A Busy Beaver

The fact that I'm not blogging everyday is a good indicator of just how NUTS it's been in my life, lately. Basically there are three intersecting categories in this order of priority: 1) Home-Life, Baby-Prep, Being-Married, 2) Parish-Running, Preaching, Loving-My-Peeps, 3) Diocesan-Committee-Attending, Writing, Blogging. As you can see, I'm afraid blogging comes pretty much last. Sigh.

But the lack of blogging is symptomatic of another problem: that I'm not doing as much reading/researching/thinking as I normally do. You see, back when I was blogging once or twice a day, I would have time to read various blogs and articles that I find inspiring and thought provoking. I'd share stuff that I thought a wider audience than the voices in my head would appreciate. But these days, there just has been as much time for that time spent reading and thinking and surfing. That's just the reality at the moment.

But on the plus side, lots of very exciting stuff has been happening. Betsy's pregnancy continues to go well. Our little guy is developing a reputation for athletic excellence worthy of the son of a Ninja Priest. Too bad Betsy's internal organs are the only thing handy to use a punching/kicking bag!

Cravings? Yes--ice cream!

Due date? Still December 14th. And yes, I've been planning for various people to take services around that time. Even when I do think I'll be okay to come to church and say Mass, I've still scheduled people to preach in my stead! So I should be okay during that time for coverage.

Is the house ready? Mostly. We have a bassinet in our bedroom for the first few weeks. We still need to set up the changing stations (one upstairs, one downstairs) and assemble the crib. Nor have I abandoned my ambition to theme-out the nursery with aviation kitsch. The main thing there is actually painting that room and applying airplane decals.

Betsy did a great job sewing a skirt and bedding for the bassinet from fabric she bought. Her next project is some roman-style shades.

I managed to completely re-arrange "man town" (that the room with my TV and PS3). That project included adding wall mounted shelves. My next task there is to build a custom desk to fit into a nook I have my eye on.

At work I'm very excited about our plans for Advent. The liturgical space is going to be very different, and I believe it will create an excellent vibe for where we want people to go spiritually. Kerrie's Bible Study is humming along, and she and Doug (our Theological Intern) are developing plans for an adult formation program to run in Advent.

Meanwhile, we are putting in security cameras at the church (a special request of the day care) and repairing the roof where it leaked last Christmas.

On the Diocesan Level, the planning for the Vital Church Planting Conference is going well. I'm in charge of workshops as well as liturgy. I've already got help with those. The Fresh Expressions Working Group (aka The Church Planting Committee) is interesting and I'm starting to get a sense of how they work and how I might contribute. This Saturday is a Synod Meeting at which I might be elected to be a Diocesan Rep at the National Church level. Though, honestly, I doubt I'll win the election as there are a tonne of great candidates on the nomination list already. The Anglican Resource Centre--being rebranded as the Centre for Excellence in Christian Education--has been resting for a few months, but is about to get busy again.

Lots of other stuff going on, but I don't have time at the moment to get into it. Suffice it to say, I've been a busy beaver!

-t