As they say in Texas, if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.

Babyhood is like that—if you don’t like the phase you’re in, wait a minute. The corollary to that is to enjoy the good times and not get too wrapped up in what was or will be. All this is to say, I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but today was good, and the writing/mommying/workshopping thing worked beautifully, thanks to:
• the Divine Miss M getting better with the cup—while it’s not her preferred mode of eating by far, it is a means of getting sustenance in her. I was prepared for an evening of cluster-feeding, but she was her normal self.
• Retired Office Manager who is so can-do about this whole thing—although I feel like a total heel because today was her BIRTHDAY and I missed it! I don’t have it in my Palm PDA… it must be noted on my work calendar instead? Bad RM.
• a relatively painless commute, which allowed me to get home in time to receive a big hug from C, feed M, and sit down to leftovers prepared by R. Sure, at the cathedral I wouldn’t have had to do dishes, but you couldn’t beat the company.
• the fresh-baked cookies at the cathedral today certainly didn’t hurt either.

As for the critique, it went just fine. I’m glad to have it over with, and the critiques are such that subsequent discussions of other people’s stuff will still be very useful for me. People were affirming, and provided some concrete things to work on and think about. I submitted three short pieces that I said were part of a “larger work” on ministry and motherhood. They thought I was being coy: “It’s a book, right? Just call it a book.” Well, perhaps, but I wasn’t necessarily trying to be euphemistic—the larger work is this blog!

However, several of them encouraged me to think book, and helped identify a few considerations:
• Who would the audience be? Just clergy moms? That’s pretty limited. The church in general? Perhaps. An even wider audience? Certainly the issues that come from balancing ministry and motherhood are by no means unique. On the other hand, would the subject matter get diluted in trying to make it accessible to everyone?
• Different people saw it going different ways. Is this just a memoir, or could it/should it be a “how-to” book for churches and clergy? Is the narrative/autobiographical piece enough, or should there be some scriptural/theological reflection? Should it be just my story, or should other voices be incorporated? And how? Maybe this is an anthology with different contributors, not a single-author work.
• Given that I am currently serving an actual congregation, and working with an actual pastor colleague, both of which would have to be part of the book to some extent, can I write “the whole story” while preserving the integrity of those relationships?

The biggest consideration of all—I don’t know whether I even have time to do this. But I am having a good time this week, and that’s plenty of goodness for now.

Thanks for listening.