Well, since it got warm enough to do anything outside, Wes and I have been working to eradicate the terrible lawn problem. When the grass started growing again and we discovered that a large chunk of the lawn was dandelions and other assorted weeds, we sprayed the whole thing with weed killer. Then we did it a couple more times. Now the problem is that we have giant holes in our grass. Our wonderful friends Robert and Lindsey, sufferers of the same fate, described in detail how we can fix this problem over the course of the next year. Luckily for us, between the holly tree, the well and the relative lack of weeds, the front yard almost looks good now.
As for the backyard, we had another solution: cover most of it up, then worry about the last little bit in the fall. So we had our neighbor come over and dig us a nice 10 foot square hole, we ordered a half ton of sand and two tons of rocks, we loaded up 49 patio blocks in our new car (which apparently has amazing suspension), and we called up some friends. Six hours, four new patio blocks, and a lot of hard work later, we have this:
So we spent Memorial Day weekend first building this backyard oasis, and then enjoying it. We had a nice little party on Memorial Day, where we played bocce ball and washers, grilled up some BBQ chicken, and hung out in our fun new backyard. Now it's time to tackle the ivy (which is hopefully not poisonous), the weeds that are attacking my flower beds, and the random plants that are threatening to eat our air conditioner. :-D
Wes: After working tirelessly all weekend on the yard, patio, and fire pit stuff (big shout out and major props to Josh, Sarah, Robert, and Lindsey for their help!), I spent this last week at the Annual Conference of the Greater New Jersey Conference of the United Methodist Church. From Wednesday morning through Saturday late afternoon, over 1200 delegates, comprised of both clergy and lay members of the churches in this area, met to talk about the future of the church and to handle the numerous business issues that were presented by different groups and individuals. This was a voting year, meaning that we had to vote on delegates that would represent our churches and conference at the jurisdictional and general conference levels. I’ve always been intrigued by the voting process, because it is build around the faith the that Holy Spirit will move through the votes of individuals to pick the people that God needs at the other conferences, not the individuals that we want at them. This means that politicking was not allowed. It was very interesting to see the process work and see how the votes would change not because of people making speeches and promises, but because of prayerful discernment about who should go.
I must admit to all of our faithful readers, though, that the politics of the church really get to me at times. When we in the church get to arguing and debating over issues, it makes me sad. So many times this Annual Conference (and the many others I’ve been to), I just wanted to stand up and ask if this was really what Jesus wanted the church to be spending its time doing?! The biggest issue of this conference was the fact that our venue—the King of Prussia Convention Center—is putting in a casino that will inhabit the room above our conference meeting area. The way people were talking about it, you would think that they were afraid that they were going to catch some contagious disease from the “sinners” coming there to gamble. They were talking about breaking contract with the venue, something that would cost the conference hundreds of thousands of dollars, and finding another place to meet within the conference. The funny thing about this, though, is that the only other place that really has enough space and is not too pricey is in Atlantic City, the Vegas of the East Coast! They were talking about picketing the casino entrance, handing out pamphlets to the gamblers, even setting up an in-house protest.
Is this what Christ would have done? Or would he have fellowshipped with the “sinners” that we seem so quick to condemn? How about finding a way to minister to and with the people there without making them feel like we are the holy giving handouts to the wretched?
On a very different note, our keynote speaker for the week was amazing. Mike Slaughter, pastor at Ginghamsburg Church in Dayton, Ohio, really brought it. He was unafraid to call our church leadership—even all the way up to the bishops—out and challenge them to take some time evaluating the way we do “church” to see if it really is effective and life-giving in the world today. I was really moved by his sermons, and I went a little twitter-crazy during them. The first night, I tweeted 74 quotes by him in the span of about an hour, which resulted in facebook disconnecting the twitter app from my profile because I had done too much in too little amount of time. Pretty funny.
The most moving thing that he said, and I could have sworn he was speaking straight to me, was when he said that we in the church—especially clergy—should never vote “no” to something that Jesus would have voted “yes” to. If there is a ministry possibility for you or your church to engage in, don’t let hesitancies, budget constrictions, or lack or resources keep you from doing it. Trust that Jesus will work through it no matter what, and don’t be afraid about the result, because if you are working to bring glory to the Kingdom and show love to God’s people, you can’t fail.
Overall, I’d say it was a great conference. We definitely are a broken people, and a broken people cannot be a perfect institution, but we are striving to do the work of Christ, and I am still proud to call myself a Christian and a member of the United Methodist Church.
Well, that’s all from us. Check in next time for a theological discourse on the economical Trinity.
You stay classy, World Wide Web!
Love,
Jess and Wes
Interesting stuff with the casino add-on. I definitely agree with you. That seems like a pretty small and unimportant thing to be worrying about, much less throwing money away for. If anything, it's an added ministry opportunity.
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