The Week's Odds and Ends

New Church Start: An update on the exciting endeavor that's about to monopolize 2009...I'm very excited that we are now moving forward (almost full speed!) again with the new church start. The holidays made it difficult to do too much, so I'm glad to be moving into the new year. I am working with a woman named Sara, who's about to be ordained in the UCC, to co-lead a core group. Our next meeting is on Thursday, and we'll be discussing mission and vision. Once the mission and vision are fleshed out, we can begin fundraising and marketing. The core of what we are up to this first half of the year needs to be about bringing new people into the fold before our first worship service, which is slated for the end of May (may change, we'll see). We are first conducting community interviews of the small network we know in Black Mountain, and the people they recommend for us to talk with. I'm getting to know Black Mountain more, and it's such a beautiful town! We visited an Episcopal church there this morning, and I hope to soon set up some meetings with clergy in the area. It's a very exciting season, and there are some days when this endeavor gives me a tremendous amount of energy and gratitude. Other days, I wake up thinking, "what the heck am I about to do?" It's a huge undertaking, but one that I feel called to and equipped for. Now I just need your prayers!

Mylestones: When I was in Atlanta last month, I attended a colleague's dinner party fund-raiser for a mission trip to Guatemala through her church. Having visited Guatemala for a week when I studied in Honduras back in 1998 (think Hurricane Mitch), I know what a beautiful country it is, the richness of the indigenous culture, and the host of challenges it has faced as the wealthiest control the nation's resources and run the government, and the disparity between the rich minority and poor majority grows. Long story short, each of us at the party received a gift, and mine was this hat for Myles. Myles has never really liked hats, but it was too cute to pass up. This week, I finally moved it from a dresser in my bedroom down to Myles' room. When he woke up, he saw it and said "hat!" I asked him if he wanted to wear it and in characteristic Mylespeak he said, "yeah!" So he wore it all morning, and we got some photos of it. I hope he'll wear it more this spring and summer when the sun starts beating down again.

The Year in Rust: I also included a photo of our new living room rug, which we bought with Christmas money given to us by Seth's folks (thank you Susan and David!). Like many things in our marriage (I don't mean this in a cynical way, but in a confessional one), it took a great deal of negotiation to find a rug we both dug. This is it! I can't believe how expensive these things are, but it's a huge relief to have a sturdy play space for Myles, and Juniper looks like quite the queen when she reclines on it. Today, I read a post on the Asheville mama list that the Keen display shoes were on sale at Mast General. Two years ago, I happed to be shopping during this wonderful time. Display shoes are ones that have been on display, so they are marked down and only come in size 7. I'm more of a 6.5, but the last pair of Keens I bought was one of the best choices in footwear I've ever made. They lasted two years and are still kickin! So despite it being a "lean" week, I marched myself right into Mast General and bought a sassy pair of rust colored Keens. Here's the thing about the shoes: they are flat, so excellent for walking. They are casual, but I could get away with wearing them with some dress pants. They are waterproof. The color is "rum raisin," which made me think of my dad (his favorite ice cream flavor in the wide world). A good pair of shoes to walk in through the coming year.