8/21/08
Hello from hot, hot, hot Decatur, GA. I'm finishing up my summer internship this week. Wow, what an awesome experience! Look in the photo gallery for the outdoor worship when the pastor and I blessed the animals. That was probably the most unusual event that I participated in. I was a bit anxious about it because of its unusualness, but had a great time in the end. Being outside and on the first Sunday in August, I have to say clergy robes are not comfortable. They're not comfortable even inside, but that is for different reasons. The humidity pretty much speaks for itself when you are wearing 10 yards of black polyester.
I got to preach for the animals too. Not too much disturbance, except one dog wanted to become vocal when I was making a point about the evils of dog fighting. I'm not comfortable enough in front of people to ad lib yet. But I have thought of a few cute remarks since. Our fish got two mentions in the sermon and were blessed through a picture because transporting a 10 gallon fish tank and all its stuff seemed a bit over the top. We blessed more dogs than any other animal, several people brought their cats (most of which were completely freaked out) and we blessed one turtle. I asked the pastor just before the service if we had to touch every animal brought forward. She said usually we do, so I asked what about spiders? She came to appreciate my silliness when I'm nervous and decided that we would bless any spiders through the glass cage. What a relief!
This month we celebrated S's 10th birthday. It's hard to believe that he's in double digits already. We had a special spy themed party here on campus with his friends searching for the birthday cake. They followed coded clues all over the quad after they fingerprinted each other, raced cars, flew helicopters and put together a map puzzle. Everybody had a great time and went home with a top secret, special agent started kit complete with sunglasses and decoding games.
Just before S's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa came for a week long visit. They parked their camper at Stone Mountain and the children spent the week with them. When they came home that weekend they were worn out from swimming, hiking, riding the train around Stone Mountain and going to the top. B is quite proud of the fact that she saw a butterfly on the top of Stone Mountain.
After such a busy week with Grandma and Grandpa, they went to music camp at Emory Presbyterian the following week. As part of my internship, helped with the camp. I'm not much of a musician, so I helped by telling the story of Moses during snack time. The musical that the children learned was about Moses, so it was fitting. My story was a mixture of Biblical text and Charleston Heston type theatrics. This was the children's last week of summer vacation and they enjoyed themselves. They are still practicing for the final presentation of "Moses and the Freedom Fanatics" on September 7th during 11:00 am worship. S has a speaking part and B will be dancing, so if your in Atlanta that weekend stop by to see them.
The children have successfully settled into school already. Seems rather early, but they did get out for summer vacation before the end of May. They are both excited about the new school year and their teachers are outstanding. S is in a mobile classroom and he thinks that is the coolest thing and that his teacher is a guy. B likes the fact that her class is right next to the room she takes her advanced lessons in. The coolest thing for her was that Carson's daughter, D, is in her class this year.
The neighborhood has filled up. We now have 17 children in the village with 5 new families. That means there is never a dull moment. I like it better this way then how it worked out last year. There are lots of folks to share looking out for the children and lots of help for moving in and around. We have one family that moved in and then moved to a different apartment. Between the young couples and Charles' special straps we had them transferred in no time. We probably had 12 people carrying things across the parking lot that day. That's community--something we missed last year due to the lack of families. We're making up for it this year and we are helping the newbies get around. I've even helped with some Greek encouragement and unofficial tutoring. I really don't remember too much Greek, but was able to share some of my study tools and ideas. My midterm became the sample for most of the Greek class this summer, seems to have relieved a bit of stress to know what to expect. They all appreciated it.
Another big deal this summer is that I finally addressed why I'm so tired. I got to spend the night in a laboratory twice--once to diagnose sleep apnea and once to get the CPAP Machine regulated. I pick up my machine this Friday and I'm hopeful that I will now be able to read longer than 10 minutes before falling asleep and to focus better in class. It is kind of funny that I've been fighting this for some time now, but I've been quite successful with my studies. I might not be fit to live with once I have the energy to actually do my best. :-)
Be prepared on August 31st, we're coming to Charlotte. I have my annual consultation with the Presbytery on Saturday, August 30th. Thank you to Patty and Paul Kramer who have opened their home for us. We are all looking forward to seeing and worshipping with our Sardis family that Sunday.
See ya'll soon and please keep praying for our continued peace as we travel this path toward active ministry.
Diane :)