Guess who CAME to dinner? (The update)
As I mentioned previously, we hosted a family game night with our church last evening. We had everyone show up who had RSVP'd, although people showed up so late that we were starting to wonder if we were getting snubbed by our church. Believe me, as I sat there and the clock ticked passed the 30-35 minute mark of when the party was to start and no one was there, I was already planning my blog post on how it feels to get stood up by your congregation.
The evening started off fine. All the kids immediately went to playing and acted as if they'd known each other forever. This made me wonder why we as adults have to make things so complicated? Why do we have to, for example get all worked up about someone like a priest coming to our house really? What is the big deal with that really--aren't we all just people? Not that I'm talking about anyone I know here or anything!
Our minister did come with his three boys and his wife. He was warm, witty, and funny. His wife was reserved but very down-to-earth. The more I talk with her, the more I think we'll get along quite well the more we get to know one another.
Once the wine cork was popped, people became more relaxed. (I said we were Episcopalians didn't I? If I didn't, that should totally explain the wine then!) Among the basic things I learned about our new minister last evening was that he's from Northern California and was a professor of religious history before deciding to go into the seminary. But, the more interesting things I learned about our new minister were that he wore camping socks with his Tevo's when his wife met him and thought that was quite cool-looking (something she was happy to change quite quickly), and that he is an intense Star Wars fanatic.
As it turns out, the Star Wars discussion got quite animated because several other people there were also Wookie fans. One couple excitedly shared how their friend sat next to the actor who plays C3P0 at a party. (Can I get a "woo-woooo?") The minister made some pretty funny jokes on darker parts of the movies and quoted them a lot.
In fact, I almost felt like I was about to be swallowed up by modern day "Trekkie" convention. My husband likes Star Wars, as does my son, so he enjoyed the talk for awhile and then started giving me his "oh my" looks discretely when the conversation did not wane.
We ate, visited, and played an interactive family DVD game. In the end, it was a lovely evening. I learned that our minister is a fun-loving and very intelligent guy and I found that actually he and his wife seemed more on edge than we were at all, and thankfully by the end of the evening they were not at all. And, as I sat at our church this morning and listened to him tell a really personal story of his walk into faith, while tears welled up in his eyes as he told us, I realized something more. He's just a normal guy in his mid-thirties who is doing a not-so-normal and often tedious job. He's doing the best he can at it, all the while raising three sons and dealing with moving to a new city and finding new friends. Add on to this all the stigmas attached with his job and the expectations that others place on him because of his career choice, and I'm sure it is quite challenging.
In truth, I found someone that I actually quite admire. And, what a nice surprise that was to find!
This week I'm teaching a group of 4-year-olds at our vacation bible school. If you're looking for some really funny or crazy stories, be sure to check back because I can already tell it is going to be QUITE a week!
The evening started off fine. All the kids immediately went to playing and acted as if they'd known each other forever. This made me wonder why we as adults have to make things so complicated? Why do we have to, for example get all worked up about someone like a priest coming to our house really? What is the big deal with that really--aren't we all just people? Not that I'm talking about anyone I know here or anything!
Our minister did come with his three boys and his wife. He was warm, witty, and funny. His wife was reserved but very down-to-earth. The more I talk with her, the more I think we'll get along quite well the more we get to know one another.
Once the wine cork was popped, people became more relaxed. (I said we were Episcopalians didn't I? If I didn't, that should totally explain the wine then!) Among the basic things I learned about our new minister last evening was that he's from Northern California and was a professor of religious history before deciding to go into the seminary. But, the more interesting things I learned about our new minister were that he wore camping socks with his Tevo's when his wife met him and thought that was quite cool-looking (something she was happy to change quite quickly), and that he is an intense Star Wars fanatic.
As it turns out, the Star Wars discussion got quite animated because several other people there were also Wookie fans. One couple excitedly shared how their friend sat next to the actor who plays C3P0 at a party. (Can I get a "woo-woooo?") The minister made some pretty funny jokes on darker parts of the movies and quoted them a lot.
In fact, I almost felt like I was about to be swallowed up by modern day "Trekkie" convention. My husband likes Star Wars, as does my son, so he enjoyed the talk for awhile and then started giving me his "oh my" looks discretely when the conversation did not wane.
We ate, visited, and played an interactive family DVD game. In the end, it was a lovely evening. I learned that our minister is a fun-loving and very intelligent guy and I found that actually he and his wife seemed more on edge than we were at all, and thankfully by the end of the evening they were not at all. And, as I sat at our church this morning and listened to him tell a really personal story of his walk into faith, while tears welled up in his eyes as he told us, I realized something more. He's just a normal guy in his mid-thirties who is doing a not-so-normal and often tedious job. He's doing the best he can at it, all the while raising three sons and dealing with moving to a new city and finding new friends. Add on to this all the stigmas attached with his job and the expectations that others place on him because of his career choice, and I'm sure it is quite challenging.
In truth, I found someone that I actually quite admire. And, what a nice surprise that was to find!
This week I'm teaching a group of 4-year-olds at our vacation bible school. If you're looking for some really funny or crazy stories, be sure to check back because I can already tell it is going to be QUITE a week!
posted by Crazy MomCat @ 8:31 PM
6 Comments:
That's so funny about the wine...I remember a joke about how many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb? Three: One to call an electrician, one to open the wine, and one to talk about how good the old lightbulb used to be...
Good luck with VBS! I admire you for taking that on!
Sounds like things went wonderfully!
The priest who was at my college Episcopal ministry is a great guy. He's since moved to a parish in California, but guess what? He blogs. Check him out at http://skepticalpriest.blogspot.com.
I LOVE this part:
He's just a normal guy in his mid-thirties who is doing a not-so-normal and often tedious job...
Talk about the awesome gift of having him (and his family) over! Sounds like it was definitely worth it... even if you did have to endure all the Star Wars talk. ;-)
Have fun at VBS! I've helped with VBS in the past, it was fun but tiring!
Oh my goodness! I'm sure you're going to have stories galore. Four year-olds are the absolute best fodder possible!
Our priest (I'm a fellow Episcopalian) is a woman who decided to enter priesthood at the age of fifty! I admire her, too. It sounds like you had a wonderful time getting to know your new priest and his family!
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