Upside Down and Turned Around, but Direction Corrected Again

We start every day with our agenda, and struggle through the day to keep the course. Events unfold to alter and derail our plans. Phone calls, e-mails, knocks on the door, the possibilities seem endless. This can be frustrating to say the least, and it is easy to resent interruptions. Today I set out with my agenda in hand, and as so often happens, the alterations began coming in. A question was posed by one in my congregation, a theological question, so I set aside my plans to leave for Lowe's early and made a course adjustment. Bags of sand, pebbles and rocks, and rolls of insulation as well as its installation would have to wait. I set out on this new course with an eye on the rolling clock, knowing time stands still for no man, hoping to return my ship to its course. While working on question one, number two (and #'s 3 & 4 even as I now write) appeared in my inbox. I delved into my books and language resources as I sought to give a clear and biblical answer, and as I was sending the second response out (I was able to work on both questions together and reply consecutively) I realized I was enjoying the task at hand. Then I realized: this is what pastoring is about, meeting the needs of the people God has entrusted to me, not sand, pebbles, and insulation. Oh, how easy we forget in the press of life what is truly most important. Jesus said feed my sheep, not fill my trench or organize my space. I am a pastor and a theologian, not a properties manger. The second might be necessary, but the first is absolutely essential to my calling. Thank you Lord for returning my focus to my first love in ministry; I pray that my brothers in the ministry will have that realization daily as we seek to feed your sheep.