Now for the hard part

On facebook, I mentioned how I have done the easy parts of ordination and now get to the hard part. You may ask what the hard part is. Is it living a life worthy of the ordination? Is it getting up in front of a bunch of people and speaking? Is it the higher expectations by everyone? Nope. I'll tell you what it is in a second.

Last night at church was the voting by the congregation (we are a congregationally ran church) and they voted by majority to ordain Brian and I. I didn't want to look at the percentages because I am sure I would be like, how come this many people voted no (although I am sure education played a part in that.) Sunday was the ordination council and I'll have to write another blog some time about the questions and some of the answers that I remember. I think that was easier with Brian to bounce things off of and take turns answering first.

The one thing about ordination services that has always been in the back of my mind as the hardest part was kneeling for 45 minutes as the other ordained men come and pray over you, placing their hands on your head. I have heard stories of some beginning to become tired and placing extra weight on your head while they try to remain upright, making it near impossible for the one being ordained to remain upright without their back or knees giving out. It has always been the one thing that has stuck with me the most... how will I be able to kneel for that long in that position?!? I couldn't even do that while being a puppeteer and I didn't have to support the weight of anyone else, just a puppet not pushing down on me.

Of course, it doesn't help that my back has been acting up all week as it is. My dad, when he was ordained a deacon, was able to sit down in a chair because of his weight. I am not at that point right now so I am going to have to man up and live through it. And then complain about it later to my wife who will say, "Ah, poor baby. Go to work," on Monday. I can already see Monday being a very long day after the excitement of Sunday night.

On a side note, I invited two of the more influential teachers in my life, one was my 3rd and 6th grade teacher (I talked about her in a previous blog, Mrs. Umble.) The other was my 12th grade English teacher for a semester. She saw my talent and pretty much kicked me out of her college prep class sending me to the AP class (where I did well and passed the AP test.) She believed in me when I didn't (I mentioned her name but not her story, Linda Cataldo.) Unfortunately, neither one is going to be able to make it because of other plans already made (too short of a notice) but both said they remember me (I visited Mrs. Umble for years after elementary school) and were sorry they couldn't make it and truly sounded honored for being asked to come. I wish they could but I understand short notices.

So I am going to start doing my deep knee bends, get my volleyball knee pads ready, and see if I can find a back brace that will help me survive the assault of heavy hands. I love being prayed for but the heavy hands scare me :D