Minister's Journal
Time to Take Another Pill
They say the pain involved in passing a kidney stone is equal to the pain of childbirth (what sick mind measures such things?) but I know that isn’t true. If it were, the world would end after one generation! Last Friday I was taking Holly to work when the most intense pain of my life speared me through the back and left me screaming on the floor of the car. The kidney stone still hasn’t passed but the pain now only comes in waves.
“Mr. McKeel, the CAT scan shows you have a 6.5 mm stone in your right kidney but just a tiny little 2.5 mm stone in your left kidney. Normally we operate on anything over 5 mm but we think you can handle it naturally. Nurse, can you help me pry Mr. McKeel’s hands off the gurney?”
“How long will it take for the stone to pass?” Jan asked.
“We’ve scheduled surgery for three weeks but hopefully it will pass naturally before then. Nurse, can you help me pry Mr. McKeel’s hands off my throat?”
The elders have decided to postpone the congregational meeting until after I get back. Thank you so much for being patient but one comment I heard disturbs me. Someone said it doesn’t matter when we have the meeting because “no one ever listens anyway.”
Frankly, that bothers me more than the kidney stone. Perhaps, it may seem that way to some people because the changes aren’t announced with a lot of fanfare or perhaps it’s because changes are introduced slowly or perhaps it’s because someone’s project wasn’t chosen for implementation.
As I’ve been lying in bed the last few days, I’ve been thinking about the past four years together. At the congregational meeting last spring, people pointed out we only had three choices on Sunday mornings for adult classes. After the meeting, we increased the Sunday morning offerings to five and offered three classes for adults on Wednesday nights. Some people expressed concern about activities for our young adults and we added a Sunday evening small group just for them. Others were concerned that our Sunday morning Children’s Bible Hour was too short and so we rearranged the order of worship giving the CBH an additional fifteen minutes. (We also added a second part-time staff member to help Wendy.) People were concerned about evangelism and this past year saw a huge increase in the number of new Christians.
It is now 4:00 in the morning and I need to take another pill. I just wish my body was as healthy as our congregation! I can hardly wait for this to pass so I can return to serving the church on the hill. You all are the best.
John McKeel