You Don't Have to Read This

Just wanted to say this has been a rather hard/wonderful summer. Some things have been wonderful and, well, some things super hard. The whole changing churches thing I feel is taking it's toll on me. Having a church family and regular fellowship is really important to me, but not only have we left our home church of eight+ years, we also are not regularly attending or going to be regularly attending the church of our choice for quite a while. Adam is going to be helping do sound at another church in the city through the months of September and October. And more than likely, we will not be able to get plugged into our new church until November. Thankfully, I have been attending a small group Bible study midweek through the summer. The group is made up of young married or single adults in their 20's or 30's and I feel like I've made some good connections with people or at least am starting to. It helps that one of my bff's was part of the group to start with. But now our group leader has just informed us that he will be leaving our group with a new leader in the fall and going off to start another group. Yeah, the one part of "church" that held some normalcy is now going to be... well, different. It just stinks extra much because our group leader was good at making everyone feel welcome, accepted and, I guess, part of the group. It's hard... Especially when every other night or so, I dream about things going on at the church we left and in my dreams I end up crying because I am missing out on what's happening. I don't want to make friends at the church Adam is helping at because we aren't going to stay there (nor do I want to). The new church is absolutely huge and the only thing that makes the huge part not so bad, is the small groups. I just wish Adam could come with me... I'm not complaining, I'm just saying it's not easy. I know it'll be for the best, but right now I have a lump in my throat and I wish Adam was awake so we could talk about it... But he is sleeping and the next best thing in to blog it.

Chruch Directions

Can I blog this late at night? Because every time I get ready to blog, I realize what time it is and exactly how tired I really feel...

This blog was going to be about church. It's been a very strange "church summer". That of course makes no sense to you, but what I really mean is that our regular attendance of our regular church has been erratic and irregular. Between Josh being sick two Sundays, Adam helping a friend with sound at a church in the city, and being out of town, there has been a slight "disconnect" with our home church. And not only the afore mentioned reasons, but also this past Sunday we visited a friends' church and we really liked it. Adam wants to go again. And if Adam wants to go again, so do I. I have been attending a small group Bible study with some young people who attend there, and I am excited to see how Adam could get plugged in too. Keep us in your prayers as we are stepping in a new direction.

Frisbee

Yesterday was our church's annual picnic. I'm not sure exactly why, but it's not usually something I look forward to with great enthusiasm. Maybe it's the "sitting awkwardly among a couple hundred people while they stuff their face with picnic food" part I don't like. Or having forced conversations with people. I dislike forced conversations. Maybe it's because sometimes, when I try to talk to people, they just look uncomfortably at their friends... But this is something I have tried to get over. I don't do well in very large groups. In semi-large groups I am okay. In small groups, I feel great. Add to the fact that I don't do well with very large groups, my parents have recently switched churches and they were my "go-to people". You could always count on them to sit near you or talk to you. *not forced talking* And now they are not there anymore. I have to strike out on my own now. So yesterday I was awkwardly standing near the pavilion waiting for something to happen, watching Josh play in the spigot water, and wondering what to do with myself, when I was invited to play Ultimate Frisbee. The teens and young adults at our church have been frisbee fanatics all summer, though I personally had not yet played with the group. Hmmm, this spiked my interest. I played soccer regularly when I was younger and have always been rather competitive, though quite out of shape now at the ripe old age of 24. Honestly, I hadn't played a vigorous group game of anything since I played soccer with a bunch of Salvadorians last July. But, since Adam was more than willing to watch Josh so I could play, I took them up on their invitation. I don't think I had had that much fun in ages. I am horrible at frisbee... Well, not horrible. Just not that good... But the good, fun, competition was good for my bones. The hot sun, the sweat, running back and forth, the good plays every once in a great while... This church picnic turned out to be the best since I had started going to them. Now I'm getting anxious for the next big frisbee game.

Yeah, I'm just that weird.

A Long Jumble of Goings-On

What a delicious week it has been. The Friday before Labor Day, we held a family meeting to determine what we were going to do to help my Grandparents, since Grandpa was going on hospice care and was told that they needed someone there 24/7. It was decided that we would all take turns, my Mom, Aunts, and the older cousins. This did put me in a bind though, since I was currently holding two jobs, one at the daycare and also working one day a week at the restaurant. I have for a long time contemplated giving up my weekly hours at the restaurant and being solely backup help. So I had to make the decision. I don't like saying good-byes, but telling myself that I could still go to the restaurant anytime I wanted and that once in a while I would be called on to come in to work, really helped ease my mind. I have worked there for almost 4 1/2 years now, so I have made many friends, mostly old wrinkly folks, and you kinda get attached. But this really opens up my schedule to be able to help my Grandparents and visit them more often. It's amazing how one extra day a week can make you feel so much more at ease.

The daycare where I work reopened on Tuesday, after two weeks vacation. The vacation time couldn't have been more timely, with all that conspired during that time. It was good to be back to work, I guess. The school year has started so our "big kids" have all started Kindergarten and it's strangely quite without them. Josh was glad to see "Lange" again and repeatedly asked to go there on Friday, which is the day I happened to have off last week. He, of course, also asked to go to "Bubba's" house. We had been to at least one Grandparents' house a day for a week straight, so he naturally thought we should go visit again. Who could blame him? I love going to Grandma's house too.

Speaking of going to Grandma's house, that is where we went on Thursday. It was my turn to visit... Weird saying it was "my turn", like we were playing a game or something. I was glad to see Grandpa looking so well and it seems that Grandma had an extra burst of energy. I think she has more motivation, now that Grandpa needs her help. Over the course of the day, I watched Grandpa go from perky, to peakish, back to perky. He slept on and off and had a couple of visitors. I set up Josh's port-a-crib at nap time and while he slept I vacuumed the hard-to-reach spots of Grandma's living room. It was nice to feel useful and it seemed to be a good trade from packing chocolates, which is what I had been doing the previous Thursdays. I am glad to have an extra day now to be able to visit them.

On Saturday, I took Josh to the library. We found a couple puzzles to borrow and I set about trying to locate some materials to help me learn Spanish. To learn Spanish is a goal of mine, ever sicne I went to El Salvador. I typically annoy people with me usage of words, especially if they don't understand me. But I am just a beginner and feel the need to practice my newly learned words once in a while. Anyway, back to the library. I have decided that it is not a fun thing to take a almost-two year old to the library by yourself. Especially since that cataloging system, our library has in place is none-so-helpful. I felt like I wasted a whole bunch of time and annoyed the librarians since it is very hard to watch him nonstop when you are trying to find materials. Next time, I will leave him home. Or maybe I just won't go to the library.

After the library trip, we stopped at our local grocery store. It was a rainy Saturday, late morning and the grocery store was packed. We live in a mostly agricultural area and during the fall season, we see many farm workers come and go. Mostly Hispanic or Hatian. And on this rainy day, the grocery store was a popular destination for many of them. Now, I always have my Spanish tracts (left over from El Salvador) in my purse, for these kinds of reasons, but for some reason, I was feeling a bit nervous and only gave out one. (Stupid me, to miss so many opportunities!) But this young Mexican man wanted to know where the church was. (¿De donde es la Iglesia?) And I had nothing to tell him. I don't know where there is a Spanish speaking church in the area or if there is one, for that matter. But it opened my eyes, to an area of ministry that is completely lacking in our area. Here we have a continual influx of people, who don't speak Spanish, who are here only temporarily for work, but there is no place for them to gather to worship our God. And who is telling these folks about Jesus? And so we may be trying to get our church to translate our service into Spanish or at least have a translator available, if thereis a need. It would have been such a blessing to have been able to tell that man exactly where he could come for church, but God could've just used this to open our eyes to a need. (PS, I don't care if they are illegal, they still need Jesus.)

Ok, so rambling on here. If you've made it this far, kudos to you.Oh, and here are some flowers I bought for myself about a week ago. Aren't they lovely? I think I might just get into the habit of buying myself flowers once in a while. I think it's kind of nice.

We Dedicate Him to Jesus

On Sunday, Adam and I had Joshua dedicated to the Lord. It's actually more like dedicating ourselves to raise him in the Lord. Pastor Ray prayed for Joshua and for us and it was sweet. We have a big responsibility ahead of us and sometimes it can be a daunting task. I am so glad that we can lean on Jesus to give us the wisdom we need as parents. My hope and prayer is that someday Joshua will give his heart to Jesus and want to serve Him as king of his life.

Vacation Bible School

It was another busy week. There was nonstop action every morning with VBS at church. I helped teach the 1st and 2nd graders this year. We had crafts, games, Bible lessons and songs. The theme was airplanes and taking flight with Jesus. We talked about stalling during flight, the drag that sin creates in our lives and how to take off with Jesus. At the end of the week all the kids received their very own set of wings, which they wore proudly during the closing picinic. Next year, I think I'd like to help more. There are so many ideas and things I'd like to do... We'll have to wait and see. It was pretty fun.

The Castle

Well, I made it home :) On Monday, I left with the Junior High group from my church and went to the "Castle" in Pennsylvania. It really is a castle, with towers and everything and the stone building sits high atop a mountain. Our church groups have been going there for a long time and this was my third trip down. Going to the castle never gets boring. We go with great expectations and hopes of what the Lord will reveal to us, and He is always faithful. This year was the first time the Junior High group got to go and they loved the experience. It was fun to watch them interact with my older brother Dave and my sister-in-law Leta, the group leaders. We had some really good studies and the last night there, we had a special prayer time which included songs, tears and a whole box of tissues. God is good. Dave and Leta also prepared some really cool games which the kids loved. He took us out into the woods and each team (there were 3) had to build a little house from anything we could find in the woods. The houses were scrutinized for durability, order and style. We also played a relay game where each team had to put a body together piece by piece and learn scripture verses that went along with that particular appendage. Dave is good at making up kid games, cause he is still a kid himself :) I am so glad I was able to go along with the group of them and I hope to keep up with the kids a little better than I had been. What fun, what fun.