Movies and advent

I have really liked having some free time and on this Saturday evening, I am watching "Pride and Prejudice" - the one without Colin Firth. Not as good but still worth watching. I never used to watch TV at all, partly because I always had a really small TV and only Terrestrial channels, but I am now living with a gigantic TV and cable, so I can while away many long hours, sometimes wasting my time and letting other things that I ought to be doing, go. The past few days I have been looking forward to the holiday movies that are always worth watching and catching up on an that has been the case, for sure. So as well as P and P I have had my eyes glued to "Love acutally," "How to lose a guy in 10 days," "50 first dates", "Elf" (yes, I know, pathetic, but still fun) and of course, "Shrek." I hear that 5 hours is the average amount of time that kids spend having "screen time." I can well believe it but I am sure that it is not good for them, as it is such a waste of time. It is just as well that Christmas comes but once a year...OK, I take it back. I ought to have a lot more self discipline that your average kid...

OK, so we are into advent. Tomorrow is the first Sunday in advent and our church has some traditions that it follows each year. Four families will share their family traditions and we will light the advent candles. I love this time. I remember it from my earliest days and it was always really exciting to help light the candles around the wreath. The time of looking forward to the birth of our Lord and Saviour is always an uncertain time. Even though we know that we will celebrate on December 25, there is still an air of uncertainty as we wait for that time to arrive. For the 2nd time in my life I will spend Christmas away from my family, so it is hard to hear songs in the stores like, "Driving home for Christmas", and "I'll be home for Christmas," but I know that I am by no means the only one being away from home. To think that Jesus was born away from his homeland and even after his birth, his family were forced to move. The only other time I have been away from Scotland was in 1997 when I was touring with a choir in Jerusalem. We actually sang in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.

Very different experiences; the city of David and Bend, OR.

Becoming a pastor

So, I preached for the second time as a pastoral intern. Sunday was great. The worship team were great. God was GREAT. It was amazing and I loved it. However, I was SO tired afterwards, took a 2 hour nap, felt sick yesterday and am still tired today. How's that for being a pastor? How can I slow down but still do a good job? I am supposed to take a day off every week but the past 2 weeks have been so busy with preparation for Sunday with all the usual other stuff during the week which is really good stuff, but still takes time and energy. I really love it though, being a pastor, and it is so good to know that I do not have to study for finals and papers which are due in 2 weeks time. I am SO glad that I do not have to stress about that!

Today is Tuesday and we are into the week of thanksgiving. This will be my third thanksgiving holiday in the USA.I really love this holiday; no gifts, just good time being with friends and giving thanks for all that we have. So much has happened this year and it is hard to believe that 2008 is nearly over and we are looking forward to 09. How did that happen?? There is still much to do before the year is out. I have already been in Bend for 4 months with another 6 to go. So much to learn and experience. I am so thankful that God brought me to this particular place at this particular time. He knew exactly with how much I could cope and still continues to teach me and challenge me to other experiences. It is awesome.

Becoming a pastor - first thoughts...

Today is the Saturday before Thanksgiving and my first blog post. I always said that I would never create a blog as, No. 1 who would want to read it, and No. 2, do I really have time to write on a blog. However, here it is. I am not sure who will read it, but I suppose it is like journaling, knowing that all will be read, so it will be without all those bits that I would hand write - ie. my most intimate thoughts with God - you are not going to have access to them and nor would you want to. I will not write much today as I have a sermon to prepare....need to speak slowly...need to speak slowly...need to speak slowly...