Yesterday afternoon I took a bus out to our local Swedish furniture (etc.) store in order to select and order new bookcases for my home-office ready for when my books are shifted from church in (eek!) less than two weeks' time.

It's been a strange thing, identifying what I need, what I would like, what will fit, and what my budget will permit.  I have been very humbled by a generous financial gift from another minister that allowed me to have "what I would like" (because it matches my desk!) rather than what I could afford (which doesn't).

It has also involved me in counting - or at least estimating - the number of books I have, which, it has to be admitted, comes to a rather scary total.  Somewhere in the region to 2000 - 2500 I think.  At some stage there will need to be a book cull - weed out the duplicates, pass on or sell those I'll never open again (or even open for the first time), review why I keep those that are purely sentimental (whether that's a Hayne's manual for an Austin metro, Enid Blyton school stories, or a book of Bible quizzes from yester year).  But for now, it's more a matter of getting the room ready to receive the bookcases (hopefully freecycling some furniture I no longer need) and counting my many blessings...

• The blessing of books
• The blessing of the ability to read
• The blessing of choice
• The blessing of a safe, warm, dry place to work
• The blessing of generous friends
• The blessing of education
• The blessing of counting

Surely, I can count myself richly blessed.

The life of a minister is never dull, and mine is certainly very full at the moment.  It's also endlessly varied.  Today I have exchanged emails on such diverse topics as disposal of chairs, and getting married in Scotland if you live in England!  I have hunted out resources for an 'All Souls' service and been interviewed on the rationale underlying the way I conduct Communion.  I've been at a small meeting about practical matters and had a telephone conversation about an upcoming visit, in an official capacity, to hear someone preach.  I've half pondered a few ideas for next Sunday's sermon and I've had a conversation about archive materials.

In the days when my time had to be allocated to 'charging numbers' I'd have struggled today - some of it just didn't fit under any neat heading.  But that's the nature of ministry - endlessly varied, often unexpected and sometimes delightfully surprising.

Not sure I have any 'normal' days this week, but I do have lots of interesting things lined up.