I went outside for less than 5 minutes and got 4 bug bites! This is in my backyard, not a jungle! This hot humid weather is no fun. It’s expected in Asia but I am not ready for this in SoCal
Praise God He gave me inspiration for my sermons today. I am giving a promotion message to the preschoolers and one to the elementary children on Sunday.
Children messages are short, so it is not as hard to prep as an adult message. But the thought behind it is the same. I also think about how the message would edify the adult helpers there.
I am glad I don’t have to preach to adults regularly as our pastors do. It would take so much thought that I wouldn’t be able to split my mind to plan other things for children ministry. I can do more detail planning than the pastors do because of that.
People don’t know what pastors do. They think that even if they spend 20 hours a week in sermon prep, they would still have a good 20-30 hours for running the church, so they expect more production. It all sounds good on paper. But the mind cannot engage so quickly from this to that when it is relational and dynamic.
Sermon prep is a creative process that takes up your brain space. As a lay leader at my previous church, I used to teach adult SS every Sunday. I thought sermon prep was basically the same, so my pastor should be able to do a lot more with all the extra time he has. But now I see how it really is, I experience it, and I give a lot of credit to our pastors.
I especially commend the solo pastor of a small church who preaches every week, each sermon being judged if it’s “good” or not. And then he has to love and care for the people who don’t understand why he is not more productive. It’s hard to explain on paper in terms of hours you work. It’s hard to explain until you experience it first hand. It is definitely a calling, not a job.
I would like to teach adults and youth once in a while for a change of pace. It’s good practice, same as I think it’s good for pastors to preach to children once in a while.
Enjoyed my monthly massage today. Then I felt too relaxed to swim, afraid I might drown! So I did 30 minutes on the elliptical.
About a month ago I bought a used elliptical for $50. I figured if we don’t use it, I’ll give it away and $50 wouldn’t hurt much. I would say we already got our money’s worth though. My husband is finally exercising (40 minutes a day) and I do at least 15 minutes a day, hopefully my cholesterol will go down.