Summer Fun

Jess: First off, I'd like to say that Wes and I just bought a new car, and we managed to put over 50% down. I'll let Wes tell you about it and post a pic or two, but we're pretty excited.

Wes suggested that we write about our summer plans because, much like the rest of our lives, we are doing a lot in a short period of time. During the month of June, I'm going to be babysitting pretty much full time, especially after the kids get done with school. My main family is going to need me every day for most of the day, and I'm still helping two other families. In July and August, they're going to be on vacation at their beach house and in England, so I'll be babysitting part-time for my other two families. I have an interview on Saturday for another summer job, because I honestly don't know what I'll do with myself if I'm only working part-time. Sure, I have a goal to read all of the books in our personal library, but there's only so much sitting and reading one can do.

I'll be starting school in the fall, so a lot of my summer is going to be dedicated to making a good schedule for the fall so I can juggle 2 classes per week, work in the afternoons, some field education, and the whole being the pastor's wife thing. My goal is to make sure I have Saturdays off, because I need a day each week when I don't have to get up and get going and to get work done around the house. I also have to figure out how I'm going to do seminary, exactly, so that should be fun times.

We're going to use most of our spare time throughout the summer to keep working on the house. Our first project is to build a patio next weekend. We want to have a nice place to sit and hang out outside, so we're getting this done before it gets too hot. We have a perfectly shaded spot, which is not too far from project 2: making a fire pit. We're also going to be doing some cleaning projects, some painting, changing out some lights, and our next major project: putting wood flooring in the kitchen. It's time to update our kitchen and bathrooms for the 21st century. Our house is great, but there's definitely lots that can be done to improve it.

Let's see...we're also going to my mom's wedding in June. I'm the matron of honor and Wes is going to be preaching at the service. I'm excited to see a bunch of my family, some of whom I haven't seen in a long time. And we're absolutely happy for my mom! Sometime in late July/early August, Wes' mom and sister are coming to visit us and use my babysitting family's beach house. Yay for the Jersey Shore!

Wes: First, a pic of the car:

So unlike Jess, I don't get to sit around the house all day doing nothing this summer. Some of us have to work, have to earn a living, have to bring home the bacon, have to keep a roof over the family's head, etc...

I wanted to start by saying that I just finished a short-term intensive class on Evangelism in the Congregation, and I must say that after this class, I am at the same time frustrated about what I've been doing wrong and excited about what I can now do right when it comes to evangelism. My biggest take home from this class was the idea that evangelism should always be about sharing the Good News, something we tend to replace with bad news. Evangelism is not going up to someone and saying "Hi! My name is Wes, and you're going to hell." Too many times we place priority on the proclamation of sinfulness and hell, taking a fear-based technique. But this is not Good News. The Good News message is that God loves us so much that God did everything necessary--even to the point of dying on a cross--for us to be able to be in fellowship with Him. We as evangelists (something that everyone is called to) must lift this up.

I'm going to be continuing at the churches here in Crosswicks and Ellisdale, and I'm very excited about what the next few months hold. I received word earlier this week that I will be receiving my local pastor's license by the end of June, which means that I'll be able to preside over Holy Communion and any baptisms at my churches. I've been very grateful that Rev. Horace Franz has been gracious enough to come and handle the Eucharist at the churches once a month, but I am looking forward to being able to do it myself now. This also means that we can transition from only doing Communion once a month to doing it every week, which is my preferred method. The parishes within the United Methodist Church usually only do Communion monthly, a tradition that goes back to the circuit-riding times when a preacher might have up to 10 churches on his circuit, only seeing each one every month or so. Monthly communion was a necessity, because that was the only time the preacher was present. Now, though, we are able to do it weekly, so I say, why the heck not?

I'm also excited about a sermon series we will be going through starting on June the 26th. Both congregations will be reading through The Story, a novel published by Zondervan that goes through the entire biblical narrative in 31 chapters. It's a great way to get people reading the Bible and get them used to the biblical stories. So, every week for 31 weeks we will be going over a chapter in the book. Then, by next Spring (we're taking a break in December for Advent), we will have gone through the entire biblical narrative as a church. I'm excited about it and excited to get to preach on random books like Ezra and Nehemiah. Super fun stuff.

I'm also going to be working part-time at the Albert C Wagner Youth Correctional Facility as a prison chaplain. Princeton Seminary requires two different field education sites--one year-long and one summer-long. I am using my churches as my year-long site, but I needed one for this summer that would leave my Sundays open for church work. So, I am very excited to work with Rev. Bourjolly, the full-time prison chaplain, and learn about an aspect of ministry that I have never engaged before. Hopefully, this will allow me to see sides of my calling that I had not pursued, and hopefully I will be able to touch lives for Christ while I am there.

I am also excited about the conference-level opportunities God has given me this summer. I am going to be the speaker at a summer camp the first part of August, and I am pumped about sharing that time with the students. I first answered my call to ministry at a summer camp, and it was through the ways God worked in people there that I was able to do so. People like Ryan Barnett, Rusty Freeman, Matt Pennington, and so many more were influential in me becoming the person I am today (yeah, it's their faults). I hope God will use me as an influence for others at this camp.

Well, that's about all that's going down with us! What are your summer plans?

You stay classy, World Wide Web!

-Jess and Wes