Cleaning Out, Packing Up

I found out this afternoon that tomorrow night we will be showing our condo to some potential renters. So, I've been clearing out the clutter. I do know how to collect it. I have bags and piles now: throw away, recycle, take to ec0-thrift, box up. In the midst of my sorting, I found a journal that I kept during a pertinent time - my first year here in Fort Collins and at Shepherd of the Hills. (I think I actually started writing in it around Thanksgiving time '07.) Anyway, I found this poem I wrote sometime early last year or late in '07. (I was "observing" proper hospital pastoral care, you could say, and offering what I had to give, too.)

The Holy Spirit in the Hospital

He invites the family to the bedside,
we clasp hands. I am
very aware of my "beginner" status
at this. I breathe in,
breathe out; taking notice of
the Pastor's healing words. Ah yes,
I think. Invoke the Holy Spirit -
of course! My hands pulse with
the prayer. Could I really invite God
to guide the doctors and nurses?
The family presses in, the patient sinks
into his anaesthetic. "Amen!"
(How is it that we know when the
time is right and when it's time
to close the prayer?) Our clasped
hands depart. I've done this several
times now. But it still encompasses
so much mystery. The hospital
remains itself, flickering flourescent
lights, nurses clothed in stiff
scrubs. But the Spirit moves. Ah, yes!
The Spirit - and we are changed.

My Blogging Habits Have Become Pitiful...

...But I just want you to know that my caffeine-consuming habits have NOT slowed.

It's been an exciting weekend. Hiking, antique-table acquiring, chair-staining (notice I did not say "soiling"), 30Rock Viewing, and managing to forage meals from a desolate fridge-and-pantry situation. (This all comes on the heels of my two weeks "in charge" while the Pastor was away...)

Updates and photos to follow soon.

Hope you are all well - and getting enough carbohydrates in your diet.

K

Tomorrow: You're Only a Day Away...

A photo of me and some of the high school girls from SOTH.

Tomorrow I preach my last sermon ever at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Fort Collins, CO. (Dun-dun-DAHHH....) At least, my last sermon as their Parish Associate.

I'm feeling a bit restless, I've eaten enough chocolate for at least TWO Kendras, I'm tired of reading through my manuscript. I'm a mixed bag of emotions, folks.

The first sermon I preached was on a Pauline Epsitle. So is my last. Nice bookends, I guess.

I've learned a lot about myself and about preaching and about worship in that pulpit at 1200 S. Taft Hill Road. It, too, has been a mixed bag. But I would say that the mixture is more good stuff than unfortunate. And I am grateful for that.

Thanks for reading.

Floyd Cooper's Tattoo

Since my updates are becoming less and less frequent, the information to relay is piling up. But if my brain is a computer, then my memory seems to jam, and just a few benign nuggets of info seem to sift out and fall to the page. Here's one for you today.

I went to visit a woman from church yesterday who was just diagnosed with bone cancer. She's starting the scans and biopsies and just general fear, worry, and waiting. This is her fourth bout with with cancer, too. She has survived three other different forms of cancer.

But when I went to see her, I also got to visit with her husband. He just looks like your quintisential hard-working grandpa. And I noticed he has a big tattoo on his arm. This time around, I was brave enough to ask about it.

"That there's my girlfriend's name," he pointed to a faded ink design on his forearm.

"Oh, does it say Lorraine?" I asked, stupidly. (His wife is Lorraine)

"Yeah. I got that back in '42 with a buddy who was in the service with me. He got his wife's name on his arm. I didn't have a wife, so I put her name there. Then I had to marry her." (He smiled)

Sometimes you learn about people's faithfulness to one another through ordinary things. This woman who has cancer has been a member of our church since 1971. She's been in the same "lunch bunch" group of friends for 20 years. Floyd and his sons have run Cooper Auto Body has a family business for over 40 years. And Floyd got a tattoo in 1942 with Lorraine's name on it, and here they are, still married.

It's hard for me, as a young and still very transient person, to imagine doing any one thing for years, decades, and so forth. So I am impressed and humbled by the faithfulness I come across in the people I meet who've been practicing it for so much longer than I've even been alive.

Thanks for reading.

No Hunchy Photos Tonight...

Sorry to disappoint, but I also didn't want you to think I was obsessed (I am).

John and I recently purchased a VCR from the thrift store, so we've been revisiting our VHS tapes. It was a rainy, indoors kind of day. We watched Dead Poets Society with dinner. (I made chili and corn bread. How Southern is that?) Whenever I watch DPS, the part toward the end makes me sad and mad and anxious. I catch myself saying, "it's only a movie....it's only a movie..." Movies like that are a reminder not to be such a stick-in-the-mud conformist. We all need reminders.

After the movie we took a night ride on our bikes to "Wendland park." That was fun. And a little bit spooky. I kind of like the thrill of seeing things (that aren't there) in the shadows. (Don't worry, mom. I have good bike lights.)

So that was our night. It's hard to believe we only have 2 months (less, actually) left in Fort Collins. I think with my bike rides and such I am beginning the grieving process. We are going on an adventure and it will be great, but we are leaving a really awesome town, too.

That is all. Thanks for reading.

Hunchy Hits the Sauce!

There's more to say, always more. But for now, here's a photo of Hunchy, "hittin the sauce," so to speak. John and I have been trying out some Japanese cooking. It's quite fun, and healthy. There are SO many different kinds of noodles. I think we have about 5 different packages in our pantry right now.

Life is good. And even better after a 3 hour Sunday Nap.

May has been a busy month. ( A lot of travels for Hunchy!)

HOUSKA!

Some pictures from my first 5K! (I've actually volunteered for two, this was the first actual participation.) It was a fun race. I'm eager to do another. It was a great route, too. Most of it on the Poudre Trail along the river and through the trees. We ran (Cindy from First Pres, me and John, and Mary and Jane from Shepherd of the Hills) the Houska Houska 5K, sponsored by Houska Automotive as a benefit for the bone marrow transplant program at PVH hospital. They had a good party afterwards, too. Here's to HOUSKA!