The Metheran Child

Disclaimer from Wes!--Jess wrote her part of the blog like... three weeks ago. I, on the other hand, was too busy spending time with James, whom I obviously love more. So, three weeks later, I am now ready to write my part. She loves James more at this particular moment...

Jess: How are we going to raise James as a good Metheran? Many people have asked us this or similar questions. Well, let's start with two weeks from now. We're going to get up on Sunday morning (in Texas) and go to Wes' home church, University United Methodist in San Antonio. And then I'm going to let the Methodists baptize my son. And you know what? That doesn't mean he'll be any less Lutheran--or any more Methodist. One of the greatest things about the relationship between our two denominations is that we fully recognize the sacraments of the other church. Once we're ordained, Wes and I are even allowed to perform the sacraments at the other church. There are very few things that make us different, and baptism isn't one of them. In fact, the words of the sacrament are almost identical in each hymnal. 

When we were talking about James' baptism, we talked a lot about how we were going to raise him and be equally fair to our churches. This is a relatively simple problem in some ways--definitely not like my stepsister and stepbrother-in-law, who are trying to raise their daughter as a "Jewtheran." The first challenge for us, especially while James is a baby and doesn't really know what's going on in church, was when, where and in what denomination to have him baptized. We had a long discussion over many weeks--maybe months--about this issue. The biggest question was where, but not in relation to the church so much as the state! 

My family lives across the northern part of the country: us in NJ, Mom in Ohio, Dad in Michigan, and Josiah in Illinois. If we had the baptism here, some of them might have made it, depending on the timing. Then we would have had to determine which church. Wes can do a baptism, but we discussed that and decided that this is a situation in which we should just be the parents. That's a big enough responsibility, without being the one to perform the baptism. So would we do the baptism in one of Wes' churches with another pastor? Which one of the churches? Would we have one of my field ed supervisors do the baptism? Which one? On what Sunday? Should we ask my dad to do it? Where would we do it? Michigan? Here? No matter what, someone was going to be left out, and that didn't seem right. We settled on Texas, and that immediately meant doing the baptism at Wes' home church, since I don't have a church home down there. In fact, I spent more time in Methodist churches than Lutheran ones when I lived there--although we DID go to a Lutheran school.

So there we were, considering using University as the place for James' baptism. We finally decided this was the best choice when we talked about our theology of baptism. First, we both believe that there is nothing we as the parents, James as the child, or the pastor actually DO in the course of baptism. Everything that is done has already been done through God in Christ. So in that way, it really doesn't matter who does the baptism, except for our personal reasons. But what does matter is where the baptism is done and who is present. Both of our liturgies and theologies speak of the community that will raise the child in the church. Since we'll be living in Texas for the foreseeable future, this means that the community that will help raise James is our friends and family down there. This is not to say that my family and our friends up here will not, but they will not be in immediate contact with him all the time. So it was decided for us, in a way. We had to have the baptism where the majority of these people could come and make the promises to help raise James in the church. Plus, our friends Ryan and Kelli are going to be his godparents, and they live in Texas. 

It seems like a lot of discussion and time spent trying to figure out where to do something as "simple" as a baptism, but I think this is how many of our decisions in James' religious life will go--at least until he is old enough to make some of these decisions for himself. Who knows? Maybe he'll be confirmed in an Episcopal church and married in a Presbyterian one. That's fine with us!

Wes: Wow, Jess sure is good at explaining things. I think she covered the baptism pretty well, so I'll try to move on to other aspects of how exactly we are planning on raising James (and any/all siblings that may/may not arrive in the future) in a way that both blesses God and is true to both of our denominations. 

But first, let me say: the baptism was amazing. James did not cry or fuss or anything. He was a tiny little baby angel in Pastor Laurinda's arms, and we joyfully celebrated the opportunity to invite him officially into the family of God. 

But what happens after the baptism? How are we going to decide which church to raise him in, which nursery to send him to, where he will do confirmation, and which youth group he will attend? Well, we have a pretty complex, algorithmic equation to ensure that everything is as balanced as possible.

Would you like to know what it is? Ok I'll tell you: We decide based entirely on convenience and then he/they decide based on what he/they prefer. 

Boom. There it is. 

The Methodist Church and Lutheran Church are so close enough in doctrine and even in practice that we have no problems or worries whatsoever on which church our children attend for each milestone in their faith lives. Honestly, we're more focused on making sure that they want to go to church at all, and much less worried about which one that is. As long as the church confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and welcomes all to God's table, we are more than open to them attending wherever it makes the most sense at the time for them to attend and then worshipping wherever they want to worship when they grow old enough to decide for themselves. 

And, of course, they'll always choose Methodist, because we're awesome. 

Right now, James is going to church almost without exception with Jessica, but this is much more because she is able to watch him than it is about a theological decision. I have to lead worship and preach, and she is able to sit in the pew with him. I'm sure that if we find ourselves ever in a situation where one of our churches has a nursery and one doesn't, that will just about seal the deal for us on where he goes. We're also very willing to switch him back and forth for a while if the opportunity presents itself. 

So that's the plan. That's how our little Metheran family will function for the time being. 

Until we all become Methodist... 

;)

For now, though, you stay classy, World Wide Web!

Jess and Wes

Peace on Earth

Jess: I promise we'll write something about the whole having-a-baby process at some point, but right now I think talking about Newtown is more important. Plus, we'll end up talking about James anyway. 

These shootings have started to affect me more and more each time. I distinctly remember Columbine, when it seemed like the world was crashing down around us. School was no longer a safe place. It wasn't like school (I was in junior high at that point) was ever "fun" or "awesome" back then, but at least it was a place where we knew we would be okay. All of a sudden, that wasn't the case anymore. I don't remember being scared exactly, but I do remember being more aware of my surroundings, aware that life doesn't always go like you think. I remember crying for the students who died, listening to that Michael W. Smith song about Cassie, and the beginning of a new kind of drill--a lockdown. I would assess how safe a particular classroom would be in the event of a shooting. The choir classroom would be a disaster. There were huge windows through which you could see every teeny corner of the room. I just remember things changing drastically...and then they settled down again and I kind of forgot what it was like to be so nervous. 

Earlier this year, when the shooting happened in Chardon, Ohio (if you don't remember this, Wikipedia has a page here), I kind of fell apart. I cried about it while talking to my mom on the phone. I got super angry and tried to figure out what I could/should do. I talked to Pastor Linda at my field education congregation and wondered aloud why I was so mad. I finally realized that part of it had to be how close to home this came. Chardon wasn't some place that I had never heard of until this terrible event. Chardon was right around the corner from where I grew up. Chardon was a place very much like my hometown. Chardon could have been Hudson. That was a terrifying thought. 

This summer, when the shooting happened in Aurora, I had gotten called into the hospital to attend a family on the death of their loved one. We went to see the Dark Knight Rises later that day, and I had a really hard time enjoying it. All I could think about was the family I had been with, and how sad they were to see their elderly, very sick relative pass away. If it's that hard in that situation, how terrible was it for the families whose loved ones died brutal, senseless deaths while watching a movie? A movie about overcoming a brutal, senseless killer, nonetheless...

And then comes Newtown. Wes and I are terrible about watching the news and keeping up on current events. But, thanks to Facebook, we don't really need to be good about it. Pretty quickly after the shooting, my friend Mark posted an article about it. And again, my world came crashing down. All I wanted to do was hold James and Wes and never leave our house again. All I could think was, "I just brought a child into this world, and this is what happens to children in this world?" I panicked about ever having to drop James off at school. Even now, I'm so angry, so scared, so aware of the evil in this world. 

One of our friends posted a line from "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" as his status on Friday. The line is "And in despair I bowed my head. 'There is no peace on earth I said.'" I think a lot of us feel this way right now. There doesn't seem to be any peace on earth--how can there be when innocent children are dying? I was listening to this song on my way into school today with tears in my eyes. Sometimes, I think there are no words for how we feel. There doesn't seem to be a way for us to even find the words to pray. In these moments, I frequently find that songs provide the words I couldn't find myself. This song was my prayer this morning. I do have "there is no peace on earth" echoing in my head. I am continually asking God why. But I am also thinking about the end of the song, where it says, "God is not dead nor does God sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to all." Even when I'm yelling, even when I'm asking why, God is not dead. God is right here with me, weeping like me. And peace will come to earth...not right away, and not easily. But peace is coming. And that makes me sing "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" with much more force this year. Come, Lord Jesus. Come and rescue us from ourselves...

Wes: So, Jess pretty much hit the nail square on the head. There's nothing more that I could really add to contribute, but I'm gonna try to share some of my experiences and thoughts on this. 

I'll first start off with a bit of a rant. I promise to try not to get too high up on my soap box. I absolutely cannot stand the way some people use social media during times of tragedy. It makes me sad, it makes me mad, and it makes me feel a little queazy. How can we be so mean to each other when such horrible things are happening? I finally had to actively stop myself from checking my Facebook because I couldn't believe just how mean everyone was being to everyone else during this time. The same thing happened after the Aurora shootings, the same thing happened after bin Ladin was killed, and the same thing happens quite often with no national provocation. Things that no one would ever say to another person face to face are posted online without hesitation, because we seem to forget that someone else--a real person--is on another internet device reading your hateful, one-sided attacks. When we do this, we are no better than the people holding picket signs who refuse to even try to understand where the other person is coming from. Please, just stop and think before you post something that attacks or demeans someone else. 

Second, I am a little surprised at the way people on both sides are handling this gun ownership issue. Yes, horrible acts such as what happened in Newtown would not probably not have happened if we had a better handle on how to deal with mental health issues in our country. The people who desperately need help are not receiving it, and some of them are acting out because of it to the harm of themselves and others. This absolutely should be a much-needed wake-up call about how our nation responds to the needs of those who are too often marginalized by society. But it is just as true and relevant to say that if we had stricter gun control laws, it would not be as easy for something like this to happen. Now, I am a good Texas boy, and I am all for people's rights to own the means to both provide their own food through hunting and secure their home for safety. But we absolutely need to figure out a way to keep firearms out of the hands of those who might cause harm to others. 

I would rather all guns be removed from homes than I would another single child die from a gun shot. I am not saying that this is the answer, I'm just saying let's put this in perspective. 

Now that I've gotten that off of my chest, I want to tell y'all about my personal experience with all of this. Last week was the third week of Advent. This week's theme is traditionally "Joy." I struggled for a long time on how I was going to handle my Sunday services in the wake of this horrible event. How do you talk about joy when something so dark has happened? To add to matters, both of my congregations experienced the loss of a member this past week. Death seemed to be all around us. Well, I finally decided that I needed to preach on this. I needed to preach on joy because the truth is, joy is something that we should see in droves right now. As God's people here on earth, it is in dark, chaotic times of suffering such as this that our joy should be most prevalent, because it is in such times of suffering that we are able tell the difference between joy and happiness. 

You see, happiness is a fleeting thing. It comes and goes as all emotions do. Joy, though, is not an emotion. It is a state of being. Our joy is what causes us to celebrate during times of feasting and also to stand strong during times of suffering. Joy is why we can push through this horrible time and come out stronger than ever, for it is in such dark moments that we cling all the more tightly to our God. 

So during the church service, we made balloon animals. 

I wanted to take everyone's mind, even for a second, off of the horror, and remind them of a way that joy is shared to those in the grips of death all their lives--those terminal patients in the childrens cancer ward. We smiled, we laughed, and we left there with the work of sharing that joy with a hurting people. 

It is my hope that in times like this, we would all try to share that joy in a very special way. 

Well, that's all for now. Love you all! TTFN! You stay classy, World Wide Web!

-wes and jess

Second Generation Metheran

Jess:

Wes:

James Wesley:

Stay classy, World Wide Web

I'm Voting for _________!

Jess: Wes and I are not particularly politically-minded people. We know that there is an election happening, and we know who we’re going to vote for. But beyond that, we just don’t get that involved. There are some pretty good reasons for this attitude.

First of all, I get super sick of the attitudes that the candidates have toward each other. These men (and hopefully someday women) have worked in politics for a good part of their lives. They are not idiots, they are not incompetent, and they have already made an impact on the history of the US and possibly the world. In fact, even the loser in the race will have made a significant impact. Yet here we are watching them throw insults at one another, acting like little children. They lie, they cheat, and generally look stupid because of their actions toward one another. Why would I want to vote for either one of you? What are we showing the rest of the world if the only way to get to “the top” is to lower ourselves to slinging mud at others?

My next issue with the election is somewhat new: the Facebook bashing back and forth. People on both sides are saying things like “You’re an idiot if you vote for ____,” or “If you’re a ______ there’s no way that you could vote for ______.” I’ve seen fights about abortion, gay marriage, women’s rights, why Democrats suck, why Republicans suck, the poor, and so much more. No one is convincing anyone else with this discussion. Rather, they are just making me want to unfriend them and move on with my life.

What especially disturbs me is my Christian friends who are acting like this. Obviously, we have certain values that matter. I could spend an entire blog post talking about why I’m voting for the candidate I’m voting for based on my faith. And someone else could do an equally good job from the opposite standpoint. But what do we lose when we are just arguing about these men? Who is winning and losing here? Christians have a bad enough reputation in the world today—why would we want to perpetuate this with silly fights.

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the issues involved are silly. These are important, life-changing issues. Yet is Facebook—that anonymous place where people aren’t much more than a photo—the place to talk about these issues? We’ve lost sight of the fact that real people have real opinions about these things. And that just makes the candidates’ constant mudslinging all the worse. We forget that being president, that voting, that having this opportunity are all rare in the world. We forget that we are free in so many ways, and through this freedom we are not supposed to bind others, but to help them be more free, as well.  

Wes: It’s that time again! Voting season. It’s not near as exciting for me as football season, or baseball season. It’s not near as delicious for me as dove season or deer season. It’s also not near as magical for me as Christmas season.

I have to admit something to y’all: I’ve never voted before. I know that this is a big surprise, and honestly it’s not something that I’m very proud of. I’ve missed six years of voting, and one opportunity to let my voice be heard in the election of the president of our nation. My thoughts were always that it was a lot of work for a little impact, and, honestly, I couldn’t stand the way that all of these candidates were selling themselves to the masses. The political commercials on TV, the online ads and mass emails, the giant billboards and tiny-sized signs plastered all over highways, buildings, and peoples’ front yards all drove me crazy. Nothing ever seemed to speak to issues; they always seemed to either just shout the candidate’s name or tell me why the opposing candidate was the devil. I couldn’t take it, so I refused to give in to it.

Then one of my friends told me that the only way to do something about that was to change the system by voting. Otherwise I’m just complaining, and that’s annoying. I decided that he was right, so I decided this year to try to wade through all of the bull honky, find out who the actual candidates were, and make an informed vote based on issues.

Wow. That’s a lot harder than it seems.

And it doesn’t help that—as Jess points out above—our society is extremely opinionated and certain outlets such as Facebook allow anyone to say (and share) anything they want without first making sure that what they are saying is based on truth and without thinking about how their words will come across to others. The first part is just funny. Obama is a terrorist from Mars sent here to steal our children and turn them gay. Romney is really a dog-demonizing, promiscuous reincarnation of the Sheriff of Nottingham and Hitler. Really people? get your facts straight.

This second part, though, really bugs me. I think that the faceless and disassociated aspect of social media has worked to remove peoples’ filters when it comes to thinking about the impact that they have on others. Whether I am a Republican or a Democrat has no impact on my eternal salvation, so when someone’s post tells me that if I’m going to vote for a certain person, I might as well go to hell, it can be a very hurtful thing. When my intelligence is questioned based on my presidential vote, it can be a hurtful thing. I think that we forget that when we say these things, real people with real feelings and just as valid opinions will be reading them.

When you post something on Facebook or Twitter or any of these other social media outlets—especially if you claim to be a Christian and are supposed to care about these things—think about whether or not you would say this to someone’s face, and whether or not you are willing to deal with the real emotions and reactions of this. Think about who you are representing through your actions and through your words, because we’re supposed to be representing Christ.

Please?

But even after all of these posts, shared photos, bashings, ads, etc… I’m still going to vote this year. I’ve come to believe that it is extremely important to stretch our democratic muscles and to allow our voices to be heard through our votes. I would urge everyone to learn about the issues, learn about the candidates, and go vote.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading! You stay classy, World Wide Web!

-jess and wes

Catching Up

Jess: I apologize that Wes and I have been so remiss in writing our blogs recently. Things have been pretty crazy around here recently, and I'm sure they're just going to keep getting worse at the rate we're going!

We were going to write a blog about politics, but I'm thinking that some people might want to know what we've been up to for the last six weeks. Perhaps we'll get on track again and chat about politics next week. 

CPE finally ended for me on August 17. We had a lovely lunch at a local restaurant to celebrate our "graduation," and then Wes, our friend Jon, and I headed to Ohio. That's right. We made the 8-hour drive to Mansfield, Ohio on Friday afternoon/evening/night. The men were wonderful and insisted that I stretch out across the back and rest, rather than doing any of the driving. So I was able to be somewhat comfortable for the trip over. On Saturday morning and afternoon, we attended my candidacy retreat, which was interesting. We had some good discussions with other candidates and some members of the candidacy committee, had some synod time together, participated in a worship service, learned a little about family life and ministry, and talked about the candidacy process. Then it was back in the car for the drive home so Wes would be ready to preach on Sunday morning. After that exhausting trip, we basically just sat around on Monday and Tuesday, but we had a wonderful visit with Jon and were so grateful that he was able to come out to see us. 

The week between CPE and school starting for me is basically a blur. I know I worked on some homework and apparently attempted to rest, but then Wes and I both got a stomach bug and spent Friday and Saturday watching TV and trying to eat something. I was pretty worried about the baby, but he seems to have done pretty well. In fact, when we went in this week, the midwife told me that he's measuring two weeks big! I guess he's a pretty resilient guy. 

I started my field ed on Sunday August 26, and started school the next day. If you want to know about field ed, you'll have to read my blog, which you can do here. School has been going swimmingly so far. The only drawback to the whole process is Hebrew. Now, I'm a language person. I love learning new languages, and I pick them up really easily. I honestly can't remember getting anything less than a 90% on Spanish homework--or Greek, for that matter. Yet Hebrew is evading me. I really think I just don't have enough time to devote to learning it, but there's not much I can do about that. I'm taking it pass/fail, so I don't really NEED to work that hard, but if you know me, you know I can't just slack off. 

The rest of my classes have been fun. I'm taking Old Testament online, which has brought nothing surprising yet, but once we get through the first five books, I know I'll learn a lot more. I'm also taking History of Christianity online, which has been way more interesting than I expected. I can't tell you how much I love being able to "go to class" while sitting on my couch in my pajamas. These classes are a pregnant woman's dream. At school, I'm also taking Christian Education, which has been fun so far. I love the books we're reading for the class, and we have an online forum that we post on each week, which has also led to some great discussions. Finally, I'm taking Homiletics, which is by far my favorite course. I have been waiting impatiently to take another class with this professor since last fall. She's awesome, fun, and...Methodist, which Wes loves. Plus, this is one of those times where I can immediately see the application of my course work. We're writing sermons and then preaching them at our field ed sites. 

Babysitting Dan is the usual. He's gotten pretty good about letting me rest or do homework or whatever, and he's really grown up a lot even in the last few months. He's almost as busy as I am with travel soccer this fall, but he loves it, so that's great. And he's super excited about the baby, but who's not? We're at the point where we're going to be going to the doctor every two weeks, and sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our little bundle of joy is going to make his way screaming into the world! We're pretty set for the moment and very excited to see where life takes us next. 

Wes: So my life hasn't been near as jam-packed as my lovely wife's has been, but I do have a couple things worth reporting to our adoring fans. 

First, I had my final degree audit yesterday at Princeton. I am officially good to go to finish my stuff up this December and to graduate this coming May. I went into the registrar's office this last Friday to check in with him and to make sure that I was on top of everything, and he pulled up my stuff and told me that I am actually better off at this point than many of the seniors who put off checking in with him until the last minute. Only one of my classes this semester is a required course, and I actually only needed six hours to complete my MDiv. 

I'm pretty paranoid about stuff like degree plans. I feel like I am not very good at staying on top of all of my responsibilities, and when it comes to things like paperwork and planning out courses in advance, it's really easy for me to let things fall to the wayside. It's nice to know that this did not, and that I'll be finally done with school (for a while at least). 

I am excited about having the Spring semester off from school and still only be working half-time. It'll be a nice break from running pell-mell in ten different directions at once, and it'll give me plenty of time to spend with the baby once it's born. 

It's still really throwing me that I'm about to be a daddy. Freaking ridiculous. 

Which brings me to the next bit of news worth sharing. My district superintendent asked me this past week to share with my churches that as of May, Jess and I will be moving back to Texas for good. It was a bittersweet announcement to make, for even though both of us are very excited to be back around family and friends and to have the chance to raise Baby Cain up in that community, it was hard telling the churches of our plans. I feel like I am saying goodbye to them way too early, and that the process will be stretched out much longer than I would have liked. I don't want every Sunday to be a reminder to myself and to everyone in the congregation that we are one Sunday closer to leaving, and I definitely don't want anyone to feel like we are abandoning them by making this decision to continue on in both our vocations and our family plans. 

It will be great to be back home in a few months, but it will be hard to say goodbye. 

Well, that's a quick update on us. We'll get back into a rhythm with this blog soon, so stay with us. 

You stay classy, World Wide Web!

jess and wes

Summer Days, Driftin' Away

Jess: Well, I didn't talk to Wes about writing another blog, but I know our adoring fans are waiting impatiently, so here goes.

This summer has been quite a trip--for some of us. The rest of us have been working quite a lot. CPE has been going a lot better than I expected, because I honestly thought I would just be "getting through" the summer. Instead, I've made friends with some pretty cool people, I've met a lot of wonderful patients who have truly enjoyed our time together, and I have learned a lot about pastoral care in a specific as well as general sense. Sure, there have been days when my alarm goes off and I groan about having to do another day, but, all-in-all, this has been a good learning time.

I think I owe most of my semi-excitement about CPE to my supervisor, Ted. He has really made this a program where we learn based on what we want to learn. My goals have been to learn how to be empathetic without being overly emotional, to focus less on agendas/to-do lists and more on the here and now, and finally to develop my prayer life a little better. I think I have progressed well on every one of these goals, and I have actually developed some of my learning goals for field ed this year based on what I have been doing this summer. I think this might even be the point of CPE, so boo-yah.

Most of what I've learned this summer has been about myself, which I hear is one of the big goals of CPE. Sure, the patients are important, but I think the general assumption is that, if your respective seminary/denominational groups have put you through the process thus far, then you won't be too damaging in your interactions with them. Rather, the point of CPE is to learn about yourself--what are your strengths and weaknesses for pastoral care? Where could you do better, and in what ways are you pretty ready for ministry?

Ted's biggest comment in my most recent meeting was how I like to find the "right" thing to do in any situation. This probably developed from my past: as a pastor's child, I knew that I "should" act in a certain way. When I went to school, there were things I "should" do to get good grades and progress successfully. When I worked at Starbucks, there were certain steps I "should" follow to make sure each drink came out perfectly and each shift went well. There haven't been a whole lot of gray areas in my life, but ministry is a whole different animal. Ted said that he likes to say there are many things I "could" do. Some of them might be more or less appropriate in any given situation. Any one of the options might work and be seen as the "right" way, but that doesn't mean that the others were "wrong."

I think this is something that I can definitely learn. I am going to try to incorporate it into my learning goals for field ed this coming year, although I'm not exactly sure how. Something that will definitely help in my development in this area is being a mother. I'm well aware, from many years of babysitting, that there are many "coulds" and very few "shoulds" in parenting, especially in the child's early years. I should change my child's diaper, feed and clothe him, and make sure he sleeps as much as possible. But what could I do? I could breastfeed or use formula, or even do some mixture of both. I could use cloth diapers or regular. I could have enough outfits for months at a time or just enough to get through a week while doing laundry every few days. I could potty train early or late. I could have a crib or a bassinet. I could sleep in the baby's room or have the baby sleep in our room. And those are just the decisions we're making right now, not to mention the day-to-day and month-by-month and year-by-year decisions we'll be making for the rest of our child's life.

I know that babysitting has taught me a lot about the options, and I know that parenting will help me determine what I could do and what works for us as a family. But how will I translate this to ministry? Will it come naturally, or will I still want concrete answers there? I don't expect to have concrete answers about theology or the Bible, yet I want to know the "right" thing to do in every situation. This is going to be an interesting path for a type-A person like me, with my color-coded calendars, to-do lists, and black and white view of answers, but it's going to be a fun one! At least I have Wes to keep me sane. :)

Wes: Well, while Jess has been going crazy at CPE, I've been thoroughly enjoying my summer. I cannot remember the last time I had a summer where the only thing I had going on was a part-time job. It's a beautiful experience, and one I don't think I'll ever have again. So, I've been milking it for all it's worth.

My little sister, Katherine, came to visit for almost the entire month of July! She came in on the 4th--way better than fireworks--and she left on the 31st. We had a great time with her here, and I already miss her a ton. To give you a taste of what it's like to visit with us for a month, here are some highlight's of Katherine's visit:

1. We started, beat, and reached 100% completion on Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4. 
2. We went to the beach a handful of times to enjoy the sand and the surf. 
3. We watched movies whenever we wanted to. 
4. We toured all of local ice cream shops to determine which one was the best. 
5. We worked off all of the ice cream we ate by utilizing our membership at the Mercer County Community College pool. 
6. She slept in until noon most days... the jerk. Except Sundays. We made her go to church every week! 
7. We spent hours and hours coming up with new and improved ways to bug Jessica when she got off work. 
8. We went to Six Flags Great Adventure just to contract heat stroke while in line for the Superman ride. 

So be jealous. We rock.

But seriously, it was wonderful having her here. I feel like I've missed out on so much of her life while we've been up here in New Jersey, and even though we spend time together when Jess and I go down there, and even though Kat's come up here a couple times before, it was nice to have a good chunk of time to spend intentional time with her and get to know the wonderful young lady she is becoming.

I just wish she'd stop growing. She's almost taller than me!

Now that she's gone, though, I am transitioning my free time from hanging with her to working on my candidacy paperwork. I have a hefty list of things to do before my interviews in January, and I am trying to stay on top of it so that I give this the ample time and prayer that it deserves. Many of the questions involve a great deal of introspection, and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend time in prayerful conversation with God about where I've come from, where I am in life now, and where God is calling me to go in the future. I know that the completion of this process will mark the turning of a page and a change of chapter in the book of my life, and I am excited about what the next part of the story is going to hold.

As I continue working through the questions of the written examination and preparing the rest of the paperwork for the Board of Ordained Ministry, I'll keep all of you updated on the process, share with you my highs and lows of writing it, and probably throw in whatever other random thoughts pop up as I'm going through it.

Well, that's enough for us. Expect another post much sooner next time... Like next week. Things are abrewin' in this head o' mine, and after they mature, they will be poured out into the interweb for everyone's consumption and enjoyment.

Until then, you stay classy, World Wide Web!


-jess and wes

Our Summer So Far

Jess: Ted, my supervisor at the hospital, has pointed out to me at least once or twice that being pregant is a great metaphor for the work we're doing at CPE, but I've been thinking that it could be taken further as a metaphor for ministry--or at least MY pregnancy is a good metaphor for MY ministry.
 
A reflection on pregnancy as a metaphor for ministry:

All your life, you have been waiting for the right time to come along. You have been patiently--and sometimes impatiently--awaiting the moment when you discover something new. What will the new purpose in life be? What will it feel like? What is God calling you to do?
 
Then it happens. You've been feeling pretty normal, and it's hard to imagine that something has changed. But it has. There is new life blossoming within you, and there is no stopping it now. So far nothing seems to have changed. You don't look or feel any different than you did yesterday. But everything is different. Suddenly your whole worldview shifts. Will anything ever be the same?
 
For awhile, you don't tell anyone what has happened to you. How could you tell? Some people seem to notice that you're different. You carry yourself a little differently. You have some mysterious "glow" about you. Every once in awhile, you look like all that is inside is about to come back out. But no one really says anything, and you keep the secret. You speak of it only with one other person, in hushed, excited tones. What does this mean? What will we do? What does God want from us? 
 
Then the time comes to tell others. "I've found out what God wants from me, and I'm going to do it." Most are so excited, they can hardly keep their emotions in check. They always knew this was where you were heading; they were just waiting for you to discover it, too. Some are a little confused: "What about your other plans? What about your job? Your life will never be the same--are you sure this is what you want?" But there's no stopping you. No threats of not making or having enough money, security, normalcy can change your mind. This is the real thing.
 
Eventually, the newness of the thing wears off--for everyone but you. Sometimes, you are so excited you think you will burst. Other times, you realize the weight of this new thing (somtimes literally). What if you're not cut out for this? What if you've misinterpreted what God is saying? What if you're not prepared and it is a huge disaster? Most of the time, the excitement wins out, but there are definitely moments of fear. Fear about what the future holds. Fear about something going wrong. Fear about whether you really can do this or not. 
 
For awhile, you settle into a routine. It's a different one from before, but a routine nonetheless. Sometimes you even forget that your life is drastically different. Then you feel the tiniest flutter, reminding you of the change that will keep on growing. One day, the flutters will turn into jabs...then pain. There will definitely be pain, but when the pain is over, there is new life. And the new life does not mean the work is done. In fact, when that new life comes, the work has just begun. There is so much to do, to learn, to carry with you. This is a change that lasts a lifetime. 


Wes: So, Jess' part of the blog post is all thought-provoking and deep and stuff. Mine? Not so much. I just thought I'd fill all you good people in on what this summer has held for me so far. You see, this is my last actual "summer", my last year to enjoy this as a vacation from school, before I finish up school, have a baby, and will be working full-time in some form or fashion (two jobs, one job, three job... who knows?). So, I've been trying to make the most of it. 


My first week of summer was chalk full of church fun. The Annual Conference of the Greater New Jersey Conference was a wonderful time of fellowship, worship, and celebration. I got to watch on as my wonderful friend and ministry partner, Erica Munoz, was ordained as an elder in full connection. I was intrigued by the new church start that the bishop is pushing for--a Cyber Space UMC--and all of the possibilities that something like this could have. I laughed with and was challenged by Bishop Mike Lowry, our keynote speaker and my old pastor from University UMC in San Antonio, and enjoyed the chance to hear him preach again. It was a blessing to get to spend time with these people, and even though it makes me just that much more of a nerd, I thoroughly enjoyed even the business procedures that week. 


After Annual Conference, I had one and half days with Jess before I boarded a plane to Texas for a church camp. My buddy Shane, the youth pastor at First UMC in McAllen, TX, invited me down to be his prayer partner for a camp that he was speaking at. It was a fun and relaxing time, and I am very, very thankful that Shane flew me down for it. Our conversations were such a blessing, and I cherished our time together as we grew closer to each other through prayer, worship, and fellowship--especially during our trips to Sonic for Happy Hour--HALF-PRICED RT 44 DIET DR. PEPPER WITH VANILLA AND EZ ICE! 


After spending a week away from my beloved--the week that happened to be Jess' first week of CPE--I came home for exactly 3 days. I engaged in my Sunday duties, hung out with Jess, and had an all-around good time before jumping on another plane, leaving Jess again, and heading back to Texas for the wedding of one of my good friends, Marcus Biggot. While I was down there, I took my dad and grandpa out to a Roundrock Express game for some fun watching baseball. I had such a great time with them, Tomas, Korey, and Katherine. After a couple days with them, I headed to Kerrville for the wedding itself. The ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was a lot of fun. It was great to be able to see so many beloved friends and old classmates. 


Since I got home from that, I've been doing as much work for the churches as possible and enjoying as much time relaxing as possible. It is a wonderful, wonderful summer, and I love it. 


How is your summer going? Let us know!


Until next time, you stay classy, World Wide Web!




-jess and wes