And the winner is...

Ok so for my blog from Princeton Seminary, I'm going with "The Master of Divinity". I'm going to change the web address as well to www.brennainprinceton.blogspot.com. You can link to it from here and begin reading my new blog!

A Conundrum

So I have officially moved out of Mississippi and into a lovely dorm room at the lovely Princeton Theological Seminary. The name of my blog is Mississippi Queen. That just won't do. Suggestions for something more permanent?

And this bird you cannot change



Well this will probably be my last post from Mississippi. This year has come to an end. I've started the very sad goodbye process- first with the kids at the after-school program, then the kids in the youth group, and then with some roommates who won't be here when I leave.



This is tough.



I just reread my first blog which included a first impression of "pros" and "cons" of the area. Not much has changed- it's still wonderfully hot, the locals are still amazing (although still nosy), and I can't get enough jambalaya. Yet all that would be fine to leave behind if I could just take my friends and experiences with me. I'm struggling with the realization that my roommates, my fellow volunteers, the Teels, The Castlemans,Karen and Sean, Martha-Lee, all the kids at Andy's Club, Miss Ashley, all the kids at GLT, Mo, and even the congregation at Handsboro are not coming with me. And while I've done this enough to know that those holes will be filled by equally wonderful people, it still hurts every time.



I strongly believe in a transient ministry as modeled by Christ. However Christ brought his family (the disciples) with him and didn't seem to develop deep relationships with locals of the various areas. He offers no advice on what to do when those you've come to help have helped you and restored you more than you ever imagined possible.

I begin to understand why people spend years of their ministry in solitude on a hill in Europe somewhere.

I have been spending this week with First Church Boonton as they've been doing their mission week at Long Beach. There has been a much needed peace bestowed on this week by their being here, and certainly not because it's been a particularly smooth week for them. It has, however, been a good reminder for me of what I came from and what I'm returning to. I have also been able to see, through their work, the ripple effect our presence has had this year. Without my time here, they wouldn't have been able to help the family they've been working with this week.

I don't know, I wish I had really elegant, profound things to say. My life has been change completely and mostly for the better. I think mostly I've learned over and over that we have no control over anything and the best we can do is just love one another and have faith that somebody up there's looking out for us.

I want to thank everyone that's reading for their support and encouragement this year. It's meant so much to me. Please look for my first blog installment from Princeton coming next week!

Some things I'm thinking about today...

With 11 days left on the Coast, I'm doing really well with the packing stuff. I've sent stuff home with parents and am getting ready to ship some more things today. This may be the first time in my life I'm not throwing things willy nilly into my backseat hours before driving home. I'm very proud of myself.

I'm excited that my trip home is going to be bookended by parties. I'm having a "packing party" here before I leave and I'll be greeted with a party at home when I get back. Very nice.

In two weeks I will be 23 years old. Sometimes this feels very old and sometimes very young.

This past weekend I had one of the top 48 hour periods of my life. Friday included, a Gator/Swamp Tour with Cajun music, a BBQ, Cajun dancing, and a horrible cover band. Saturday, not to be outdone by Friday, included Waffle House, Tattoos, coffee and frisbee, and a carnival with pirates and pig racing.

First Church Boonton will be here in 3 days! I'm very excited to show off my "home" away from home and to see my church family. I'm praying that everything goes smoothly and that it's not too hot here, but that might be asking alot.

Lastly, I'm thinking of something Michael Moore said on The View today. If you are not familiar with Moore, he's the controversial documentary director of Bowling for Columbine and Farenheit 911. He's also written alot of books like Stupid White Men and Dude, Where's My Country. I think he's great but I know that's not everyone's opinion. His new movie, Sicko, looks at the health care system in our country as opposed to other nations. The trailer notes that we are ranked #37 in the World, right above Slovania. This is all beside the point though. Mostly I liked that he compared Socialism with Christianity, pointing out that Jesus said we should what we have with those less fortunate, that we should take care of the poor and hungry, giving up our own material possessions. I like this because I myself believe in Socialism because I think it's Christian. This tends to ruffle some feathers in our nation (which, in fact was created on and continues to refer to Christian principles) because "Communism has never succeeded". To that, I say, it has never been accurrately tried, and I would add, Capitalism has never been accurrately tried since there has always been racial/gender issues preventing it's actual practice- the harder you work the more you will gain. How do we place a value on women making sneakers for pennies a day, 15 hours a day vs. the CEO of Nike working in an office and going golfing with business associates? Both work equally hard, yet only one makes the millions of dollars that CEO does.

Anyway, I digress.

Mostly, I like to see a Christian Liberal on television quoting Jesus. It makes me feel less alone in the World. Furthermore, while Moore was talking about healthcare specifically, the principle can be applied anywhere. There's alot of frivolity here next door to a lot of poverty. I think there must be a way to equalize the two. Maybe not to make everyone live in the same exact house, but at least to get everyone to a livable condition.

I know there are some things I could be giving up for the cause, but am afraid to let go of. What are you holding on to?

Turning the Page: Reflections on Montreat

Sometimes there are moments in life that catch you completely off guard. These may be awful- car accidents, illness, breakups- or wonderful- winning the lottery, seeing your favorite movie in a marathon on TBS, or falling in love. Last week definitely fell into the latter category.

Two weeks ago, I was ready to go home. Why don’t I go home and give myself a break, I thought. Things are pretty much wrapped up. I resolved to stay mostly because of a promise I had made to chaperone a youth conference in Montreat. Granted, I was greatly looking forward to it but not for any of the right reasons. I thought it would be a great networking opportunity, time to relax in the mountains of North Carolina, and maybe a chance to pass on my vast experience with life and faith to some young, naïve high schoolers.

I guess the week was all these things but it held so much more than I expected as well. For instance, in understanding and reflecting on the theme of the week, “Turning the Page”, I was able to come to some closure about leaving the Coast. My story here is done and I need to leave to make room for others to finish the stories I’ve started here.

I also was able to see our denomination working and operating in a healthy way. Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen power and politics corrupt the Presbytery of Mississippi, Handsboro Presbyterian Church and the Gulf Coast Mission/Young Adult Volunteer program. Because it seems like no one is listening to residents on the Coast as they cry out to our government, those frustrations have been turned inward. Until I got away, I don’t think I was able to accurately see how this chaos has affected me. I have become angry, cynical and judgmental, to the point where I was criticizing the projection people at Montreat for writing breathe not breath in one of the song’s lyrics. Yes, I realized, it’s time to step back and take a breathe.

This is certainly not to say the year has been bad for me. It has been amazing, affirming and life-giving, but the effects of disaster work are real and deep and it is certainly not work that can be sustained forever.

Equally amazing, were the relationships I created with some of the kids in my group. Some of the highlights:
- Dancing our butts off for morning warm-ups
- Good, long, intense talks
- Climbing a mountain
- Pirate Tattoos (shout out to Blue Beard, Scurv, and Gimpy)
- Shaving Cream Wars
- Rock Hopping
- Chicken Pot Pie and a Coke
- The Mellon, The Limo, The Microwave, The Toaster, The 1491, The Pineapple, The Tuxedo, The Podiatrist (please ask for demonstrations the next time you see me)
- “Red Banding” while cracking up at the same time
- Car games
- Egyptian Rat Screw
- Creepy, Awkward, Collar Pull
- Bears in elevators

I don’t know if those kids will read this, but if they do- Thanks Guys. I had a blast and my tummy still hurts from laughing. Hopefully I gave you even half of what you gave me.

So, yes, life is full of surprises. I feel much better equipped to handle my leaving now and way more affirmed in my desires for/gifts in youth ministry. Thanks too, to First Church Boonton for making it happen.

I'll leave you know with a game Linda and I came up with after leaving a baby shower for our friend, Sarah this Sunday. The game is called, "If I was 9 months pregnant in the Mississippi summer heat, what would I be doing?" Our answers so far include: sitting in a kiddie pool filled with ice in my underwear, movie hopping at the theater for the free air conditioning in my underwear, and laying on my bed in my underwear having my husband fan me with large palm branches. Any other suggestions?

The Trinity of Blogs: All separate, yet all the same

So I have three things to blog about and I'll just go in the order they happened. But please read to the end.

1. Reflections on children after the Andy's Club field trip to the Exploreum Science Museum in Mobile, AL.

Things I like about children:

How they smell like sunscreen upon arriving for a field trip
When they grab your hand unexpectedly
When they ask the tour guide smart questions that stump her
Seeing their faces when they're learning something
How they bring their friends to the program
Watching them make connections and "put the pieces together"
When they get excited about something new, like an IMAX movie
How they can be unexpectedly kind to one another
When they say thank you
When we sing and dance together in the car

Things I do not like about children:

Asking repeatedly for the same thing I have already said no to
Mystery rashes
When they shoplift
When they push each other
When they change their order at the last minute and refuse to drink what you got them
When they are mean to each other

For now, the good still outweighs the bad.

2. Who sings that song? I think it's the Bee Gees. No, it's AirSupply. (actually it's Chicago)

Erin and I took a road trip this weekend to her sister Carrie's house in Westminster, South Carolina. There was pool time, boating, laking, hiking, and eating. I also met Erin's nieces and nephews and had some great talks about things like pirates. This was a much needed break from work and time to relax.

On the way home we took our time hitting Atlanta and Montgomery on the way. In Atlanta, we saw the Margaret Mitchell Museum (she wrote Gone with the Wind). There was a lot about the book and a lot of movie memorabilia, including the original Tara doorway. For me, it was like a pilgrimage to Mecca. Probably not so much for Erin so I was glad she humored me and came. Everything was closed but we did get to see the outside of the Civil Rights Monument (recommended to anyone in the area), the State House, the first white house of the Confederacy, and the church where Dr. King preached and planned the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Then as we were leaving Montgomery, I learned about this...

3. Seriously?

My Dad had a major heart attack on Sunday night. He is fine and is home already, but it was really scary. He was in a lot of pain for a while and had to have a blockage cleared in his heart. The worst part is that we don't really know what caused it since he has fine blood pressure and cholesterol and hadn't really been stressed out that day.

I'm bouncing between being relieved that things weren't worse, wondering why all this stuff with my Dad is happening at the same time, and just wanting to go home. The wanting to go home is probably winning over at this point.

Coming up this week:

Another Andy's Club Field Trip (Will I or won't I have transportation? Oh the suspense)

I leave for Montreat, a national youth conference. I'm pumped and fully anticipate it being the time of my life.

Tell me something good

After the last, sort of downer blog, here's some good news:

http://www.sunherald.com/bslbridge/

The Bay St. Louis bridge, destroyed during the storm, is re-opening today. I'm on my way to the festivities.

The bridge connects Bay St. Louis with Pass Christian along highway 90, which runs along the beach. It's a big deal for two distinct reasons. Firstly and practically, it will cut alot of time off that trip. Secondly and sentimentally, it is a much needed sign of progress and rebuilding.

It’s my Fake Birthday Party and I’ll Cry if I Want to

The big news of this weekend was my birthday. Now, if you are confused because you thought my birthday was in July, I’ll explain. My birthday IS in July, but I won’t be here in MS to celebrate it so my roommates threw me a surprise birthday party this weekend. It was all staged very well and I had no idea it was coming, obviously, because my birthday is not for another month and a half. I was shocked for a minute coming in the door, and then I was crying- partly out of emotion, partly because I hadn’t showered that day and was in sweat shorts and a gross T-shirt. It was a great party, though, with lots of food and games and was followed with dancing (for which I showered and put on a pretty dress.) Thanks so much to everyone who helped plan this event!

Today is an interesting day of reflection for me. 3 years ago today my cousin and his family were killed in an accident in Colorado. 1 year ago today I graduated from Emerson College on a cold and rainy day with some words of wisdom from John Kerry. I’m not sure if I can say yet just how profound these two events have been in my life or how they have changed me. The news of the first event came suddenly while I was standing outside a Fuddrucker’s in Hershey, PA. It came somewhat in the middle of a year, which shook up all my notions of what was right and fair in the world. While this event certainly stands alone in my mind, I also can’t detach it from Ron’s death 7 months before or Owen’s life, which started two weeks after. 3 years later, I think what I have seen is the grace we’re given, grace that allows us to heal, create new life, rebuild, and get married without our best friend at our side.

The other event associated with this day was long awaited and very much expected. Since I had been officially out of school since December, though, I don’t know that I took the opportunity to really enjoy the day. Unfortunately, our society doesn’t really provide us the chance to celebrate this accomplishment, which while agreeably becoming more and more common is nonetheless still difficult. If I remember correctly, I had dinner with my family that night and got up and went to work the next morning. In 8 weeks I will start another phase of school. When I finish, I will have spent 21 years of my life in a classroom. I am having very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m very much just wanting to start a career, to feel settled. On the other, I strongly feel that there is so much good just in the education itself- in sharing ideas, in peaceful discussion, in opening our minds. Part of me feels like I could just go to school forever without ever having a career, and I don’t think that would be unpleasing to God (probably unpleasing to my savings account and to my parents, though). I guess I’m just hoping that I am in more of a position now, after a year and a half off, to enjoy the blessings of structured education. Remind me of this in a year.

"Our Poop is in our backyard!"

Ok so I am slightly torn about what to say today because there is a lot going on, but I think there is one story that takes the cake. I apologize if anyone has just stumbled across my blog for the first time (I'm thinking of certain members of First Church Boonton who have maybe been meaning to get around to reading my blog and have finally found it on this unfortunate day). I promise I write about important, moving, and classy things, but I just feel that everyone needs to feel my current pain and know this: Our poop is in our backyard.

Yes, it seems something has gone haywire with our sewer system, causing all of our personal business to back up into the backyard (see Linda and Erin's blogs for pictures). We have been assured this morning that the situation is being worked on, but with a weekend coming up and the slow pace of the South, we're a little worried that there will be some "baking" over the weekend if things don't get handled in a timely manner. Yes, there has been a lot of crying through the laughter and laughing through the tears. Please pray for this situation.

While this may seem to have nothing to do with disaster relief, it gives you an idea of the shoddy construction done after the storm. Our house very much falls into the category of "better than nothing" even though it was built without a dryer vent, poor siding, with the hot and cold water reversed, and clearly with a faulty sewer system. I'm thankful I'm not dealing with small children as many families still living in faulty trailers are.

One more bit of crazy Southern news before I get to something serious. Our local Gulfport Wal-Mart has officially been named the busiest one in the country. They think it's due to everyone essentially replacing the contents of their homes, but I don't know. I think they would be remiss in not crediting the beautiful ambiance of the interior or the sparkling personality of their staff with such an honor.

Ok so really...Yesterday was the last regular day of Andy's Club before we start field trips. I was glad that all the kids came since we've low in numbers recently. I was not as emotional as I thought I would be, probably because I still found myself yelling things like "This is your first warning", "That is not acceptable" "Zach, get out of the girls' bathroom" and my favorite, "Get in there and be quiet". Yes, I was all warm and fuzzies. I do truly love all my kids, though. I tried to write a letter to the parents thanking them for entrusting their children to me. I hope they get it.

Also, there's been a lot of bureaucratic things going on at the Presbytery level. I won't go into details, but a lot of jobs and job descriptions have been changed. I am now in charge of all drywalling. That was a joke to see if you're still paying attention. No, my job is still the same, because, frankly, in the big meeting we had, no one even acknowledged my job. The Presbytery is all consumed with the weekly volunteers and their experience here. I realize I work for God and not for the bigwigs of the Presbytery of Mississippi, but it would be nice to hear even something like this:

"Hey sweetheart, what's your name?"
"Brenna."
"Ok, Brenda honey, you work with the kids right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, great job. That must be tough. We appreciate you and the fact that you represent us to so many people."
"Thank you, sir."

I won't hold my breath.

A Streetcar Named Zydeco Special

Last weekend was spent in New Orleans at Jazz Fest. If you don't know about jazz fest, I'll start by saying it's the most awesome thing ever. Ever. It's a two weekend long music festival with something like 64 performances each day. It's awesome.

Day 1: Saturday

We arrive in NOLA and check into Erin's friend's of a friend's apartment...On JACKSON SQUARE! Margaritas commenced immediately. Then something bad happened. On the way to catch the bus to the fair grounds, I found out I had a parking ticket. Soooo we had to move the car. Then we took a 45-minute ride on a streetcar named Zydeco Special. Then there was a 20-minute walk from the streetcar to the fair grounds. Finally there was sitting and festing. Here are some things we saw that first day:

Ludacris
Norah Jones
A Plastic Alligator Po Boy on a 10-foot high stick
Lots of Sun Burn
Alexa Rae Joel
Lots of garbage
Lots of men with their shirts off that shouldn't have had their shirts off

After a long trip back, a disco nap, and a long night out on Bourbon Street, day 2 began early

Day 2: Sunday

We awake early due to a man singing hymns on the street below our balcony. During breakfast we watch a race go by with many talented "speed walkers". Most people pack up and leave at that point, leaving only us die hards for a second day. Here things go a little wrong.

Lauren was planning on driving Erin and I to my car so we could drive to jazz fest (we weren't wanting to brave the streetcar again). But then we realized Lauren's car had gotten towed. There were many curses and loud sighs before we called the whole city of Gulfport to find her car, all the while now WALKING to my car. Lauren's car was fine though and we then came across some good car Karma, for we beat the odds and got a free parking spot within 10 minutes walking of Jazz fest. On Day 2 of Jazz Fest (which was mostly Erin and me) we saw:

Jerry Lee Lewis
An art vendor from Rockaway, NJ
The inside of the blues tent (the shade was a nice break)
Clarence "Frogman" Thomas
Marcia Ball (look her up, she's great)
Lots of middle aged people dancing their pants off, mostly in the Jerry Lee Lewis area
Some hallucinations because it was so hot
Brad Paisley

There was some worry late in the day because Linda was supposed to meet us but was running late and was at the wrong entrance. It was crazy, but we found her. An alligator Po Boy on a 10-foot pole would have made finding her lots easier.

That night we all crashed hard and slept like the dead. It was awesome.


Separately from all that, my parents visited this week and we had a great time. They were very helpful at Andy's Club and paid for lots of things, which I appreciated.

We spent Thursday through Saturday in Natchez, MS visiting many historic homes and learning all about the ridiculous Natchez society. They have a pilgrimage each year to get tourists there. In each home a member of the garden club is dressed up in period costume. It's a BIG deal apparently. More importantly though, during this time, someone is elected Queen and King of the Pilgrimage which means they have to spend $50,000 on costumes and attend many balls and parties. It's ridiculous and so backwards that it's wonderful.

Finally, I would highly recommend the B&B we stayed at. It was called The Briars and sat overlooking the MS River on beautiful gardens and walking paths.

Whew! That was a long one, but now you're all caught up!

Hmmm...where to begin. This week has been one of the craziest since I've been here. Emotionally and spiritually I feel like I'm trying to figure out alot of things. Here is a sampling of some of the questions floating around in my head:

When do I try to dialogue about an injust situation and when do I just let it go because I know the only person getting hurt there is me?

What were Christ's desires for his life? Would he have been a firefighter, astronaut, nanny if given the choice?

When are my desires important and when do I need to sacrifice?

Why can't I handle authority?

Many of these issues are coming on the heels of our retreat last weekend. All the young adults were brought to Pensacola to figure out our vocation. Since I feel I have already done this for the next step in my life, I was mostly excited to hang out on the beach and play my favorite game- try not to get sunburned in any place weird.

Alas, there was a mishap which cast a gloom over the rest of the weekend. The first night, I was part of a trio responsible for getting a 15passenger van stuck in the sand. It was pretty funny, with lots of sand flying everywhere. Details aside though, the leadership made us feel like assholes, like teenagers who had snuck out and wrecked Mom and Dad's car.

Also, in large generalizations, I have a hard time sitting and listening to my inner voice in a beach house surrounded by our materialism when there are people suffering everywhere.

Anyway.

I've decided to become a vegetarian this week. This may shock some, but I'm 3 days in and doing well. I tried my first Boca burgers. They were pleasantly delicious. Tofu may take some getting used to. Essentially, I'm trying this as a spiritual practice as well as for health reasons.

Currently, I'm getting ready for Museum Day. This means all the parents at Andy's Club have been invited to come see all the artwork we've been doing this year. Mostly I'm concerned that parents won't come or that they will come and be sassy. Please pray for this.

Saturday I'm volunteering at the March of Dimes walk here. I'm very sad to not be doing this with my family this year, but glad to be helping in some way. Please remember little Owen in your thoughts.

Next week my parents are coming for a visit. Then we're going to Natchez at the end of the week for a mini-vacation. Hopefully, this will all be good times and the weather won't be too hot!

Some recent highlights

I haven't been able to blog in a while so here are recent happenings.

- Experienced the coldest Easter of my life in Mississippi! It was a great day overall with lots of eating and lots of Jesus, but it definitely required a "Plan B" Easter outfit.

- Andy's Club saw "Dreams" at the Beau Rivage Casino. This was a benefit performance that brought together a bunch of children's performing groups on the Coast. I struggle with these field trips because my kids are in general NOT good. There was lots of yelling across our section of seats and way too many bathroom trips. It helps when I can remind myself how important and rare these events are in their lives. Still, I couldn't help muttering a few "We're never doing anything again"s.

- I spent 10 hours in the Gulfport Airport on Friday because of multiple mechanical failures. When they finally moved our flight to the next day, I was in no mood to wait so I hauled butt to NOLA and got home at 2:30 in the morning- 14 hours later than I had anticipated.

- I am officially an Inquirer! For those unfamiliar with this term, it just means I've taken the first step to becoming a minister and am being looked after so to speak by my Presbytery.

In general, I'm trying to feel connected to God on a daily basis rather than just during really high or low times.

I'm also trying to sort out my feelings on this awful shooting. I heard an interesting comment today from one of the gun control experts. He said that the thing that could stop someone with a gun was another person with a gun. I worry that this is the state of the world we live in. I would hope that honest love could have prevented this, not only someone reaching out to this man and loving him but just more love in our world. When our President endorses irrational killing on a daily basis but two men are not legally allowed to love each other what can those saturated by this media be expected to learn?

I welcome your comments.

A little bit of a Southern weekend

But first, my new cause. Please go to the website www.womenforwomen.org to find out about helping women in war torn countries and helping yourselves! This is great way to bridge gaps caused by distance and economic differences.

Ok now for my ridiculous weekend.

Friday we went to an Episcopalian "young adults" night. It was very nice to be invited, but apparently young adults in the Episcopalian Church means like 40 with kids. So we didn't really meet anyone our own age, but I think I have a new golf partner and may have joined a law firm.

Then, the night went crazy. We drove to Turtle Landing, a bar in Pearlington, MS. Pearlington was heavily devastated during the storm and heavily ignored because it isn't incorporated and the government didn't know it was there. Picture any sort of redneck bar from any movie you've ever seen and that's what this was. I can't even describle how ridiculous it was.

Saturday, we took Andy's Club roller skating. There was a lot of falling, but also a lot of getting back up which was great. It was definitely one of our better field trips. Oh, except for the pickled eggs and pickle pops the kids got. Those were gross.

Saturday night brought us to bull riding. Watching, not doing. This was sort of fun all except for the prayer that opened the event which praised God for America, the best country in the world, in the name of Christ. Hmmm...I was not ok with that and we expected Borat to pop out at any moment.

Palm Sunday was pretty great except for the deluge which kept many people from coming to church. Pastor Scott was sad. But really, when it rains here, it pours. There is no drizzle.

My acting workshop at Gulfport Little Theater started tonight and it rocks. I love those kids and want to kidnap them to form a little traveling band of renegade performers.

I'm excited for Easter. I really enjoy the drama and emotions of it all. I've been sifting through a lot of discernment and call issues lately so I'm hoping to find some time to work that out in my head. I'm really missing Boonton's Maundy Thursday service which I haven't been to in a long time- I think maybe since before college.

Anyway, Happy Easter and Happy Birthday, Mommy!

The Heat is on

Things are better. Not perfect but better. I'm trying to sail through the last 14 weeks here smoothly and without drama. That's all I have to say about that.

I had an awesome day off last Wednesday. I took this crazy drive in LA where I saw unmarked plantation homes that seem like they should be in the Smithsonian, ancient oak trees and lots of old-school tin roofed houses. I loved it.

This weekend was great as well. I had bitter-sweet sentiments about finishing the show at Gulfport Little Theater. On the one hand, I now have my life back, but on the other, my heart is breaking because I won't see those kids again. There were lots of tears and the realization that I might have made a bigger impact than I originally thought. To me this is what hope and recovery look like. Kids doing awesome things. I loved it.

There is a new permanent person helping at Andy's Club. She is amazing and takes alot off my shoulders. Also, she's a professional willing to work for almost nothing. I am constantly thanking God for her.

It's a million degrees here. I feel like I'm melting all the time. I love it.

I think I'm going to watch bull riding this weekend at the coliseum. Hmm...

One Crazy Weekend

This weekend started with our all-site gathering in NOLA. This was NOT a good day for me. Due to some issues (see previous blog entry) that continued and got worse, I had a breakdown at our meeting. Full on sobbing. I spent the weekend figuring out what this meant exactly. Basically what it comes down to is I need someone in this program to recognize that the work I'm doing is hard and important to me. I know this is entirely not biblical and the only person I need to prove myself to is God, but still I can't help but feel that if I am made to hold up my end of this program, the program better damn well be holding up its end.

Continuing. We left New Orleans at 4 only to sit in traffic for literally two hours without moving. Since I needed to be in Gulfport for a show that night at 6pm, I had a mini-anxiety attack in the car. We rolled up to the theater at 7:15, I walked in, put on my costume (mostly) and walked onstage. It was crazy. I think Jesus knew that if I missed my scene I would breakdown in front of all those kids which just would not be ok.

When I got picked up at the theater, I learned that one of my roommates, Lil George, who stayed in NOLA, was in the hospital with appendicitis. So the whole weekend was spent rotating roommates down to the city to stay with him. He came this morning and is doing well but still out of it and hurting a little.

Saturday and Sunday I felt like I lived at the theater. We had four shows this weekend with 5 more to go. I was a little like a rock star on Saturday night. Linda and I went out for dinner and happened to bump into a bunch of the cast. Linda says they "gushed" over me. I'm not sure I would go that far but apparently I am at least a little cool, which is news to me.

Some exciting things:

Miss Ashley is officially on board at Andy's Club as my assistant. Very exciting.

After talking with some kids at the theater, I may be running a brief acting workshop this spring. Very awesome.

Students currently in the dual degree program at Princeton keep e-mailing me and welcoming me to the program. I am so thankful for this as it keeps a carrot in front of me on difficult days.

Please keep e-mails and cards coming! I miss you guys.

Insert Clever Title Here

I was able to experience one of my all time favorite Southern things today. That is, the smell of the air right as it has started drizzling and before it is about to downpour. It seems to be a mix of water, concrete and wood chips. I say "Southern" thing because I have never noticed that exact smell in the North, only while living here and vacationing in places like Hilton Head and Savannah. I was glad to have it as I really needed some calming and soothing today.

Yesterday, I had a very difficult conversation with the people who are supposed to be my mentors, counselors and advisers in this program. I've been having some conflicts with scheduling my work and ministry things and their program meetings. Essentially I left the conversation feeling misunderstood and like my work here was not justified or validated. I was also made to feel that I have completely abandoned my group of friends, colleagues and "family" members that I have worked so hard to create here. Needless to say, this did not help my issues of butting heads with authority that is my age and I wondered after this phone call (for about the millionth time this year) why I came here under the umbrella of this program and not just by myself.

I think this is the answer: I wanted a challenge and I wanted to try something new. God has lead me to many irreplaceable relationships this year and I have grown immensely. However, it may have been a mistake for me to work in a system that forces me to draw lines between what is important God's work (i.e. what I do for this program and what is in my so-called "job description) and what is not important God's work (i.e. what I do on my own time that is still ministry.) I came to the Gulf Coast believing that to be a truly effective presence, I could not just be an outsider working in the community, but that I had to be a member of the community. Now I feel that I am forced to let someone down and is this my fault? Do I over involve myself because of my will or God's? Am I guilty of moving on to the next thing before finishing the first?

This may be a lot to dump out on a blog posting but I feel like I owe it to everyone supporting me to be honest about what is going on here and with me. Also, it helps to write my feelings out.

Seeking clarity and grace

I feel like I should also mention

this moment I had in Boston where I realized I might have crossed the line to becoming Southern. I visited Boston for like 20 hours while I was home and rode on the T (subway) once. No one in the car was talking! It was completely silent. The Southerner in me wanted to strike up a conversation with the person next to me.

Also, I wanted to recommend a couple of books I'm reading. I'm a little more than half way through The Red Tent and it's awesome. I know a lot of people loved it when it came out about 6 years ago but I always assumed it would be cheesy. It is a little but mostly it's great. The book is very much written with women in mind, but I would hope that men could get something out of it too.

Secondly, I'm trying to read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. If you don't know Dawkins, he's an evolutionary theorist whose most famous books are The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker. He's also a hardcore atheist. He says at the beginning of Delusion that his goal is to convert believers to atheists by the end of the book. He's very angry which is the part I don't get. Like he's sort of doing the same thing he accuses Christian and Muslim extremists of doing which is blindly accepting an ideology without reading about the alternatives. He blames alot of bad things on religion like 9/11, the Holocaust, the Crusades without mentioning the good things which happen every day. Anyway, I'd be curious what some of you have to say. I should say too that it gives me great joy to pray for Richard Dawkins every night before I go to bed. And then I giggle a little bit knowing how angry that must make him.

I think I'll keep an update here of the ridiculous things he says since I can't really write to him.

My Fried Green Tomatoes Moment and other events of the past few days

- You should know I'm writing this on a Mac (Dave will be happy). We got a couple for Andy's Club and I'm trying to learn how to use them, but the settings aren't the same for Blogger. So no big title for instance.

-I think we've found a good replacement for me for Andy's Club for next year. This woman Ashley that I met seems really perfect so pray that that all works out.

- When I was meeting with said Ashley, this 86 year old woman at PJs, our local coffee shop, started talking to me and sharing her life with me. It was pretty awesome that someone could be so open so quickly. She was a really neat lady (a la Jessica Tandy in Fried Green Tomatoes) and i'm hoping to bump into her again.

-We took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese on Friday. It was pretty awesome but we're still working on curbing the mass chaos getting the kids in and out of the van. There's always lots of pushing. I think the kids had fun, though. They were pleased with the crap they could get with their tickets and the massive amount of pizza we bought them.

-I am officially into the dual degree program at Princeton Seminary. Until now I was only accepted into the M.Div but now I'm also in the MA program for youth ministry which means an extra year, for a total of 4. Yess!!!

-We have two birthdays back to back in our house this week so the festivities have begun. We went out to eat in Mobile last night and have another dinner tomorrow along with a camping trip this weekend. Dinner in Mobile was great. We were able to find an awesome restaurant just outside of town because apparrently downtown Mobile rolls up the sidewalks at 9pm. The restaurant was called Felix's Fish Camp and we shut it down because we got there so late. There were also flying moonpies and liquid gold crab soup. Ahh the South.

I'm feeling really busy and overwhelmed these days. Please send love and encouragement.

It's a twister! It's a twister!

But first, some awesome news. The doctors decided my Dad only needs to have medication to treat his cancer and not the radical surgery we were anticipating. Praise God for this. It's a true testament to God's love and grace. I've been so blessed by "long-distance" praying since both my homes have been thinking of my family. All the networkings and connections between people are just one of those things I can't even try to understand.

In other news, we had to cancel Andy's Club today because tornadoes were touching down all over the Coast. It was the first time in my life those annoying alarms on the radio weren't just tests. They were telling people to get inside, away from windows, and under something or at the very least to lay flat on the floor. Folks in trailers needed to get into a sturdy building.

Until hearing this, I was on my way to Justin's (who lives on the other side of Gulfport). As this was coming on the radio, I was turning onto highway 90 which runds along the ocean. The traffic lights were out and I couldn't separate the sky from the water. Then I turned around, called the volunteer waiting for me at the church and told her to tell anyone coming in to go back home while their parents were still there. When I got there, there was already 3 feet of water in the parking lot. Yikes! Then I went home and hoped the windows wouldn't blow in in our little plastic, fake house. Gracie (a weird-MS weather expert) told me I probably didn't need to hide in my bathtub. I wasn't sure.

This was definitely the craziest weather I've ever experienced. From what I've heard, the weather has been crazy like this since Katrina. I'm not sure how that works, but I believe them.

Here are two choice quotes from Tuesday's Andy's Club:

"Why are your teeth yellow?" Zach to me while I was disciplining him.

"Your thighs are fatter than mine." Tatalyah, a second grader to me.

What cute kids huh?

I know you can be overwhelmed and I know you can be underwhelmed but can you just be whelmed?

I am definitely overwhelmed. Since getting back to MS on Saturday night I feel like I have done nothing but stress over what I missed. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about everything so I spent the hour from 1 to 2am writing everything down. That helped. I've made some stupid mistakes though in the past few days that don't help the anxiety level. For instance I left my phone charger at home and I realized upon arriving at the airport on Sat. that I had booked my ticket for the wrong date and had to pay another $150 to switch it. I truly hated myself at that moment.

I am in general enjoying being back although still worried about things at home. This is probably the homiest someplace has felt outside of home in a while, which is weird since it took so long to get to that point.

And, its sooooo warm and delightful here.

Also, this happened in the row in front of me on the plane:

Man A: (to Man B who he doesn't know) Wow so we're going to fly right over Gulfport and see all the Katrina damage huh?

Man B: Yeah, we lost our house in the storm and had to move to Michigan.

Man A: Oh.

So apparently the outside world is starting to see this as some sort of tourist attraction, like flying over the great wall or the pyramids or something. This hurts my feelings.

My home church has really outdone themselves. They are supporting my ministries left and right and supporting my family as well. Keep it up guys!

I felt really good about one thing this weekend. I schooled our Oscar pool/ballot/vote/competition thing last night. And for my efforts, I am now the proud owner of an owl stuffie. What is an owl stuffie I hear you ask. I'll leave it to your imagination. All you need to know is that its awesome.

In theology land, I've been thinking alot about offerings and how I can relate old school Bible sacrifices to my own life and incorporate that into the pieces of the service I'm working on for upcoming weeks. I used to think of Old Testament offerings, like goats, sort of wasteful and cruel. This may be something that's obvious to everyone else, but as I'm in the middle of alot of OT study, it occurs to me how big a gift animals were. They provided food, clothing and more animals, and yet were given freely. I feel like those sacrifices were equivalent to a farmer burning some of his land or anyone burning money. There is so much trust in that offering- a belief that God will take care of us with or without our earthly possessions. Furthermore, in the spirit of Lent, i think I want to try to really focus on giving gifts and sacrifices which are hard to be without and which maybe took some doing to get in the first place.

God's grace and peace

Rough Days

Some of you may have heard that I've been home this week. Last week my Dad was diagnosed with bladder cancer. We had a few very scary days as we waited on procedures and test results. Fortunately, the cancer hasn't spread at all. Unfortunately, the cancer is very aggressive and my Dad will need to have his bladder removed. Please pray for us as we figure out what this means for both the immediate and long-term future.

In the mean time, I'm staying home another week unexpectedly. I've had alot of assurrance that my presence is needed here at this time especially with the surgery coming up next week. I'm just trying to let go of some things back in Mississippi and trusting that God will let everything there stay in tact while I'm gone.

I was glad to sit and watch the snow yesterday from inside the warmth and comfort of my house. Going out in it today was NOT fun though. I remembered why I hate the cold and how annoying the snow can be (for example it took us about 15 minutes to get the car cleared off...ugh!).

I had a good talk today with our new Pastor, Jen. She seems really eager to help me through my seminary process. I've been really blessed by people who seem to know the ins and outs there well. This is good as I feel that I have no idea what I'm doing.

Anyway...

Feeling strange...

Brenna

Feels like home to me

I've had a busy few days. Friday was moving day. As expected, I was at my crankiest. I don't know why, but moving always brings out the worst in me. Luckily things went pretty smoothly that day. It didn't take too many trips and we had alot of help. Our coordinators made sure everything was ready to go, Sally-Lodge quietly walked around and hung our shades and set up lamps and Rebecca, the pastor's wife, (although I hate that term because she is my friend and is her own person) had dinner ready for us, a delicious chicken pot-pie which I've had before and was hoping she would make again.

Saturday was a bit rougher. We had some miscommunication and misinformation about cleaning and how soon the volunteers would be moving into our former rooms, which was apparrently about 5 minutes after we left. So then we ran to the church to try to clean AROUND the very needy volunteers.

That night I went to see one of the kids I've been working with at Gulfport Little Theater in a show at another venue. Well I had yet another North-Eastern anxiety attack. I got there at 6:15 for a 7pm show. The family in front of me got the last tickets which was briefly disappointing until they said they might release more seats closer to the start of the show. Great, I thought, I'll be the first on the list- only there was no list. I just had to hover for 45 minutes telling everyone that came by that I was the first one after the people who got the last tickets, and internally berating myself for not getting tickets ahead of time. I did eventually get in, but I was not a pleasant person by that time. The kid I went to see was really great, definitely the best in the show. I was also adament to support him because his dad had died quite suddenly the week before and I wanted him to feel comfortable performing. He's really great and quickly turning into one of my favorite kids.

On Sunday, I performed (this is probably not the right word) the Call to Worship at both the Orange Grove and Handsboro services. I think it went well. I was surprised at how well I put on a different face to preach. I also felt good about what I wrote and that it was defintely from me. The children's sermon at Handsboro was a little rougher but there were brownies so I think the kids were happy.

The only tragedy in this day was that I spilled coffee on myself in between services, so I had to go home and change really quick. I felt like Cher needing to have a different costume for the second service. I am ridiculous and I think God is telling me to curb my caffeine addiction.

We watched the SuperBowl outside at another nearby church. It was a little cold, but I staked out a seat early on next to the fire. I was sad to see the Bears lose, but enjoyed the commercials overall.

In general, I'm loving the new place. I've managed to have some relaxing naps and be able to have my coffee in the morning in peace and quiet.

Also, today I've been reminded by two separate people that I'm doing a really great thing here. I'm trying to focus on that and not get upset with trivial things. Hmmm...I feel like I've said that before.

Gina

So I just need to share a really cool thing that just happened. I'm not sure that anyone will get it...maybe big brother Bryan, but nevertheless I'll tell you. I was on my weekly perusal of the Blues Traveler website (if you don't know I am out of control obsessed with this band, i know their history, all the songs, and am currently contemplating a tatoo of their symbol the black cat, and generally refer to bassist Tad Kinchla as my boyfriend and John Popper as God...but I digress) when I found that Gina (who I'll explain in a minute) was accepting e-mails for the top 5 BT songs for a new acoustic album. If the thoughts of an acoustic album weren't enough, I may have a hand in picking the songs!

Now, Gina. In BT lore, Gina was one of the earliest most steadfast fans. She eventually turned into something of a "Head Groupie" and began generating alot of publicity for the band. Now she runs the website, mailing list, etc. Also, and probably more importantly, she is the namesake of one of the band's earliest Nirvana moments in the form of music. The song, Gina, is a dedication of appreciation from the band, so for true traveler fans, she's almost as big as the band.

Ok so I write my e-mail with these songs (which you should download if you are new to Traveler)

1. Optimistic Thought

2. Mountains Win Again

3. Go Outside and Drive

4. Thinnest of Air

5. Girl inside my head

Now I didn't expect to hear anything back from Gina, assuming that there were probably millions of submisions and if I was Gina I wouldn't want to open the doors for dialogue with crazy fans like me. Maybe at the most I could expect a form letter like "Thanks we got your songs."

But NO!

Here is the e-mail:

Hi Brenna,Thanks for taking the time to send in these wonderful song picks...hope to have an update for you all soon...Gina

Short and sweet I know but note two key things: First she used my name! Yesss!!! and secondly she said my picks were wonderful. Gina approves of my choices!

This has made my week.

Lots of Love

"With things, there is a way..." John Popper

Movin' on up...

So a few great things happened this week, along with a few less than great things. Firstly the great things:

We are officially moving! Yay! We got to check out our new place this week, although we won't actually move until next Friday. It has 3 rooms and two full baths (girls and boys don't have to share) and we're the first ones to live there. Most importantly, it is a volunteer, work, boss free zone. Very exciting.

Secondly, Andy's Club might be on TV. The ABC affiliate, WLOX, is doing a story on Katrina kids and how they're expressing themselves post storm. I'm excited for this but haven't heard back from Trang (the reporter) since our initial conversation. I think she may be mad that I didn't really know who she was.

On Friday I went to Houma, LA for some fun with our friend Lauren that lives there. We went to see the world renowned (if your world is Houma, LA) Couche Couche band at the Jolly Inn for some Cajun music and dancing. We missed all the locals by about half an hour so it was just us dancing around like idiots and disgracing a whole culture of people in the process. Tons of Fun!

Not so cool: there were pickled quail eggs being sold at the gas station in Houma. Ok spit your vomit out and keep reading.

Also not cool: Both the Saints and the Patriots lost. I now have no reason to watch the superbowl.

Also, I've been left sort of alone to do Andy's Club. I was basically alone before, but now its official. E-mail me if you want details since I can't really talk about it here.

I did have a hilarious Home Depot trip with Sally-Lodge yesterday. We were picking up some things for the new place (she is a decorator extradonaiire) and we decided to do self check-out. Well, as I came to learn, this only really works with a couple of small regularly shaped things. The machine yelled at us ALOT. The person monitoring the self check out area actually had to work...ALOT. It was very funny.

Love you guys!

New Hair...

but keep reading, there's a good, new blog entry below.

These are the days it never rains but it pours...

Lately I've been feeling God's abundance in an overwhelming way. In almost every aspect of my life, I feel like I have more than I can handle. Firstly, at Andy's Club we are probably at the peak of what we can handle in terms of numbers of kids. Then yesterday, I saw that my flyer that I handed out in October, was now being recirculated to a school that I hadn't approached. So now I'm waiting for the deluge of phone calls for sign-ups. This is what I wanted but without consistent adult volunteers and reliable group transportation for field trips I can't take all those kids. I'm trying to take this one day at a time.

Work in general is overwhelming. I'm trying to fundraise for Andy's Club as well as jumpstart the homeless ministry with Pastor Scott AND work with him and Sally-Lodge learning some ministry stuff. As, I explained to him yesterday, I feel at times like I'm doing a mediocre job at several things rather than an awesome job at one thing.

Then there is all the awesome support I'm receiving from home which is in no way a burden but I suddenly have to keep in contact with people, write more support letters, go shopping with money I didn't have before. This is really ok, though, great even...just something I have to learn to do.

With Seminary, I thought the hard part was just getting in but now I spend tons of time researching scholarships and staying connected with the people in NJ I need to be talking to.

Furthermore, without being too specific, there have recently been some slight developments in my social life which could add to the anxiety in a good or bad way.

Yet, as I say all this, I can hear my brothers making the whiny voice all the way from NJ. I have so much to be thankful for- last week I was informed that Princeton is giving me a grant for next year to cover all my tuition (I still have to work on housing though), the group I was directing for the High School drama festival won three acting awards this weekend, and we're having an awesome week at Andy's Club because there's a professional dancer here from NYC this week teaching the kids African dance.

Ok, I'm gonna be fine.

There have also been some great "Welcome to Mississippi" moments this week.

First, when we were at the Gym/Community Center this weekend, there was a group of soccer mom types dancing provocatively to that song "Loosen up my buttons". If you are unfamiliar with the song, consider yourself lucky. Its one of those unfortunate things that represent everything that's wrong with America (it doesn't stop me from dancing to it when it comes on the radio though!) Just to clarify, the nature of the dance initially lead us to believe that perhaps it was one of those stripper-robics class. Got the picture? On the way out I asked the person working at the front desk what the deal was because if it was indeed a stripper-robics I wanted in. The answer was even better though. Apparrently, the soccer moms were rehearsing for this year's Mardi Gras Ball. Yes, I love the South. To follow up this was the exchange I heard while we were leaving and the belles were having a ciggy outside:

(please hear appropriate Steel Magnolias accents)

Soccer Mom A: (to B) Did you get a boob job?
SMB: No, its just my bra.

I believe this whole day set the Women's movement back 50 years.

The second story involves two of MS's favorite things- guns and daaawwwgs. I went to pick up Justin for Andy's Club yesterday and as I was pulling up I saw a police car on his street and his dog (a HUGE pitbull) running like he was on fire around the neighborhood. Justin explained he couldn't go with me because he was having trouble with his dog. Then his uncle who was standing there mentioned that the neighbor had pulled an AK47 on him when the dog was in his yard. At that point the second cop car was just pulling up. I asked if I could but since I left my wife-beater and trucker hat at home, figured I wasn't worth being cast in tonight's episode of COPS. What astounded me was that Justin's uncle (the adult in the situation) didn't have him inside and away from crazy dogs and guns. Hmmm...

Finally, as I've been sitting here at the coffee shop writing, I've been privy to a conversation between two men, discussing their options for the Saint's game on Sun. I guess the wife of one had wanted to invite some of their friends over and was asking him about it. The man explained his reaction: "I just kept turning the volume up on the TV so she would shut up but I guess it didn't work cause she kept talking." What a lucky lady.

Send me some encouragement!

God is in the Glitter Glue

Yesterday, I received two large boxes of children's books from a family in my church. Awesome. And today I opened my e-mail to find a HUGE list of things being sent to me for the after-school program from PJ at church. I am truly blessed by love from my congregation. The kids love all this stuff- books and craft supplies- because they don't have lots of access to it. I feel great pride in being able to give books away or letting them use as much paper as they want. A million thanks to Binghams and PJ!

That said, sigh, Tuesday was ROUGH again with the kids. We were supposed to have some help from the volunteers who are down here this week but at the last minute they decided they couldn't help because they were too busy preparing for dinner, so it was just me and Sarah Ann, my roommate. It ended up being another one of those days where I feel like most unequipped child handler in the world. I'm hoping for better results today as I have two hearty kids from the youth group nearby coming to help. I hope they aren't scared off right away. It will be interesting though to see how my kids deal with older kids that are authority but not quite adults. Deep breaths, deep breaths...

I'm also praying for the group I've been helping at the community theatre here. There competition is this weekend and while I feel that they have made great strides in their work, I'm not sure how it will hold up to other schools. I think I may be basing this though on Massachusett's standards which are pretty high. They had a dress rehearsal for an audience last night and while it went well, its also one of those things that feels like just one more week of practice would really do them well. I guess that's always the case in drama though.

On a whiny note, its cold here and the heat is not working all the way in my car. This sort of sucks since I don't like the cold. Also, I'm so attached to my car that I worry when she's hurting. I'm not jumping at the chance to return to the Wal-Mart auto center, however. This weekend it needs to happen along with my FAFSA form. Bug me about those things.

Diamonds on the soles of her shoes

Alot has happened this past week. As I try to get back into the working spirit, I've also been forced to take a long, hard look at my life. For instance, I had to finish my financial aid forms for Princeton this week and there is a box which basically says, "So when we come right down to it, what are you worth?" I had to force the tears back as I wrote down $500. That's it. That's all I'm worth. On the one hand this is pathetic. I mean here I am with talents and a degree and I essentially have nothing except a bunch of DVDs and some fabulous shoes. However, as the week went on, I began to feel like maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all.

On Saturday, my roomie Erin and I did a "double feature" at the movies (this means we stuck it to the man by sneaking into a second movie without paying for it. I am not ashamed.) The first movie was Dreamgirls, the second was Blood Diamond. Both were really great and strangely had some similar messages most notably, how far are we willing to go, how many people are we willing to screw over in order to get some trivial material items like an outrageous house or a shiny rock?

Blood Diamond was especially political and begged the question, ok so what are YOU gonna do? For this I refer to a play I saw while I was home called the Vertical Hour with Julianne Moore. In it she played a professor of politics who had given up a life of journalism in crazy areas like Bosnia and Iraq in order to pursue a safer path of education. She struggles with the concept of not being ignorant, of knowing full well what's happening in the world and yet being a slave to Western demands just like the rest of us. The play basically asked how we can reconcile our need for change and peace with our need for comfort and safety?

Now back to my $500. While that $500 still puts me in a higher place than most people in the world, I feel better knowing that its all come from doing good. I am not cheating third world peoples out of a living wage or making an obscene amount more than the women or people of color in some company. Yet I know that the clothes I wear and food I eat may be hurting others and as much as I know about world situations I cannot give up my fancy shoes. God tells us She will provide everything we need so why can't I throw it all out and live in a hut filled only with family and whatever we're eating that day? How can I get these thoughts to stay in my head for more than a fleeting moment?

Ok, now for an awkward transition into nuts and bolts of what happened this week.

Guys and Dolls has officially been axed. Cancel your flights and front row seats, Brenna will not be performing in Gulfport. This is only mildly disappointing to me since I was becoming worried about the time commitment anyway, but I feel really bad for others who put tons of time into it. However, I'm still helping out with their kids' stuff which has been really fun and generally, I prefer this to performing anyway.

We have new kids at Andy's Club that are intense. They're great but all related so they feel comfortable with each other which means fine with punching and making fun of each other. I just feel like God was like ok you learned how to handle this lot so here's a bunch that you won't be able to handle. On top of that, my volunteer hunt is slow.

I had a great day trip with Sally-Lodge this week to the lovely, exotic Citronelle, Alabama. Her husband's company has purchased an old hotel there where they will live when in AL since most are far away. Well, Sally-Lodge and I got all girlie and were planning our grand schemes for this little hotel. I, being quite tall, was also instrumental in the removal of tons and tons of kitchy silk flowers ordaining the tacky mirrors and wall hangings in the front hall way. It was truly ministerial mentoring at its best.

Oh! Also I got a free awesome haircut this week from Heather who was here on a team from Linda's home church. I have fancy bangs and layers now. I'll try to get a picture up when I can.

Lots of love!
B