Rising Star

My little girl won the "Rising Star" award last night at the 4-H banquet. I could have told anyone that asked that she is a star. She was one of the best speakers last night because of something that the church does every month.

The second Sunday of every month, the children run the entire worship service except for the sermon itself (and trust me if one wants to do the sermon I will let them). The kids are invested in the worship service and they learn how to speak in public (and behave). It might not work at a large church (although I'm not sure about that). It isn't some slick production but they do a great job. And then we all go in for our monthly fellowship meal.

We had a new boy at our Kidz Day Out program today. He was the cutest thing (another two year old). This month we did not try to plan every single minute of the day but, rather, we just let it flow and it was so much more relaxed. And they said, "you can't teach old dogs new tricks". We did learn from last month. Lily, the border collie, was a big hit again this month. She is a great distraction. I, however, am exhausted and still have Bible Study tonight. Tomorrow I am writing all day and then spending the evening at a football game.

Ryss is cheering and playing in the band. She plays the oboe during concert season and the bass drum during marching season. So tomorrow I get to watch her march, with the bass drum, in her cheerleading outfit. Should be amusing. All of her friends grew six inches this past summer, but, alas, she did not. And is now the shortest person in her grade. Which means that she just had to play the biggest drum she could find. All you can see of her out on the field is her ankles.

I'm thinking about getting her a new violin for Christmas. She is now playing a 3/4 size violin and is ready for the full-size. I thought it would make a better gift than some I could think of. I don't know yet but her music teacher is selling one fairly inexpensively.

Oh, shoot. I forgot that I have to get my tire patched tomorrow. It has a slow leak and I have to keep getting it filled. That will cut into my writing time. Darn.

Ah the Joy!!

Last night I received a call from the head of my SPRC. She wanted to tell me what a wonderful job I had done with the funeral sermon. She said, "You captured the essence of Lillian and it meant alot to those of us who loved her." She, also, said, "I loved seeing you wear the clerical collar." (More Cows: It might not have helped with the irritation of not knowing where the breaker was located but it would have helped transcend all of the dirty looks for not knowing here the breaker was located at. I'm so excited - you will be the first one to add me to your feed. I feel so special. --- And Sue: I wore it more to remind my people of my role this time). I plan on buying some of the ladies shirts so that I don't have to tuck the shirt in. My belly is to big to tuck shirts in. I saw one in a magazine that is a tunic shirt - looks real comfy.


I went to bed last night and had sweet, sweet dreams. And woke up to a bad, bad smell. Apparently a skunk visited very close to the parsonage last night. I had to keep the dogs in because they were frantic to find it and become one with the smell (roll in it).


At this time, one week from now, I will be getting up and dressed in Houston, getting ready for my first day of school. I am so excited. I hope that I'm just as excited after the first day. Most of the books that I had to read in preparation for this course were leadership books with a couple of spiritual formation books thrown in for good measure. I have been using some of the techniques already and maybe that's why things are looking up at the church. (I had hoped to find a pulpit replacement so that I could leave early and get a good nights sleep but no luck. Everyone is busy.)


One of the things that I read in one book said that you needed to do everything by consensus. That might be a little further down the road for us. Do any of you use that as a leadership method? It seems like it would be hard.


This afternoon I meet with one of the 4-H Committee's (the one that I tried to stay off of). We are picking out and categorizing the gifts for this year's banquet. Absolutely hated the way that it was run last year so this year I made a spread sheet. It makes it much easier than thumbing through 40 sheets over and over and over again. I know a secret....... Ryss won a big award that she had to interview for. It really is hard keeping it from her. It's like Christmas all over again. She will be tickled pink - she has some kind of weird love for plaques. Doesn't care about trophies, or ribbons but loves plaques.



Good news - School superintendent just called me about the school board passing the resolution to allow 4-H events to be considered extracurricular school activities. It is a state law in Texas but still the resolution has to be passed every year. That just saved a whole bunch of kids unexcused absences this year. What is even more amazing - He called me at 7:59 a.m. He returned his own calls and called me before the start of a business day. Holy *&%^ batman. I'm not used to that kind of efficiency from the school.

UPDATE: The stretches have made a huge difference in my foot problems (plantar fasciitis). My right foot is getting a whole bunch better. My left still has some strides to go :) The high heels I wore yesterday almost killed me. One of the experts said that going barefoot is worse than wearing the cute little sandals. I don't know if I can break the habit of kicking off my shoes when I enter the house. I was raised not to wear shoes in the house (and sometimes not even outside). Whenever you enter my home, you are greeted with a pile of shoes by the front door. I am going to have to buy a new pair of athletic shoes. The side ripped out. Do you remember when shoes would last more than a few months?