but it pours.
So we all set out happily to ballet this afternoon-Elphine in a purple leotard with tutu, pink tights, cowboy boots (her ballet shoes were in my purse), Gladys in a silvery sparkly twirl skirt that actually made her look a little bit like a thug, Romulus representing himself as SuperMatt (I'm not making this up, R really thinks its pronounced this way, and won't be corrected, no matter how often we try) although angry that we haven't been able to find the cape, and Aloysius covered in chocolate. We settled ourselves into the car, turned the dial to 104.9 because someone named Jack Abeelen preaches in that slot from Morning Side Christian something or other in CA (seriously, really good preacher). I backed carefully out of the drive, pulled onto Conklin Ave, was promptly totally and completely blinded by the afternoon sun and smacked into the car in front of me.
So, after much crying and gnashing of teeth, we all drove away basically unharmed. Elphine is still weepy about missing ballet. Matt is furrowed about the cost of fixing our car. Fortunately the other guy's car is covered by our insurance. And the policeman very kindly did not fault me, on account of the sun and commending me on my good use of Child Safety Seats.
Said Matt, gazing soulfully into my eyes, 'Anne, its ok. I love you more than this car.'
'Are you sure?' I said, 'because I feel terrible.'
'Yes' he said.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Snow Lay on the Ground
Its snowing, beautifully and relentlessly, meaning, mercifully, that we couldn't go to CC as All the schools canceled. I say mercifully because I seem also, overnight, to have acquired a flu. I'm sitting here wrapped up in a large blanket considering that, as long as I don't throw up too often, we may as well do some math and English.
Yesterday, sometime very early in the morning (it really felt more like the middle of the night) I went over to the old house with a flashlight and blanket and a heater and staked out, hoping my cat would come back to me. He didn't unsurprisingly and now the house is permanently shut up and the keys turned over to the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York so I will have to finally put signs up around the neighborhood and call the paper.
Anyway, that's what we're about today.
Yesterday, sometime very early in the morning (it really felt more like the middle of the night) I went over to the old house with a flashlight and blanket and a heater and staked out, hoping my cat would come back to me. He didn't unsurprisingly and now the house is permanently shut up and the keys turned over to the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York so I will have to finally put signs up around the neighborhood and call the paper.
Anyway, that's what we're about today.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday Morning Fog
I shouldn't really be blogging, I should be writing email, or something.
But I thought I'd give some smattering unrelated to each other updates and then go do email.
The Cat
His name is Bander. He is really my beloved mother's cat. He big and glorious, though young, all black and long haired. He's always been skiddish. After he ran away we found that he was coming back to eat the food we'd left out, and there were fat kitty tracks all over the back yard. Stupidly, we let the food eating go on for several days before thinking to set a trap. I don't even remember what day we finally did that. But he's very smart, and he managed to eat the food out of the trap Twice without being caught. Now he's apparently not eating the food, though there are traces of him. The next step, as my mother rightly points out, is to go sleep in the old house which I need to do. The plan was for one of us to do that last night. However, Matt, as I mentioned, had two teeth out last week and instead of being in less pain every day, the pain has gradually and steadily increased, so that last night he couldn't sleep at all, and I didn't want him to have to be up with any wakeful children. So this morning, hopefully, we will check on the cat again and take him to the dentist. And then, hopefully, I'll be able to sleep there tonight. Of course, all the neighbors have been alerted. I haven't called the paper or put up signs because he's obviously hanging around.
The Children
Elphine, this morning, in a fit of fabulous older girlness, got the baby up and played with her, filled my tea kettle and put it on so it was hot when we came down, got breakfast for everyone, and is now teaching the lot of them to dance ballet. Romulus is always dressed, now, in full armor-helmet, shield, breastplate, sword-play obviously. Gladys is under the false impression that she should be able to climb on anything whenever she wants to, and play in the potty. The house is now covered in signs, for visitors, to remember to close all bathroom doors, shut all potty lids, and don't be suckered in by her sweet smile when she tries to get you to open the bathroom door for her. Aloysius seems, to me today, more solid. He plays Narnia all day long, waving his sword and killing the White Witch over and over.
The Church
Yesterday we worshiped in beautiful light filled St. Andrew's Catholic Church, which we are, if you have read the church blog, trying to buy. Its enormous. It seats 400 something and has a massive parish hall, where, someone pointed out, we could host a rock concert if we wanted to. I'm not at all sure why we'd want to. It is seriously short of Sunday School possibilities and would require some juggling to fit all our various classes in. However, like the house in which we now reside, its in such great shape all it needs is some new carpet and a paint job. It was, I'll admit it, a fine and amazing thing to dress all the children up, shove them out the door with their father to walk the 50 feet to the church, and then take a shower in peace, perfect peace, and arrive myself, 30 minutes later, calm, basically together and cheerful. And then, when it was all over, we walked back for a nice rest.
School
Not surprisingly, it hasn't happened really for exactly two weeks, except here and there where I could squeeze in a book or a worksheet or a history lesson (Inauguration Day). But we're much more settled now. All our supplies are out and organized. And so after Matt has had his tooth looked at and we've replenished our supply of milk and cheerios, we will settle back in. And, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not unpacking or packing any more, or rearranging cupboards, or doing Anything except school until after Easter. (Ha, God is probably laughing at me.)
But I thought I'd give some smattering unrelated to each other updates and then go do email.
The Cat
His name is Bander. He is really my beloved mother's cat. He big and glorious, though young, all black and long haired. He's always been skiddish. After he ran away we found that he was coming back to eat the food we'd left out, and there were fat kitty tracks all over the back yard. Stupidly, we let the food eating go on for several days before thinking to set a trap. I don't even remember what day we finally did that. But he's very smart, and he managed to eat the food out of the trap Twice without being caught. Now he's apparently not eating the food, though there are traces of him. The next step, as my mother rightly points out, is to go sleep in the old house which I need to do. The plan was for one of us to do that last night. However, Matt, as I mentioned, had two teeth out last week and instead of being in less pain every day, the pain has gradually and steadily increased, so that last night he couldn't sleep at all, and I didn't want him to have to be up with any wakeful children. So this morning, hopefully, we will check on the cat again and take him to the dentist. And then, hopefully, I'll be able to sleep there tonight. Of course, all the neighbors have been alerted. I haven't called the paper or put up signs because he's obviously hanging around.
The Children
Elphine, this morning, in a fit of fabulous older girlness, got the baby up and played with her, filled my tea kettle and put it on so it was hot when we came down, got breakfast for everyone, and is now teaching the lot of them to dance ballet. Romulus is always dressed, now, in full armor-helmet, shield, breastplate, sword-play obviously. Gladys is under the false impression that she should be able to climb on anything whenever she wants to, and play in the potty. The house is now covered in signs, for visitors, to remember to close all bathroom doors, shut all potty lids, and don't be suckered in by her sweet smile when she tries to get you to open the bathroom door for her. Aloysius seems, to me today, more solid. He plays Narnia all day long, waving his sword and killing the White Witch over and over.
The Church
Yesterday we worshiped in beautiful light filled St. Andrew's Catholic Church, which we are, if you have read the church blog, trying to buy. Its enormous. It seats 400 something and has a massive parish hall, where, someone pointed out, we could host a rock concert if we wanted to. I'm not at all sure why we'd want to. It is seriously short of Sunday School possibilities and would require some juggling to fit all our various classes in. However, like the house in which we now reside, its in such great shape all it needs is some new carpet and a paint job. It was, I'll admit it, a fine and amazing thing to dress all the children up, shove them out the door with their father to walk the 50 feet to the church, and then take a shower in peace, perfect peace, and arrive myself, 30 minutes later, calm, basically together and cheerful. And then, when it was all over, we walked back for a nice rest.
School
Not surprisingly, it hasn't happened really for exactly two weeks, except here and there where I could squeeze in a book or a worksheet or a history lesson (Inauguration Day). But we're much more settled now. All our supplies are out and organized. And so after Matt has had his tooth looked at and we've replenished our supply of milk and cheerios, we will settle back in. And, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not unpacking or packing any more, or rearranging cupboards, or doing Anything except school until after Easter. (Ha, God is probably laughing at me.)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Blow by Blow or rather Box by Box
I’m in that impossible place of having lived so much in such a short amount of time that I have nothing to say. It seems years and years have passed in the course of one day and so now I am very old and my back hurts.
I’ve been trying to think in categories of things, but its not going anywhere, so I’ll try days.
Thursday 8 January
Noon Eucharist. Found the Tabernacle Candle out. Thought it odd. Went to lunch with a friend (really fine Indian food) and arrived home at 2 o’clock to find that we’d lost our court battle. Had an immediate adrenalin rush. Felt like panicking. Sat down with Matt and four whirling children to pray for a few minutes. Then headed straight over to church to pack up our offices and get out the stuff that belonged to us. Fell sad, exhausted and geared up, into bed.
Friday 9 January
Tachee (I’ve decided to go ahead and use her ‘name’ because you’ll never be able to find her this way) came over early to stay with the children so I could go back to church with Matt and finish packing up, as well as doing up a final bulletin for the service. Worked all day.
Saturday 10 January
Women’s Bible Study and Choir Practice. Went home to “pack” only to sit down on the couch and fall asleep with my mouth open so that I woke up drooling.
Sunday 11 January
To church early. No proper Sunday school because of parish meeting. Children all made little things out of Femo/Sculpy. Parish Completely United, save one. Everyone eager to know where we would be the next Sunday. 10:30 Service with Communion and Incense at the last minute because of the Baptism of Jesus and because it seemed like the thing to do. Excellent Music and Sermon. Everyone crying. Stripped the altar at the end. Someone accidentally spilled over the therbal making a large smear of ash across the nave floor. Walked out in silence.
Monday 12 January
Friends arrived early to start packing. Made extensive and complicated lists and pinned them to the stairway wall. Tachee took the children to make their lives happier. Felt really sad. Packed all day. Amazing Friends. Someone began taking laundry away to do and bring back clean. Pizza for lunch and supper.
Tuesday 13 January
Friends early again to pack. Packed all day. Ate more pizza. Realized that it had Iced the previous Wednesday preventing us from going to CC, meaning that here I was, on a Tuesday Night, Completely Prepared Already for class next morning. Wondered at the mercy of God who knows all things and from whom nothing can be hid. Verse for the day, ‘If the Lord had not been my salvation, I would have soon gone to the land of the dead’ or, If the Lord had not been my salvation, and you had not come to help me pack, I would have soon gone to the land of the dead.
Wednesday 14 January
Took the day off packing. Went to CC. Realized there was no breakfast and stopped at Starbucks for muffins in the frigid cold. Windows frozen shut and had to get out, even at the drive through, to buy said muffins (and coffee). Very calm CC morning. Thanked God for the break from Chaos. Dropped all the children at Tachee’s. Realized there was a free hour with no children. Went and had all my hair cut off. Young child like boy hair cutter took nearly Two Hours to cut it. Repented of my rashness and began praying for it all to miraculously grow back. Met Matt at St. Andrew’s Rectory to receive the key from Msgr Meagher who has been So Gracious, I cannot even begin to describe to you how gracious. More people in the evening to pack. Lovely friend showed up with supper—beef stew, fresh spinach and strawberry salad, plus more pizza. ‘Scriptural Refrain of the Day’: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness O Lord.
Thursday 15 January
Up early. Packed all day. Amazing friend took two oldest children to do CC Review for the afternoon. Amazing Tachee took babies to her house. Amazing guys from church and from the Shepherd’s Bowl showed up on the Coldest Day in a long while to begin moving stuff to St. A’s. Stayed on my toes trying to keep track of where boxes were going. More supper from wonderful friends—baked ziti. Slept the first night at St. A’s Rectory.
Friday 16 January
Men’s Bible Study at Denny’s. Guys over early to begin moving again. Totally spooked our black kitty who promptly ran away. Began worrying and praying about kitty. Back and forth from old to new houses trying to pack and unpack at the same time.
Saturday 17 January
Woke up late. Widely made semblance of order before 10am so that Women’s Bible Study could sit and be warm and cozy. Forced to unpack beautiful restful Bombay china in order to serve tea. Derived great comfort therein. Dumped out several other boxes looking for Bible and fabulous Isaiah Commentary. Found it in the evening, when I wasn’t looking for it any more. More help in the afternoon unpacking. Back to the old house three times to look for kitty.
Sunday 18 January
Worshiped at Conklin Avenue Baptist Church in their gym. Couldn’t find anything to wear, for anyone. Two hours of sheer panic while we dumped boxes out looking for anything, tripping over each other, crying and finally getting to church an hour and a half later than usual. Fell in a snow bank with the baby. More crying. Coffee hour continued at the St. Andrew’s Rectory and more people unpacked and tried to sort through all the junk. Micah hosted Sr. High Youth Group in the Basement. Back to the old house three times to look for kitty. More praying.
Monday 19 January
Went straight away to check for the cat. Tried vaguely to clear up before more visitors. Friends brought lunch and helped unpack all the school supplies.
For Supper made a pork chops for Matt. Discovered that all through the weekend God had rolled the same tape over in our hearts, “You meant it for evil, but the Lord meant it for good.” Micah hosted Middle School Youth Group in the basement.
Tuesday 20 January
Morning Prayer in the Basement.
Remembered, unhappily, that it was Inauguration Day and we had no way to watch the proceedings. Managed to pack E and A off with Tachee to watch it. Swapped her big kids for babies when it was over. Sat on the couch and drew pictures of our system of government. Amused to find that E lost all her principles in rapture over Obama’s beautiful daughters. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to draw a perfect picture of them. Started four or five times because it wasn’t coming out right. Spent the evening preparing for CC and packing an elaborate and unnecessarily beautiful lunch (curried egg salad sandwich, a little jar of gray sea salt, boiled eggs, carrot sticks, apples, bananas, Oreos, little plates and napkins all packed in a fancy pail because I couldn’t find any of our regular lunch containers).
Wednesday 21 January
Up at 5 to gather wits. Long time ‘mussing’ hair with weird gel trying to look hip. Reviewed all the songs and hand motions for class. Left promptly at 8 for a restful morning of CC. Turned out not to be restful as all 4 little boys appeared to have eaten straight sugar for breakfast. Home to find Matt is serious horrible pain from barbaric teeth removal. Immediately went to fill his prescription. Took it home, went back out to look for the cat. Came home and cooked a long and complicated supper for Micah (who has been owed supper for a long time) involving Sweet Potato Fries, Curried Chicken and Rice, Peas, and Chicken Soup for Matt from scratch (a satisfying little pot of chicken, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and peppercorns, added cream to thicken it up). Forgot to make dessert causing children to gnash teeth and whine. Disappointed all parties by falling asleep after story time leaving Micah and Matt to fend for themselves. Deeply impressed to wake up and find Micah doing the supper dishes.
Thursday 22 January
Did Morning Prayer for Matt in the Basement.
Started on our bedroom. Got distracted by hanging up curtains and looking for pictures to put on the walls. Didn’t actually put any clothes away.
Celebrated Thursday Noon Eucharist in the basement using a wineglass, a bread plate, some oldish wafers, and the end of a bottle of something. Excellent discussion about God’s providence and love. Several trips to look for the cat. Surprised to have a Realtor come by to show someone the house and church. Grateful that we hadn’t had time to pick up, prayed fervently they would hate it and be put off by all the strangely dressed children. Took Emma to ballet. Put all the children to bed. Finished off the end of ridiculous and lesser known L. M. Montgomery novel, The Blue Castle which turns out not to be nearly as romantic as I thought it was as a child, still very pretty descriptions of the weather.
Friday 23 January
Woke up to the sound of the Men’s Bible Study going on loudly. Poured bowls of cereal and wished I could wake up sooner than the children so as to be able to pray. Sat vapidly in front of the computer catching up on other people’s blogs. Went to look for the cat. Read more blogs. Made a pot of tea but forgot about it and went to the post office and to look for the cat. Came home and drank a cup of cold tea. Nagged Matt about being on time to go to the notary. Were late to the notary to sign the New Corportation’s Papers. Went to Circuit City for a wireless router. Went to look for the cat. Still no cat. Cried bitterly and put the last load of stuff in the car.
And that brings us to today, Saturday 24 January. And so to bed, because tomorrow there is church, and more trips to look for the cat, for whom, tonight, I hope you will pray and pray and pray.
I’ve been trying to think in categories of things, but its not going anywhere, so I’ll try days.
Thursday 8 January
Noon Eucharist. Found the Tabernacle Candle out. Thought it odd. Went to lunch with a friend (really fine Indian food) and arrived home at 2 o’clock to find that we’d lost our court battle. Had an immediate adrenalin rush. Felt like panicking. Sat down with Matt and four whirling children to pray for a few minutes. Then headed straight over to church to pack up our offices and get out the stuff that belonged to us. Fell sad, exhausted and geared up, into bed.
Friday 9 January
Tachee (I’ve decided to go ahead and use her ‘name’ because you’ll never be able to find her this way) came over early to stay with the children so I could go back to church with Matt and finish packing up, as well as doing up a final bulletin for the service. Worked all day.
Saturday 10 January
Women’s Bible Study and Choir Practice. Went home to “pack” only to sit down on the couch and fall asleep with my mouth open so that I woke up drooling.
Sunday 11 January
To church early. No proper Sunday school because of parish meeting. Children all made little things out of Femo/Sculpy. Parish Completely United, save one. Everyone eager to know where we would be the next Sunday. 10:30 Service with Communion and Incense at the last minute because of the Baptism of Jesus and because it seemed like the thing to do. Excellent Music and Sermon. Everyone crying. Stripped the altar at the end. Someone accidentally spilled over the therbal making a large smear of ash across the nave floor. Walked out in silence.
Monday 12 January
Friends arrived early to start packing. Made extensive and complicated lists and pinned them to the stairway wall. Tachee took the children to make their lives happier. Felt really sad. Packed all day. Amazing Friends. Someone began taking laundry away to do and bring back clean. Pizza for lunch and supper.
Tuesday 13 January
Friends early again to pack. Packed all day. Ate more pizza. Realized that it had Iced the previous Wednesday preventing us from going to CC, meaning that here I was, on a Tuesday Night, Completely Prepared Already for class next morning. Wondered at the mercy of God who knows all things and from whom nothing can be hid. Verse for the day, ‘If the Lord had not been my salvation, I would have soon gone to the land of the dead’ or, If the Lord had not been my salvation, and you had not come to help me pack, I would have soon gone to the land of the dead.
Wednesday 14 January
Took the day off packing. Went to CC. Realized there was no breakfast and stopped at Starbucks for muffins in the frigid cold. Windows frozen shut and had to get out, even at the drive through, to buy said muffins (and coffee). Very calm CC morning. Thanked God for the break from Chaos. Dropped all the children at Tachee’s. Realized there was a free hour with no children. Went and had all my hair cut off. Young child like boy hair cutter took nearly Two Hours to cut it. Repented of my rashness and began praying for it all to miraculously grow back. Met Matt at St. Andrew’s Rectory to receive the key from Msgr Meagher who has been So Gracious, I cannot even begin to describe to you how gracious. More people in the evening to pack. Lovely friend showed up with supper—beef stew, fresh spinach and strawberry salad, plus more pizza. ‘Scriptural Refrain of the Day’: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness O Lord.
Thursday 15 January
Up early. Packed all day. Amazing friend took two oldest children to do CC Review for the afternoon. Amazing Tachee took babies to her house. Amazing guys from church and from the Shepherd’s Bowl showed up on the Coldest Day in a long while to begin moving stuff to St. A’s. Stayed on my toes trying to keep track of where boxes were going. More supper from wonderful friends—baked ziti. Slept the first night at St. A’s Rectory.
Friday 16 January
Men’s Bible Study at Denny’s. Guys over early to begin moving again. Totally spooked our black kitty who promptly ran away. Began worrying and praying about kitty. Back and forth from old to new houses trying to pack and unpack at the same time.
Saturday 17 January
Woke up late. Widely made semblance of order before 10am so that Women’s Bible Study could sit and be warm and cozy. Forced to unpack beautiful restful Bombay china in order to serve tea. Derived great comfort therein. Dumped out several other boxes looking for Bible and fabulous Isaiah Commentary. Found it in the evening, when I wasn’t looking for it any more. More help in the afternoon unpacking. Back to the old house three times to look for kitty.
Sunday 18 January
Worshiped at Conklin Avenue Baptist Church in their gym. Couldn’t find anything to wear, for anyone. Two hours of sheer panic while we dumped boxes out looking for anything, tripping over each other, crying and finally getting to church an hour and a half later than usual. Fell in a snow bank with the baby. More crying. Coffee hour continued at the St. Andrew’s Rectory and more people unpacked and tried to sort through all the junk. Micah hosted Sr. High Youth Group in the Basement. Back to the old house three times to look for kitty. More praying.
Monday 19 January
Went straight away to check for the cat. Tried vaguely to clear up before more visitors. Friends brought lunch and helped unpack all the school supplies.
For Supper made a pork chops for Matt. Discovered that all through the weekend God had rolled the same tape over in our hearts, “You meant it for evil, but the Lord meant it for good.” Micah hosted Middle School Youth Group in the basement.
Tuesday 20 January
Morning Prayer in the Basement.
Remembered, unhappily, that it was Inauguration Day and we had no way to watch the proceedings. Managed to pack E and A off with Tachee to watch it. Swapped her big kids for babies when it was over. Sat on the couch and drew pictures of our system of government. Amused to find that E lost all her principles in rapture over Obama’s beautiful daughters. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to draw a perfect picture of them. Started four or five times because it wasn’t coming out right. Spent the evening preparing for CC and packing an elaborate and unnecessarily beautiful lunch (curried egg salad sandwich, a little jar of gray sea salt, boiled eggs, carrot sticks, apples, bananas, Oreos, little plates and napkins all packed in a fancy pail because I couldn’t find any of our regular lunch containers).
Wednesday 21 January
Up at 5 to gather wits. Long time ‘mussing’ hair with weird gel trying to look hip. Reviewed all the songs and hand motions for class. Left promptly at 8 for a restful morning of CC. Turned out not to be restful as all 4 little boys appeared to have eaten straight sugar for breakfast. Home to find Matt is serious horrible pain from barbaric teeth removal. Immediately went to fill his prescription. Took it home, went back out to look for the cat. Came home and cooked a long and complicated supper for Micah (who has been owed supper for a long time) involving Sweet Potato Fries, Curried Chicken and Rice, Peas, and Chicken Soup for Matt from scratch (a satisfying little pot of chicken, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, thyme and peppercorns, added cream to thicken it up). Forgot to make dessert causing children to gnash teeth and whine. Disappointed all parties by falling asleep after story time leaving Micah and Matt to fend for themselves. Deeply impressed to wake up and find Micah doing the supper dishes.
Thursday 22 January
Did Morning Prayer for Matt in the Basement.
Started on our bedroom. Got distracted by hanging up curtains and looking for pictures to put on the walls. Didn’t actually put any clothes away.
Celebrated Thursday Noon Eucharist in the basement using a wineglass, a bread plate, some oldish wafers, and the end of a bottle of something. Excellent discussion about God’s providence and love. Several trips to look for the cat. Surprised to have a Realtor come by to show someone the house and church. Grateful that we hadn’t had time to pick up, prayed fervently they would hate it and be put off by all the strangely dressed children. Took Emma to ballet. Put all the children to bed. Finished off the end of ridiculous and lesser known L. M. Montgomery novel, The Blue Castle which turns out not to be nearly as romantic as I thought it was as a child, still very pretty descriptions of the weather.
Friday 23 January
Woke up to the sound of the Men’s Bible Study going on loudly. Poured bowls of cereal and wished I could wake up sooner than the children so as to be able to pray. Sat vapidly in front of the computer catching up on other people’s blogs. Went to look for the cat. Read more blogs. Made a pot of tea but forgot about it and went to the post office and to look for the cat. Came home and drank a cup of cold tea. Nagged Matt about being on time to go to the notary. Were late to the notary to sign the New Corportation’s Papers. Went to Circuit City for a wireless router. Went to look for the cat. Still no cat. Cried bitterly and put the last load of stuff in the car.
And that brings us to today, Saturday 24 January. And so to bed, because tomorrow there is church, and more trips to look for the cat, for whom, tonight, I hope you will pray and pray and pray.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Evening Is at hand and the day Is past
I'm typing without I's, k's, and some other letter, and pilfering off someone else's wireless And 'm about to clear things up and go to bed just wanted to let you all now that we are alive and well. We are comfortably and warmly Installed n the St. Andrew's rectory. We have another few trips of stuff to bring over before the old house is completely empty. Its been a rough week. A lot of crying, a lot missing things, a lot of forgotten things (Sorry Sarah! I feel utterly terrible.)
I have A Whole Lot of things to write about. I've been making mental notes to myself throughout the day, trying to bookmark my mind so that 'll be able to catch t all. God has been very gracious, very holy, very surprising. Thank you All for Praying.
I have A Whole Lot of things to write about. I've been making mental notes to myself throughout the day, trying to bookmark my mind so that 'll be able to catch t all. God has been very gracious, very holy, very surprising. Thank you All for Praying.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Various Notes particularly to Good Shepherd
I want to direct your attention to the Thursday Notes on the church blog. Matt is under the impression that Some of you read this blog and not the church one as well, which is very bad.
Particularly note this section,
I'm sorry, I don't have time to blog.
THANK YOU to everyone who has helped so far. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are beginning to take stuff out today, so I am trying to be on my toes to say where everything should go-where we're going to be, or into storage. Obviously, I haven't had time to label OR sort (boo). Everything is just being packed up and we're out of here. Hopefully I'll have occasion for an Amazing Garage Sale in the spring. And, naturally, today and tomorrow are the coldest days we've had for some years, so I entreat your prayers for the guys who are going to be out in it, and the ones who are going to try and take down our frozen swing set and carry it away.
There goes the phone. More updates as time (ha!) allows.
Particularly note this section,
"Paul lived under the laws and governance of the Roman Empire. Rome, during the first century and into the second, was increasingly hostile toward Christians...and unjust. The churches to which Paul wrote his letters often suffered persecution and sometimes had their property confiscated like we have. Nevertheless, here is what Paul wrote to Roman Christians about the civil authorities: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment." Romans 13:1-2 We are under a lot of stress right now.
I'm sorry, I don't have time to blog.
THANK YOU to everyone who has helped so far. There is light at the end of the tunnel. We are beginning to take stuff out today, so I am trying to be on my toes to say where everything should go-where we're going to be, or into storage. Obviously, I haven't had time to label OR sort (boo). Everything is just being packed up and we're out of here. Hopefully I'll have occasion for an Amazing Garage Sale in the spring. And, naturally, today and tomorrow are the coldest days we've had for some years, so I entreat your prayers for the guys who are going to be out in it, and the ones who are going to try and take down our frozen swing set and carry it away.
There goes the phone. More updates as time (ha!) allows.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Sunday in Review
None of the children are sleeping any more, at night. Even the baby, our best sleeper, was up much of the night. Elphine has been sleeping on a mattress at the end of our bed, and Romulus in our bed, without exception, breaking our hard and fast rule of NO Children in Bed, only a few cats. So we're all a little tired and raw today, and facing a serious bout of cleaning before we can start filling boxes.
Yesterday was like so much of the Christian life-rich, heartbreaking, beautiful, painful. It was hard to find someone who wasn't crying, but the service was probably our best yet, in that building, apart from the Pageant and the last Easter Vigil. Micah switched music around, we managed to organize incense in the ten minutes before the service started, Matt preached the best sermon that I have ever heard, I could go on and on.
I would go on to say a lot more but everybody else needs attention.
Yesterday was like so much of the Christian life-rich, heartbreaking, beautiful, painful. It was hard to find someone who wasn't crying, but the service was probably our best yet, in that building, apart from the Pageant and the last Easter Vigil. Micah switched music around, we managed to organize incense in the ten minutes before the service started, Matt preached the best sermon that I have ever heard, I could go on and on.
I would go on to say a lot more but everybody else needs attention.
Friday, January 09, 2009
A Quiet Friday Evening
Thank you all, so much, both here and on Stand Firm, for your prayers, well wishes, support, everything.
I've had a glass of wine and I'm all weepy, but its been an intense 24 hours. I've cleared out our offices at church of all our books, the picture of my grandfather a few months before he died, the big wall of pictures my kids have taped up over the last six years, and I have the promise of some SERIOUS boxes to be delivered tomorrow so that we can begin to pack up this house.
I indulged us in some comfort food-sausages, cauliflower with cheese sauce-and I've been thinking through, all evening, which rooms need to be packed first, and which last. I think the kitchen needs to packed last and unpacked first (wherever we end up, because that's still Totally up in the air), and the basement needs to be packed first and probably stay packed for a long while.
Elphine wanted to know two things.
1. Whether she and Gladys (what I'll be calling her baby sister from now on) will be able to have a pink and purple princess room wherever we go, and whether they
ll be able to live together FOREVER.
2. How will we get to heaven? Will God lift us up in his own hands?
Aloysius and Romulus dressed up as Good and Bad Spidermen and care not what happens in the future.
Gladys wants to be held all the time and talk, even though none of us know what she is saying, whatever it is, its VERY important.
Tomorrow I'm going to lead the Women's Bible Study, as usual, and then go buy more femo (easy bake clay stuff), because my Sunday School class are making their own nativity scenes. And then I'm going to start filling boxes with books, toys, summer clothes, and socks.
I only have one more thing I really have on my heart. And that is how in awe and in love with my husband I am, today, as always. He has so carefully and lovingly steered this congregation toward the Word of God, toward Jesus, so that 100 or so people, here in Binghamton New York are able to say unequivocally, and unwaveringly that they will go all the way to the cross for His sake. There is no hesitation, no blinking of the eye. These people love God first and they are willing to stake all that they own on it. And Matt has patiently and truly lead us, as a congregation, to this moment. He has walked, step by step, vestry meeting by vestry meeting, sermon by sermon, bible study by bible study, to this moment, and God, this very night, is glorified. I'm totally delighted. I feel a little like Bilbo, running out of my house without my shoes, on an amazing adventure.
I've had a glass of wine and I'm all weepy, but its been an intense 24 hours. I've cleared out our offices at church of all our books, the picture of my grandfather a few months before he died, the big wall of pictures my kids have taped up over the last six years, and I have the promise of some SERIOUS boxes to be delivered tomorrow so that we can begin to pack up this house.
I indulged us in some comfort food-sausages, cauliflower with cheese sauce-and I've been thinking through, all evening, which rooms need to be packed first, and which last. I think the kitchen needs to packed last and unpacked first (wherever we end up, because that's still Totally up in the air), and the basement needs to be packed first and probably stay packed for a long while.
Elphine wanted to know two things.
1. Whether she and Gladys (what I'll be calling her baby sister from now on) will be able to have a pink and purple princess room wherever we go, and whether they
ll be able to live together FOREVER.
2. How will we get to heaven? Will God lift us up in his own hands?
Aloysius and Romulus dressed up as Good and Bad Spidermen and care not what happens in the future.
Gladys wants to be held all the time and talk, even though none of us know what she is saying, whatever it is, its VERY important.
Tomorrow I'm going to lead the Women's Bible Study, as usual, and then go buy more femo (easy bake clay stuff), because my Sunday School class are making their own nativity scenes. And then I'm going to start filling boxes with books, toys, summer clothes, and socks.
I only have one more thing I really have on my heart. And that is how in awe and in love with my husband I am, today, as always. He has so carefully and lovingly steered this congregation toward the Word of God, toward Jesus, so that 100 or so people, here in Binghamton New York are able to say unequivocally, and unwaveringly that they will go all the way to the cross for His sake. There is no hesitation, no blinking of the eye. These people love God first and they are willing to stake all that they own on it. And Matt has patiently and truly lead us, as a congregation, to this moment. He has walked, step by step, vestry meeting by vestry meeting, sermon by sermon, bible study by bible study, to this moment, and God, this very night, is glorified. I'm totally delighted. I feel a little like Bilbo, running out of my house without my shoes, on an amazing adventure.
Matt sent this letter out to the church this morning
Dear Good Shepherd,
As you may or may not have heard, the judge has ruled and we have lost our building and all of our assets. There is, at the moment of this writing, no time specified for our departure. We expect an order to arrive sometime in the next few days that will give us some indication of how long we will remain here. It could be a matter of days, it could be a month or more, we simply do not know. When we do, we will get the information to you as soon as possible. Pay attention to the website, the blogsite, Sunday announcements and your phone messages for news. In the meantime, we must prepare our hearts and minds to go.
This little white church on the corner of Livingston and Conklin has been a part of all our lives and the lives of those in our neighborhood for many years. Some of us have spent our whole lives here. This is painful news.
This may seem especially difficult given the fact that there is no discernible good in the future of this building. It will, we presume, no longer be used to feed people or to proclaim the Gospel. It seems as though we have lost. But we must remember what we know about God, what He has revealed about His character:
The Lord passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Exodus 34:6-7
God is gracious, merciful, loving and provident towards his children. His greatest provision was sending his own Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf. As sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the darkness is never final. The light is greater than the darkness. God's providence is greater than the destruction of sin. Jesus died but he also rose from the dead. So it is for His people. There is no “end” or “death” or “despair” for us because we know that in all things God works for his glory and for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Because God is faithful to his promises, we look to our future knowing it to be one full of hope. God has been faithful to us in the past. He is faithful to us now. He will be faithful to us in the future.
We have been praying for the better part of a year now, asking for God's guidance and direction. God has answered our prayers. He has closed one door and now all that remains is to go forward into the new future and new home God has prepared. Our location will change. Our mission will not. We will continue to share the good news of eternal salvation won by Jesus Christ. We will continue to serve our neighbors, feed the hungry, and help the poor, just as we have in the past.
But there is something else that we must do that, at least for the moment, may be far more difficult: Love those who are forcing us out. Perhaps they do not know what they are doing. Perhaps they do. Either way, ask God to forgive them and pray that he will give us the grace to do the same. Anger is not always sinful but it can easily and quickly become so. Unchecked anger leads to bitterness, hatred, and resentment and all of these things hurt our relationship with God and damage our capacity to reflect his love and beauty into the world. Just as God has been merciful to us, daily forgiving our sins and wickedness, so we must, by his grace and help, return good for evil and pray for those who persecute us.
The vestry is very sad, but we are also thankful. Our future is now clear. What wonderful things God has in store for us. He has set us free from the bondage of this lawsuit and free, finally, of the turmoil in the Episcopal Church. We are not only thankful to be free, but thankful that we have been tested and found worthy by his grace of suffering loss for the sake of Christ, of being purified by sacrifice. We know that what we have been enduring is only preparation for greater things to come and that all of this being worked out for the good of those who love Christ.
And we love Christ. This has been the defining mark of our church body. Let Christ be our banner and our seal, the Rock to which we cling. Let Christ go before us and behind us. Above all let His holy name be praised.
In Christ,
The Vestry, Warden, and Rectors of the Church of the Good Shepherd
As you may or may not have heard, the judge has ruled and we have lost our building and all of our assets. There is, at the moment of this writing, no time specified for our departure. We expect an order to arrive sometime in the next few days that will give us some indication of how long we will remain here. It could be a matter of days, it could be a month or more, we simply do not know. When we do, we will get the information to you as soon as possible. Pay attention to the website, the blogsite, Sunday announcements and your phone messages for news. In the meantime, we must prepare our hearts and minds to go.
This little white church on the corner of Livingston and Conklin has been a part of all our lives and the lives of those in our neighborhood for many years. Some of us have spent our whole lives here. This is painful news.
This may seem especially difficult given the fact that there is no discernible good in the future of this building. It will, we presume, no longer be used to feed people or to proclaim the Gospel. It seems as though we have lost. But we must remember what we know about God, what He has revealed about His character:
The Lord passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Exodus 34:6-7
God is gracious, merciful, loving and provident towards his children. His greatest provision was sending his own Son, Jesus, to die on our behalf. As sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the darkness is never final. The light is greater than the darkness. God's providence is greater than the destruction of sin. Jesus died but he also rose from the dead. So it is for His people. There is no “end” or “death” or “despair” for us because we know that in all things God works for his glory and for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). Because God is faithful to his promises, we look to our future knowing it to be one full of hope. God has been faithful to us in the past. He is faithful to us now. He will be faithful to us in the future.
We have been praying for the better part of a year now, asking for God's guidance and direction. God has answered our prayers. He has closed one door and now all that remains is to go forward into the new future and new home God has prepared. Our location will change. Our mission will not. We will continue to share the good news of eternal salvation won by Jesus Christ. We will continue to serve our neighbors, feed the hungry, and help the poor, just as we have in the past.
But there is something else that we must do that, at least for the moment, may be far more difficult: Love those who are forcing us out. Perhaps they do not know what they are doing. Perhaps they do. Either way, ask God to forgive them and pray that he will give us the grace to do the same. Anger is not always sinful but it can easily and quickly become so. Unchecked anger leads to bitterness, hatred, and resentment and all of these things hurt our relationship with God and damage our capacity to reflect his love and beauty into the world. Just as God has been merciful to us, daily forgiving our sins and wickedness, so we must, by his grace and help, return good for evil and pray for those who persecute us.
The vestry is very sad, but we are also thankful. Our future is now clear. What wonderful things God has in store for us. He has set us free from the bondage of this lawsuit and free, finally, of the turmoil in the Episcopal Church. We are not only thankful to be free, but thankful that we have been tested and found worthy by his grace of suffering loss for the sake of Christ, of being purified by sacrifice. We know that what we have been enduring is only preparation for greater things to come and that all of this being worked out for the good of those who love Christ.
And we love Christ. This has been the defining mark of our church body. Let Christ be our banner and our seal, the Rock to which we cling. Let Christ go before us and behind us. Above all let His holy name be praised.
In Christ,
The Vestry, Warden, and Rectors of the Church of the Good Shepherd
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Crowd Pleasing Supper: Turkey Meatballs, Pasta and Broccoli
Turkey Meat Balls
1 pound ground turkey (although I am never going to buy only one pound again as it was all eaten and there are no leftovers, blast it all)
3 tbs breadcrumbs
1 tbs ground sage
1 egg
salt/pepper
mush the turkey, breadcrumbs and spices all together and roll into little bite sized balls, brown (I used my nice pancake pan and did them all at one go)
for the sauce
1 onion minced
2 tbs garlic infused olive oil (time saver)
3 large mushrooms diced
brandy (I didn't measure, I just sort of splashed it about)
butter
cream
1 cup stock
1 tbs flour
fresh sage
saute the onion in the garlic olive oil, add the mushrooms, fresh sage and sweat for another minute, add the browned meatballs and stock and let simmer for a while (about the time to put pasta in boiling water, madly chop up broccoli, kiss three screaming children who have been running laps and smacked into each other, answer the phone and pat the dog)
finish with a 2 tbs of butter, a liberal splash of cream, the flour to thicken, bring back to a boil and then pour it in a pretty bowl.
Broccoli
chopped up in no regular way, thrown in a pan with olive oil, butter, salt, as its browning and spitting, add a drizzle of cream and shove it in a bowl.
Romulus ate 7 meatballs, one after another without breathing, and the others finished them off while we talked about Pompeii, Mount St. Helen's and other things that blow up and burn (including John Huss), can you tell we're memorizing the Veritas/Classical Conversations Timeline?
And because its only 7pm and the children are ready for bed, all the laundry is done, the house is pristine, the kitchen is clean, and ice is raining from the sky All The Children are going to bed and Matt and I are going to finish our weekend bottle of wine in quiet and read to each other out of his new fantastic New International Commentary on the Old Testament. So Romantic.
1 pound ground turkey (although I am never going to buy only one pound again as it was all eaten and there are no leftovers, blast it all)
3 tbs breadcrumbs
1 tbs ground sage
1 egg
salt/pepper
mush the turkey, breadcrumbs and spices all together and roll into little bite sized balls, brown (I used my nice pancake pan and did them all at one go)
for the sauce
1 onion minced
2 tbs garlic infused olive oil (time saver)
3 large mushrooms diced
brandy (I didn't measure, I just sort of splashed it about)
butter
cream
1 cup stock
1 tbs flour
fresh sage
saute the onion in the garlic olive oil, add the mushrooms, fresh sage and sweat for another minute, add the browned meatballs and stock and let simmer for a while (about the time to put pasta in boiling water, madly chop up broccoli, kiss three screaming children who have been running laps and smacked into each other, answer the phone and pat the dog)
finish with a 2 tbs of butter, a liberal splash of cream, the flour to thicken, bring back to a boil and then pour it in a pretty bowl.
Broccoli
chopped up in no regular way, thrown in a pan with olive oil, butter, salt, as its browning and spitting, add a drizzle of cream and shove it in a bowl.
Romulus ate 7 meatballs, one after another without breathing, and the others finished them off while we talked about Pompeii, Mount St. Helen's and other things that blow up and burn (including John Huss), can you tell we're memorizing the Veritas/Classical Conversations Timeline?
And because its only 7pm and the children are ready for bed, all the laundry is done, the house is pristine, the kitchen is clean, and ice is raining from the sky All The Children are going to bed and Matt and I are going to finish our weekend bottle of wine in quiet and read to each other out of his new fantastic New International Commentary on the Old Testament. So Romantic.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Monday Morning Fog
After being all discouraged about cleaning, turns out I was really coming down with a cold-a big walloping, life wrecking cold, one so awful I missed going to a Catechesis training day, missed everything else I could have done by not going, missed my own mind, really, and ended up even taking cold medicine (after having had to sign my name in a special book and showing my ID).
I'm still in a relative stupor.
BUT I'm starting school tomorrow, cold or no cold, and very excited about it. So are the children, surprisingly. I was gratified to find them shocked by the children in Sunday School who don't like school.
'Why?' they were incredulous.
'Because its boring' said the other kid.
'Why?' they wanted to know.
'I don't know, it just is' said the other kid.
I've rearranged the school room again, and I'm probably going to rearrange the living room again. And more stuff is going in the basement, anything that doesn't have a place. I'm so thankful that Christmas is over. We NEED and long for a routine.
I'm still in a relative stupor.
BUT I'm starting school tomorrow, cold or no cold, and very excited about it. So are the children, surprisingly. I was gratified to find them shocked by the children in Sunday School who don't like school.
'Why?' they were incredulous.
'Because its boring' said the other kid.
'Why?' they wanted to know.
'I don't know, it just is' said the other kid.
I've rearranged the school room again, and I'm probably going to rearrange the living room again. And more stuff is going in the basement, anything that doesn't have a place. I'm so thankful that Christmas is over. We NEED and long for a routine.
Friday, January 02, 2009
So on that Note
and because its nearly supper time and all the children are getting tetchy and Matt choose This moment to go on a walk, I thought I would blog about
um
let's see
um
is there anything worth blogging about? Because really, all I've been doing for the last week is cleaning and then cleaning again and then cleaning, all the time trying to declutter and refunction the house.
I used to be really clean. I didn't have too much stuff. I wasn't married to Matt. I couldn't think when my bed wasn't made and things weren't in place. I thought of myself as a together and functioning person.
Now I still can't think when my bed isn't made and things aren't in place but I have to do it anyway.
So that's all I've been doing. I want to start school again on Monday and so I'm trying to get order back into the innards of the house. Pretty boring.
um
let's see
um
is there anything worth blogging about? Because really, all I've been doing for the last week is cleaning and then cleaning again and then cleaning, all the time trying to declutter and refunction the house.
I used to be really clean. I didn't have too much stuff. I wasn't married to Matt. I couldn't think when my bed wasn't made and things weren't in place. I thought of myself as a together and functioning person.
Now I still can't think when my bed isn't made and things aren't in place but I have to do it anyway.
So that's all I've been doing. I want to start school again on Monday and so I'm trying to get order back into the innards of the house. Pretty boring.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
And my New Year's Resolution is....................
to blog more.
In obedience to my husband, who, when asked what I should resolve in the New Year, said, 'You don't blog enough. Why don't you blog more?'
to which I replied, 'the same could be said for you.'
So in 2009 the Kennedys will try to BLOG MORE. Maybe that will be our family motto for the year as well. Who knows.
In obedience to my husband, who, when asked what I should resolve in the New Year, said, 'You don't blog enough. Why don't you blog more?'
to which I replied, 'the same could be said for you.'
So in 2009 the Kennedys will try to BLOG MORE. Maybe that will be our family motto for the year as well. Who knows.
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