continues and hopefully will never stop. May I perpetually be a student of God and God's word, of people, and cognizant of my own needs as well.

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