Challenge 1

"What has been the biggest challenge for you?"

This is the most common question that I have received from everyone about my internship. It seems everyone wants to know what has been difficult.

I suppose this is because when people ask me how the internship is going, I go on about how great it is. Now let me be clear. This does not mean that I do not have challenges from day to day. I promise that I am not living life looking through rose colored glasses and only seeing the positive. It simply means that I am learning a lot and enjoying the process of that learning. And yes that does indeed include challenges and difficulties along the way. However, I like to see those challenges in a positive way. They are after all part of how we learn and grow as people.

Yet there are three things that do take up a lot of energy and time. These are the things that can drag me down a little bit. They are still part of the learning process and have great results, but wipe me out emotionally, mentally, and physically.

The first of these challenges is the schedule. Okay, I admit it, schedules are always hard for me to adapt to. The more complicated a schedule is the harder it is for anyone to figure it out. That is normal. (I hope!) Believe it or not the schedule of a church has a lot more to consider than Sunday morning services and education classes. There are also mid-week Bible studies, youth events, visitation, and counseling, council meetings, committee meetings, various other events, and then any out of the ordinary occurrences from day to day. Realistically though this is no crazier than a school schedule. BUT, and yes it is a big but, that is for one congregation.

Prairie Star is an area parish with 5 congregations, and an education/retreat center. So there are five Sunday services and Sunday schools, 3 confirmation groups, 4 women's study groups, 5 council meetings, plus the Prairie Star council, various quilting groups, community Bible Studies, 4 area high schools, many different towns and town events, and that is not including anything that is going on at Shalom Hill Farm (the retreat center). It is enough to make my head spin, which it has been doing for several months now.

I am not complaining, mind you, merely sharing with you some of the ins and outs of rural ministry. This is what any Pastor serving more than one congregation experiences. I have simply not completely adjusted to it yet.

Do I like it? Absolutely!

Is it exhausting? Beyond belief!

Is it worth it? More than I could ever explain.

(More to come on the other two challenges!)