Weekly post

Oct. 30, 2006

Dear friends,

You might have noticed that I did not post last week. A busy week, with five papers all due in the early part of the week. I had promised to post even a short, desperate gurgle in such weeks. So, my apologies.

It is week 3 of The Toe and I. Some days it feels a little better. All in all, I'd rather not break my toe again.

I did poorly on a Greek quiz last week (accents were my downfall), but have just come from today's Greek class having ACED a vocabulary quiz. I feel quite good about the results. I have one small paper to knock out and then must devote a good amount of energy and effort to a major paper and presentation in Pastoral Care that hasn't been receiving quite enough attention lately.

The funeral sermon and service I had to prepare and present for my class in Preaching, Worship and the Care of Souls went very well. Next up will be a wedding sermon and service for the same class. As to Art of Ministry, I am loving my internship. I recently prepared a litany for the first birthday of a baby whom no one expected to live this long, and am working on preparing the entire service for Nov. 19 (Vocations Sunday) and Dec. 17. If interested, mark your calendars for Dec. 17, where I will be leading worship and preaching at Emmanuel.

Halloween tomorrow, always a fun night in our neighborhood. This year I will sit at the end of the driveway, jack o'lanterns at my side, with my face ghoulishly painted and my feet and torso swathed in "bandages" to hand out candy.

What does a cow vampire say?
Moooahahahaha.....

Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

Oct. 16, 2006

Dear friends,

What an interesting week. Last week, I survived serving as a chaperone for a sixth-grade three-day (yes, three days) field trip to a marine ecology center on the coast. A good time was had by all, but I've had enough of sixth graders in large amounts for a while.

We got back safely with no injuries, but I hadn't been home 30 minutes before I tripped over my husband's feet and slammed a foot into the sofa leg, breaking a toe. I am writing this with my toes taped and my foot elevated. Yay!

On Wednesday, I will have the endorsement interview noted in last week's blog. I'll let you know how it went. This afternoon, I will be presenting my spiritual autobiography in one of my classes.

Earlier today, I called someone from the church where I am interning to invite her daughter to my daughter's birthday party. When I asked, "How are you?" I caught the hesitancy in her voice as she answered, "Fine..." With the unspoken question ... "The church is calling me ... what do they want to ask me to take on?" Hmm. Often true. Is there a need to change that, and is there a way to change that? Both questions, it seems to me, equally relevant.

Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

Oct. 9, 2006

Dear friends,

The pace is picking up, but I am so far maintaining my sanity. I've been getting good grades. My last Greek test was a little disappointing. I got an 88, and I was hoping for about a 92 to 94. However, I still have a 92 average. I've been getting A's on papers and quizzes in my other classes.

This week, I'll be out of town from Wednesday through Friday or Saturday chaperoning a field trip, so I'm trying to make sure my school work is on or ahead of schedule. Next week, I'll be meeting with the ELCA candidacy committee representatives for an endorsement interview. It's a normal part of the process toward ordination, but still a situation in which They have to make a decision about Me, so a little nervous-making.

I also have a couple of large projects coming due in the next few weeks. I guess this constitutes mid-semester crunch time, such as it is.

The less said about the Clemson game, the better.

See you next week.

Grace and peace,
Beth

Weekly post

Oct. 2, 2006

Dear friends,

A good weekend -- busy and good. On Friday afternoon, our son went off with six others to a confirmation retreat. I took advantage of the sudden stillness to spend 9 hours Saturday at a table in a back corner of the local Barnes & Noble cafe nursing a large bottle of ... water (what did you think I was going to say?) and doing a comprehensive review of Greek. Oh, and wrote a paper.
Feel much better about Greek for having invested in that review time now.

On Sunday, I was in charge of water games at the dedication of the new playground, which features a huge plastic fish bridge/monkey bars. The kids had a very good time with water relay races, "Sprinkle, Sprinkle, Flood" (like "Duck, Duck, Goose" with water) and at the end, as they expressed a wish to be wetter, my husband and I doused them with the big buckets of water. Mass giggling resulted.

In the afternoon, I took our miniature dachshund to the Blessing of the Animals, then collected our son upon his return from the retreat. He reported having had a good time and enjoyed confirmation class/youth group later that evening.

Meanwhile, four weeks before the midterm elections, the war in Iraq should matter in the elections ... but since it's not going to, one can only hope for a surge of intelligence from the electorate.

Grace and peace,
Beth