A Matter of TIme... Catching Up

It was only a matter of time...until I had to turn on the silly word verification on my comments. I've started getting junk comments, and its time to cut those off before they get any worse. So, sorry for the extra step, but please keep commenting. That is, if you are a real person and not some robot leaving fake messages. You know I love to hear from you.

It was only a matter of time... until Luke started the fall term commuting to Chicago. We are one week into this schedule, and thankfully there are only about 12 weeks of it. I am very thankful for Amtrak - they may run late all the time, and Julie-the-autobot may be hard to deal with, but they are making this whole commuting to Chicago time much easier on us.

It was only a matter of time... until we had our first homeowner's emergency! Wednesday was quite a day. The rector of my church & I had gone to do home visits, and stopped for lunch. I had a reuben. I love reubens. They are yummy and toasty and good. This reuben was apparently different somehow because shortly after lunch, I started to break out into hives. Have you had this? It feels like a hundred mosquito bites all over, all at once. Its uncomfortable. It has only happened to me one other time - but that was recently enough that I knew I had some allergy meds at home. Since it is hard to be productive when your face is kind of swollen and your neck is itchy, I left work in the early afternoon, went home, and found the pills. I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and stepped right in a big puddle. I looked up, and the paint was peeling, dry wall was crumbling, and water was very definitely dripping through my kitchen ceiling. Being the smart, capable feminist that I am, I turned the water off in the house. I then spent a couple hours on the phone with various people, got a plumber scheduled to come and all that. There is now a big hole cut out of our kitchen ceiling, and we need a new faucet in the shower, but the water dripping has stopped.

It was only a matter of time... until the final celebration and closing day of the camp where I grew up. It is an Episcopal camp, and I have spent 15 of my 27 summers there. Gordonwood is a spiritual home to many, a sacred place where countless children, teens and adults were brought closer to God. It was the place where I learned what it means to live in Christian community. I have many things to say about it, but I will have to save them for another day. For now, I will say that there was a gathering of spirits this weekend, more bittersweet than any I have ever seen. Old friends were reconnected - many now with spouses and children. Memories, laughter, and music were shared. Many tears were shed, and promises were made about the future of youth ministry in our corner of the Church. I pray that the day we shared might be the spark that finally re-kindles the fires of youth ministry in our diocese. I hope that the day helped those who gathered to mourn the loss of such a special place.

It was only a matter of time... until my next birthday, which came and went over the weekend in the midst of all these other things. I am now 27. I don't really feel any older. Honestly, when people asked me over the summer how old I was, I would forget and say that I was already 27. Oops. We did find a little bit of time to celebrate - my mom gave me some awesome Michigan stuff and two Carrie Newcomer cds, my friend A gave me a pretty bottle of nail polish, and, of course, my football team actually won the big game. Thanks boys - what a nice present.

It was only a matter of time... until the rush of September ran me over. I'd like to think October is catch-up month, but October has its own events, with a children's Communion Instruction class, an All Saints family party, and a Baptism prep class to plan, sermons and articles to write, and people to visit. I knew ministry would be a journey, but I wasn't quite prepared for the speeding train ride. And now, its time to jump back on board and get back to work, with a song in my head:

Let it go my love my truest, Let it sail on silver wings
Life's a twinkling, thats for certain,
But its such a fine thing
Theres a gathering of spirits, theres a festival of friends
And we'll take up where we left off
When we all meet again. - "The Gathering of Spirits", Carrie Newcomer