Apr 7, 2026 6 min read faith practice

Winter is over and past - a recap

The first three months of 2026 are over. Here's a time study, a photo dump, and some reflections.

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come..." Solomon 2:12

from last year, because my daffodils aren't quite out yet!

As 2025 became 2026, I wrote about my latest planning method. "I want a goal-setting and planning process that follows the ecological seasons and includes the liturgical year," I said.

I looked on the internet, and I didn't see one. So I started trying to make one. I've been trying ever since. It's mostly working.

On the positive side: I love thinking three months at a time. I love no longer living by financial quarters, but instead in chunks of time named winter, spring, summer and fall. I love seasons that rhyme with the liturgical year.

On the we're-not-there-yet side: I haven't discovered work-life balance yet (has anyone?). I keep writing summary posts a month after my seasons change (I started my spring season on March 1). And I want to be more public about what I'm working on and why, without relying on social media.

On that last point: I feel like I owe the people who make gifts to their churches, a portion of which money pays for my salary, some explanation of what they are funding. This may be a leftover from the ten years where I had to learn to raise my own salary at Plainsong Farm, or it may just be good stewardship. Either way, that's one of the goals of this blog post.

How I Spent Time

Years ago, I started keeping track of my work hours. I started this because my brain can totally lose track of how long I have been working. I tend to push myself. Then I can get tired and wonder why. Tracking my time helps me see that I've pushed myself too hard (still working on that). Seeing that clearly helps me stay sane and take breaks. The tool that I use for this is Toggl.

Here's what the start of the 2026 working year looked like for me in Toggl:

Week 1, I just preached and presided nearby (with a homily written in December). Week 5 was theoretically vacation, but things happened, so it was only partly vacation.

If anyone wonders what diocesan staff members do – this is it.

There are three ways I spend time which, added together, equaled 93% of my work in the first three months of this year:

Admin and Routines includes answering my email, answering incoming routine inquiries and calls, going to weekly internal staff meetings, and coordinating with other staff. It also includes work on diocesan property stewardship, which responsibility I received this January. That includes six properties that need attention, along with two committees working on next steps for them. This takes about a third of my time.

Congregational Support includes direct engagement with congregations and their leadership – visits, preaching, presiding, consulting, supporting, and Holy Ground for Whole Communities. This takes about a third of my time also.

Mission and Community Engagement Integration is all the ways my work supports the mission and community engagement work of the diocese. I participate in work across creation care, indigenous relations, migrant ministries, beloved community, and general justice ministry, including Palm Sunday Path. This is where the last third of my time goes.

Then there are two ways which, added together, take up the last 7%:

Emergent Response basically means "I needed to respond to something urgent that took immediate priority." I track this so I have an idea how much of my time needs to be used in ways that are unforeseeable. It's not much, but when it happens, everything else has to go by the wayside.

Travel, in these months, is just driving time. In last year's staff reorganization one goal was to save on mileage costs. I drove much more than this in 2024 and 2025!

In Hindsight

Looking backwards helps me to look forward. I can see, looking backwards, that my congregational support work and my mission and community engagement work both need more strategy and intention. I am going to the meetings I am expected to go to, visiting congregations and preaching and presiding, and responding to the questions I am expected to respond to, but not yet providing as much strategic insight as I would like to offer.

Having said that, I need to remember that I have only been in this new position for six months. It is functionally the third role I have had in two years on diocesan staff. I believe God and the diocese will provide grace for me to take a breath and develop strategy in future seasons.

Worth A Thousand Words

I have an entire backlog of pictures I have taken throughout the first three months of the year. Posting on Facebook lost its charm for me – I feel a deep ambivalence about social media in general. So here is a brief photo dump, with comments:

Epiphany Wassail at Plainsong Farm, led by Co-Directors Emily and Katharine. Being a follower, not a leader, there always brings me joy.

I found treasures at Canon Bill Spaid's estate sale that are now in my office. Canon Bill was a mentor for many, including me.

I visited Trinity Episcopal Church in Niles, that community's oldest church building. I led worship, but failed at taking pictures inside.

I did slightly better with pictures when visiting Grace Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, where we had a robust coffee hour conversation about the life of the diocese.

On a beautiful snowy day in Indian River, Theresa Williams was ordained; I was honored to be one of her presenters.

I got to preach and worship at Christ Church in Charlevoix...

...at St. Christopher's in Grand Blanc...

and at St. Timothy's in Richland, where the outreach board was impressive!

I visited with Sudanese Grace more than once in March, working to support their well-being as some members of the community were impacted by federal immigration policy.

I visited the United Methodist Church's Advocacy Day in Lansing against hunger...

... and the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan's Advocacy Day in Lansing against Gun Violence.

where I was happy to hear the Governor speak.

The highlight of March was Palm Sunday Path, where hundreds turned out to support gospel values of feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, and healing the sick. Photo credit: Rachel Rose, Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes

As I look back at the first three months of the year, I am grateful. And, looking at these pictures, I am newly inspired be more intentional about communicating more regularly.

This year is not going to be easy. The outcome from the war in Iran, even if it ends today, will be significant and multi-generational.

These are not easy times. But as I said on Easter Sunday,

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb because they loved Jesus. They took the risk of going to the tomb of a dead man killed by the principalities and powers.

Instead of death, they found life.

The risen life of Christ gave them new life.

Today we celebrate what they discovered. But the real celebration is following in their footsteps.

It is loving the people we love. It is taking risks to take care of each other. It is paying attention to the presence of God in the world.

It is being faithful in small and large ways to serve Christ in our neighbor.

I hope this post encourages you in that journey.