End of January

It is almost the end of January.  The month has gone flying by.  At the church we go directly from Christmas into a flurry of startup activities for the new year.  We have finished filing statistical reports for the presbytery and General Assembly.  New officers at the church were installed.  The first meetings of the new church boards have taken place.  We gathered, published, and distributed the annual reports.  Today we had the annual meeting of the congregation.  All in all it has been a race.

I am revising my work schedule.  I will be spending mornings at the church and will try to work away from the church in the afternoons.  On some days this will be for meetings or home visits.  Other times I would like to be able to get to a quiet place where I can work without interruptions.  I will see how it works.

I still have times when the regional church work requires long trips that take up major hunks of time.  Tomorrow I will be spending a major portion of the day driving to Columbus for a three hour meeting there.

The other big concern for me is how to be a better follower of Christ.  The start of the new year (with the possibility of changes for the good) and the approaching season of Lent both give hope.