sorry i can’t speak right now

i lost my voice yesterday. i made it through sunday school, a worship meeting, a some premarital counseling i am doing for a young couple but i lost it last night. this morning it was completely gone. i went to woman’s hospital to be checked out by employee health (that’s right i went to woman’s hospital for medical treatment and if you have a problem with it you can take it up with my wife who works there and gets me medical treatment for $10). that’s when i found out that i have strep throat that has caused laryngitis. i can barely talk at all. if you would like to hear a sample of it all you have to do is call my cell phone and listen to my voice mail. if you listen to the introduction to my voice mail you’ll hear me shouting and it’s not very impressive.

when you’re a pastor you depend upon your voice allot. i talk to allot of people during my normal day. in fact, i usually have to talk to so many people that i have to specifically schedule study time to be alone so that i can prepare for the messages i have to deliver, planning i need to do, and studies that need to be written. of course, even when i have scheduled study time i still assume that there will be “interruptions” from people who need to talk for “just a second.” these “interruptions” are some of the most important parts of the day. often the best ministry is found within these “interruptions.” that’s not possible for the next day or two.

i received allot of phone calls today from people who needed to talk to me for one reason or another. i tried answering the phone and talking early in the day but it was a stupid idea. no one could understand me unless i shouted and even then i sounded no better than a screeching cat going through puberty. it was useless so after mid day i stopped answering my phone. i just let my voice mail tell them why i wasn’t answering the phone.

this whole thing is pretty frustrating.