A Bullet Week

I don't know how it can possibly be Wednesday. I really need it not to be this late in the week since I need several more days to get everything done before I leave on Friday for my peripatetic adventures of the next several days. I want to write about the amazing speaker I heard last Friday. His name is Phil Steger and he talked here Friday about why we need to get out of Iraq and why this month is our best chance. But he deserves a whole post and there just isn't time. Because this week I am:

• Preparing my workshop for clergy conference. When I found out that the other person who had been tapped to present with me was unable to be there, I suggested turning it into a panel discussion, which is the good news....cuz nobody, including me, wants to hear me talk for ninety solid minutes! The downside of that has been that I've been inventing it on the fly over the last week, people have been being added as we go along and it's been kind of crazy. But now it's pretty much in final format, the players are set and we'll have a bit of rehearsal time the night before, so I can take a deep breath and let go on that one, and move on to.....
• Getting my First Big Lecture ready for my class for the day after I get back from conference. We have been doing context setting, library days, group discussions and such till now, but on the 20th its me, the Power Point, Aristotle and Plato. Class is 75 minutes. I usually preach for about 15. So this is what....five sermons? All at once. I won't talk the whole time of course. So four sermons then.....what, pray tell was I thinking? Well the Power Point looks snazzy anyway. Assuming it works. Have I mentioned that technology and I have been known to tangle in the past.....
• Reading Fritz Kunkel's Creation Continues with my fabulously awesome bible study group. Oh, to have nothing else to do but hang with Fritz!
• Also on the fun front, I have been having the best time writing interview questions. I am waiting patiently for a couple people's answers.
• Planning our "float" and hotdog stand fundraiser for the MDG's for Homecoming parade. Tonight somehow I found myself in charge of designing T-shirts for us to wear.
• Doing my day job
• Thanking God for an amazing first year as a priest. What a trip this year of post-ordination formation has been. Steep learning curve. Loving the ride!
• Trying to figure out what to pack for a seven day trip in changeable Minnesota September weather that includes: a church conference, a stint as a Renaissance Festival wench, a clergy conference, and DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....a Revgal meetup!!!!!!! Yes it's true Diane and I are planning brunch on Monday between my wench and clergy gigs. Photos to follow!!!!