This weekend I returned to "my old Kentucky home" to officiate a friend's wedding. I've managed to see family and meet my two new 2nd cousins. I've seen other friends from various aspects of my life. I've been to the restaurants that scream Kentucky cooking like no others. I've stopped by my favoritee "head shop," and several other places that I'd considered my "happy places." But as I drove around Lexington, thinking I'd take pictures of the places I'd been I couldn't take the pictures. Seeing places I've lived, worked and studied at it hit me. I used to call Lexington home and would run to it. Lexington is no longer home. It is a place where I have friends and family. It is a place I can visit for a while but it's not home. It was home when I needed it to be home but I've changed and outgrown Lexington. The energy is gone from this city that once drew me here. It now repels me. It tells me that staying here would be a retreat to a person that does not honor who I truly am or want to be. So tomorrow I will pack up my car and leave, not sure if or when I'll return. I will be heading towards being the person I'm meant to be. So let it be I pray.
As a minister I have the honor of performing rites and ceremonies for people at a variety of stages of life: baptisms, blessings, marriages, funerals, etc. I usually enjoy planning and leading these events. But lately I've had a rash of folks shocked that as a minister, I would have a fee to do some of these services. So lets talk about why I have fees. To start with, if you are a member of my congregation you do get my services as a part of my contract with the congregation as long as they are spelled out in the contract. Generally if you're a member of the congregation I serve, it is expected that I will preform baptisms, blessings, funerals, weddings, etc for you because I want to remind you of God's continuous blessing in your life and especially at important moments in your life. However some folks are shocked that there would be an honorarium suggested for the minister. The reality is that these blessings, weddings, funerals, etc. are extra work in our wee...
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