May 17 - its been a while since I have blogged!

This will be a long blog. It has been since mid-April that I have posted a blog. These have been interesting and eventful weeks. I was a final candidate to become the next president of Saint Paul School of Theology, making a 2 1/2 day visit to the campus for interviews etc. I learned on Good Friday that I had been released as a candidate. During this candidacy, my friend Ron Watts in Cape Girardeau had been discussing with me the possibility of joining him on the staff of La Croix UMC as executive pastor if I was not selected for Saint Paul. In the last couple of weeks he and I have finalized this position and the bishop has made the appointment official. It was announced to the Wesley congregation two weeks ago. Audrey and I have a contract signed to purchase a house in Cape, and we are beginning to say our good byes. This has been quite the whirlwind, and God has been guiding each step of the way.

This morning I awoke around 3, stayed in bed til 3:40, went to my study, found on my shelf a book I had misplaced, loaned to me by Hiram Hill entitled A Glimpse of Glory by Rick East. I stood paging through the first four chapters, spellbound for half an hour. With fresh coffee I am now in my comfortable chair for morning devotions. The gas fire is burning, the birds are calling to one another, and my world has regained a sense of normalcy.

It was rocked yesterday at 2:15 pm when I returned home and could not find my cell phone. I had used it to call the Radon guy in Cape from the parking lot of Sams Club. Upon arriving home, Audrey was being helped by Pam, who was vacuuming the drapes in our bedroom. I cancelled my 3:15 tennis appointment with Elinton so I could address the lost phone.  I quickly retraced my steps to Sams, starting in the parking lot, then checking with customer service to no avail. I returned home and tried to figure out what app I had downloaded to find a lost droid. I could not remember or figure it out. I called Kerner. I went to the Verizon store, was assisted by the store manager who suggested I get on my computer and access “Plan B”. He also gave me a Sim card for my backup Droid Bionic phone (purchased used in fall of 2013, when Droid Razr was not taking a charge.) I could not get Plan B to work, it telling me it did not support the Droid Razr. So using My Verizon I switched my phone service to the Bionic, essentially losing any possibility of reaching the Razr remotely. I got on my bank’s website and changed my password to my accounts, since a person could have figured it out from my phone. I was glad to have my cell number back in service, checked my 6 voicemails and texts. I experienced a real disorientation from losing this phone. The sense of loss of photos, texts, and contacts, along with the vulnerability of a stranger accessing all my data was almost overwhelming.

Audrey and I attended the KOC graduation and were honored by the directors and a gift of a photo of the school with a huge thank you spelled out with colored noodles. From there we went to dinner at Red Lobster using a $25 gift card Audrey had found from years ago. Our server Sam did an excellent job, and we really enjoyed our meal and dining experience. Returning home shortly before 9 pm, we began to get ready for bed, feeding the cats, checking messages, etc.

Just before going to bed, I reached my hand down into the bottom of the large section of my 10 year-old backpack that I use for a briefcase, carrying my laptop and vital accessories to a from the office. In the bottom of that backpack I found my phone. I never put it there, don’t remember doing so in the Sams parking lot, and was mystified that I had located it. Overwhelming gratitude filled my heart as I carried it to the bedroom and turned it on along with the Droid Bionic that is now the working phone. It was as though a sense of completeness and well-being snapped into place in my emotions. From 2:15 til 9:15 I went through the hours of loss, desperate search, rearranging of schedule, being out of touch with communications, frustrated with lack of tracking app, and the agonizing decision to terminate phone service to the missing phone.

During those hours I was conscious of the impact upon my being of this lost phone. The disorientation, the sense of loss and hopeless combined with search initiative wrapped up with regret for not remembering the app to find it and the carelessness in losing it. I was aware that others experience much more significant and profound losses – the death of loved ones, the betrayal of a spouse, the horrible decisions of children and grandchildren. During those seven hours of loss I was aware that what I was feeling and thinking would be instructive as I come alongside others when they are in the midst of loss and disorientation.

Thank You Lord for walking with me through the hours of yesterday afternoon and evening. Use my experience as a tool to assist others and to grow in my manner and experience of ordering my life. Increase my compassion and availability for others, from those closest to me to those whom I have yet to meet. Speak to me from your Word this Saturday morning.

I Sam 10-12

Samuel anoints Saul, gives him specific instructions and tells him of the details he will encounter. Saul becomes a changed man, encounters the prophets, joins them, and returns to his father. Samuel calls all Israel together, announces that they have sinned by rejecting God. He promises that if they serve God with all their hearts, they and their king will be blessed. If not, God will fight against them.

Today I will serve God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. I will study, write my sermon, correspond, pack, exercise, fully giving away myself on this day, and living it for eternity. Thank you Lord for an early start, for writing and reflecting, for the experiences of yesterday, and the opportunities of today. I am yours. Use me this day.