It was cold, dreary, and rainy Sunday. With a heavy heart I left the warm safety of the parsonage to drive church for two services. My mind running wildly as I thought of how I would explain what happened at the Way Forward Conference of The United Methodist Church the previous week. I mostly wanted to address the one dimensional reporting of the secular news; we had turned our back on the LGBTQI Community. Some of the Sunday school classes would be perplexed, broken-hearted because that is not who we are. But I also know that the headlines in the papers had delighted some as well. Could I take their joy born in a lack of understanding of the process?
I wondered if today would be doable. I gave up on a "good" Sunday morning sometime Tuesday afternoon. On top of sharing this news, I had two services ahead of me, a dinner following church intended to be a fund raiser to pay off the parsonage note. And oh, did I mention is was cold, rainy, and dreary.
But God loves to remind me He has me.
Sunday schools seemed thankful knowing they are free to come and talk, vent or question judgement free.
We had a record crowd despite the rain and cold.
Three sets of visitors cam to church that day, two committed to sticking around.
An announcement of a new baby coming this Summer.
The daily offering was nearly double the usual amount.
The men's luncheon to pay the last 7K of the 210K of the Parsonage took in 14K.
And the food was crazy good.
Fine God.
I get it.
You are bigger than General Conference.
You are bigger than our messes we make.
You are bigger than my confusion and dread.
You WILL prevail despite our effort to block you.
God's hope, joy, and peace was in the raindrops that were falling and destroying my fear and dread.
So I will still labor with others to help unknot the tangled mess we made of the cord that binds us together.
I will look for the joy You give, Lord and lean on You for understanding.
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