Exhausted

I am emotionally, physically and spiritually exhausted! I think I am coming off the worst couple of week periods in my life. OK, I can think of some worse times, but this has been pretty bad!

As I got home this evening from visits to the hospital I just wanted to collapse. I tried to take a short nap but even that didn't work. I just need to get away for a few days . . . oh yeah, I get to do that --- but who picked the 6:30 am flight anyway? What was I thinking?

This week has been exhausting because of all the sickness and death that I have had to deal with. One of our staff members has been sick since the first of the year and they decided to do a little exploratory surgery --- fortunately that has been good news. No cancer, but what exactly is going on?? We are all still anxious to find out.

On Sunday I was asked to share with the congregation that our Lay Leader (and a great!! friend) had cancer and was having a surgical procedure on Monday to find out if his lymph nodes were involved --- NO! That was certainly good news. Then this morning he had surgery to remove the cancer from his lung. That, too, went well and he is on the road to recovery!

For the last few weeks I have been spending time with a family whose son is dying of cancer. It has been tough because they have been in total denial and even as the end is drawing closer they cannot see the forest for the trees. It has been frustrating and draining. I think that I have had to re-live a lot of my emotion of Stewart's death, as his brother has tried to deal with his brothers death and all the guilt and anxiety that he feels. Tonight they were moving him to Hospice --- thank goodness for this wonderful organization! As I get ready to leave town I wonder if he will still be alive when I return.

Last night I presided over a memorial service for Bob Sutter. It was a great celebration of his life. His son Scott and three others spoke, and his words were powerful and from the heart. It truly was a celebration of life!

All this is going on as I try to create a new scenario for the Ridge Church staff. A very good candidate as an associate has been presented to me and so I am working out what this might mean. I am looking forward to getting to know him better and he and his wife getting to know me and the ministries of Ridge Church. I hope that we both can sense discernment as we go through this period of courtship.

But all of these things have left me wiped out. I know that spending the weekend in Boston will be a big boost!