Aug. 23, 2005

Happy night before my birthday! Woohooo! In honor of my birthday I bought myself a new puppy. Her name is Lola... Go ahead, sing the rest of the song if you must... Anyway, she is most certainly the cutest puppy on Earth. I am quite willing to place bets on this obvious fact. If anybody would like to see some pics, let me know and I'll send you a little snapfish.com slideshow. ASLB?* Age - 3 months; Sex - female; Location - my apartment, CO; Breed - Lab (Of course. There is no other dog I could love this much). Though owning her takes a lot of time and responsibility (oh yeah, and money), the pros definitely outweigh the cons in this case. She gets me outside, gives me love, lets me love her, forces me to organize my time smartly, offers another way to get to know people both inside and outside of the church, etc. etc. etc. Oh yeah, did I mention how cute she is? SHE IS!!!

Other news in terms of my life here in CO:
------- Both the President and Academic Dean of Wartburg Seminary spending the weekend worshipping at Abiding Hope, talking with the Pastors about the school's partnership with the church and their future together, as well as being present as I was installed -- er -- whatever'd into the church for the next year (or two) that I'll be here. I quickly became aware through the observance of others and my own thought processes that there is no other intern that could boast to having both the President and Academic Dean at their internship site at the same time, let alone for their installment (or whatever that's called). If there is another intern who experienced this, it wouldn't be any time recently. So, this fact can mean many things. I like to think it just means I could use all the help I can get, but it could also mean the absolute opposite... Who knows, who cares? I'll just try to stay in the land of coincidence for this one.
\r\n \r\n------ I will be the Assistant Minister for this coming weekends services, which include Saturday @ 5:30pm (a year old baby will be baptized during this service!), as well as Sunday morning at 8:15am and 10:45am. \r\nExcitement!!!\r\n \r\n------- I will preach my first sermon on Labor Day Weekend (September 3rd and 4th). My text is Matthew 18:15-20. We\'ll see what happens with that, eh?\r\n \r\n-------- I am getting to know some awesome people here! It is hard to miss the authentic energy and vision that Abiding Hope has. One of the things I respect most about this church is their desire and ability to be both liturgical and contextual at the same time. I will be learning a lot from my supervisor, co-workers, and everyone else I\'ll be meeting during my time here.\r\n\r\n \r\nPlease keep all of these things in your prayers as I try to take it all a day at a time and do the best I can. IT is amazing how quickly my calendar is filling up. If you want to visit me or have me visit you anytime soon, let me know so I can do as much as possible to make it happen! I love and miss all of you. You are also in my prayers. Please email me, call me, snail mail me, instant message, or visit me whenever you like!\r\n\r\n

*note to the less computer savvy: "asl" (short for age/sex/location) is a common way that people learn about each other in chatrooms. I thought it would be clever to use this in reference to my puppy! Also, I am very silly right now.
------ I will be the Assistant Minister for this coming weekends services, which include Saturday @ 5:30pm (a year old baby will be baptized during this service!), as well as Sunday morning at 8:15am and 10:45am. Excitement!!!

------- I will preach my first sermon on Labor Day Weekend (September 3rd and 4th). My text is Matthew 18:15-20. We'll see what happens with that, eh?

-------- I am getting to know some awesome people here! It is hard to miss the authentic energy and vision that Abiding Hope has. One of the things I respect most about this church is their desire and ability to be both liturgical and contextual at the same time. I will be learning a lot from my supervisor, co-workers, and everyone else I'll be meeting during my time here.

Please keep all of these things in your prayers as I try to take it all a day at a time and do the best I can. IT is amazing how quickly my calendar is filling up. If you want to visit me or have me visit you anytime soon, let me know so I can do as much as possible to make it happen! I love and miss all of you. You are also in my prayers. Please email me, call me, snail mail me, instant message, or visit me whenever you like!

love,
C.

*note to the less computer savvy: "asl" (short for age/sex/location) is a common way that people learn about each other in chatrooms. I thought it would be clever to use this in reference to my puppy! Also, I am very silly right now.