Some serious theology and staying up till 3 a.m.

What do these two things have in common you ask? Why would someone stay up till 3 o'clock in the morning thinking about theology anyway? Well, if you're 12 and you've been preparing for your Confirmation for the last year, you end up at confirmation camp where you study your understanding of your faith AND you stay up till 3:00 a.m....that last part is just because you're 12! I want to declare to all you reading this that 12 years olds are brilliant! I heard some amazing revelations this past weekend when I was honored to act as a leader for this year's retreat. The most refreshing thing I witnessed was the excitement these kids exibited in their getting to declare for the first time...all by themselves...that they are going to be full members of the church. On June 1st the entire group will stand in front of the church and promise to give their Prayers, Presence, Gifts and Service to not only this congregation but to the Christian Faith as a whole. It is their promise to God and themselves that they will strive always to grow, give and serve God in whatever faith family they find themselves. How much fun and how humbling to see 12 year old squirrels take something so seriously and be so moved by this, the beginning of their journey.
On Sunday, we returned to the church at 9:30 a.m. just in time for me to hit the ground running with Sunday morning tasks and opportunities finally arriving at my home at 2:00. I never knew one could take three naps and then sleep through the night...now I do!

A little distraction from the work day

A friend told me today that she is 'jonesing' for a blog entry...Wow! Has it really been since the end of last month?!?! Slacker!

This morning at about 9:20, I was right here at my computer working with a co-worker on a presentation that the whole staff would review at 9:30 so I was under the gun. Apparently some other co-workers were in the hall outside my office yelling at me to 'watch out!' and 'duck!'. I didn't hear a thing as what looked like a purple martin flew into my office, hung a sharp right and flew directly into the wall knocking itself out cold! I missed the whole thing! What you have to understand is that my office isn't anywhere near an outside entrance to the church. This bird did some pretty impressive maneuvering to find it's way in here. Of course you know I'm a big sap for anything live and could hardly stand it when I finally came out of my computer fog to see it laying, wings spralled, on the floor. What to do??? People are expecting the presentation to be ready in just a minute but there's a stunned bird laying on the floor of my office. I did what any career girl with her priorities all messed up would do...I gathered some forces, found a big box and proceeded to have the bird safely removed. After a couple of Lazarus inspired 'awakenings' and a couple more confused flights, he was in the box and headed for freedom so he could tell all his little bird friends about his exciting morning...and mine :)