Another thing to be filed under "lessons learned"

I have never developed a sound sense of sermon writing discipline. Since I work a day job during the week to pay for my preaching habit, most often I don't get around to writing my sermon until Friday - the big" day off" for the week. This Friday, though, my boss asked me to come into the office so we could finish off some projects. This left Saturday for sermon writing, except that Saturday was helping-a-congregant-move day.

Following the move, we had a party to attend, after which I assured myself I could sneak away and write the sermon. Not so, thanks to an incredible bout of food poisoning that settled in last night.

This was one of those typical food poisoning experiences, the kind that makes you extremely grateful that you've ever known what it feels like to be healthy. The kind that makes you wish you could die so that it wouldn't be so bad. The kind where even though you recite the Jesus prayer in your head over and over again, you can find no relief. You know that you're a sinner, and this must be payback for some huge sin of the past week.

Added to the pain of all this was the knowledge that I had not written that sermon. There was no way it was going to be written in time for worship. And I hadn't typed out the bulletin, either - horror of horrors. And the last thing on the list of things to agonize about was that a photographer from one of the local papers was due to show up to take photos of worship for a profile that's going to run next week. No sermon. No bulletins. No preacher.

I remember back in college someone talking about love and saying that you know you have someone who loves you deeply when they are willing to sit with you when you're sick. I completely agree, but will go one step further. You know you have committed your love to the right person and that they really do love you back when they are willing to keep you company when you're sick, and print your bulletins for church and then offer to preach for you the following morning because there's no way you're going to make it out of bed for the next 24 hours.

It could have been a disaster this morning, but Jen took care of it. As for next, week, though...I promise to never ever leave a sermon to Saturday night again. Because one never knows when if one might get food poisoning 12 hours before church starts. In the meantime, I've got a new prayer of thanksgiving for having the bulk of this horrible sickness pass. I will never take health for granted.