THURSDAY MORNINGS

Most pastors have been teased more than once in their life, "Pastor, nice work. You only have to work an hour each week!" My seasoned retort is, "Not bad pay for that hour but the retirement benefits are out of this world." I long ago stopped letting it bother me. If I think someone is serious, I invite them to follow me around for 24 hours. I'm sure it would cure them of their misconceptions (and/or, envy.)

Because I DO work Sundays, my Sabbath is Friday and my "weekend" begins Thursday evening and hopefully runs to early Saturday afternoon. As such Thursday morning I often face a full "to do" list. Today, for example, I have two meetings, a lunch with a parishioner, a mentoring appointment, and some errands. I had a meeting tonight that was canceled because the members of that committee (the only group I meet with on Thursday nights)were too busy. My Associate Pastor, Barry, is preaching Sunday so I have sermon and worship items to tie up.

Thursday mornings are like Friday mornings for the Monday to Friday crowd. It is a time to check the "to do" list to decide what "not to do" and what to defer until the next week. It's a time of reflection on the work of the past week--what went well, what would you like to do over? Sometimes it's a prayer, "Thank God it's Thursday" followed by another one "Help me make it through one more day." Sometimes it's a time of anticipation, "Tonight I can kick back and relax!"

But hopefully, it's a time of thanksgiving--for what God has done in and through you in the past week.