Drinking from a Firehose

Are you old enough to remember drinking out of a garden hose while you were out playing in your neighborhood? There were actual houses where you could go to get KoolAid, that fluorescent-colored, sugar-laden drink made from powder and water and kept in every kid-occupied home. But sometimes, going inside was just too much trouble, and you would go to the side of the house where you were playing and turn on the water spigot and wait for the water to come pouring out of the garden hose. What came out was cold and thirst quenching without having to ask someone’s mom for help. It was also, however, high pressure if you (or your mischievous playmate or sibling) turned it on too high, and water would go up your nose and splash your entire face and make you sputter and cough.

Now of course, my kids are going to think this story is hilarious because they’ve never been told to go out and play with your friends - and don’t come home till supper-time. Drinking out of a hose is a ridiculous concept if you were born after a certain point in time - when society as a whole decided that running around the neighborhood without someone knowing where you were at all times and sitting in the backseat of a car with no seatbelt on were dangerous activities.

I was not born after that time, however. I have been half drowned by a garden hose. And lately I have felt like I was drinking from not merely a garden hose, but a fire hose.

I’ve been writing weekly sermons and crafting worship, doing pastoral care and pastoral administration. I’ve been working my Metagem training and intensives and crafting and carrying out a final spiritual direction project (which I am really excited about - spiritual direction for the underserved community of clergy spouses). I have work to do for candidacy in the UMC. And I have mail and paperwork at home that is in an absurdly large pile.

Now most of this is stuff I’ve chosen and that I am passionate about and deeply grateful for (except that absurdly large pile of business at home.) But it is a lot, and I am often feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am working to maintain self-care and healthy boundaries, while I am still dealing with some pain issues and procedures, and while I am still a single mom.

So I’m getting real here today, my friends. I love this blog, and I have put so much of myself and my energy into this space. I love sharing with you and hearing from you. But I am praying about how I can shift this space for a time while I am in this early season of pastoring and candidacy. I may be sharing some from my sermons. I may have some guest posts more frequently. And I may take a week off here and there. I am still figuring it all out. Will you pray with me as I learn how to leverage my work and maintain healthy boundaries and self care while being my best self in all that I do?