Strikes and Gutters

Strikes



The Global Mission Event
The GME is always a lot of fun and very inspirational, and this year was no exception. The music was fantastic, heard some excellent speakers, got to catch up with old friends and make some new friends (Sarah was my roommate for the event, and she and I were busy little bees, cross-pollinating the various circles of Lutherans in which we each live and move and have our being). And I won an iPod nano from Grace Matters. I never win anything, so I was really surprised when they called my name, and then I felt kinda stupid for entering the drawing, since I already have a regular sized iPod (which, ironically, I finally asked for last Christmas after failing to win the iPod from Grace Matters or LWR at several previous churchwide events). But, I will share the love and pass it on to a worthy friend.



Facebook
I finally submitted to the peer pressure and signed myself up on facebook. I do have to say, I have been absolutely amazed at how many people I have reconnected with this past week - it has been really fun to get back in touch with friends from previous chapters of my life that I had lost track of over the years - each time I open the account, there's a new message or new posting from an old friend - it's felt kinda like Christmas in July. And I'm digging the Scrabulous application, even though Melissa is totally creaming me in our current game.

Friday Night Jam Session
I went over to Breen and Patrick's Friday night to help them make and can blueberry jam. Having already made a stainy red mess of myself a few weeks ago when helping to can cherries, I had the foresight to ask

"Am I going to look like I murdered a Smurf when all is said and done?"
"Probably."
"Ok, I'll dress appropriately."

It was a lot of fun, and my blue shirt was no worse for the wear this time around.

Target
Ok, I know this is total idolatry, but praise be the gods of commerce, there is now a Target open within twenty minutes of where I live. Target is as ubiquitous in MN as Starbucks is in Seattle, but in central PA they are few and far between. Previously I had to drive over an hour to get to any of the nearest stores, which my eco-conscious self couldn't justify doing for just a few items. This has meant I've had to break my long-standing Wal-Mart boycott several times since moving here - I've gotten rather creative to keep it going, but sometimes it was the only place that was open and had what I needed in an emergency. But with this new Target opening by the Lycoming Mall, and another one soon to be open on the way to Breen and Patrick's, the Wal-Mart boycott is completely and officially back on!

Gutters

Oversleeping (almost)
My biggest anxiety dreams are always worship related - most often about my sermon, sometimes about other aspects of worship, and sometimes about sleeping through worship. Today I nearly made that last one come true - I completely forgot to set an alarm when I went to bed last night. Normally I set three just to be safe (this would be another one of those things I'm a little OCD about) - the first one is to wake me up, the second is in case I accidentally turn the first one off trying to hit the snooze button (I am notorious for that), and the third one runs on a battery in case the power goes out in the middle of Saturday night (which has actually happened a couple of times). Last night I forgot to set any of them, and I woke up on my own at ten of nine - worship is at 9:30 and it takes me 15 minutes to get to church. So after beginning the Lord's day with a string of expletives not suitable for reprint, I got ready in record time and made it to church with 5 minutes to spare. Like I say, I'm kind of OCD about my Sunday morning ritual, I feel too rushed on the rare days that I'm pulling into the parking lot at 9, so this totally threw me for a loop. I'm grateful that it wasn't any worse, that I did wake up when I did and make it by the skin of my teeth, but my whole day has felt out of whack as a result.

And on top of that, I've got a case of

Writer's Block
I have not been happy with my last two sermons. And the stupid thing is, it's not for being at a loss for material - in my head I've known exactly what I've wanted to say, in my heart I've known exactly what I felt called to preach, but I've been completely tongue-tied when it comes to communicating it to my congregation. I had four false starts on my sermon yesterday, two of which I got 3/4 of the way through the sermon before I realized the approach I was taking was just meandering around the subject and wasn't going to get my point across. I'm hoping I break out of it soon, but I'm a little nervous about this coming Sunday, because once again I've already got a pretty clear idea of what I feel called to preach. Maybe I'm thinking about it too much. . .

So that's the news from PA this week. Thanks for stopping by to read it.

C.