The following conversation took place on Sunday night:
J: Jen, the supercool pastor’s wife
T: The stupid telemarketer
*phone rings*
J: Parsonage
T: Hi. Can I speak with Ms. Lutheran?
J: What???
T: This is _________ from Mediacom. I need to speak with Ms. Lutheran.
J: Ummm… this is a church office and parsonage. We’re Lutheran Christians so there isn’t a Ms. Lutheran.
T: There’s not?
J: No…
*hangs up*
Jon’s gotten asked if the caller can speak to “Mr. Minnesota” before.
We returned from the ER tonight (I was in pain and needed some pyridium — extrapolate from there) to find a vase of flowers and a canteloupe in the dropbox by our door. There was also a card from our oldest parishioner (she’s 96 and still active and driving) saying “Belated birthday wishes to Pastor Jon and happy joy to you and Jenna.” I have to say… a birthday canteloupe and flowers is infinitely more creative than a birthday cake and probably better for us too. 🙂
CNN.Com: Study: Soda linked to diabetes in women
When I saw this, I was thinking “I could so have told them this!” I lived on Pepsi in college and gained probably 50 lbs over those three years. I gave up soda for Lent two years in a row in seminary and on Jon’s internship and felt so much better. (I also lost enough weight for my wedding dress to be loose on me.)
I think people really don’t calculate the amount of sugar they consume in beverage form. Three cans of Coke a day is about 450 calories — the amount in a modest meal and all of it is sugar. Another problem: the sugar we put in our coffee and tea. Two spoons of sugar goes a long way. (And yes, I know that this is the pot calling the kettle black because when I get a latté, I get a few shots of vanilla in it.)
I realized yesterday while praying under a tree at my local park (gotta love those Celtic-Christian roots) that I am angry still about the car situation. I’m angry at the doctor who hit us and I’m really angry at the Lord because that car was supposed to be the answer to a prayer and it got taken away. I know there is probably some good reason for this (after all, I wouldn’t have walked away alive had it been any other car besides a Volvo) but I’m still frustrated because we loved that car.
Unlike Job, I really have no reason to be angry or to state my case in the way that he did. After all, I’m not sinless and I’ve done stupid things like run stop signs in the past. I’m just frustrated because it was OUR car that was totalled and not the doctor’s (you know… the one who could afford to replace it). We have a used one in California that we’re looking at but still… our old car was so good and about 90% of the car was OK. (The reason it was totalled: busted the radiator and engine block as well as bending the frame.)
This too shall pass but it’s hard right now…
As I sit here waiting for a call saying that the car loan paperwork has been faxed over, I guess I’ll let people know what’s up.
Wednesday was Jon’s birthday. I got him a Celtic cross (mostly so he’d stop stealing mine!) and I made a donation to a Northern Ireland peace charity for kids in his name. That night, we had the first of three discussions on the massive waste of time and money that the ELCA voted on doing in 2001 and that went fairly well. (The $500K could honestly be better spent on evangelism since the overwhelming majority of people have indicated their desire to keep the status quo.) I had baked a cake for Jon and some of my WELCA ladies (who deserve much accolades and fruit snacks) baked a couple more so that we’d have enough and we sang to him. 🙂
Yesterday night, I watched Carly Patterson kick some Olympic gymnastics butt. I went for my walk earlier in the evening so I could watch it and I ended up running into a parishioner and getting a tour of the local Catholic church where he is the janitor. It was cool to hang out and talk even if it did mean that I was late getting home and showering.
OK… now if my credit union would please fax me the loan application…
One Monday, we had a memorial prayer service for L (our parishioner who died on Friday). It was an incredibly uplifting service. We sang lots of hymns (basically hymn-sing style with people naming requests), several people (including myself) shared memories, and there was much prayer. It was totally what L would have wanted and it replaced the morbid visiting hours at the funeral home. The first hymn was “Let All Things Now Living” (one of my favorites) and the closing one was “Silent Night”. (Yes… “Silent Night”. Apparently, L and her husband had frequently sung this as a duet at Christmas and the kids requested it.)
Yesterday, the funeral was at 2 and went very well. It was a joyful occasion with some tears and finished with “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”. The sermon was wonderful (props to Jon who was an excellent preacher and worship leader) and the sharing time was also just wonderful. There was a lunch afterward with sandwiches, fruit, and chocolate angel food cake (something that L was known for baking for people — there was a pyramid of her cake pans on display) and then we went to the church for the interrment. The family released balloons in the air and we sang “Amazing Grace”.
When we got home, I decided to go for a walk and discovered after a block or so that I was having to push myself to keep moving. I made it through all 3 miles and collapsed into bed after I showered. I fell asleep watching women’s gymnastics and saw Romania get the gold medal. (I wish the US had won but Romania deserved it.) I slept until 10:30 this morning with a small interlude to let the mewing cats into the bedroom at 6:30. Edda chewed me out for a good 90 seconds. (She chirps and it was like she was saying “WHY didn’t you let me sleep with you last night?!?!?!?! I am a beautiful black cat and I purr better than anyone else here!!!!”) She then went to sleep on the end of the bed before rising a few hours later to be pantherish.