Weekend

Friday night I went out for the first time in....well, longer than I can remember, actually. A group of people, all with connections to the church, were playing at a local winery (yes--Montana has wineries--who knew?). It was so exciting to get actually get ready for an evening out. I'd forgotten how much fun the anticipation could be. And then I realized that yes, I was going out, but I was going to a place that would be plum-full of parishioners. And so it was. It was fun, the group was great, and I had a good time, but it was work. After a couple of hours our office manager, her boyfriend, his friend and I went downtown. That was also fun, and I even danced a little, but I felt really old. I was between 7 and 10 years older than everyone around me. Sigh. Whatever, I really did enjoy the evening, and it was fun to get out of my apartment for once.

Last night was a lock-in with a couple of other churches. I didn't have to stay the night, but went to the first part at a local youth center. They played reball, I played a little volleyball (I'm just as bad now as I was in high school!). Not many kids from our church, but I had fun with the ones who were there.

Tonight was the church talent show. It was a fund raiser for our kids who are going to New Orleans to the National Youth Gathering in July. Wow, we have a lot of amazing talent in our church. I was really proud of everyone who participated. Less proud of myself, though. Have me preach in front of a couple of hundred people and I'm fine. Stick me in a less crowded room and have me be "entertaining" and I totally choke. Man did I suck! Oh well, everyone else was fab. Too bad they had to end with me. That'll teach 'em to put the pastor last....

Friday Five--Taking a Break

Taking a Break Friday Five. Tell us how you would spend:

1. a 15 minute break

Usually during little breaks I try to stretch, or walk, or generally try to work out the kinks in some fashion.

2. an afternoon off

The sun has actually been shining here lately, so I would love to get out for a longer walk in the sunshine. Otherwise I would probably watch a movie, or read, or work on projects that never seem to get finished.

3. an unexpected free day

I'd really like to go home and see my nieces. If not then, then in theory I could run errands, clean, catch up on stuff I'd let go. In reality I'd probably do the same things as the previous answer!

4. a week's vacation

Heaven. That sounds lovely right now. Is this reality or fantasy? In fantasy I would go somewhere fabulous, somewhere warm, somewhere with a beach. In reality I would probably do smaller trips, in-state, and visit family and friends. Which would still be nice, of course, just no beach. :-)

5. a sabbatical

3 months? I almost can't even imagine that. No, not almost, I really can't imagine that. Well, reading, of course, since that always seems to be a theme. I'd like to try and be more active in some way, I wonder how I could work that into a sabbatical? And continuing ed in, well, just about anything as at this point in my call I feel like I could definitely learn more about everything.

Mid-Winter Theological Conference

I started typing this post several days ago, and never got around to finish it. I posted last year about this same continuing ed event, so it's kind of fun to be here a year later and having some history. I'm looking forward to the same thing in a few months when I've been in this call for a year and things start repeating. Anyway, the conference was great, even if it went way to fast. The speaker was Dr. James Limburg, a retired seminary professor. He taught at the seminary I went to after he retired, so we had the pleasure of getting to learn from him for several semesters. I find him engaging, interesting, and quite fun to listen to, so it was a nice way to get some continuing ed. His topic was on creation, and he's an OT scholar, so we focused mostly on the OT in our discussion. Last year it snowed a lot. This year it melted. A lot. It was in the high 40's and it was so fabulous to see the sun and actually get out and enjoy it. Of course, DMK and I spent our usual time nesting in the lobby with our books and crafts and snacks, but I did also get out and go for a walk. No pictures this year, but it was gorgeous. What else? I haven't been posting much. Things have been busy and somewhat stressful. I have hope that things will be fine, maybe even great, but life in the church has been....interesting, we'll say. In happy news, a friend of mine just had a baby girl. She's adorable from what I've seen in pictures. Big, though. 10 lbs 9 ounces and 22 inches long! Yikes. I need to clean my apartment. That has nothing to do with anything except that as I sit here I keep looking around and thinking, huh, I need to clean my apartment. Clearly it's time to stop typing and go to bed...

Friday Five--These are a Few of My Favorite Things

In a week of wondering how various things in our family life will unfold, I found myself thinking of the way Maria comforted the Von Trapp children in one of my favorite movies. Frightened by a thunder storm, the children descend upon her, and she sings to them about her favorite things, taking their minds off the storm.

So, let's encourage ourselves. Share with us five of your favorite things. Use words or pictures, whatever expresses it best.
1. My nieces. They aren't "things," they're people, of course, but they are some of my favorite people in the whole world. These aren't my nieces in the picture, but I do have 4, and they are really stinkin' adorable.

2. Chocolate. I am probably unhealthily addicted to the stuff.
My pants would certainly fit better if I didn't love it so much,
but it seems to make everything better...


3. Shoes. I love shoes. Love them. Why? Well, I'm not
entirely sure, but I love finding a new pair of fabulous shoes
to add to my collection (which isn't huge, but definitely bigger
than it probably should be)






4Musicals. Since this Five started with a Sound of Music reference, I thought this was apt. Sometimes I wish my life involved dressing up in fabulous clothes (with amazing shoes, of course) and spontaneously bursting into song and choreographed dance numbers.

5. Yoga. This is actually a new favorite thing. I've only been doing yoga for a couple of months, and just once a week, but I LOVE it. (I'm NOT this bendy...)

Friday Five--Home Edition

1) If you could, what room in the place you are currently living would you redo first?

My living room. It's comfy, but it's currently decorated in hand-me-down chic. It could probably use a bit more of a theme than it has at the moment.

2) What is the most hideous feature/color/decor item you have ever seen in a home?

Couches seem to have a wide variety and range of hideousness. Sometimes they're so bad they're fabulous, but mostly they're just awful. Anything orange in combination with flowers and/or plaid just doesn't do it for me. Also, the downstairs bathroom in my house on internship was PINK! Pink fixtures, pink tiles, pink flooring. Some people like pink, I don't happen to be one of them. I always showered upstairs in the blue bathroom (same deal up there, but I actually like blue...)

3) What feature do you most covet? Do you have it? If not, is it within reach?

My sister is the decorator in our family. I'm kind of content to live with what I've got since I don't have the eye for much. I would like a new bed at some point. And I would love to have a place with lots and lots (and lots) of really nice bookshelves.

4) Your kitchen - love it or hate it? Why?

Neither. It's fine. Could be better, but I've lived with worse. I wish it had a dishwasher. Oh! Add that to #3.

5) Here is $10,000 and you HAVE to spend it on the place you are living now. What do you do?

I live in an apartment and I rent. I'm not sure I'd be allowed to do much. So...all new furniture, new towels, new sheets, actual art for the walls. Bookshelves! Can I spend it on books with which to, ahem, decorate the shelves?

BONUS: Why do you think there was such a surplus of ugly bathroom tile colors showcased in all homes built from the 1950's right through the early 80's?

I have no appropriate answer for this. It seems to just be the way the universe aligned during those decades.

Books

I love to read. I'm sure I've mentioned this in other posts. If I haven't, I'll say it again: I love to read. I read more fiction than non-fiction, although I'm trying to read more non-fiction. I have friends and colleagues who love to read deep, dense books on theology. They read them, they understand them, they even like them. I am not usually that person. When it comes to some of those books I feel like I'm wading through them, struggling to figure out what they're telling me. It takes me a long time to get through them, and when I'm done my usual first thought is, "huh?" Then, sometime later, you know, like 4 years or something, a light goes on and I understand what I read in that book. There are things from seminary that I'm just now realizing I actually understand. I used to think I was a pretty smart person. Then I went to seminary. Anyway, I'm realizing that I much prefer books on spirituality and theology where those really smart people who can read or understand the deeper concepts of theology write about their experiences and put those concepts into context. I don't always agree with these authors, but I appreciate their writing styles. Lately I've been reading several authors that are engaging, funny and practical about their faith. They make thinking and talking about God seem very simple, easy, practical, down-to-earth, even interesting. As a pastor I would like to be more like that. It seems like these past months I've had people in my office complaining about this or that, and we talk about it, but very rarely do they bring up God in these discussions. And I'm sad to admit that I don't bring God up all that much more often. I read these books where people have actual conversations about God and it doesn't seem strange at all. Actually, sometimes it does seem strange, but the authors manage to acknowledge that strangeness and make a point about it. I wonder if those conversations in my office might go in a different direction, if I or the other person might come out of them with a different understanding, if God were brought up. If how we understand our faith were brought up. I do work in a church, after all. It shouldn't seem that strange a concept.

Annual Meeting Follow-up

The annual meeting is over, and despite being THREE HOURS long it wasn't terrible. Not as good as we had hoped, but not as bad as we'd feared, either. And I still have a job, as does the office manager, so that's a relief. Thanks for the prayers and good wishes, they definitely helped. Oh, and I didn't throw up. :-)

Enough of the business stuff, let's talk about random stuff:

My 5 year old niece has skinny jeans. She looks adorable in them. I'm still sad they're making a come-back, though. Really the only people who can pull them off are approximately the size of my 5 year old niece.

It's snowing today. Slow, lazy flakes that look pretty out my window. I just wish the heat would kick on in my office so I can be warm while I watch it snow.

My newsletter article still isn't done. It's partly done. I need to finish it by today. It might not have much of a point...