It Was A Nice Vacation

Good Friday - as a child I always wondered why it was called "Good"
I am wearing a Passion Play tee shirt. No passion play for the Brokops this year.
This will be a rather uneventful, calm and peaceful Easter for Art and me. Quite a change from days gone by. I remember several years when we did Passion Play on Saturday night. Helped tear down the set and then went home to prepare for Sunday. There were the eggs to hide for Children's Church, and the sunrise service to prepare for, and Easter Breakfast to get ready. It's not like I waited 'til the last minute. Its just with doing Passion Play 7 nights in a row, and working...but I didn't mind. For years (at least 7) I would pull an all nighter, preparing and praying. It makes me feel kind of sad and empty, not having a ministry.
This week, in my prayer time, I've been thinking of writing this "It Was A Nice Vacation" essay. I avoid driving the road that takes us past our last ministry site, and driving past the plowed down and vacant Mission site which is still for sale is even worse. I honestly doubt that we will ever be involved in full time ministry again. We're really just no good at it. But still, I've been remembering a couple of years back...three now I think. The last summer we had the honor of pastoring a flock. It started out with a road trip. Art and I and a Navajo sister, the lay representative of the church/mission we were working with went to a mission conference and the general conference of the denomination. We were new to the denomination and actually very impressed. After worship, meetings and workshops, we were sure this was a good fit for us. Theologically sound and mission minded. It was a blessed trip. Good conversation on the road. Comfortable rooms and yummy food. We went home with an assurance in our spirits that this was where the LORD wanted us. We did a lot of "things" that summer. A lot of outreach to the community. We sensed some problems, but the enemy always tries to undermine Kingdom Business. We were sure we were on the right track and with prayer and grace we would see the ministry bloom. I don't know. Was it jealousy? Was it conviction? Was it just a matter of personality conflicts? Were there too many alpha males? Did I come on too strong? Sometimes my Pollyanna "aren't you glad it's all good?" personality rubs the "Eyore" types the wrong way. What ever it was, and I can't lay blame, the people who were there first, and the powers that were, decided we weren't right for the job, and thank you very much for volunteering your time, but good luck and good bye. And I think back, now, 3 years later, and I wonder...what was the point anyway? That trip cost the denomination a bundle. And we really thought that was the start of a new chapter that the LORD himself was writing. Oh well...at least it was a Nice Vacation.