Category Archives: Ministry

7 Quick Takes: VBS Week

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Most *interesting* thing I heard at VBS tonight. I had to run Daniel home during my free period (he was in a mood and starting to melt down) so I was a couple minutes late getting back to start music with my oldest group. When I walked in, one of the boys said, “Oh good, you’re here. The Hippo Song isn’t the same without you… not that you’re fat or anything.” Ummm… thanks?

— 2 —

Best mommy line. From one of the teachers of the youngest group (preschoolers and kindergarten): “Hey! Arms and mouths to yourselves!” (I find it actually kind of funny that all three of the teachers for that group are moms with all boys.)

— 3 —

Speaking of that youngest group… I can’t remember which song precipitated it but they started all linking hands and dancing in a circle. (I think it was “Earth and All Stars”?) Margaret (the other young woman doing music with me and the lead on our team) and I were busting up laughing.

— 4 —

All the things that can praise God… We were trying to teach the kids some “adult music” this week and one of the things we did with each group was to get a list of things that could praise God so we could improvise some verses based on the suggestions. Some of the answers: tacos & fries, Dr. Who & Tardis, space, trombones, Princess Leia, jingle bells (one of our preschoolers wanted sing the song every day), dinosaurs, sheep, cupcakes, dirt, mac n’cheese, dirt, trains, and school buses. If I can get Margaret’s permission, I’ll post the verses that resulted.

**UPDATE** Margaret was chill with it so this is the link.

— 5 —

Mission accomplished! The two most popular songs this week were the two that I taught the kids: the Hippo Song and the Penguin Song. Apparently, my kids are going home and singing those songs every night… as are some of the VBS staff people because they have them stuck in their heads. In other words, I’ve managed to teach them that God made hippos and that penguins drink tea. My work here is done!

— 6 —

We need to invest in a church-owned selfie stick. Mother Kelli Grace (our vicar) had all the kiddos and staff crowd into two rows in the church so she could do a VBS selfie. Someone commented that we need a church selfie stick and I guess one of the men offered to bring his tomorrow. I remarked that one of our bishops has one and we should just borrow hers! Still, this is a church where worship selfies are normal so maybe we need acquire one for church purposes. (I’d pot the one from today but it would involve getting permission from all the parents of the kiddos.)

— 7 —

Totally over this freaking cough! Apparently, I’m coughing so loudly that I’m waking my mother-in-law up and likely to wake up my father-in-law down the hall. Oops! I’m thinking the M&M’s in the trail mix tonight were a bad idea? At least I didn’t try doing the popcorn!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

#FiveFaves: Vacation Bible School Edition

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#5Faves

One

Getting to help with VBS. I seriously love Vacation Bible School and am super excited that I get to help with it this week! We have a Lego theme this year and are creating the whole curriculum from scratch. I’m a music person and have enjoyed being silly with my kids. The first two songs they asked for today (the Hippo Song and the Penguin Song) are the two most likely to cause me vertigo. Oh well!

Two

Robitussin. I’m dealing with serious allergy issues and have been taking shots of Robitussin to deal with the crud in my throat and chest. Today I was contending with my voice being almost gone from all the junk dripping out of my sinuses.

Three

My parish. They found someone to go one-on-one with Daniel for VBS and they’ve been telling me how happy they are to finally meet him. *melts* They also *REALLY* love their kids, so much so that they put youth ministry as a priority and fundraise for their young adults to make voyages to the Holy Land.

Four

Our VBS chef. She had no idea that she was signing up for dinner + snack every night and she has managed to make some of the most interesting and creative things for us. We’ve had taco bags (I know them as “walking tacos”), build-your-own salads (there were kids actually eating their vegetables!), jello lego bricks, and build-your-own trail mix. I’ve heard about kids asking their parents to make them the food that she’s putting together for VBS and I think that’s definitely a good sign.

Five

My music team. I’m working with three other people on music (I’m not the lead person) and it has been absolutely wonderful to get to collaborate with all of them. All of them are creative people, which is good considering that we’ve had to improvise on a lot this week as two of us (the two who are doing most of the teaching) have less of our normal voices than we’d like. The kiddos are responding well and we’re all playing off each other in good ways.

Go love up Jenna and the others.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 29, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY June 29, 2015

Outside my window… dark. It was hot and humid today, humid enough that we were getting drops of water from condensation. I haven’t been in humidity like this since I lived in Ohio!

I am thinking… about plans for tomorrow and everything going on, especially getting my rental car if I can.

I am thankful… that we had a good first night of VBS and that Daniel gets to come with me tomorrow.

In the kitchen… we had pizza and build-your-own salad tonight at VBS. Tomorrow will be walking tacos and fruit kebabs.

I am wearing… my Momcat shirt and capri sweats.

I am praying for… a call for Jon, for my friend Krystin’s baby to be released from the NICU, for Krystin’s healing after emergency surgery, and for a bunch of special intentions. Oh yes… also for VBS to go well for Daniel.

I am going… to physical therapy tomorrow.

I am wondering… if I’ll have my rental car by tomorrow. (I kind of need it PDQ for VBS.)

I am reading… Ming Tea Murder by Laura Childs. I just finished up the Classic Diner Mystery Series by Jessica Beck.

I am hoping… I sleep OK tonight with all the congestion in my face!

I am looking forward to… singing with the kiddos at VBS.

I am hearing… various silly songs I’m checking out for VBS tomorrow.

Crocheting… Daniel’s big boy blankie and the amigurumi stuffed animal for my friend.

Around the house… silence. I’m loving it.

A favorite quote for today… “”When I pray for another person, I am praying for God to open my eyes so that I can see that person as God does, and then enter into the stream of love that God already directs toward that person.” — Philip Yancey

One of my favorite things… my kids laughing and getting silly.

A few plans for the rest of the week: VBS every night, PT tomorrow morning, and a special lunch on Saturday.

A peek into my day… One of the songs we did with the kids!

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

7 Quick Takes: Seriously Wanting Friday to Come Soon!

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Sadness. We had to put my in-laws’ cat Nicholas to sleep today. We brought him into the vet for what we thought would be an antibiotic shot and they found a tumor in his abdomen. Given that he had lost something like 2 lbs in the last month and was very noticably in pain, it was actually not a hard decision. I am sad for my in-laws though and we seem to lose at least 1 cat per year and the rest of the cats in the house are relatively young — I think the oldest one now is maybe 13 years old and the second oldest is 12 with the rest being between the ages of 6-8. (Nick was 15.5 years old.)

— 2 —

Seriously?!?!?!?!? We were leaving the $tarbux parking lot today when my battery light flashed on and I couldn’t restart the car. Daniel commenced having a meltdown as I tried to find a tow truck company that we could afford. (Thankfully, my auto insurance comes with Roadside Assistance so we didn’t have to mortgage anything to get towed to my mechanic.) Jon came and got Daniel and I settled in to wait for the towing company. Apparently, I was blocking the way for a delivery driver because he told me he was going to give me a push aside. Well, I was suddenly in the bushes in the parking lot of the Chevron station next door. The delivery driver didn’t speak much English and I had to tell him to leave me alone to keep him from pushing me out and messing my bumper up more. Thankfully, I managed to get the information off of his truck while he was making deliveries so my insurance company is pursuing the claim and I will have a rental car while they fix mine. (I’m pretty sure the underside of my car has some damage as a result of the push and my bumper has a new dent.) Not the best day by far!

— 3 —

A good reason for the rules prohibiting the marriage of two people if one (or both) are intoxicated. A few people here know that my husband is a pastor who performs weddings as a way of paying the bills. When I saw this article, I had to send it to him. I don’t think either the bride or groom was intoxicated while the wedding was performed but they sure were after! It’s probably not a good thing to leave your wedding in police-issued handcuffs or in an ambulance to the hospital with alcohol poisoning.

— 4 —

Joy joy joy! My in-laws have been singing “I’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy” to Daniel every day to teach him about God (because his mother totally doesn’t listen to *ANY* Christian music in the car EVER) and a few days ago, he said “joy joy joy!” so they sang to him. He now requests the song every day and I told him that we would sing it at VBS next week… which led to him starting to sing it (or at least try). It was seriously cute but that’s normal for my seriously cute boy.

— 5 —

Daniel and VBS. At the VBS meeting on Monday, I asked my priest if there was any way that Daniel could attend because we’d need someone to shadow him and I didn’t know if we had enough people. It turns out that one of the dads can do it… and the woman running VBS is also willing to have him be her “helper” if need be. (Daniel likes to help.) I also have some church members who are former special ed teachers who will be there and others who are totally excited about finally meeting Daniel. (He goes to a church closer to the house for Sunday school because my mother-in-law is the one who takes him most of the time.) I am so thankful to be part of a church which really wants to make it so that EVERYONE can participate and has clergy who absolutely love my kiddo.

— 6 —

We are family. Some of Jon’s relatives on his dad’s side are in town for a wedding this weekend (including his aunt who reads my blog — HI AUNT JANICE!!!!! *waves*) so we all had lunch on Wednesday. It was the first time meeting a couple of them for Daniel and the first time seeing others in a few years. He came home to a house with 10 people when he got off the bus and he did extremely well at eating at the table (better than many adults) and he was pretty calm the whole time. He did love it when we sang “I’ve Got the Joy Joy Joy” to him and started banging the table in rhythm.

— 7 —

Prayer request. If you could pray for a special intention for Jon and me, I would greatly appreciate it. Please and thank you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

7 Quick Takes: More on Water Restrictions, House Fires, and Hobbes’ Adventures in Tampa

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a7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Apparently, the rich are different. For those who came back this week after my snarky post on the drought and water restrictions, I have a somewhat funny story for you: after Gov. Jerry Brown (all hail!) called for serious water restrictions, usage in the rich enclave of Rancho Santa Fe actually went *UP*. The reason: residents are of the opinion that “we’re not all equal when it comes to water.” I find it funny in a “you can’t make this up” way, not in a humorous way. The joke is on them, however, because serious water restrictions will be enforced on them starting on July 1st. I think I’ll have to grab a cooler, some snacks from Trader Joe’s, an iced vanilla latté, and go watch peoples’ heads explode when they realize how much water they have to cut that day. And because I’m going to have to turn in my liberal ID card if I don’t post this [/sarcasm], here’s an opinion on this from the Daily Kos.

— 2 —

Excuse me while I puke. Rick Santorum used the shooting in Charleston to try and score some political points. I’ve heard a few people excuse it saying that he was speaking broadly about assaults on religious liberty in this country but I’m not buying it unless he wants to add on shootings at a Sikh temple and a mosque onto it. Besides, the gunman very clearly made statements to the people in the church about how it was aimed toward them as African-Americans.

Seriously, co-opting this to score “religious liberty” points sickens me. It’s highly inappropriate and it devalues the deaths to the family members.

— 3 —

Hot weather food. As I’m sitting here eating my sushi from Trader Joe’s because it’s too hot to cook, I’m wondering what y’all do for “hot weather food”. Mind sharing in the comments? Please and thank you. 🙂

— 4 —

Hobbes tours Tampa’s airport without Calvin. A boy accidentally left his stuffed tiger at the Tampa airport and the airport staff took it on an adventure.

— 5 —

I swear that I am not making this up. Last Monday, a house around the corner from my parents caught on fire and when I was googling the link to send to my in-laws, I found this story. The title (“No Joke: Doctors, Realtor, Pastor Go For a Run, Extinguish House Fire”) sounds like the opening to a joke but it’s legit.

— 6 —

Because I am a COPS junkie! During that house fire in my parents’ neighborhood, various streets were blocked off (including the entrance to ours) due to the fire trucks present and this meant that people couldn’t get between two major streets. (The street with the fire goes between them and a lot of people take it at warp speed to shave off a few minutes. It’s why there are a ton of traffic cameras and speed traps on it, considering that it’s a pretty quiet residential street otherwise.) Anyway, a woman tried to shoot between two fire trucks and got pulled over. She then decided to argue with the cop. My mom was standing on the corner with some neighbors watching the fire and happened to catch this exchange and she told me that said cop took his sweet time running all of her information and getting back to her. I’m kind of bummed to have missed it because I would probably have been sitting there with some granola (it apparently took place around 8 a.m.) and watched the drama unfold. Then again, it’s probably better that I wasn’t there because Daniel would have been with me and both of our lungs would have been pretty irritated by the smoke. (We took a walk after the fire was out and I realized halfway through that I needed my inhaler pretty badly… because I have absolutely no common sense. Mr. Preemie Reactive Airway, thankfully, was fine)

— 7 —

Prayer request. Could you please pray for a special intention? Please and thank you!

For more Quick Takes, visit Kelly at This Ain’t The Lyceum.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 14, 2015

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY June 14, 2015

Outside my window… dark. It was foggy this morning and got up to 84F this afternoon which is not too bad.

I am thinking… that the takeaway messages from my church’s VBS later this month are going to be that God created hippos and penguins drink tea.

I am thankful… for the awesome food at the Practice the Tithe picnic today.

In the kitchen… leftover brisket that was thawed out.

I am wearing… charcoal v-neck from Old Navy and black capri sweats from Target.

I am praying for… many many things.

I am going… to the dentist with Daniel tomorrow. Denti-Cal is refusing to just give me a peds dental consult for Daniel so we have to see a regular dentist first. I’m really not thinking this will end well.

I am wondering… if I have a sinus infection or if this is just allergies.

I am reading… A Chili Death by Jessica Beck. Vanishing Grace by Philip Yancey is still on hold.

I am hoping… to sleep well tonight because I have to get up at 6:40 tomorrow morning to get Daniel off to ESY.

I am looking forward to… my massage and TENS machine time on Tuesday.

I am hearing… stuff from Mission Bible Class that I’m doing for VBS.

Crocheting… all the same stuff as before — Daniel’s big boy blankie and an amugurumi stuffie for a friend’s baby.

Around the house… silence as everyone else is asleep.

A favorite quote for today… “Prayer is not a means of removing the unknown and predictable elements in life, but rather a way of including the unknown and unpredictable in the outworking of the grace of God in our lives.” — Philip Yancey

One of my favorite things… Vacation Bible School. I’ve missed helping with it. (It’s been 8 years since the last time I got to help.)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Daniel’s dentist appointment and ESY on Monday, PT on Tuesday, whatever errands come up the rest of the week, and possibly dinner with my parents on Saturday night.

A peek into my day… Here’s the rainbow that came with the apocalyptic storm that welcomed me back to southern California last week.

The rainbow that welcomed me home.

Hosted by The Simple Woman.

#FiveFaves: Miscellanea (XXXVI)

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#5Faves

One

Jenna. For those who don’t know Mary Lenaburg, she lost her 22 year old daughter Courtney at the end of December after 22 years of taking care of her through daily seizures and other medical issues. Jenna sent this to her.

Two

Trader Joe’s Greek Yogurt Spinach-Kale Dip. This stuff is freaking awesome! I love it for dinner with carrot sticks on hot days. It also works well on a baked potato when someone in your house has consumed all the regular Greek yogurt you bought. (Not that this happened this past week or anything…)

Three

This graduation video. My class was so bad during graduation that subsequent classes were required to come in their pretty clothes and only allowed to put robes on AFTER they were searched! I wish we had done something like this instead.

Four

My priest. At Bible studies with new people, she introduces me as follows: “This is Jen. She’s a Lutheran pastor’s wife but we claim her.” Adding onto that, Jon was supplying at the Lutheran church across the street from my Episcopal church and I went over after my worship ended to catch part of his. I stayed for about 3 minutes at coffee hour (known as the third sacrament for Lutherans) which led my priest to tease the pastor of the Lutheran church about her indignation that “[HER] Lutheran went to [HIS] coffee hour.” I love her.

Five

Jessica Beck’s writing. I fell hard for her Donut Shop mysteries… and enjoyed a donut for the first time in years while finishing the last one. I was less than enthused about the donut (too sweet) but her books are fabulous. I’m starting her Diner series next.

Go love up Jenna and the others.