Jon’s Notify List

My husband Jon posts his sermons online when he preaches and I made him a notify list for them last night. If you want to receive an email when he posts a new sermon, go here and enter your name in the notify list box at the bottom.

Happy Reading!

My Weekend

On Saturday evening, we were driving to the store after church and Sable (our ’84 Volvo 240 GL) started sputtering. We made it about another 50 feet before she died… in the middle of the street in heavy traffic. As soon as traffic cleared, I jumped out and ran down the street trying to find somoene who was home. A couple was and they stopped traffic in the lane closest to the curb and helped us coast into their driveway. We called AAA and were able to get a tow truck. They towed us to our mechanic and I dropped the keys off there this morning. (It’s a block and a half from where we live.) We’re hoping to have Sable back by Friday — otherwise, we’ll have to rent a car or something because Jon’s in charge at church next week and we have to be able to get around. I’m not incredibly worried but I’d like reliable transportation again.

Mass in Nature’s Cathedral
On Sunday morning, Bill picked us up and I did my morning surfing and devotions during the 8:00 service. After the service, we packed up everything we’d need to celebrate Communion and have the church service at Flory Park and went over there. I’d written out the prayers the night before and Jon had used them in the 8:00 service, so all I really had to do for prep was print out the readings. We went through the skit for the Gospel with the kids and got the mics adjusted and started the service. It went well other than Jon’s guitar continually going out of tune. Afterward, we had our church picnic and I saw the nice rock on the finger of one of our college people. (She and her fiancĂ© got engaged on the 4th of July.) They’re pretty much the only people in the church my age and it was fun hanging out with them. I also got to know one of the teenagers in the congregation and her mom and I have a feeling that our stock just went up because R is the kind of person that I would have hung out with in college and it was probably good to have people who understood as pastors for her.

I got bills paid (without crying or having to dip into savings) today and I also got the lawn mowed. Right now, my office assistant is demanding attention, so off I go to scratch a kitty belly.

Good Day

Wonderful/Magnificent/Awesome Thing That Happened Today: My father-in-law had offered to help us out with the $3000 in medical bills that have mounted this year. I thought that he might help us with a payment or two. Yeah… he paid off 3 of our creditors in full and paid 1/4 of one of the other bills. All that’s left are the two that we are contesting with the insurance company.

Thing That Is Icing on the Coffee Cup Cake: Finding out that Blair Hornstine’s offer of admission to Harvard has been rescinded. There is justice in the world. Now… let’s hope she loses her frivilous lawsuits and has to pay court costs for the school district. Oh yes… her valedictorian victory was even lamer because she didn’t even show up to give the friggin’ speech that she sued to have. (Thanks to my favorite right-wing fundamentialist Mac for the news. *sighs* The guy prays for my immortal soul and sends me wonderful news briefs. If only he was a liberal…)

A Cheerful Heart Doeth Good Medicine

Today, Jon had a hospital visit in Westerville, so we braved downpours and broken windshield wipers to get there. (Tip: A roll of duct tape in the car saves precious time.) We also ended up going 6 miles in the wrong direction, which meant that we were an hour late getting to the hospital and I was in a mighty foul mood when we arrived. Well… that soon changed. J, the husband of K (the woman having surgery) is one of the most congenial and awesome people we know and listening to him talk about things really improved my mood (as did finding out that we weren’t too late to sit with him). We had to wait an hour for K to get out of surgery and during that time, we got to watch J razz the doctors in a very good-natured way.

When we got up to K’s room, I was greeted with a big hug from a very awake K, which is wonderful considering that they had to dope her pretty well for her surgery. She also told us that when her orderly came in to help her bathe this morning, she found K reading the Bible. Apparently, the conversation went something like this:

O: So you’re reading your Bible?
K: Of course. What other Good Book do you start the day out with?
O: Well… I don’t have time.
K: Not even to pray while washing the dishes?
O: I’d never thought of that.
K: Your hands are busy but your heart and mind are free to pray.

(Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa)

The part that makes this really funny: K is 80+ years old, shorter than me, and about 3 times as spirited. She is one of these people who I think could call fire down from Heaven when she prays. The rest of the visit was just wonderful and she totally made me laugh. She apologized left and right because she might not be able to be there on Sunday. We explained to her that she had a good excuse and promised to come and see her and bring her communion when we could. After she gets out of the hospital, she’ll have to be in a nursing home so that they can give her the antibiotics she needs. When she heard that we don’t know where we’ll be yet, she promised to pray for us and I have a feeling her prayers are gonna make the difference.

One of the things I love about K and our other long-time members who are in the hospital is that they have very unshakeable faith — faith that moves mountains and faith that sustains people in tough circumstances. This is probably the second surgery this year for K and she is taking it all in stride. These people have ten times as much faith in their Creator as I could ever hope to have. Why else can these people deal so well during the last few weeks we’ve had at church where people are dying left and right? I only wish I could deal with the last few weeks with as much strength and grace as they did.

My Opa

When I got home tonight, I found my Opa (“grandfather” in German) online and found out that his neurologist visit didn’t go well today and they’re having to up his dosage of meds to control his Parkinson’s Disease. Ummmm wait a second… Parkinson’s? Apparently, he’s been diagnosed for the last few months and told my mom a few weeks ago. I was a bit irritated that she hadn’t told me but I’m thinking now (after raging about it for a few hours) that she was waiting for a more opportune time when I wasn’t dealing with death and car accidents and other unpleasant things. (I talked to her after I talked to Opa and apparently, she doesn’t know much more than I do. And yes, I refrained from raging at her — after all, this is her father and it’s something she’s dealing with as well.) Opa told me that apparently, he’s suspected that he might have it for a while now and they just confirmed it. When he told me his symptoms, it clicked in my mind and I remember him having some facial tremors in April when I was there and also at my wedding in March 2002. It’s apparently in the early stages and they’re trying to arrest the symptoms. His doctor is predicting a good 5 years before things get too bad which will be when Opa turns 90 years old. It’s a blessing that it’s been diagnosed early; but it’s still sad news because it’s an admission that my grandparents are getting older and their health is starting to go more rapidly. Admittedly, I’m sad and I’m on the verge of tears; but the tears don’t seem to be coming, which means that it’s not my time to cry yet.

As bad as I’m feeling right now, I can’t help but think that this is devestating for my Opa. He is an amazing man and as my mom told me, it’s probably taken him awhile to get used to the idea of having Parkinson’s Disease. This is a man who didn’t graduate from college because WWII started the semester before he would have graduated but still is one of the most literate people I’ve ever met. I memorized quite a bit of poetry as a child because he would talk about poems he’d read or had to memorize when he was in school and I wanted to know what he was talking about. He was a pilot for United Airlines for 30 years and raised four kids. He and my Oma maintain their property in Washington (which is on par with most small farms) and one in the wilds of British Columbia. Parkinson’s is a disease which can rob one of one’s mind and I can’t help but think that such a thought would be devestating for one such as my Opa who is so active, even at 85 years old.

Granted, the doctor did say that Opa would probably have 5 more good years (which means that everything would be bad when he hits 90 years old) but still… I remember my Opa as the one who would take us flying before he had to sell his plane in 1987 due to heart problems and the one who talked of his childhood in Oregon while we were picking wild huckleberries in British Columbia. I remember him swing-dancing with my Oma when music from their college years would come on and taking me to their Episcopal church in Washington where I learned to love liturgy and balancing bulletins, hymnals, and prayerbooks. (This was where I also learned to turn pages with my pinkies and to open the BCP to exactly page 356.)

Abide with me , fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me…

Church Woman Karma

Yesterday, our WELCA president asked Jon if I could help stuff newsletters today. My answer: OF COURSE!!! Granted, I’d be the only one there under 65 years old; but these women are cool and they make a fuss over me, which is nice because I have no family close by to do it. Besides, I need to build up some good church woman karma for Jon’s first call and get something on my resumĂ© for candidacy (since my committee doesn’t think I’m Lutheran enough). So… I set out to help them at 11 this morning and we stuffed the 500 weekly newsletters, stopping for lunch around 1. (They treated me to Wendy’s. How sweet of them!) Jon and I took them to the post office and God willing, they’ll actually reach people in time for the service at Flory Park on Sunday.

In addition to stuffing newsletters, we talked about things and one of the subjects was a verse that P couldn’t find. During a break, I snuck into Jon’s office and looked it up on The Unbound Bible. It was Psalm 30:5 which states:

For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
(NASB)

It’s an interesting verse, considering all that the church has been through in the last few weeks. The funerals are over and people are starting to move on. I am still overjoyed that F and G were in church on Sunday (since MANY people stop attending church after the death of a loved one). I found out that G encouraged F to attend the 10:00 service on Sunday because it was the one she attended with D for so many years. I’m thankful he did that — F needs to adjust and we as a church need to know how we can help her with the adjustment. If I hadn’t already been sitting with people last Sunday, I would have hung out with them. People have told me that she’s doing better, which is *VERY* good to hear. Aside from F and G, our older active members are also mourning and I’m really praying for something to help them. Their ranks have been really hurt by the deaths and I’m wondering how the next Faith After 55 meeting is going to be.

Church Today

Church this morning was lovely. Our congregation council president was cantoring for the first service and he is a fabulous tenor. During Sunday School, I hung out with our Sunday School superintendent and helped her with her student. (Her student Q is a sweetie and it gave us a chance to get the VBS pictures up.) The second service was great. Our music was all patriotic today and it was probably the second time in 10 years that I’ve sung “Battle Hymn of the Republic”.

Bill preached one of the best sermons I’ve heard this year on the dangerous eschatology of the Religious Right’s position on Israel. He royally irritated some of the Republican members and a couple of them confronted him after the service about some of his comments on the use of “Judeo-Christian-Islamic morality” (it’s part of an article in the Columbus Dispatch which I can’t link because you have to pay to view it). The two people who did are part of one of the small groups I attend and it usually takes all of my self-control not to make snarky remarks to set them off foaming at the mouth. (I’ve mastered the art of doing so in a way that irritates them but makes me look completely innocent.) For example, I was commenting on something I disagreed with in the Bible Study curriculum and the wife turned to me and said “Don’t you believe the Bible is completely true?” (My answer: I tend to read it more critically than most people do.) It took all of my self-control not to say something like “Nope… I’m just here because my coven isn’t meeting tonight.” (Thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law for that one.)

F and G were there with G’s son M, which was a good thing — one thing that happens on occasion with grieving people is that they stop attending church and cut themselves off from people. Granted, they left the second things ended; but that’s understandable — how do you socialize with people at church when you buried your husband/father/grandfather 6 days earlier and this person was a pillar of the congregation? (D did everything from lectoring to ushering and served multiple congregation council memberships in addition to being on the building committee 40 years ago for the education building at the church.) I was just really happy that they came. I’m hoping to see them next week at the outdoor service though I know that it may be a while before they feel up to socializing. If nothing else, this is an answer to the prayers I’ve been praying for them (for comfort and strength and to be able to lean on the Lord in this time) and I’m praising the Almighty for that!