A little more,,,

I have focused on my weekly worship experienced, this post will be on some of the ways I am earning extra income during this sabbatical year.

I have noted that I am preaching one Sunday per month. The stipend for this is quite generous and includes mileage. I hope to continue to offer a message to this congregation for the balance of the year.

I got a call to do a funeral for a family when their mother died. They had asked me to do their father's funeral during my first few months here though they had no direct connection to the church. Mom and Dad had been married at the church parsonage, but I'm not sure they had ever really attended. The funny thing was, as I reviewed the service I did for Dad, I remember vividly meeting with this family and the conversation that ensued. Since the family does not have a lot of resources, the stipend was on the low side. Not complaining, just noting. It was a joy to catch up with this family.

I did write about the Sunday that I was at Fall Fest trying to sell hats. It was a complete disaster. I spent $110 on the space. Plus I bought two heads for display. Plus the money spent on the special yarns to supplement the boxes of yarn I still had from the yard sales in Bradford County. One hat was all I sold over the two days. $20 of which $5 I gave to Jack to buy chili. I still have totes full of hats. It was suggested that I contact Binghamton General as they may have a program where all new borns go home with a hat and they may be interested in buying the hats. I have not made that phone call as of yet.

The Fall Fest was supposed to be a one time only venture. However, since it was such a disaster, I decided that I would try again with a local bazaar. I am sending off my $12 table fee and praying that I manage to sell some hats at the VFW venue. I'm toying with having a single $15 price on all the hats rather than $15 on the medium and $20 for the large. Nothing lead me to believe my pricing was off at the ski resort, but maybe the thought of getting a discount will spur a purchase.

I did do some transcribing during August. I am still in the probationary stage and may not actually get hired by the company. It seems there are some reviewers who enjoy giving low scores. One day I transcribed two very similar videos from the same company for the same product. One review gave me a 2 while the other reviewer gave me a 5. How do you fight that?

This week, I returned to my former municipality to continue as Judge of Elections. It's a very long day, but the pay is actually better than my substitute teaching. I also attended the training and received the remuneration for that time also.

My main supplemental income comes from the substitute teaching. I am only substituting in the local school district. I have signed up for some of the music rooms. I did not enjoy them as I mostly wrangled the kids for the entire class period with no attempt at teaching. The high school isn't really much better. I end up sitting watching the kids not doing the worksheet that is provided for the day. Elementary is another matter altogether. I have stuck with the fourth and fifth grade classes and actually get to teach. They do block teaching so I teach the same lesson four times each day with two shorter special classes. I also do lunch or recess duty on elementary days. I will continue to target the elementary classes, but will take jobs in the high school on weeks that I need another day. I have asked to not be 'on call' though I did get a call to help on a day that four high school teachers were not filled.

As my reserve dwindles, I just praise God for allowing me to have a bank to fall back on during this sabbatical. Also, we submitted the paperwork for the lunch program at school and because of my level of income were able to get free lunches at school. The paperwork was also cross filed with the county and through that we are receiving food stamps and insurance. Since we had planned to be without insurance this year, a gamble that may or may not have worked out, it was another God thing that we rejoiced over. We are also supplementing with food distribution at the school. The local food bank has been getting regular donations of produce. I never seem to pick up fruits and veggies so its a nice surprise each month to see what is sent up for the families. Just like each week experiencing a new and different worship experience, this foray into the democratic side of life is a growing experience that I expect to benefit from in my next pastorate.

If any other sources of income present themselves, I will post about them.