July 3, 2013 …

This seemed like an apt day to launch this blog. It’s a blog about what it’s like being a pastor … and a mom … in this crazy-blessed, crazy-broken, just-plain-crazy world that we live in.

But why is today such an apt day? Well, within the pastoral sphere of my life, it’s my first week back at work after an 8 weeks of being gone. And within the mother sphere, today our twin boys are 2 months old. Yup … an apt day to begin talking about life as a pastor, life as a mom, and that in-between space where both those roles overlap.

So allow me to introduce myself …

Pastor Lisa: I’m currently serving as the solo pastor for 2 churches in rural Minnesota. One is a United Church of Christ (UCC) congregation. The other is a Presbyterian Church (USA) congregation. Both are small but mighty with smiling faces, welcoming arms, and great hearts. These churches are my first call as a pastor. I was ordained on Dec. 9, 2012 in the middle of the first real snowstorm of the season (literally … welcome to Minnesota). Between education (both undergrad and seminary), searching for a call, and winding my way through the PC(USA) ordination process, the journey to get me to this point has been about 10 years in the making, and while it was certainly full of it’s own ups and downs, it’s been one heck of a ride. And it’s brought me here to these wonderful congregations. Who could ask for more???

Granted, I’m already ~7 months into my ministry with these congregations, but between Advent, Lent, and preparing for my maternity leave (as well as all the little fires that pop up on a regular basis in churches), I feel like I’m just now coming into a time when I can actually start that ministry. I’m still playing catch-up with a few things, but this feels like a good jumping-off point.

Mom: As I said, our boys are 2 months old today. 🙂 They were born on May 3 (just in case you opted out of doing the math) at the tail end of what turned out to be the last snowstorm of the season. (See … I told you these spheres overlapped!) Ian and Luke are our first children, so we’re jumping in with both feet and figuring things out as we go along. Our current learning curve involves cloth diapers … woo hoo! 😛 More specifically, our current learning curve involves figuring out how to keep these adorable, trash-reducing, money-saving contraptions from leaking all over our adorable twins … and us. Hmmmm. There’s gotta be a sermon illustration in there somewhere, right?

So why blog in the first place? A couple of reasons, I guess:

1) This blog will be a place where I can post my Sunday sermons … at least in print form, but hopefully in audio form as well (depending on whether I can become tech savvy enough to figure that out).

2) There are so many pastoral ideas floating around out there from worship to education to programming and fundraisers to you-name-it. I can use this blog to corral some of those ideas … and maybe even contribute to them.

3) We have all sorts of friends and family spread out all over the U.S. (and even, sparsely, the world) who love us and would love to keep up with various aspects of our lives. In a digital age, what better way to do that than a blog?

4) Sometimes you just gotta brain-dump somewhere, right??

And so the journey begins … with one sleeping baby to my left, another screaming baby in my arms, and a commentary open beside me to this Sunday’s lectionary passages (2 Kings 5:1-14 and Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 … if you were wondering). Do I have any idea where this journey will lead me as a pastor and us as a family? Not a clue. Does that make me nervous? Sometimes, yeah. Hence the title of this blog: Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. It’s from Psalm 139, a psalm sometimes entitled “The Inescapable God.” Verse 14a says, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” God is a part of our lives – our every movement, our every thought, our every breath. God is inescapable … and thank God for that! I know we have times ahead of us that are full of confusion, fear, anxiety, and unknowing. But I also know we have times ahead that are full of wonder, joy, praise, and thanksgiving. And no matter what, God was and is and always will be a part of it.

Forever and ever.

Amen.

Now … off to deal with a very unhappy Luke ………………………….