News as of June 4th 2008
Hello! It has been a long time since I’ve shared with you all. Thanks to Charles for filling in for me and he is now really busy working on his paper for school which is due around the middle of June. End of semester crunch and exams was a hectic time and the good news is that I survived. I haven’t heard from all of the instructors yet, but I’m expecting B’s this time. I know that is a slip from my usual standards but I think it might be healthy. I wasn’t nearly as stressed this semester as I was in the Fall, so, yeah that is more healthy. I still want A’s though.
I even did well with Preaching (it’s a pass/fail course so there’s no grade to report). I did it and everybody said nice things. I get to practice preaching for real three times this summer. I keep telling myself—deep breaths. I’ve already snuck into the sanctuary and stood in the pulpit just to get a feel for it—deep breaths. I preach on June 29th, July 13th and August 4th if you are in Atlanta, look up Emory. Otherwise pray for me.
Speaking of this summer, I’ve started my internship at Emory Presbyterian here in Atlanta. It promises to be quite an experience and fun too. I am already working on the Youth Retreat (Jr. High) which is next week. My responsibility it to bring these young people a word of wisdom about faith. So we’re going to talk about Faith Journeys, Our Body-the Temple, Courage, Servant Leadership and Commitment. Fortunately, I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel; we’re using a series called “Claim the Life.”
S & B are set for an awesome summer break. We have a friend looking after them while Charles and I are both at work. Her sons are friends with S & B, so they are all entertaining each other. Summer camps with the school, the city recreation department and scouts are all scheduled. Technology camp with the school is next week (while I’m with the Youth). Interesting enough—except for their respective scout camps they are going to the same camps. That makes it easier to get them where they’re going and to coordinate childcare. Then, of course the outings to the Zoo, the Botanical Gardens and Stone Mountain are planned. They almost got all those trips in the first week. (There wasn’t any parking at the Botanical Garden when we arrived) Swimming when we can fit it in and catching fireflies are on the agenda too.
On the fish front, Charles did the deed of culling the 2 boys to stop the over population of the tank. Sad day for all concerned and now the two mother fish hide whenever they see him. In fact they spend most of their days hiding now so it just goes to prove that a fish’s memory lasts for more than 5 seconds.
We all have bicycles now as Charles was able to find one at a local pawn shop. Just so that you don’t think he’s his hawking our stuff to pay for seminary, he found out about the bicycle from our neighbor Michael who was looking for his stuff that had been stolen from his apartment in the village. Yes, we have the usual crime issues here and in this case they hit through the back door while his wife went away for lunch. Since that happening, Charles has purchased locks for our computers and we are being more cautious about leaving the back gate unlocked.
Lot’s of graduates packing up over the past few weeks and we did our share of helping to load. Michael’s & Lisa left for a call inTennessee, Wendy and her kids moved a mile down the road, Rob & Karen who are both graduates left on a nationwide road trip. Now we are seeing new faces coming in and looking forward to a full community. So far we have not been collared for unloading.
Kids & I had a nice trip to Ohio and it was good to catch up with family. Enjoyed plenty of food on Memorial day and I do mean plenty, then the next day we caught a flight back to Atlanta where our chauffeur (Charles) was waiting to meet us at the train station.
There will be a trip to Charlotte in late August (after school starts) for sure and I hope to squeeze another one in too. I will probably fly to Ohio to see my grandmother in July for her birthday—Lord willing.
Speaking of traveling, Charles had an event free trip back to the family in Scotland and was able to enjoy his fish and chips three nights in a row. The christening went as planned and it was nice for him to catch up with relatives he had not seen for years. In fact he saw a first cousin that he had not seen since the 70’s. He also got to see the celebration of the Ford Car (American) 100 years as a parade of them drove through Edinburgh. So you see he flew all the way back to Scotland to witness a celebration of America. Weather wise, he advised that the only day it rained was Saturday, so he had an amazing 3 days of sunshine. I am beginning to dispute all those stories he told me about growing up in the rain.
Charles received good news this week from his work. They are going to let him work from home one day a week for the summer. That’s pretty cool not to have to get up, dress for work and hustle to the train station at the crack of dawn.
Well, that’s our summer plans. I hope yours are as exciting and fun. Please remember us in your prayers and we appreciate all your encouragement as well.
God bless,
Diane J