Scenes from Clerical Life

I am sitting at the kitchen bar, working on sermons and making Ramen noodles for the boys’ after school snack.

Jessie has alternately been doing laundry, sweeping the floor, encouraging the boys with their homework, and discussing with me a topic we often end up on, Jesus being the only way to salvation.

I am lucky to be a pastor. With the boys playing at my feet (Joe is a zoo-keeper catching the various animals that John is pretending to be) I get to work on what I will preach on Monday nights.

I have Wesley’s sermons open, because it strikes me that for the next many Mondays, that Wesley’s exposition of the Gospel there is precisely what will need to be preached.

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That was last night. This morning, I was up watching the news. Joe jumped onto the lazy boy with me and fell back asleep. It was good to snuggle with him. After a little while, we crawled back into bed with Jessie.

At church I had an interesting conversation with Leo and Barb. It was a conversation about how being homeless had been a blessing for them. They said they did not see it at the time, but as life has gone on, they know they are blessed. And it was interesting to get their take on Monday night. They said that while it was good to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, what you really need, Barb said, “is Christ crucified.”

Today at lunch, John was snuggled up to Jessie. Out of nowhere he told her that she needed to go to “Mommy School.” (It will be interesting to hear what they think Mommy School is after all the curriculum they developed for Daddy School.) He told her, “You’re not Jessie anymore.” I watched as she asked hopefully, “Who am I?” “Mommy,” he said. It was a tough and tender moment.