Nothing New, Except . . .

I have talked a lot about spiritual identity lately. Often I feel a little bit like a freshwater fish in a saltwater pool. I really think this is mainly my presuppositions about what church or my life ought to be like. Truth is, I feel more at home (and have stated that many times on this very blog) now that I have joined with the United Methodist Church and moved to Florida. But the working out of "home" still has its difficulties. Maybe it is more the horror of growing up rather than the trauma of denominational/spiritual/philosophical life changes.

Anyway, so Thursday I had another meeting with my candidacy support group--those four of us who have started the ordination process together. I find these meetings valuable, but I must admit that part of me is dealing with a major struggle that has to do with identity again. We had to take this ministry personality profile and my highest were "Musician," "Scholar," and "Teacher." I have always been an academic person. I find great joy in the tedium of learning something new (and finding ways to impart it to others). I find that I am making excuses for this trait again, much like I might have in high school or undergraduate school. I feel on some subconscious level that I need to change who I am to fit the group better and that really is not the point of this process. I guess I do not really want to be the teacher's pet, but I am taking this process very seriously. There is no question for me whether or not I should do this anymore. Since most of my life has been filled with ministerial things, I have really just been waiting for the appropriate time to make it official. Now that I have found a fellowship that fits well, I am ready to get this thing done. Again, I am in need of more patience to deal with the process and allow it to deal with me. And I should probably stop over-analyzing myself or the group dynamic for that matter.

Friday, I actually got most of the day off for a change. Granted, I had to get several things ready for Elizabeth's 5th birthday party that night at the church. This meant that I had to go to Wal-Mart for the second time in two days. Thursday I had gone there to the optometrist and had to wait forever. I also saw my quota of short-bus riders for the quarter, but, again, I was at Wal-Mart. I mean, I actually saw one of the cashiers spill liquid detergent all over the scanner. How does one do that and live through it? I digress.

We decided more than a month ago that we would volunteer for the "Date Night" closest to Liz's birthday and commandeer the evening's regular festivities for a birthday party. So, we had a Disney princess bounce house, a playground, a room full of games, and 36 children to help "celebrate" Liz's big day. Of course, not every child was there for her big day, but she did not have to know that. She had a wonderful time with her friends, some cake, and some gifts. And now we will not have to volunteer to command the reins of the Date Night activity for another year.

Saturday, we took Elizabeth to Toys R Us and got her some fun things. I was very impressed that she did not feel a compulsion to buy every single thing in the store. Until her next meltdown, I will think she had matured. She also opened her gifts from Aunt Shannon, Mimi and Big Pa, and Aunt Jen and Uncle Lee.

Sunday was an unusual day. We had only one service and a special brunch to celebrate our ground breaking for the building the church plans to begin building this year. So, I got to sleep until almost 7:00 rather than getting up before 5:30. I was worried because we were doing some things different soundwise, but things went as they should have, there was a big crowd, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We were concerned it would rain, but thankfully, it did not. In fact, though the weather reports all said it would rain today, it never did. So before noon, we were all done and we had no evening activities so the rest of the day was mine. Sadly, we did not do anything exciting. Misty got a day to do nothing and I spent some time working through my Candidacy Guidebook.

Well, I guess that's about it. I am trying to figure out what to do with my Chinese money that I got from the IRS this past week. It will help pay for some bills and may have to go towards a new computer (my current one is about to go through my bedroom window). I am thinking of returning to the Mac cult after three years in the land of Windows. Please feel free to talk me out of it or not.