little courtesies

I like the cartoon above. It's a bit like what I feel like since these last couple of days have been pretty non-stop.

Yes, so what's new!

Today was fairly typical with a merry-go-round of different tasks and people.

The primary school (twice - and it should have been three, but I got hopelessly waylaid by a late morning meeting and missed the SU group by almost an hour).

A whole load of e-mails and forms to be filled and letters I needed to write. And telephone calls as well, arranging a time to be meeting with folk.

A meeting with the person who'll preach before the congregation at Kirkliston in 10 days' time as the choice of the Nominating Committee out there. A lovely time and thrilling to hear of the wonderful ways the Lord has been working in this person's life as well.

The service of thanksgiving for a man up in his nineties, the father of one of the secretaries at the primary school. His son-in-law spoke, and spoke very well. Then I tried to pull all the strings together and bring them God's word for the day.

Then straight on from there to a meeting about the way that our pastoral care is being slowly developed, renewed and transformed. A little bit longer than I'd thought but useful and helpful and positive all the way through.

Some planning by phone over tea and then straight off again to meet with some folk through the evening. Two separate 'appointments' arranged some while in advance. The one more practical, the other more pastorally complex.

But in amongst the busy-ness of another day like this, it's strange how it's a small and fleeting moment at the school which sticks in my mind.

I was leaving the school at break-time, after the second of the two assemblies, when a girl in P5 who'd been at the earlier assembly now passed me in the corridor.

I smiled and said 'Hello' and used her name. And she turned and said, 'Thank you for your prayer'. Not much, you'll think. Perhaps nothing more than a gesture of her courtesy.

But it re-affirmed this whole 'Melchizedek' approach. This is what I do. I bless people! And here was a girl who, off her own bat, on the back of the 'blessing' my prayer with the children had been, responded with a 'thank you'.

It fairly made my day!