Friday Five--Summer Reading

1) Do you think of summer as a particularly good season for reading? Why or why not?
When I was little my mom says she had to kick me out of the house during the summer to go outside and play, otherwise I would have just stayed in and read. Honestly, I can read whatever the season, but I do like to read more in the winter when it's cold and gray and I can wrap up in a blanket with a good book and something hot to drink.

2) Have you ever fallen asleep reading on the beach?
Yes, which was fabulous, except it was spring break during seminary, and I never did finish Augustine's Confessions.

3) Can you recall a favorite childhood book read in the summertime?
Probably every summer had a favorite book. I spent one summer reading nothing but Trixie Beldon, another summer enamored of E.L. Konigsburg books. We lived next door to the public library, so mostly what I remember about summer is checking out book after book after book. Oh, and I remember the way the ugly shag carpet in the library felt against my bare feet.

4) Do you have a favorite genre for light or relaxing reading?
I love Janet Evanovich and Nora Roberts for pure escape value, or I can always escape into Harry Potter or a Terry Brooks series.

5) What is the next book on your reading list?
Janet Evanovich's new book, Fearless Fourteen, which I will try to wait for from the library, but might break down and just buy. For more immediate reading, I'm currently re-reading the Magic Kingdom for sale series by Terry Brooks. For work I have a stack: one book on transitions, a book about Paul, some devotional books.

In conclusion, I LOVE to read. If I could do nothing but, I would be perfectly happy. I don't think I read books that are very deep or insightful, though. I read a lot of books for church, and I try to read books that people are talking about so I know what they're referring to, but given my choice, I would read for pleasure and escape almost exclusively. Sigh, I'm never going to be a great and deep thinker, I'm afraid...

Huh. or Possibly Duh!

In my last post I was pondering the panic dream. I'm not feeling particularly stressed, so where did the dream come from? A few minutes ago it dawned on me that while I'm not specifically stressed, I do have a TON of stuff swirling around in my brain: Big stuff, little stuff, amazing stuff, God stuff, scary stuff, Aha! stuff, Duh! stuff, work stuff, family stuff, friend stuff, and other, less nameable or definable stuff. Part of my brain is going about 8,000 miles an hour, and I just now realized it? Hence, the post title. Too many questions. Too much swirliness in my brain...

Dream

I had a panic dream last night: I was back in my room at my parents' house and I woke up late. I was supposed to be leading worship for the congregation I used to supply at before this call, although for some reason the service was in a church in the exact opposite direction from where their church actually is. I woke up at the time I should have been leaving. So of course I was panicked in the dream, and running around like a crazy person. Oh, and I had no sermon. So much of the dream was me desperately trying to figure out what the texts for the week were, so I could write something on the drive. One of the very clear moments was me doing my hair (in the bathroom of my current apartment, go figure) and my hair was HUGE and frizzy and I just yanked it back into this truly hideous pony tail and ran out the door. Flash forward to getting to the church, where worship hadn't even started although it was an hour past time, to discover that another pastor was actually scheduled to lead the service, and they weren't expecting me at all. Apparently, I had gotten a Wednesday evening service mixed up with a Sunday morning service, or something like that. Now, in fact, I am doing Wednesday evening services at this other church for the months of July and August, so I can understand why that worked itself into the dream, but panic dreams usually occur for me when I'm feeling really stressed about something. I wonder what my subconscious was trying to sort through. On the plus side, nowhere in the dream was I ever naked in public.

Installation

My installation was yesterday. Yep, like an appliance. In announcements at the 8:00 service the senior pastor made some comment like I'd only been running on batteries up until this point, but now I was going to be hard wired in. He's a funny guy. It was a good service, but a long day. 2 regular services in the morning (with Gabby's debut performance in a puppet show at children's time, which went fabulously) and then the installation at 2:00, followed by a church picnic. LOOOOONG day. It's kind of strange, too, following so close to ordination. Installation happen at each call I take, so it's a big deal, but not as much as ordination, which only happens the one time. So ordination was this huge deal, and then I felt kind of bad because I really didn't have much energy to put into this service. At any rate, the service was nice, the associate to the bishop preached nice sermons at all 3 services, my parents were there, a friend of mine (who is also a pastor) and his wife surprised me by showing up for the service, and it was a gorgeous day. So now I'm installed. Guess now I'm official.

Oh, in other news, the radio show aired yesterday. It aired on many stations, at several different times, all across Western Montana. Yikes. People who heard it said it went well, and apparently we all sounded coherent and somewhat intelligent. :-) All I can say, is thank God it wasn't live. Now if I can just survive the possibility of camera crews at the event this weekend...

Radio Spot

Sometimes being a pastor is strange. I have this thought frequently. Sunday I will be on the radio, and this is part of being a pastor that is strange. Long story short, the church is doing a home makeover for one of our members who has had a rough time of it. The idea came from our council president who proposed it, ran with it, got volunteers, got sponsors, got donations, you name it. Then she got us on the radio. I got to the church yesterday and was told that today the council president, the senior pastor and I would be having a 20 minute interview today with a member of the church who is also a radio host. How great is that? It's great publicity! Wait, what? When did I agree to be on the radio? I HATE the sound of my own voice, and I always manage to say something stupid in situations like that. Last Sunday I preached a sermon about how God often calls us to ministry even when we don't think we're ready. If we waited until we were perfect, or had just the right gifts and skills, then many (probably most) of us would never venture out into ministry at all. Today the Holy Spirit reminded me to actually pay attention to what I say in the pulpit, cuz I sure as heck wasn't ready to be on the radio, and had I been given much choice I would have replied with a resounding HELL NO! It went pretty well, as it turns out. I don't think I said anything stupid, and it was even kind of fun. Please don't tell the Holy Spirit I said so, though...