Juggling with Sermons, Worship Planning, A Seminar and a Membership Class

I know it's not quite the "done" thing to admit it, but--I'm reading a fun book! It's a wonderful historical fiction novel, part of a series by Dorothy Dunnett. The title of this one, the second in the series is Queen's Play (as in chess moves, not as in a drama for the stage). Anyway, the main character just did some serious juggling--with knives, eggs, a key, a vase of water, and some other varied objects.

I sympathize.

I spent the weekend with my extended family, celebrating a high-numbered birthday with my mother and all of her eight (8) siblings, and all but one of my siblings (and didn't we talk about the absent one?), and other assorted family and hangers-on. It was a great time, actually. I get along well with most of my aunts and uncles, and of course my sisters are my sisters. Much talking, laughing, arguing--er, disputation...the usual family sort of thing. DP was a bit overwhelmed at times (having been an only child), but she handled it well.

It was also a mini-vacation of sorts--no email, no phone calls, no preaching on Sunday (two weeks in a row, my vocal cords praise me)--and we stayed in a hotel, so we didn't have to make beds or cook dinner either!

And then I got up this morning, started up email, and listened to the voice mails. Boom! Back into the cyclone!

And that's what it feels like, or (to mix a metaphor) trying to pick up the reins again and get back into the rhythm of the congregation. It's not just the get-up-make-coffee-let-the-dog-out-let-the-dog-in-feed-the-dog-take-a-shower-go-to-the-office routine either. It's remembering what was going on with all the projects--the new search for new space for the church, the seminar I'm planning for March, the membership class later this month, the history panel last week that was taped and now needs to be edited, worship planning for Lent, working on the sermons for February--all of which I had going before I left. Now I have to get back on board with all of that. You wouldn't think I could forget it all in the course of four days, but apparently it's possible.

The problem is not doing all these things, or keeping track of them--I did that before I left for the weekend (and with a bad code, too -sniff, sniff). It's getting back into the rhythm without impaling myself on a knife or dropping a vase on my head.

And a-one, a-two, a-three...