"Pastor Appreciation"

To all of the pastors in my life ... thank you. Thank you for all that you do (like we know all that you do???) and all that God has called you to be (like we know all that God has called you to be???). Perhaps this little child's Pastor Appreciation card isn't all that far fetched. There are days when I think that I know what a pastor is. Other days, I can't begin to fathom all that comes with the territory. So, a waffle it is, where there are places for lots of hopes, love, wants for a church and parishioners, prayers, frustrations, weariness, sadness, joy, loneliness, compassion, and growth to reside, each in its own little waffle-y cubbyhole ... and each filled, not by maple syrup, but by the love of Christ alone.

Yep, this little child had it right .. "I don't know what a pastor is so I'm going to draw a waffle."   I pray for you and all portions of your life that their way into those little "waffle-y cubbyholes". May they be filled by the love of Christ.

anna murdock

(thank you to the Rev. Dr. Christina Berry of First Presbyterian Church in Sterling, IL for sharing her pastor’s appreciation card)

"A Prayer As I Ponder Creeds, Hymns and Prayers'

(A prayer as I think upon the sermon series based on The Apostles' Creed by Dr. Michael Gehring / Broad Street UMC / Statesville, NC)

O God, I will admit that there are times in a worship service when I fall silent and listen to those around me sing the hymns or join together, in like belief, to say the Apostles Creed or pray in unison (yet with their own inflections) the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.

I hear memories of my grandmother, sliding up and down the notes of the old hymns. I hear a child's voice praying the Lord's Prayer and think, quite possibly, my voice in my own childhood sounded much like that to those who sat near me so many years ago. I hope so. I stand beside my mother and hear her belief in the same creed that is within me (even in her different "raising").

It is a beautiful thing to hear the old and young, the women and men and children, the perfect-pitch and the off-key. I thank you for each one of these voices. And then there are times when I sing and pray and stand together with others in our statements of faith and hear only my voice. I give thanks that what I sing and pray and declare is for me. I claim my beloved status in your heart in song and faith and prayer.

As rich as I feel, O God, you say, "Become a servant." If I truly listen to those around me in this world, I will hear humming, or see prayers and faith creeds in action ... hymns and prayers and creeds outside of the sanctuary walls as others, too, have heard "Become a servant." It isn't easy (but then again, you said that it wouldn't be easy, didn't you?). Hum with me in my days. Hear my prayers. Help me to turn creeds of faith into actions of faith.

Amen.