Beatles Song

Hey Jude: You are a little hesitant and insecure when it comes to taking action, but the truth is you are extremely capable and full of life and hope, and are a natural leader. You are an idealist and you often wish that there was something you could do to make society a little better. Although you can be overdramatic when faced with obstacles, you have a strong support group of people who love you who will be there to set you back on your feet. Sometimes you have difficulty opening your heart and expressing your feelings because you are worried that people won't accept you, so you act nonchalant and cool. However, you are slowly learning to let people into your heart and let go of your fears.

This song, according to a quiz I just took on facebook, is the Beatles song that best describes me. I don't know about the description, but I love the song, so I can't complain too much! Thanks to KB for finding this and letting me know about it! Her song was Let it Be, another one that I love. Frankly, though, I'm sure I would have been happy with whatever song came up, unless it was something like Maxwell's Silver Hammer or Revolution #9 or a couple of others that I dislike.

A Day in the Life

Here is an overview of my day: I did 7 loads of laundry; unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher twice; took out bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen garbages; changed sheets; fed, changed, played with the baby, put the baby down for naps; played silly games with the 4 year old niece; tried to give attention to the 4 year old niece while the baby fussed and demanded to be held almost non-stop because she is getting teeth; thought longingly of a nap because I have a head cold that is making me tired; I still need to clean the bathroom, but that's not unusual since I do that 3 or 4 times a week as it is. All in all it was a pretty good day, and I got a lot done, but my question is this: when did I become a housewife? Please don't misunderstand me,I'm not saying anything against housewives, I have a lot of respect fop people (both men and women) who take care of home and family. But usually there is a process to get to this point: marrying or moving in with someone, say. Being pregnant or adopting children, for istance. I suddenly just seem to be the housewife without any of the other, intervening steps. It can be a little disconcerting. In other, more random news, I have the Veggie Tales theme song stuck in my head...

Ordination!

OK, I wish I could say that it was my ordination, but this is just as good. I spent the weekend in Seattle, where one of my best friends from seminary was ordained on Sunday. It was a crazy, busy weekend, but I wouldn't have missed it! KHR was beautiful, the service was lovely, and I'm so glad I was there. I also got to spend time with another friend from seminary. We giggled, we shared a hotel room, and she was a damn good navigator as we drove our cute little rental car around the Seattle area. We missed a few turns, but we never once got lost. Kudos to KAG for some fine navigation! Sunday morning we went to church where KHR has received a call. The picture below is the latch hook that hangs in their fellowship hall. Part of me thinks it's pretty amazing, as a lot of work went into this. Another part of me just giggles. A lot.

Holidays Around the Year

When my oldest niece (who is now 10) was 4, and I was living in Texas, she and I were both bummed because we didn't get to dye Easter eggs together. Mom and I talked about it and decided it would be fun to recreate some of the holidays I had missed while I was home at Christmas. That year Mom, the oldest niece, a 3 year old my mom babysat, and I spent one afternoon celebrating several holidays. Fast forward 7 years and we're still doing it, except now there are 6 kids who participate: 3 of my nieces, and the 3 kids from the other family my mom does daycare for. Today was the annual holiday extravaganza. We dyed, I hid and the kids found, Easter eggs, lit smoke bombs and sparklers left over from the 4th of July, had a St. Patrick's Day treasure hunt and found the pot of gold hidden by the leprechaun, had Thanksgiving for lunch, celebrated everyone's birthday, went trick-or-treating, and made snowflakes. OK, the snowflakes aren't technically a holiday, but the kids love making a "blizzard" in the dining room:

It gets a little crazier every year, and Mom and I are mostly exhausted when it's over, but the kids love it. We'll more than likely be doing it for another 7 years and beyond.

Mid-Winter Theological Conference

I just returned from 3 days in Essex, Montana, where I attended a continuing education event. The speaker was Dr. Mark Allan Powell, and the topic was Christ and Culture Revisited. I won't bore you with the details, but it was pretty interesting. Dr. Powell is a NT professor at Trinity Seminary in Ohio, and as I've read one of his books and enjoyed it, I was eager to hear him speak. He's an entertaining lecturer, which helped make the 2-3 hour sessions on really uncomfortable chairs much more enjoyable. A pastor friend of mine (DMK) and I drove up together, and were in charge of picking up the speaker. He's a very nice man, but let me just say that I am absolutely terrible at small talk. Put me in a car with a published seminary professor and I'm even more tongue-tied. Thank goodness DMK is so much better at the social graces than I!

The location is one of the main reason to go to this event, though. Essex is located near the edge of Glacier National Park, so the drive up there is absolutely beautiful. The event was held in the Izaak Walton inn, which is an historic train station. The passenger train actually still stops there twice a day, and I keep thinking it would be fun to ride the train to the event one of these years. As an historical inn there are no TV's anywhere in the building, the rooms have no phones, and there is absolutely no cell service in the area. Amazingly, there is wireless if you bring your laptop, but they prefer you don't use it in the lobby, to protect the ambience of the place. My parents say that when they used to go to Essex there were only communal bathrooms, but I'm thankful that each room now has it's own bathroom, so you don't have to know more about your fellow pastors than you necessarily want to...

Anyway, the setting is lovely, and it's a great spot for cross-country skiiing. I went for a walk instead of skiing during our free time yesterday, and it was just beatiful. Plus, it snowed about a foot yesterday, so that was fun. This is what Montana is supposed to look like in the winter, in my opinion:

Of course, digging your car out of this lovely white stuff is a whole different story.

At any rate, it was a really nice three days. I was able to reconnect with some pastors I hadn't seen in awhile, and I might even have made a couple of new friends among my colleagues. And since I don't have to preach this weekend, I was able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the time.

3 AM "Plook"

I awoke a little before 3 this morning to the cries of my 4 year old niece. Her daddy didn't seem to be waking up, so I got out of bed to see what was wrong. The poor thing had an upset tummy and was curled in her bed in the fetal position. I asked her if she thought she was going to throw up (she refers to it ask puke, only she can't say it and it comes out plook), and she said yes. So I got her the mop bucket and went to wake up daddy. In the meantime she threw up, bypassing the bucket and hitting the sheets. My next step is to start cleaning up. Apparently my brother's is to get a towel, lay it over the plook and have the kid go back to sleep. Um, ew. Apparently, these are the differences in our parenting styles. But then, I don't actually have kids, so what do I know? And maybe the surprising thing in all of this is that I still want kids, despite the fact that they wake you up in the middle of the night for all sorts of not-so-pleasant reasons.

Friday Five

One of the sites I check in with on a regular basis is the revgalblogpals. I like to see what other people are thinking with their sermons each week, and it's good to know that so many other people are still working on theirs on Saturday morning (there's an 11th hour preacher party every Saturday where people post on what they're working on, or procrastinating about working on, for their sermons). They also do a Friday 5 each week, and I figure what better way to procrastinate about this week's sermon than to do a silly game about birthdays?

1. When is your birthday? Does anyone else (famous and/or in your own life) share it?

My birthday April 12th. I think someone like David Letterman has the same one. Not entirely sure. My dad's is way cooler as he and John Lennon share the same date of birth.

2. Do you prefer a big party or an intimate celebration for the chosen few?

Depends on the year, sometimes it's just family and others I go the party route, although I don't think any birthday party so far could ever be classified as "big."

3. Describe your most memorable birthday(s)--good, bad, or both.

Hmmm...when I was 26 I went out in downtown Dallas with a group of friends. I'd never been to a bar on my birthday and I got a little carried away with the shots. There was some spectacular throwing up in a parking lot on the way home...

4. What is your favorite cake and ice cream? (Bonus points if you share the cake recipe). Or would you rather have a different treat altogether?

I like German Chocolate cake or yellow cake with chocolate frosting. My birthday often falls during Lent, and since I give up chocolate, I have to come up with an alternative, which is usually carrot cake.

5. Surprise parties: love 'em or hate 'em?

Never had one, can't give an informed opinion.

Bonus: Describe your ideal birthday--the sky's the limit.

Sky's the limit? Several close friends, private jet, trip somewhere fabulous for a few days of relaxing, maybe some drinking, maybe a spa trip, some sight seeing, and of course, lots of chocolate!

3rd Interview

I had my 3rd interview for an associate pastor position in the college town about 75 miles from my hometown. The first time I met with them it was with the pastor and a couple of the council members. Next I worshipped with them and met with the call committee. Tonight was another meeting with the call committee and the senior pastor. I think it went OK, but I'm not always very good at reading these kinds of things. At any rate, it was about an hour and a half, with dinner with some of the committee afterward. They're interviewing one other candidate, and then they'll let me know. So, I'm cautiously optimistic. I've given up being outright optimistic, I think it only jinxes me. And, the cynical side of me seems to be trying to counter-balance the optimistic side of me by thinking that maybe it's not looking so good. Yes, I am officially a crazy person.

Happy New Year

I don't really do resolutions, because I never ever seem to keep them, but I do usually like to take some time to reflect on the last year and look forward to the new one. When I finished seminary in December 2006 I never thought I would still be waiting for a call and living with my parents. On the plus side, I have been home during some tough times for my family, and I'm happy that I have been able to offer some support. In addition, I have had fabulous niece spoiling time. Oh, and on the plus side of being unemployed, or at least only having multiple part-time jobs, I was able to read 101 books in 2007. I doubt I will ever hit that number in a year again, so I'm pretty excited about my reading binge of this past year. In looking forward to the coming year, I am going to revert to a cliche and hope to work on my eating and exercising habits. I have fallen into the terrible habit of relying on chocolate and/or salt to deal with any amount of stress, and I would rather read than exercise (good for the book binge, BAD for the waistline). So, my hopes are that I will have a call soon, and that I can develop some healthier habits spiritually, mentally and physically. Blessed 2008 to all!