A day in the life...

Today was one of those unique artist/musician/pastor days that I cherish. It began with a "music lesson" with one of our young teens. He will be playing in the show on Sunday doing "Blue Monk" and I wanted to make sure he was both up to speed and in his comfort zone. We had a rocky practice last Tuesday and I wasn't sure my man was feeling confident about the tempo of this jazz classic. 

So, I spent about 90 minutes listening to him play, working out some exercises to improve his groove and simply enjoying the wonder and joy of being with a young and talented musician. He's been playing guitar for the past six years - and has grown by leaps and bounds. What we discovered today was a way to help him strengthen his sense of rhythm in a fun and easy way. When I came to our church, he was a little guy aching to make music. Now he plays with some creativity and verve - and if he gives some special attention and practice to the groove he'll mature in keeping the beat rock solid. We made a lot of progress today and I hope we'll do a little more work together as the year continues.

Then it was off to the church office to work with my secretary on the 2014-15 directory. We've done some rewriting and needed to spend a few hours making sure our formatting works. She, too, is a delight to work with: very talented and lots of fun. When we got this project wrapped up it was off to the local copy center to get a few special orders completed before the weekend. Then it was back home for email follow-up and taking Di to work. I got a little 20 minute nap in, too before heading back for a 6 pm meeting re: securing our congregation's financial future.

At the close of the day I had the chance to draw out a stage direction map for our sound tech gurus so that we're ready to rock on Saturday for our dress rehearsal. This has been a fun show to prepare for and we've got some sweet acoustic numbers as well as some kickass rockers. As I head off to bed in anticipation of tomorrow's Sabbath, I am grateful to be alive and doing ministry in this time and place.