A good Day.

Today has been a good day. A man at church a few weeks ago said, "Any day above ground is a good day." I liked that. It just sounds pretty optimistic. A big hearty "Thank You" for another day to live. You might be wondering why today has been such a good day, other than it's a day above ground for me... Well, it started out good and everything. This morning I woke up and was getting ready for church and all these jokes kept popping into my head. These jokes are not jokes I've heard before, but like material I could use if I ever became a stand-up comic (not likely). I just laughed at all the stuff that was coming into my brain. I wrote the stuff down for posterity to enjoy. So, anyway, today was an affirmation for me on my journey of discernment. As you might well know, I'm not discerning on my own; my congregation and pastor and those around me are helping me to discover where it is I am called to use the gifts I have been given. But today we had our annual meeting during worship and the president of the council was talking about what we've accomplished this year and he then went on to tell them that I'm preparing to go to seminary next year. He then said, "We plan to support her emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially as she prepares to go forward with this." And I was NOT expecting that in the least because I'm on the church council and we didn't discuss that. But I was kind of embarassed because I'm not used to having attention called to me out of nowhere in a sanctuary filled with a whole bunch of people. So, I have this habit of turning bright red when I'm even slightly embarassed. So, he was talking and I felt like I was going to explode little pieces of Trish all over the walls because I was so red. (Not mad, just embarassed for being the center of attention when I'd not planned it). But after Prez said that, out of nowhere, someone started clapping and then everyone was clapping. It was so humbling that they believe in me so fully that I can't even believe it. I don't deserve the love that my congregation gives me. I'm thankful for it, but I don't deserve it. To me it was reminiscent of Jesus' love for me because I don't deserve His love either, and I still get it. It's just amazing to see God's people showing love in unexpected ways. I hope I someday get to serve a church with people as wonderful as the people at Immanuel. And another thing that kinda made me smile was when it was time to share the peace. At my church, my mom and I sit in the 4th pew back pretty much all the time (I'll tell the story about that later.) And mom sits on the end because she likes me to walk in first. So, that means that Pastor usually shares the peace with Ma, because she is on the end. But today, during the Peace, I turned around from shaking the hands of those who sit behind me and he was standing in the 3rd pew, waiting to give me some peace. I just thought that was funny because I probably was still red from being singled out. So, Pastor shared the peace with me and Ma today. A small thing, but the peace is always one of my favorite parts of worship. And then, after worship, we all file out and on non-communion Sundays, Pastor is there to shake hands and say, "Good morning," or whatever. So today, he said, "Hope we didn't embarass you too much!" I just laughed because you have to laugh at yourself sometimes. And laughing at my neon red face helps me feel less stupid. So, anyway, blessings as you all start a new week!