week in the l ife

This week looks quiet when I look in my diary and that always makes me nervous. Justifiably, because these are the weeks that have the potential space to get very busy 6am alarm: Up and about with time and space for a quick walk around the block and my usual 20min prayer meditation.

8am: Leave home for the services at Wonthaggi at 9.30am and then Inverloch at 11am.

children served to the adults with such joy. I am still buzzing.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURS

FRIDAY SATURDAY

2pm: After the two church services and morning tea, I go home and make some phone calls. I have a special announcement to make this week. More on that later. Today our wonderful families did a very creative play. They got together for tea last night and wrote it on the theme for ‘Sun’ character was dancing in the sky with joy. And there was cake which the

One little piece of special joy this morning, a child in the play brought in their guinea pig to be a character and another bought her chook. I cease to be surprised really by these joyous knows where) walked up and put its head in the door! Such timing though, as I had just started reading a passage from Matthew, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem … how often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks

Monday. research,Thesis double check findings.

Tuesday 10am. Funeral Inverloch.at under her wings.”! A little visit from the Divine. is a collector of these, so I regularly drop some into his mail box. intersection between disability and theology. I am exploring several Biblical narratives as tools to better understand how we regard disability and to empower people through affording them the dignity they deserve.

Monthly rostered service at Rose Lodge Aged Care.

Zoom!Committee.RelationsPresbyteryWednesday.

Thursday 1pm. Combined Church Council meeting.

YarningCircle tonight.Uluru Statement& theVoice.

I have a wonderful text conversation which starts on Sunday afternoon and continues through Monday, about some aspects of the sermon which invite enquiry. I prepare a little for the coming week which has several things which need good focus.

The son of one of our elderly members rings to say she has gone into aged care and to ask if I would visit this week to ease her concerns about feeling isolated.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY FRIDAY

Another young man who is in text contact regularly asks me (again) if things in my life have been as tough as his life is just now. I have plans to spend a special celebration day with him in the coming weeks and I wonder if he is nervous about it. I first had contact with him through his request to Presbytery to send him pamphlets. He

6.30am: often sleep a little longer than the alarm’s 6am alert on Mondays. The adrenaline dump after Sunday services gets me every time.

7.15am: And so Monday starts in my preferred way, with a swim in the bay and some meditation.

9am: I hit the books. Monday and Friday are the main days I research and write my PhD thesis about the

SATURDAY

It is important to me through my ordination as a Deacon, to stand with those who are marginalised in our society, to understand the Gospel from the underside. The view from the margins is a vital part of the church and these are prophetic voices that the church does well to hear.

Having been a school chaplain for many years, it was this yearning, this call to the marginalised that led me to seek ordination. A few phone calls and preparational items interrupt me, but I won’t admit that here

6am: Another blessed morning with meditation, but no swim as I leave early to conduct a funeral at Inverloch at 10am. It is lovely to hear the family speak so lovingly about their mum and nan. We go on to the cemetery, where we say our farewells to this dear lady, and the family are happy that they have been able to share their memories of her love and care for them. The usual Tuesday morning coffee at the bakery with the Wonthaggi folks continues quite happily without me apparently.

I arrive home. I start the preparation for the services on Sunday, having listened to the By the Well podcast as I drove home from the funeral. I spend some time looking at the Figtree Worship resource and then send the music ideas off to both congregation’s musicians.

I have phone and text discussion with some people about when is a good time to welcome them into membership. As there are six of them involved it has been hard to get a time that we will all be there. They would love to do it together so they can tell everyone about what has prompted them to the decision to do this and we can have a special celebration.

On re-checking my diary earlier today I notice I have the monthly rostered service at Rose Lodge Aged Care on Friday morning so I check that I have something I can use to focus our worship using the Figtree Resource. Lots of phone calls and emails about various things later, I turn the computer off for dinner.

9.30pm: Off to bed, which is about the usual time.