Caught by the Muse

I finally had the time and energy to futz with my sermon on Friday, since I wasn't working. I made some more changes to it, surfed the net for some ideas, and drank lots of coffee. Went and got my hair cut - it was getting to the point where it was making me crazy and I didn't want to have to deal with that while preaching and giving a workshop! Came back home and settled myself in front of the computer. By the time Friday was over, I had not only rewritten what I had, but added another page and half to the beginning of the sermon. Saturday morning I was back at it, knocking out the rest of the thing in about two hours. I had Mary read it through to make sure that it flowed and there weren't any glaring errors - after sitting in front of it all week, I doubt I would have caught them. Then I printed the damn thing out, and started packing.

It only took us a two hour drive to arrive at our destination on Saturday afternoon. We checked into our hotel, picked up my team presenter, B., and headed out on a mission to find Mimi's Cafe (I had gotten the addresses of a bunch of local restaurants before leaving home). It was only a mile away from our hotel, but it took us 15 minutes to find it! It was tucked away in a shopping center, not clearly visible from the road. By the time we got there, there was a little bit of a wait for a table, but not too bad. We caught up with B., went over the workshop, and enjoyed our meal. Back in our hotel room, we watched parts of a couple of movies, and then tried to sleep. I slept horribly. First the hot flashes were keeping me awake, then I couldn't get comfortable, then the phone rang just as I was finally nodding off at 11:30 pm... you get the picture.

The next morning, we got to the church with enough time to double check that everything was in order for the service and workshop. The service went very well, and everything flowed and connected to the other elements. I had found a great article that B. read before I gave the sermon, and it really helped to bring more focus to the whole service. The sermon went really well, I didn't have to change anything as I went through it, although I did throw in a couple of side comments here and there. It was a little short, but not by much, and we just wrapped up the service about 5 minutes early. (Which meant we could start the workshop earlier and get home earlier!) We had about a half hour in between to eat lunch and set up for the workshop. I got a lot of really good feedback from the congregation. Several said that my sermon had spoken clearly of their journey as a congregation over the past few years. One asked me if I was looking for a congregation to serve as minister, and one said, "Your sermon was very polished. You've obviously given it many times." I nearly choked, but instead I said, "Actually, this is the first time I've given this sermon." Her eyes got a little wide at that.

The workshop went really well, too. A great group of people, really willing to talk about their issues and concerns, and in a very good place for calling a new minister. We got through the workshop format quickly, and had time to talk about some other issues that had been coming up, but were not addressed by the workshop itself. Our contact person was very grateful that we had come and spent the day with them.

By the time we got home last night, I was exhausted, but felt very good about the way the weekend went. The Muse had teased me all week, but when it came to "crunch time" she was right there and ready to speak. Saturday morning's not a bad time to finish a sermon for Sunday - there have been times when I'm still writing on Sunday morning, and still making changes after the service starts!

Now it's back to work, and planning for the next service I'm doing in three weeks. Yes, another new sermon. Sigh......