4:00AM - 4:30AM My husband's alarm goes off. He's got finals this week for graduate school and wanted to get some studying done before work. Our dog, Winter, is confused by the alarm and takes awhile to settle down again. Riku goes to the dining room and I try to go back to sleep.
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| My "boys" sleeping (The furry one is Winter and the human one is Riku) |
5:30AM - 6:00AM An east coast friend forgets I'm on the west coast now and sends me a text message. Normally, my phone would be on silent, but I've got a church member in the hospital so I've got the volume turned on just in case. The dog is confused by the noise and takes a little while to settle down again. We text back and forth a few times and then I try, once more, to go back to sleep.
6:00AM - 6:30AM Our obnoxiously loud upstairs neighbors start getting ready for work and school. I have given up on sleeping and decide, instead to check work email. I get through reading and replying to about a dozen emails before taking the dog outside for his morning walk/potty. We come back inside and I check on my husband's progress.
6:30AM - 7:30AM A family member of my hospitalized church member calls with an update. We talk, pray, and make a plan for the day, including how we will communicate the most recent update with the congregation.
7:30AM - 8:30AM In between providing feedback to Riku on his current assignment, I switch laundry over from the washer to the dryer, fold the clothes in the dryer, make the bed, take my morning meds, fix cinnamon hazelnut pancakes, get dressed, do my hair, and drink a cup of coffee.
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| Winter is helping Riku with his homework |
8:30AM - 9:00AM Another phone call from the family of my hospitalized church member with a change of plan. I get in touch with my office manager to tell her what to put in the message to the congregation about the parishioner's condition and let her know I'm headed to the hospital, but will be in the office later. She emails me the bulletin for Sunday worship which I proofread while taking the dog out one more time.
9:00AM - 12:00PM Say goodbye to my husband, make sure the dog is ready for "doggy manners school" at noon, drive to the hospital, visit with the family, visit with my parishioner, visit with the family again, head back to meet my husband to take our dog to his class at the Humane Society. Riku heads to work.
12:15PM - 1:15PM Dog Manners school at the Humane Society.
1:15PM - 1:30PM Drive to the office while returning phone calls via bluetooth.
1:30PM - 2:30PM Catch up with my office manager. Check in, get messages, review the bulletin for Sunday worship, get information for annual report, and then talk about my schedule for the next day.
2:30PM - 4:30PM Check and reply to all work related emails, voicemails, and text messages, go over staff evaluations, contact more pastors in the area to see who can sub for me while I'm at Disney (I've already called 6 at this point and haven't heard back from any of them), go through our connection cards and pray for the prayer requests on the back, take the dog out and chat with commuters who use the church lot on a daily basis about security concerns, and answer a couple of calls to the office phone.
4:30PM - 5:30PM Prep for Vespers (our evening worship service) by setting up the altar, including communion, and moving the chairs around, as well as getting taper candles from the Sanctuary and filling glass globes with sand. Spend some time making sure the scripture readings and discussion for the service sync up, feed the dog.
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| Altar set up for our evening Vespers service |
5:30PM - 6:00PM Eat a quick dinner of leftovers while working on the end of year report for the upcoming annual congregational meeting.
6:00PM - 6:45PM Take a phone call from a local colleague about a meeting we have tomorrow, discuss ministry in our community, share resources with each other. Then, take a call from the bishop's office about my role at this year's synod assembly. After that, another call concerning a meeting I have tomorrow night for the campus ministry board I serve on.
6:45PM - 7:00PM Final preparations for our evening Vespers worship service.
7:00PM - 8:00PM Vespers evening worship service with Holy Communion followed by contemplative prayer
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| Folks at the church I serve love Winter so much that they ask for him to join us for Vespers. He is really well behaved and usually sits quietly on the chair beside me. |
8:00PM - 8:30PM Clean up from vespers, tidy office, lock up the church
8:30PM - 9:00PM Gather my things, the dog (and his things), head home
9:00PM - 9:30PM Take the dog out, check in with Riku, get all my workout gear ready
9:30PM - 10:00PM A friend calls and needs some advice, chat while changing into workout clothes
10:00PM - 11:30PM Work out in the gym (which is thankfully only a block from our apartment)
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| Everyone complains about using treadmills, but I kinda wish I had one in my apartment |
11:30PM - 12:00AM Go back to the apartment, take the dog out, stretch, take a quick shower, soak in the tub a bit, have a snack, put on pjs
12:00AM - 12:30AM Check in with Riku one last time, take vitamins, climb into bed, check messages to make sure there's nothing about my hospitalized church member, check out Facebook, play a game on my cell phone
12:30AM SLEEP, hopefully
Well, there you have it. A day in my life. I can tell you it's not always like this! Yes, sometimes it's crazy busy and I'm not sure if there are enough hours in the day to get everything done, BUT I love what I do, truly. For me, being a pastor isn't my job, it's my vocation. This is what I have been called by God to do. Running is becoming a vocation too...on days like this, however, the vocation that pays the bills takes priority.
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