Full Swing Summer

The fact that we are about halfway through summer already seems ridiculous to me. Why is it that the summer (my favorite season) seems to fly by while winter (my least favorite season) drags on and on? It's now less than a month until my big birthday. I think I'm starting to dread it less because I'm making lots of fun plans and I've been practicing saying that I'll be 30, to get used to the idea. (I know, it's not old, but it's a big deal for me.)

Some of the things going on at church this summer have been the annual picnic, a trip to Six Flags with the youth group, the start of our summer surf movie series, and (going on this week) Vacation Bible School. This is the first time this congregation has ever held VBS so it's been a learning experience, but it seems to be going pretty well so far. The general atmosphere of the congregation seems to be more positive than it was over the winter, which is good. Realistically, it's probably at least in part due to the season (who doesn't like warm weather when they live at the shore?), and the fact that there are more people around in the congregation, and people are generally more distracted with summer visitors and activities. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

My parents came for a visit last week, it was nice to have them here. And my mom helped me paint my bathrooms, so it was pretty exciting to get that accomplished. One more step completed in the transformation of the bathrooms. I got new towel rods that I plan to put up this week. That will be it for the guest bath, but in the master bathroom I still want to paint the vanity and medicine cabinet, and change the decor theme with new curtains and towels, and some new wall hangings. I hope to finish this all by the end of the summer. I also plan to continue doing lots of reading on the beach.

New Life

Well I made it through my first Holy Week as a pastor. It was tiring and a little stressful at times, but there were also moments, usually during worship, where I was still able to focus on the meaning of the days. My parents were here for a long weekend and though I was working for a lot of it, I was grateful for some family time to distract me.
In my sermon(s) on Sunday, I asked the people where they are seeing resurrection and new life in their lives and in the world and others around them. Often, the words that God gives me are ones I need to hear probably just as much as the people I preach to. So I am trying to look for new life as well. Even though I've had uncomfortable moments and frustrations with some people lately, I've also noticed there are people who have been making extra efforts at being positive and supportive. These are people showing me new life. Today I was able to take a day off to recover from all the extra work of last week, and it was a great day. I treated myself to breakfast out, did a little shopping, stopped for a quick visit with a friend and did plenty of relaxing. I saw new life today. I am hoping this day refreshed me enough to work hard the rest of this week, to get ready for vacation next week!
Where do you see new life?

Tough Week

This week started off bad and got a lot worse before it got better. I caught a cold toward the end of last week, so I was feeling pretty crappy on Sunday and hoping and praying that I would start to feel better soon since my marathon was only a week away. Then Sunday afternoon I got a call that my mom had broken her hip. Thanks be to God that the orthopedic surgeon was in the hospital where they took her (he works in a few) and was able to take her in pretty much right away to surgery. He inserted a rod into her bone, and she spent a few days on a recovery floor. I came home Monday to help take care of my dad (my mom is basically his caretaker) and be with my mom. Mid-week I took my dad to stay with my aunt for a while, and my mom was moved to the rehab floor. She is progressing very well and they say she will likely be able to come home next week. I plan to stay home until the end of next week to help her with the transition home. I am so thankful that she is doing well, but I know she has a long recovery ahead. And I'm thankful to my aunt who will probably have to care for my dad for the next couple weeks at least. I am hoping my mom will be doing well enough for him to be able to come home sometime in mid-December maybe. We will have to celebrate Thanksgiving separately - my mom and I here, my dad in Ohio - but hopefully we will be able to be back together at home for Christmas.
I am still planning to head to Philly just for this weekend to run my marathon. I have put so much time and effort into training that my mom and I would both be disappointed if I didn't run it. Now that it's so close, I'm nervous! Prayers are appreciated for my mom, and dad, and for my running and traveling this weekend.

Call me crazy!

I love to run. I think it's in my blood. My dad enjoyed running when he was younger, and I remember him competing in quite a few 5 and 10Ks when I was a kid. I entered my first race in sixth grade and caught the running bug. I was on the cross country team for a few years in high school, and was never in the front of the pack, but I did ok, and I enjoyed it. I didn't run on the team in college (even though the coach tried to talk me into it), but I still kept up with running on my own and occasionally with friends. And I've continued that in the years since college. Running helps me stay healthy, challenges me, gives me an outlet for my frustrations. And this introvert appreciates that it can be a group or an individual activity. I love running with friends, especially those who push me a little harder than I would. But sometimes I just like to go out by myself, so its just me and the road/trail and my music or thoughts or sometimes even prayers. Lately I've been feeling motivated to challenge myself a bit more. Since starting seminary, I've run the half-marathon (13.1 miles) in Philly twice. This weekend I'll run the Broad Street 10-mile run with 30,000 people. And... I have officially registered for my first full marathon. That's 26.2 miles. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I decided I have the time to train, I've run more this month than I ever have, and I want to do this before I turn 30. And I might be crazy, because not only did I register for one, but I registered for TWO marathons. I've got friends running both, and they're spaced a good amount of time apart so that I'll have time to recover from the first but still maintain my training. So I'll be running my first marathon in Akron, Ohio in September, and my second in Philly in November. I'm excited. I'm scared. I may be crazy.

Mother-Daughter Time

I haven't posted in quite a while, but there's not too much to update you on. I did get to go home for a week of vacation at the end of May, which was wonderful. I was able to relax and spend time with my family and friends. I actually enjoyed spending a few days in my hometown (though it's not a place I would want to move back to), and I got to spend some time at camp (Lutherlyn) with Mandy, and had my first kayaking experience (on a lake, nothing too intense). After that it was back to the grind at my internship. June was spent doing most of the regular stuff I've been doing, in addition to some activities at the church wrapping up for the summer. And now we're in the middle of Vacation Bible School, which is both a lot of work and fun. Luckily for me, my part is more fun than work. :) Now that July is here, I only have a month and a half left of my internship, so I'm working on doing all the writing that comes with the end of the year (evaluation, project report, candidacy approval essay).

I did have a nice little break this past weekend, because my mom came to visit. My dad hasn't been doing great health-wise lately, so he didn't feel up to coming. So we had some nice mother-daughter time, just the two of us. She got here Friday afternoon, and left Tuesday morning. I did have to do some work while she was here (Sunday and Monday, naturally), but I was holding down the fort last week while my supervisor was on vacation, so he let me go a little light on the work while she was here. We mostly relaxed, went out to eat a couple times, and went to the beach. June was a rather rainy month here at the shore, so over the weekend was actually the first time the weather was consistently nice and I could actually go to the beach. It was pretty nice almost the whole time she was here (and now today the rain is back). I'm glad we got some good beach time in, and I'm sure my mom was too. And I'm glad she made the long drive out here so we could spend some time together.

Word to MY mother... and father

The title of this post is in recognition of the fact that I am a child of the 80's (and can still remember almost all the words to "Ice Ice Baby") and I wanted to give a shout out (respect) to my parents. (According to urbandictionary.com "word to your mother" as a phrase can mean both "I agree with you" or "I give respect to your mother/motherland".) Anyway, my parents pretty much rock. In the past few weeks I have received three packages from them containing various Steelers-related items (a new Terrible Towel, a copy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from the day after the Super Bowl and a Super Bowl Champions t-shirt). I also received two Valentines Day cards from them (one from both, one just from my mom... it's a mother-daughter thing, we always try to make each other cry, haha). Generally I avoid recognition of Valentines Day (or as I like to call it: Single Awareness Day), but it's ALWAYS nice to be reminded that my parents love me. Now don't get me wrong, I don't just appreciate when they send me stuff. I just wanted to acknowledge my appreciation because I know they're not rollin' in the dough. I know that I would not be who I am and where I am today without the love and support of my parents. My relationship with them isn't without its flaws and arguments, but I am blessed to have them in my life. My mom is probably the most selfless person I know and my dad has taught me the value of hard work. (I know you'll read this mom, so thank you - and dad too - for always being there for me and for everything you've done for me. I love you!) Ok, now on to other stuff, before I start to cry!

On an unrelated note: my friend Katy is having a giveaway on her blog of some dishcloths she knitted. All you have to do is comment on the post to have a chance to win. She loves reading comments. :) And while we're at it, I would love it if people would comment on my posts too! It doesn't have to necessarily be related to what I wrote, it would just be nice to see who is stopping by. Thank you to those of you who already do leave comments, and especially to all the wonderful welcomes from the RevGalBlogPals ladies!