CNN.Com: ‘Welcome home friends’
Yo Comm. Eileen: That was a phatty landing you made in complete darkness. You kick @$$!!!
Glad y’all made it home safely. We missed you and were all praying for your safety.
I also wonder how many times the NASA dudes played “Come On Eileen” while the Discovery crew was coming back to Earth…
(reposted from Agape and Afghan-Making)
Few situations make me as uncomfortable as being a newcomer in a church where I know nothing and no one. Everyone else knows when to stand and sit and bow and smile, and everyone else has someone to talk to during coffee hour, and there I stand, awkward and ill at ease, my inner introvert yelling at me to go home and curl up with a novel. (This is especially torturous in Episcopal churches, which insist upon the theologically sound but socially hideous ritual of “passing the peace.” Right after the Prayers of the People and rght before the announcements, the Episcopal worshipper is required to turn to a neighbor, shake a hand, and say, “May the peace of the Lord be with you.” If you know your fellow worshippers, this is a nice chatting break in the middle of the service. If you do not, you feel like a loser.)
–“Mudhouse Sabbath” by Lauren F. Winner
Crystal asked me to muse about being a convert to Christianity. (Short story: Came to Christ at age 14 from a non-Christian family and am now a pastor’s wife 10 years later.) This was the best quote I could find to describe the dilemma I faced as a convert: having to learn the rituals and moves that were very natural to everyone else and completely unknown to me.
(Short rant on Lauren Winner: I loooooooove her because she’s a convert like me, she came to faith in the Anglican Church (same as me), and she says things the exact same way that I would. Best of all, she has a blog!!! /end rant)
I came to faith in the Episcopal Church (like Winner) and the church I attended thankfully had people who were willing to explain things to me and make me feel like a part of a big family. It was really strange for the first 6 months because I was slowly meeting people and getting to know them and it wasn’t until I joined the choir that I started really feeling a part of things.
When I got to college, I joined a Conservative Baptist church attended by a lot of my fellow IV peeps and it was another style of worship to learn. I had imprinted on the Episcopal Church which had all the standing/kneeling/bowing/sitting and the contemporary service at High Street had people raising their hands in the air to worship and clapping and all. Instead of liturgy, it was a freeform service with a loooooong sermon. Ultimately, I settled at an LCMS congregation in Santa Cruz which had both the emphasis on the Word and liturgy. I think it was the first time I actually knew what to do and when to do it when I walked into a church that wasn’t my tradition!
While I didn’t stay LCMS, I did stay in the liturgical tradition. As a convert, I had to learn where it was that I fit in the grand scheme of the Body. I discovered that I *like* all those old hymns and I *love* having a service that is done the same way and with the same words all over the world — it gives me a sense of connection with my fellow sisters and brothers in Christ in far-off lands.
So… that was my convert dilemma. What are some of yours?
After the Blogathon ended yesterday morning, I tossed on my sarong and some sandals, grabbed a quick breakfast (i.e. 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese and some CL lemonade), and walked to Big Church in Town for their 9:00 service. (I went there because I had no desire to attempt to be social and I figured the service would be different and interactive enough that I’d actually have to pay attention.)
The music was WOV Setting 4 (which we referred to as “Some Enchanted Liturgy” in seminary) so I kind of had to think straight to participate; but at the same time, I have it memorized so I was doing it by rote. The sermon was excellent and I would probably have appreciated it more if I hadn’t been squeezing my keys and stabbing my wrists with them to stay awake. Communion involved kneeling so that was also a plus. Afterwards, I staggered home, checked email (yes… I checked email even after being online for 24 hours — it’s an annoying habit of mine), tossed on a t-shirt and pj bottoms, tuned into the LCMS service on the radio (the sermon was starting), and let the sermon lull me to sleep.
Jon woke me up 2 hours later (resulting in me giving him a rather toxic look) to go get food. After a grilled chicken sandwich/fries/bottle of Sundrop from the local family foodery, I was more awake and spent the afternoon reading, doing deep tabby massage (Cullen insisted), and trying to figure out how to make a theme on WordPress so I could upgrade ::Meditatio::. (If anyone wants to make me one, I will love you forever and let you pet my kitties.) I also did go for a “healthy walk”, albeit a shorter than normal one due to it being bloody hot/humid and me being tired. My goal was to make it to the end of Grey’s Anatomy and I did. I think my body finally crashed around 11.
Today, I woke up at 8:30 and set the snooze button for another 15 minutes. 3 1/2 hours later… I woke up and decided that it would be a *good thing* to actually *GET UP* and start my day. I’m doing laundry, trying to figure out how to make my own themes, and petting cats. In a bit, I’ll do the “healthy walk” thing (3+ miles this time!) and I’ll start working on some “me-crocheting”.
Is it a bad thing that my new ambition in life is to make a video of myself dancing to the Numa Numa song? (I know the famous version is here — I like the other one better.)
I got up at 7:45, did devotions quickly, made some oatmeal and headed downstairs. I had taken the pictures for my first post the night before, so my 8:00 post was pretty easy. I settled into a routine of writing something original (or using someone’s suggested subject) for the :30 post and then crocheting/pinning, photographing, and uploading for the :00 post. It was actually a really good thing that I had a pattern because it made time go faster and it gave me some rhythm to what I was doing.
I ate at fairly scheduled intervals and made sure I was consuming at least a glass of water or Crystal Light for every can of Sun Drop (I actually did more water and CL than I had to). Foodwise, apples with peanut butter worked the best — it gave me some protein and I wasn’t really hungry for awhile afterwards.
One thing that I really did love: there is a community feel among all the ‘thonners. I had some *interesting* chats on mIRC (I basically left whenever they started getting too raunchy) and I also got to chat up Dreama whose site I’ve been kind of admiring from afar for a couple years now. She did the radio stuff from midnight to 4:00 CDT and her stuff was keeping me awake. (She even played “Timewarp” for me!) My afghan also graced the Blogathon home page which was really great since I’m pretty much a no-name among a lot of the more popular bloggers.
The best thing: $325 (and hopefully more if I get some more pledges) is going to help people in Afghanistan.
If you sponsored me, go here for some instructions.
If you want to see the afghan from start to finish, click here.
If you want to pledge me (which you can do until the 9th — HINT HINT HINT), go register, then login and go here.
I’m still a little too tired to write anything coherent. I got 2 hours of napping in and I think I’ll hit the sack after Grey’s Anatomy.
