The life of an intern

I thought it was time that I updated my blog since I have been nagging my son Matt to update his. He is, as you no doubt remember, an intern at St Aldate's Church in Oxford (apparently, someone over there is notified everytime St Aldate's is mentioned on the web... so I may mention it a few times, just so that somebody reads my blog! - Matt only found about my blog because of this feature! Ha!)

Well, I'm not quite sure what the life of a pastoral intern is supposed to be like, and sometimes it's hard to tell what exactly is different from life before being a pastoral intern, to life after becoming a pastoral intern...

As a pastoral intern I have:
my own cubicle (cell) - well, it's my own when I'm there. When I'm out of the office, it's generally up for grabs since it's the only spare cubicle with some clear space on which to work...
I have an Evanston Vineyard email address (alisond@evanstonvineyard.org)
and I have a name tag (double sided no less) with my name and title boldly emblazoned upon it... doesn't come much better than that!

As for actual duties - I have participated in many varied activities, from visiting new babies in the hospital (everyone say 'ah') to getting to sit in on the highly exclusive weekly Pastoral business meetings. Since I had to sign no documents swearing to life long secrecy of the contents of such meetings, I may therefore not be risking the life of myself or my descendents when I reliably inform you, and remember, you heard it here first, they discuss .... well... business... and since this is a church... they discuss... are you ready for this disclosure (at no personal cost to myself)... they discuss the Sunday Service! There you have it! I'm not sure what else I can tell you... I really think that the millions spent on interdenominational espionage to uncover the mysteries of the Pastoral meetings has been truly wasted.... sorry to disappoint...

I'm not sure if it's one of my internship duties, or whether I just happened to say yes to the wrong question (that happens, you know), but I am organizing the staff Christmas Party this year. It's a fine balance between making it good enough so people feel really appreciated (which they are) and not so good that I get asked to do it again...!

Talking about secrecy...my plans for the evening are closely guarded but I will let you know that if the restaurant involved returns my call, it may involve food of some sort. Watch this space if you want to know how it turns out.

50 of your favorite words

I just found this 'article' on the BBC News Website about peoples' favorite (obscure) words. When you are bored, click on this link, 50 favorite words, and spend a few minutes broadening your vocabulary. Your challenge then, is to use at least four of them in everyday conversation... as if you didn't already...

... just a quick comment on the music quiz in the previous entry: Having (mostly) completed the quiz I now keep thinking of music I should have included so, I am now working on an alternative list, you have been warned. That's the disadvantage of having lived so long, and experienced so many different music genres... and also, ways of playing the music .... I mean, as a child I remember playing records on a wind up record player, known as a gramophone (which mother gave to a rummage sale, - tragic). Now I have an ipod which is already out of date.

Dave Sandell's Music Quiz

So, Dave Sandell who has the best blog in the world posted this quiz and challenged others to do it too. It has been hard to fill in as I am very easily pleased when it comes to music, and in my collection you will find Simply Red rubbing shoulders with Led Zeppelin, next to Alicia Keys, the CSO playing Mahler, the best of Jethro Tull, the latest Coldplay CD, a collection of musicals etc, etc. So amidst my confusion, I endeavored to answer the questions. Give it a go yourself and see what you come up with.

1. song from the last record bought: hard to say as I tend to 'steal' music from CDs my kids have bought

2. a blues song: "The Boogie Man" by Freddie King

3. song that gets you going in the morning:

4. romantic song: "Nothing compares to you" Sinead O'Conner

5. one of the earliest records that you can remember listening to: "A Kind of Hush" by Peter Noone and the Hermans Hermits

6. song discovered from a film: "That Darn Cat" by Bobby Darin

7. song from fav band/artist: don't really have a fave, so will just choose something from the top of my head "Ripples" by Genesis

8. song from an artist/band that you otherwise don’t like, but this one: "Without you" by Nilson - can't say I really like this son, but for interest I listened to a CD by Nilson and really hated it, so out of all the songs I heard, this was the least offensive!

9. a lullaby: just for laughs - "Liverpool Lullaby" by Cilla Black

10. song that makes you laugh/ you find funny: "The Laughing Gnome" by David Bowie/"Stairway to Heaven" by Rolf Harris (you need a very strong stomach to listen to more than a few seconds of that...)

11. really good cover version: "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, written and originally recorded by Otis Redding

12. song that reminds you of school days: "School's Out" by Alice Cooper/ "Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson

13. song for those quiet rainy days: "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty

14. feel good song: "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" by Queen

15. wildcard: "68 guns" by The Alarm - for no other reason than I was at school with them!

It's a small world after all...

I just came off Skype having talked to my son Matt, the first decent conversation since he left Chicago for Oxford. Due to some problem with his camera (couldn't possibly have been mine) I couldn't see him, but we heard him clearly.

He's having fun in Alan's old stomping ground. It's really weird. Matt will write on his blog about the things he has been doing and the places he has been visiting, and Alan will comment that he used to do that too - Alan went to Oxford University all those years ago. Interesting huh?

Matt was working in the Sunday School at St Aldates and someone came up to him and said she had recently met his aunt, my sister Christine, in Northampton ... how random is that?

I was at a wedding this past Sunday chatting to all and sundry, as you do. I sat next to Jon from England (who had been flown in to 'do' the wedding) who was talking to this other person I did not recognise. I introduced myself, because I'm polite like that, and this guy looks at me and says 'Alison Doo?', I say 'Yes', because that's my name, he said 'I stayed in your house nine years ago' - blimey! And I thought I could remember everyone who has ever been through our doors! That's embarrassing. People who have taken refuge within these four walls have now been relegated to the same treatment as the location of my car keys. I have no idea about that at all! Now, I'd heard about this guy, Paul, from other random people. And these random people would say - do you know Paul? and I would say 'no' because I didn't - but actually, all that time, I was lying, because actually I do... we go way back. That's interesting.

There are some people I knew in London who now attend the church where Matt is. I told Matt to look out for them - but St Aldates is a big church... Anyway, when I was talking to him today, I reminded him to look out for Nick and Leslie. Matt asked if I meant Nick the Warden, and I replied 'yes' because I did, so Matt said he knew who Nick is and is going to say Hi - who knows it might be worth roast lunch on a Sunday!

Wasps!

We kept noticing wasps in the front room, but there was a fan in the window and we thought they were getting in there. So Alan removed the fan and closed the window. But the wasps kept appearing.

They were no trouble. They didn't keep flying around the house trying to dive bomb us, in fact they made no human contact at all. They didn't seem interested in any fruit in the house, or any food at all, really. The wasps would congregate by the window in the front room and try and get out.

I would count about 15 on any given day. Unless it was cold, then there weren't many at all.

It took me a while, but eventually I realized that there were no windows open, and there were numerous wasps inside our house, maybe, just maybe, they were getting in from the outside somehow. I know, I'm a slow learner, but what can you do?

So, my good friend LoAnn and I went and investigated around the outside of the house, and there we spotted it. Well them, really. Lots of them. Flying into what must have been a gap between the ceder siding on the outside of the house and the brick. Aha! There must be a nest in the wall of our house. Comforting to have figured out the problem, but rather disturbing in that there was now a problem to be dealt with...

Alan, my hero, sprayed some wasp killer up the hole one evening after they were all safely (!) tucked up in bed. The following day, they were just flying around as if they had had a really, really good night out and were now suffering the consequences.

He tried it again.

The same happened.

So, we had to call out 'the guy' - you know, the one who charges a lot of money for a few minutes work and then shows you all the small print that explains that even if the house falls down as a result of his few minutes' work, his company is not liable...

So, the guy came and sprayed some stuff up the hole. His stuff was white and the wasps didn't like it much, but they still wanted to get to their nest. I expect they had left all their important stuff there and received no warning about their impending eviction. You have to sympathise with them... at a distance, of course.

I didn't see any the following day.

Maybe they have managed to find somewhere else to live.

I didn't want to kill them, I just wanted them to choose another location. I don't know how you negotiate land treaties with wasps. I just hope that some nomadic wasps don't assume squatters rights and move into the now vacant wasp's nest...

A New Era

New things are happening...

It's the first day of school for the three of the children. Josh is now a senior at High School - what he will be doing next year is a mystery to all of us. He'll probably end up doing engineering of some sort at some school somewhere.... We're not quite sure at the moment!

Esther really doesn't want to be back at school at all. It's a rather tortuous affair. The thought of three more years at High School is unbearable to her. However, she bravely went off this morning. I said many a prayer for her as I thought of her suffering at the hands of her educators.

Nathan is in his final year at Middle School and also would have been quite happy to never go back to school again. Not that there have been any terrible experiences there it's just that the getting out of bed in the morning is rather difficult...

For Matt, big changes are afoot: Next Thursday, he leaves the country (well, he can't take it with him!) for almost a year to do the School of Ministry at St Aldate's Church, Oxford, England. Check out www.staldates.org.uk, click on 'Courses' and then on 'School of Ministry' for more info. He is going to be focussing on Youth Work and will get to hang out with Oli who stayed with us for a few months one summer when he was a Youth Intern at our church. It's going to be a really busy year, but an amazing experience I am sure. We shall just miss him, a lot!

For me, a new era has started. I finished VLI in June, and am now starting 'work' (I don't actually get paid - so does it still count as 'work'? discuss) as a Pastoral Intern at Evanston Vineyard. I'm still checking out what I think is God's calling into ministry, possibly planting a church.

It was my first 'day' today and I cycled there, it only took 20 minutes which I don't think is that bad. With temps of 90+ degrees, that was a very pleasant (albeit sweaty) way to travel. So, like I said it was my first day today... well, it's part-time (20 hours) and since I am involved in a lot of stuff at church anyway: Alpha, SHAPE, prayer ministry team, audio team, woman's group, Cross-Current, housegroup... there's not a lot of time left over. Ha! Anyway, I was there today. I picked out my cubicle - hitherto known as my cell and I got a new email address: alisond@evanstonvineyard.org, so I'm totally official now!

Along with everything else, I'm going to be working on a proposal for implementing a Discipleship Year at Church, starting next Fall. Watch this space.

I'm writing this Blog instead of working on my talk for Alpha. I'm doing the talk at the celebration dinner on 14 September. It's rather scary. I'm feeling rather uninspired at the moment and think I need to spend some quality time in prayer asking God what he thinks people want to hear. Put the burden on God, I say!

Super Delegates swing it for Obama

Last night, Obama clinched the nomination to take the Democratic Party on a fight for who gets the say in the next color scheme at the White House. He won by getting the votes of over 2000 superdelegates...

Let's talk superdelegates - I have to confess that when I hear that term I immediately think of people dressed in vivid Lycra suits, with large muscles and little common sense, who appear at times of trouble beat back the bad guys in an exciting battle of strength, might and display of superpowers so that the people can once again live in peace and harmony.


I would be quite happy if this were true.

Your homework is to pick a superdelegate, any superdelegate and decide what his/her superpower is, and the design of the suit.

I'm sure Obama's run for POTUS will be much more colorful and entertaining, not to mention safe, if he is surrounded by thousands of 'Supers'!

Waiting for the microwave fixer man...

There are many things I could/should be doing while wiling away the hours waiting for the microwave fixer man to arrive, but instead of all of them, I am here at the computer. It would be good to be out in the garden to finally sweep up all the leaves from last Fall - they've been buried under snow for months and months (well that's what it felt like); I could be vacuuming up all those dust bunnies that the sun highlights so beautifully; maybe I should do some reading for my next, and final quarter of VLI; may I should.... be doing anything but sitting here, waiting for people to come and fix the microwave. They say that they should be here any time between 8 and 12 - oh joy! Why do they do that to us? - we all know we'll get a phone call at 11.50 saying that they've been delayed and should be here by 2! Then the day has gone, the dog has not been walked, the grocery shopping will have to wait till another day and I still won't have moved from the seat in front of the computer.... so much for good intentions. Am I alone in this?

Our microwave is about seven years old. It looks fine albeit a little grubby, the lights work, the timer works, it makes the right noises and the turntable does its thing when you switch it on. What's the problem? well, apart from doing all the right things at the right time ... it doesn't get things ... er ... hot... which is what it's all about really. Getting things hot - quickly.

I didn't realize how much we use the microwave until it downed tools and quit... we use it for breakfasts of oatmeal or eggs (I have mastered the art of poaching eggs in the microwave without the use of one of those specially designed gadgets - 2 eggs, yolks pierced, 7 mins, power level 2 - just right), hot milky drinks, a designer snack created by my daughter of chocolate chip cookies and milk - warmed together for a few seconds - someone has to do it! I do all the vegetables in the microwave, defrost meat etc etc. It's been quite an adventure to cast my mind back to the 'olden days' when food was cooked in saucepan on the stove top ... but not so much of an adventure to be reminded just how many pans I can burn! ...

I know that microwaves are relatively cheap to replace, but our is fixed above the stove and apparently that sort are a little more pricey - so calling out the microwave fixer people with their million dollars a minute call out fees are apparently cheaper... well, we'll find out soon enough...

Also, according to the hard to understand recorded message left on my cell phone yesterday confirming this impending visit, all pets need to be locked away for the duration of the visit of the fixer people (does that apply to goldfish, I wonder?) - Abby will surely miss taking these people any spare shoes or smelly socks that are laying around ... and will probably whine loudly while they are here - I guess they believe that will be less stressful than the shoes! Oh well

My Dog Abby

Let me tell you about our dog. We got Abby from a shelter when she was about seven weeks old. We thought she was a black lab. She definitely has some black lab in her but is not pure. She is about the size of a lab puppy so people think she's a cute puppy - and she lets them think that and plays the part accordingly.

She is very cute and thinks people have been put on this planet in order to pet her and make a fuss of her. When visitors come to our door, she makes a fuss of them, takes them a shoe, and gives them so much attention it is difficult for them to get further than the front door...

Recently she has been escaping from our back yard. I think that the snow has been so high right at the far end of the yard that it is easy for her to jump over our neighbor's fence and off out into the big wide world. We get calls from people all over the neighborhood asking if we've lost our dog. Usually we haven't noticed...

One time a young lad brought her home. He had her on a leash and he walked from his house around the corner to return her having found her in his back yard. Nothing unusual about this, you say, and maybe not. However, he had walked around here in bare feet. Again, a little strange, but not that weird, but, there was seven inches of snow on the ground and the temperatures were sub zero! Poor chap. I refused to let him return home without letting him use some boots that belonged to my older boys.

Another time Abby escaped, she was found on the golf course - which although not very far, is quite a way for her to travel alone - she must have been out for quite a while, and again, we didn't notice.

Apart from her adventurous spirit, Abby has a problem with sharing toys with other dogs, especially one particular toy: a squeezy rubber ball with a squeaker and a tail. Most dogs love this toy, but Abby more than most. We used to use this toy to get her to come to us when she was first let off the leash. She would be allowed to run around and when we needed her to come to us we would squeeze the ball and she would come running. Once the leash was attached to her, she would be allowed to carry it home.

Why wasn't she allowed the ball when off the leash, you ask? Well, once that ball is in her mouth, she is impossible to catch. Love, money, all the treats in the world, nothing will bring her close to you... well not close enough to catch anyway. On a number of occasions she has followed one of us (not me, I know better!) home from the golf course because the person walking her didn't believe me when I said she wouldn't be caught with this ball... and they couldn't catch her...

On a number of occasions when at the Dog Beach, Abby has stolen a ball like this from other dogs - which makes it very embarrassing when she can't be caught and the ball can't be returned. Varying dog psychology tricks have worked - usually only once! You know, ignoring her until she puts the ball down to play with it, and then leaping upon her, asking someone else to catch her (good ploy), appearing to leave without her and she drops the ball in order to bark... and leaping upon it... etc etc. I have stopped visiting the dog beach so often, because of this.

However, last weekend, I took Abby for a long walk. It was so nice to not have to much snow and ice around. We wandered down to the dog beach, thinking nobody would be there since it was still very cold. However, guess what? there was another dog there, with a ball like this and you guessed it, Abby got hold of the ball and ran up and down the beach like the cat who got the cream! The person whose ball it was had to leave, and I couldn't catch Abby. She would come close to me, but far enough away that I couldn't reach her and if I moved a smidgen she would growl and run away... and it would keep happening. I thought I would be on the beach forever. I had no phone, it was cold, she was shivering... People came with their dogs and would try to catch her for me... and couldn't... and people went. I was there ages. Eventually this man came on the beach with his dogs and Abby went up to him, he petted her - no growling, leaping away - so I asked him to grab her collar which he did. Hooray! I had hold of the pesky dog once again. However when I tried to remove the ball from her mouth she pulled away from me - picture this - one hand on the collar, one hand on the ball and Abby pulling away - I went sprawling... but still holding the dog! Eventually the leash was back on, the ball was removed from her grip and we walked home - with Abby constantly trying to get hold of the ball... like I felt like letting her have it.

I think I'm going to avoid the dog beach completely until we get her trained to be nauseated by even the thought of this ball (we did return that ball a couple of days later!).

Snow

I think that we've had snow on the ground forever! There is snow in my annual family picture, and it feels as if we have had snow ever since. It's cold, wet and miserable. It's such an effort to get wrapped up in enough layers so as not to freeze just going as far as the car. However, that said, it is very pretty. Take a look:

Some of the pictures were taken on a walk along the lake front with the dog. There isn't much lake to see at the moment, because it has frozen over. Usually when I stand next to the tree above, I see the Chicago skyline - I don't think Chicago is there today... well I can't see it!

The sign on the fence above warns people not to swim... like that is an option right now!

As I was walking along the lakefront I kept hearing a strange noise. After a while I stood still and listened more intently and realized it was the wind on the frozen lake. It was blowing with such force that the ice was breaking up and the pieces of ice were crashing into one another. Quite fascinating.

Everything looks so attractive when it snows - the pictures sure make up for all the skidding around the road in the car, and all the potholes left after the roads have been so heavily salted and plowed. This year, because of so much snow (over 40 inches apparently) Evanston actually ran out of salt - not the only town to do so - so there was even more slipping and sliding than usual.

This lamp post reminds me of Narnia, I keep waiting for Mr Tumnus to come along and offer me some tea, or the White Witch to offer me some Turkish Delight...

It won't be too long before I'm complaining about the weather, yet again, but next time it will be because it's way too hot... you just can't win!

Mallory Langill

I have just come in from a memorial service for Mallory Langill. It was amazing. The church was packed - and on a Friday morning - with children and adults. Many wore bright colors - oranges and pinks and purples, Mallory's favorite colors. Type Mallory Langill into a search engine on your computer - and you will find many, many links.

So who was Mallory?

Mallory was a ray of sunshine. She was vibrant, joyful, full of love for Jesus and a faith in him that left many mature Christians way behind.

Yes, but who was she?

She was an adored daughter, a loyal and loving friend, a great joke teller, a big sister who in her short life of only seven years touched more lives than most of us will in a life time. At the age of 13 months, Mallory was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis a brutal disease with which she battled so bravely. She was not going to give in easily. Yet on 2 December 2007, she left her diseased body behind as she went to the arms of her Lord. We miss her. It is quite appropriate that the day she died was a gray, wet and miserable day to reflect the feelings of those of us left behind, grieving.


I'm kinda numb myself. How, as a parent, can you come to terms with the loss of a child? How do parents get through it? I don't know, I don't think they know themselves - having spoken to a few who have gone that way. It's just so wrong, so not the way God intended things to be. And yet we trust that ultimately he is in charge and one day, some day, there will be no more sickness, no more disease, no more sadness. Come Lord Jesus.

It's Cold!

It's cold, I know I said that last time, but it was cold then, and then it got hot. Last Sunday it was hot - very hot in fact. It was the Chicago Marathon and it was stopped half way through because of the heat and humidity! And it was October! It felt like mid-summer! Weird!

Anyway, it's cold again and the central heating boiler has decided it doesn't want to work. So we have a man down there now trying to encourage it to give it a go; to persuade it that this is what it was created for; to say that although it may really want to be a refrigerator it really will function better if used where it skill set lie - you know, refrigerators keep things cold (supposedly) and boilers make things warm (hopefully).

There's a sermon in that somewhere. I wonder, if we figured out where our giftings lay and what God had really designed us for, and then did it, would we be fulfilled in our workplace? I am beginning to think that we would.

Is it really that simple?

Actually, I think it might be. It's just that we get into the rut of the rat race and then it's hard to stop take time to figure out whether this is the best direction to run or not. And by the time we realize that we do want to stop, we can't get off the treadmill without hurting ourselves or others. And so we keep running fast and going nowhere.

Some of us take forever to discover where our giftings lie... why is that? Are we constantly running away from what God wants us to be and do? I don't know.

Some of us know what we think God has called us to do, and somehow we are kept in the starting traps waiting to go and do it - for what seems forever... what is it with that?

Some people have definite callings on their lives, and end up for one reason or another, even unwillingly, sitting in cubicles with computers day in day out, waiting for .... what?

What's the solution?

I'm hoping you can tell me!

OK back to my boiler. Well it's perfectly OK, apparently. However the flue going from it, up the chimney and out into the skies over Evanston, is totally blocked. We should be grateful it didn't work, otherwise we would have all suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

There was a reason, that I couldn't see for things not working as they should, and it couldn't be found by looking in the obvious places.

There's a thought.

I think I'll leave you with that...

Where did the summer go?

Last time I wrote we were in the middle of it - all that hot sweaty weather, and suddenly as if from nowhere comes cold! We don't go from hot to warm and then to cold. Oh no! This is Chicago, we do swelteringly hot and humid, and then freezing cold (with a touch of frost!), and then back to hot again. As a good friend of mine once said: "That's Chicago, it just can't get the hang of weather!" and at the change of seasons he's so right. It just can't cope with change. It can do hot, really well, and it likes to do cold - for a long time, it will do cold very well. However, changing from one to the other - well that's a whole nuther kettle of snails! It's confused, insecure, totally unsettled, prone to sharp outbursts and in need of a good dose of therapy .... oops forgot, I'm talking about Chicago coping with change in weather, not me coping with changes in life...

Talking of which, since I last wrote, I've had yet another first.... my first born son has packed his pocket handkerchief and left home to make his fortune ... OK, he's gone to the University of Illinois to do all sorts of interesting things including sharing a shoe box sized room with two other roomies! Now if that's not an education, I don't know what is! We don't hear from him much - I guess that's a good sign... ? My daughter has embarked on her high school years (not many complaints so far) and has joined her older brother in the marching band. They're marching today - at the ETHS vs Highland Park football game. I will go to watch the game, however, even after living in the US for over eleven years, I still haven't figured this "rugby with padding" game out, but I do love the atmosphere, and of course the half-time show. I now have to spot two people in the band - Esther is easy because there are only two bass-clarinet players there. Josh is easier than last year, because he's taller than most of the other sax players.

Tonight our church is hosting a rock show. We do these most months. They are mainly teen bands, not from church, who need a place to play. Tonight's show will be different though. We are raising money for Mallory Langill, a young girl at the church who suffers with Cystic Fibrosis and is in need of a double lung transplant. I hope many people come to raise lots of money - but also to encourage the family as they go through this incredibly tough time. Check out this link for more information: http://www.cotaformalloryl.com/node/46

What? Yet another new experience?

What a year!!!

Yes, another new experience!

Remember the wedding shower I went to in June? Well, I've just been to the wedding. My first American Wedding. We've been here 11 years and never been invited to one. Even when we did pre-marital counseling with a couple, not even they invited us. So this was a very memorable occasion for Alan and I.

Patience Decker and Brian Pedersen were married this afternoon. Both Bride and Groom wore white - hers a beautiful dress and he, a white linen suit - and very handsome were too. There were five bridesmaids, but our attention was grabbed by the young daughter of one of them - little Kailey, the 20 month old flower girl. There were four groomsmen looking incredibly handsome in their tuxes. The Bride was crying with a huge smile on her face - is that possible? - as she walked down the aisle on her radiant father's arm. The happy couple gazed at each other with such love and such tenderness throughout. Oh, lovely it was!

I tried to take a photo, but only managed to get one at the reception when Bride and Groom had the first dance - but she'd changed her dress by then... I am hoping that someone else makes their photos available, then I can display one here and show what a lovely dress she was wearing.

I'm rather weary after such an exciting day. It started off really exciting - well more like yesterday finished off exciting - Nathan and I were in line for a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the early hours of this morning... crowds of people in Borders playing games, drinking polyjuice potion, winning prizes for the best fancy dress, Stephanie won the Spelling Bee and we all eagerly anticipated the receipt of this much awaited tome. As the hands on the clock were reaching for the twelve, we counted down - New York New Year's Eve Big Ball style - the seconds. 3 - 2 - 1 Midnight arrived with a great cheer. Those who had preordered their books had already been given different colored wristbands - telling the order in which we could obtain our books. We were blue. First was orange then silver then pink then blue - we were not the last... Some of the first people in line were almost overcome with emotion as this magical copy was placed in their hands.

We sat around, friends knitted, others chatted and took photos, Nathan found a copy of Foxtrot to while away the time. There was a great atmosphere, all tired, but in good humor as we waited. We waited till after 1.30 am to receive our book. Then Nathan was eager to get home and start reading - me? I went to sleep - I'll probably get around to reading the book later on. I've waited this long to find out what happens, I guess I can manage to wait a little longer.

I am avoiding studying

I don't want to study, really! I so really don't want to study, I mean I really, really, don't want to study - truly. I mean, who wants to study systematic theology when the dog needs walking/the grocery shopping needs to be done/there's always laundry/the bathrooms need cleaning/I want to do some gardening/I need to update my facebook photos/I need to watch the grass grow....

I've got a headache just trying to figure out all the ways I can avoid it! Though I really do need to study - you see, we have a midterm in a few weeks, and we are going to be gone for a week of that. Do I really want to be reading about Christian Doctrine while swinging through the trees of a Costa Rican Rainforest like Tarzan? nope! (interesting image though) I need to be a real grown up and get it done now. I just won't be able to do it the night before like in the old days. Well, I wasn't able to do it then either, I just did it all the night before - and got the appropriate results to show for it!

Now I really want to do well. I have been doing well which is really strange for me, I'm much more used to failing exams and retaking them than I am to passing, and passing well. So I guess there's a pride issue this time, which is a sin, so maybe by not studying I am breaking the power of that pride? - Ha! now that's good! What a theory! I could probably preach a sermon on that... I wonder if anyone will believe me...

Great news!

Alan Johnston (I wrote about him a while ago) the British reporter held captive for four months in Gaza, has just been released!!! Yippee ... and is looking forward to being reunited with his family in Scotland. For a full report check out this link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2007/alan_johnston/

Pining for Blighty

Well, I'm ailing with what seems to be my annual dose of homesickness. It appears that with alarming regularity, most summers, I yearn to be back in Old Blighty. We have been here over eleven years (having only come for two). Most of the time, I'm OK. I love to walk along the banks of Lake Michigan with the dog, and marvel at the skyline of Chicago in the distance (must put up a picture some time) and thank God for the amazing privilege it has been to be here and experience so much good stuff. Yet.... and yet, something inside me wants to go home.

Some things here I would miss:

I would miss the church, Evanston Vineyard and all the wonderful and gifted people there, and all the friends I have made - and marching in the July 4 Parade (done it for years!), I would ,miss my next door neighbors - well actually I'd take them with me!
The schools - I really like the High School, there is an amazing variety of subjects to learn - that weren't available when I was at school;
I would miss various opportunities for the children:
the various High School bands - marching/symphonic and jazz, boy scouts and their annual camping trip to deepest darkest Wisconsin, the beach being so close, guaranteed warm (swelteringly hot and humid) weather in summer and cold (bitingly bitter) weather in winter,
The Youth Group and all their crazy activities,

I would not miss:

skunks!


What do I miss back in Wales/England?

My family - being in driving distance. OK so we may not actually get to see them, but the opportunity would be there should we choose to.
Old friends ... what can I say, they just can't be replaced.
The BBC and decent news shows
Buying decent bread at the grocery store without having to take out a mortgage.
Quality newspapers - the Chicago Tribune cannot compete - really.
Pork pies, sausage rolls and Cornish Pasties.
Kettles that don't need to be replaced every year
More awareness about the impact of our own lives on global warming than you could hope to find here.
Dr Who

And so on.

I guess I really need to throw myself into appreciating being here and making the most of it until this sickness passes, and it does, usually. One day, God may send us back and I don't want to leave with regrets about all that I didn't do while I was here. The Apostle Paul spoke about how he was content in whatever situation he found himself, whether poverty or wealth, wherever he happened to be. I would like to find that contentment - to make the most of every situation. Jesus came that we should have life and live it to the full, not spend it in a hole wishing we were somewhere else!

So having preached myself a sermon, I am going to take the dog for a walk along the shore of Lake Michigan and thank God for that privilege, and enjoy the beauty of where I am right now.

Thanks for listening.

Josh's Birthday

This is Josh with his birthday present - his sax. He has played it a lot already - and it sounds good - or is it him? When he started playing, seven years ago, it looked so big. It appears to have shrunk a little!

He has had quite a good week - he passed his driving test on Thursday. He's really pleased. It'll be handy having another driver in the house, but I still think 16 is rather young to be driving those powerful tin boxes around. I originally told the children they would have to wait until they were the same age I was when I learned to drive.... which was.... 28! Ha! In a country where children think, like having a name, and the right to an opinion, driving is merely one of their human rights! why walk, when you can pollute the atmosphere and avoid exercise at the same time?

Oh well, as if he wasn't already getting a lot of prayer - he'll now be getting a lot more.

Darryl "Shannon" Pickett, 1989 - 2007

It's not really a 'musing' as such, more of a reflection... a 17 year old I have never met, who attended Evanston Township High School, would have been a senior in the Fall, and was probably known to my children, Darryl "Shannon" Pickett, was shot to death not even a block away from the school, in broad daylight on Thursday afternoon at about 1.40pm. OK, it happened in an alley; OK there had been an 'altercation' - but, so what! It is so senseless. This star football player has had his life taken away from him in its prime, and the guy who fired the shot, just destroyed his own. Apparently Shannon was defending his brother.

It is just so sad. My 'musing' on the subject is that maybe, just maybe, had guns not been involved... and there had been an altercation... maybe there would have been cuts and bruises - OK broken limbs maybe... but maybe, just maybe, Shannon would not have lost his life, and the other guy, the one who fired the shots would not be in fear for his own. What does the future hold for him?

There must be more than this! I cry out to God - for as the Psalmist says - that's where my hope comes from. But what of Shannon's family? his neighbors? the kids at the High School who pass that alley daily? the guys who played on the football team with him? even the guy on the run? where does their hope come from? My prayer is that this death would not have been in vain; that action will be taken in the community and in the city to make sure of that. How? I really don't know, but I'm praying to One who does...

So, we have started a new term with Vineyard Leadership Institute (VLI). This term we are studying Church History and Theology - now there's good beach reading for you!

Actually, to tell the truth, I am finding it quite fascinating. At a baptism at our church this past Sunday, we all recited the Nicene Creed (check out www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene) which was written during the 4th Century... that means that for four hundred years it didn't exist! It amazes me that something we take as norm (well OK in a non-traditional church like the Vineyard it's not exactly recited every week like it was in the Anglican church I attended growing up) was debated and agonized over and struggled with until we came up with something memorable that encompasses the basics of the Christian faith. Well, I find it fascinating anyway!

I have no idea what to do for my leadership project this term - any ideas? What I don't get is why, in the States, do we have to study during the summer? In UK, they get the summer off! OK it takes a little longer to finish the whole course (27 months as opposed to 23 months) - but I'd be willing to suffer like that in exchange for some guilt free novel reading at the beach instead!