Lent!

Jess: Well, it's that time of year again. It seems like it got here a lot faster than last year. LENT. That wonderful season in the Christian liturgical calendar that has many meanings and many purposes and many biblical precedents. It's 40 days of thinking about how bad we are...40 days of giving something up so we'll lose weight, save money, or some other great benefit...40 days of being sad and not saying Hallelujah (at least for Lutherans)...40 days of what? I don't think any of the above ideas are really that fantastic, but Lent is a hard thing to pin down. My personal favorite way of looking at it (this year, at least) is as a season of contemplation. It's a time to reflect on ourselves, the world, sin, etc. It's the dark night before the dawn, when we recognize our own faults, so that we can rejoice in Jesus' coming and his saving work. It is, like the whole year, a time to think about what God has done and continues to do for us.

Many people give things up for Lent. I myself have, in the past, given up sweets, TV, talking for an hour each day, and much more. I think that the purpose of giving something else has to be carefully discerned. Many people use this as a time to kind of test out a New Year's Resolution that didn't go so well. To give something up for 40 days seems doable. It's something you can count down. But that's not the point of giving something up for Lent. I'm not sure where the practice started, but I know it's not about giving something up so that you will be forced to eat healthier, thereby allowing you to lose weight. In fact, I stopped giving up sweets after the year that I lost 5 pounds over Lent. I knew that my motivations from then on would not be the right ones.
We had a professor in college who ranted against giving something up for Lent, but I wasn't really listening then. Now I realize he has some good points. If eating sweets is bad for you and you want to be healthier, just don't eat sweets. Don't try to do it out of some sort of religious obligation. If you want to learn how to watch less TV, just stop watching as much TV, don't try to make it seem like you're giving it up for Jesus. So giving something up for Lent is pretty tricky. Ever since we got married, Wes and I have been trying to do a Lenten discipline, which we see as a horse of a different color. Perhaps it's still a little cheesy or lame or not quite the point of Lent, but I'd like to think we're at least making a step in the right direction...
Two years ago, we each took on a prayerful devotion time. I read through the Gospel of Mark in Greek and reflected on it throughout the season. Wes did a prayer time while I did that. Last year, we added a Sabbath to our week--from 2 p.m. on each Saturday, we would do no homework, church work, etc. Our goal wasn't to just sit around and watch TV, either. We cooked dinner together, went on walks, spent time talking, and more. I wish we had added some sort of prayer component to it, but it was really a time of refreshment. It reminded us to slow down, that getting everything done is much easier when you include rest.
This year, we're doing something a little different. We're going to model our discipline off a book I read a couple of years ago called Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping. I would encourage everyone to read this, or one of the many blogs about being more frugal that you can find by searching "The year without spending." We're not going to be buying anything new, going out to eat, or otherwise spending money for the season of Lent. That means no random stops for ice cream, no extra purchases when we're out grocery shopping--just the basics. The woman in this book definitely takes it to the extreme, even to the point of only buying the cheapest version of everything when she gets food. To make sure that we don't use this as a way to just save money for ourselves, we're going to donate the money that is normally allocated in our budget to this kind of stuff. I'll let Wes talk some more about our plans, because I've been going on too long already!

Wes: So everyone knows that Lent is that special time of year when you give up something you love as a sacrifice to Easter Bunny so that he brings you delicious chocolates and eggs containing a small amount of pocket change. In the olden days, Lent was first observed by entire communities sacrificing all of the young men and women who had reached the coveted age of maturity. Adolescents of both genders joyously threw themselves into smoldering volcanic pits while the elderly and the young cheered from a safe distance away. When whole civilizations were wiped out due to illness and the fact that no one was procreating, neighboring aborigine societies decided that it might be within their best interests to instead give up chocolate and Facebook for a forty-day span. The dreaded Rabbit of Resurrection accepted this paradigm shift, and the ritual has remained unchanged for millennia. 

So, with the weight of thousands of years of tradition bearing me down, here is a list of items that I have given up for Lent in the past:

• Soda.
• Chocolate and other forms of candy.
• Facebook. 
• Pizza.
• Gum. (This one was particularly hard because at the time I was utterly addicted to rubber)
• Ice Cream. 
• All forms of dessert. 
• Video Games.
• School. (This one was vetoed almost immediately by the powers that be--my parents)
• TV
• Multiple combinations of some/all of the above.

During my senior year of high school, I decided to try something different. A friend of mine covenanted with me to spend each Wednesday lunch period in one of the band practice rooms. We would fast during the lunch hour and pray for every student, faculty member, and staff member of the school. After having to pass a background check and go before the school board to promise that I did not want the names for any maligned purpose, we set out on our mission. My friend didn't last the entire time, and to be honest there were certain days when I would sneak a bite of a granola bar before dinner, but we tried our best, and I can personally attest that every person in the school was prayed for by name at least once during that 40-day span. 

It was a wonderful experience for me, and it led to a shift in how I understood and approached Lent. From that point on, I've tried to either add something new and exciting like this prayer experiment or at least tried to make sure that when I do take away something for Lent, I replace it with something awesome, like intentional prayer time anytime I feel the itch to update my status.

This year will be challenging. There are times when I just really want a Starbucks drink or a fountain soda. But I'm going to try my hardest to live as simply as possible--not just to cut out the extra fluff from my life, but because I'm hoping that it helps me see just how much I have and how blessed I am. I know that I take much in my life for granted, and that I rely on the extravagance of my middle-class situation much more than I rely on the extravagance of my God. I want to change that. 

I hope that this will end up being a wonderful experience for Jess and I, and I hope that in some way it continues even after Lent, that we might live simply in our extravagance, and give God all of the glory for the things we so often and so readily take for granted. 

So whatever you do for Lent, I pray that it is a meaningful experience for you. I pray that you'll be able to see it for what it is--a discipline--and I pray that God will be blessed by you through it while God blessed you through it. 

Also, Happy Ash Wednesday!

You stay classy, World Wide Web!

-jess and wes

Tipping: It's Not Just a City in China

Jess: So Wes and I have been discussing this "pastor" who refused to tip his waitress http://consumerist.com/2013/01/29/diner-thinks-that-saying-hes-a-pastor-allows-him-to-stiff-waiter-on-tip/. Apparently this guy doesn't need to tip his server because he gives God 10%, and no one else deserves more than that.

Geez, this is so wrong on so many levels. I'm so beyond frustrated to see something so ridiculous cruising the internet and giving people yet another reason to hate Christians. We really suck sometimes, right?

First of all, this guy is saying that a tip is somehow equal to tithing. Wrong. Tithing (for you non-churchy people, that's the fancy word for giving 10% of your income to the church) is something we do out of gratitude to God. There are a few biblical justifications for the giving to be 10%, but the general idea is that we give back to God. But, with the exception of the sacrifices of the firstborn animal, grain, etc. from the Old Testament, this tithe wasn't ever really given TO God, precisely. Even most of the sacrifices were presented in some way before God and then actually used by the priests. The priests received their food from the offerings of the people. God has no need for food or drink, but the priests certainly did.

The point of the tithe is not that I'm giving 10% TO God, but that I'm giving 10% of the gifts with which God has blessed me so that they may be a blessing to others. In modern times, this still frequently means supporting the pastor with their salary, housing allowance, etc. But this money also goes to the other work of the church-- serving God's people. A tithe is not something we give to God because God needs it. Giving the tithe is an acknowledgement that everything we have is already God's. It's a way to say thank you. But like I said before, God doesn't need our money, food, time, whatever--those are already God's to begin with. God calls us to share these things with others, to care for the rest of creation because God loved and cared for us first.

The second (and final, because I'm ranting) point I will make is about how this guy treated the poor server. We are reminded repeatedly throughout the Bible of how God has taken care of us--from the Israelites that God rescued from slavery in Egypt, to our salvation through Jesus' death on the cross. And God calls us to care for others because he first cared for us. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us." This is one of my biggest problems with Christianity as an institution today. We hear so much about how cruelly Christians treat one another and especially those that they consider to be "outside" the faith. And almost none of it is good. Good deeds seem to always come from outside of Christianity, while Christians, the ones who are called to spread the message of love, are best known for our hypocrisy. Ouch. This guy is a great example of that.

Our tithing is supposed to be a way to thank God. So I can almost see how he can equate the tip with the tithe. We are thanking our server for good work. But, as I said about a million times above, God doesn't NEED our money. Someone who is working at or below minimum wage (because of whatever crazy system they have worked out for servers) NEEDS that money! Even if they're having a bad night--we should give them the benefit of the doubt. THAT'S the kind of message Christians are called to share. I'm sure we wouldn't have heard much about it, but what if this "pastor" had instead tipped above and beyond the 18%, writing a note about how he remembers being a server, and how he hopes that the server has a great day. But no, he's too busy complaining about a perfectly legitimate tip being automatically added to his tab when he brought a large party. What a jerk. So now the country is in an uproar about this "pastor's" actions. And once again the Gospel message is lost in someone's inability to see Christ in the other.

Wes: “And this is how the world will know that you are my disciples: if you love one another.”

Jesus said this to his disciples. It is recorded in John 13:35.

Earlier, when asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. The second one is like it: love your neighbor as yourself.”

Something is wrong when our relationship with and faith in God can be used a bludgeon to others. It goes against everything that Jesus stood for, and completely misses the point of the Christian life. Now, Jess did a wonderful job speaking of tithing and of how the call of the Christian is so much more than simply writing a check to God for 10% of our annual income. I’ll let her words stand alone in this aspect. But something else from this really caught me off guard, and really disappointed me: there was no love in this. Even if that 18% gratuity was high (which I absolutely do not believe to be true), this pastor acted out of anger and self-righteousness instead of out of love, and this is just sad. I feel so bad for this waitress, who did not see Jesus in this pastor that night and who ended up losing her job because of the “embarrassment” she caused this clergy person.

I also feel bad for the pastor, who has completely missed the point of what it means to give to God. If I ever heard a parishioner say that they gave 10% to God and that was enough, I’d probably try to use the occasion as a teaching experience, a chance to show them that the call on our lives is not to give God 10% of our income but to give God 100% of ourselves. Tithing (and the many other ways in which the Ancient Israelites were called to give to God, which actually totals to about 33% of one’s income) was a way to allow each person and family to take part in the work that God’s people were doing in the world. It fed and clothed the priests who served as mediators between Creator and created. It built the Tabernacle and later the Temple, both of which served as focal points of worship for the people. It was not a clear-cut tax that would be weighed and measured by authorities, but was a way to include all in the work of the Lord. This pastor obviously missed that, and I feel bad for her and for those who are not hearing this vital truth of Scripture at her church.

I hope that my friends outside of the church do not judge all of us by such acts like this. I wish I could say that they are few and far between, but that’s not exactly true, is it? The body of Christ needs to step up and do a better job of loving. Right now (and I admit that I speak only from my perspective), we are missing out on chance after chance to love others, and I sincerely doubt that the world would say that they know us first and foremost by our love.

Let’s step it up, friends. Jesus set out a pretty steep challenge. Let’s rise to meet it.

And come on. Tip your servers. They’re earning every penny, and even if they’re not, they probably need it just as much as—if not more than—you do.

Stay classy, World Wide Web.

-jess and wes

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