Sunroom Progress (Or Regress, Depending on How You Look at It)

The whole thing came down yesterday! The weather was beautiful, if a bit cool.



It was fascinating to watch. I was impressed by the efficiency and planning of the demolition team. First they set about removing glass. In the majority of cases, they were able to do so without any breakage, but there were a few shattered panes along the way.

You can see in these next few pictures how cloudy the glass had become. I guess there was a time in the life of this sunroom when the sky actually looked that blue, even through the glass. But that time has long since passed. And there was no fixing the problem because the cloudiness was not on the outside. Over time most of the seals on the panels had broken, allowing moisture and dirt to collect between the panes as well as in the sunroom itself. I was amazed at how much sunshine was streaming into our kitchen after all that foggy glass was removed!

There are a couple of shattered panels in this shot. The glass panels were at one time snapped into the frame under great pressure and the act of snapping them back out was just too much for some of them.











What a mess!

Our long-ago retired hot tub. It was funny to watch it get pushed back and forth all day since no one seemed to know what to do with it. We never got rid of it because we couldn't figure out how to get it out of the house (it was too big to go through the door). I don't know how the previous owners got it in. All I can figure is that they got it first and built the room around it!

After all the glass was out it was time to remove the frame. Here's a video of a little piece of that process. At the beginning of the video there are two guys working on the beam in question. About 50 seconds in, another man enters and he is the one that ends up pulling the beam loose and carrying it away. Am I crazy, or does he look a little like Mel Gibson?

Untitled from Cheryl on Vimeo.

And then it was time to go after the ? --I'm not sure what to call it but the lip of the foundation:

Untitled from Cheryl on Vimeo.

In the end we were left with a floor without a room and plastic for the outer back wall of our house, and of course, our lonely, orphaned hot tub (if anyone wants it, you're welcome to come and get it):










A view from inside:



We will be walking the dog out front for a while. Next week the tile will be removed from the sunroom floor and a new surface poured, turning our sunroom into a patio. Drywall, insulation, siding, and a weather-worthy exterior back door will complete the project.

No Comment

Last night as I was cuddling with Evan (my 7-year-old), he looked at me, all sincerity and devotion, and said, "Mom, you're the most beautifulest mom in the whole world, ever!" I hugged and thanked him and reciprocated his declaration of love. Then, without missing a beat, he continued: "And Dad's the prettiest, I mean beautifulest, I mean hammiest dad!"

☺

Your Vote Matters

I hear it a lot these days: "It doesn't matter who you vote for. All politicians are the same. There's no real difference between Democrats and Republicans. They're too entrenched. Nothing is ever going to change."

Excuses, all. Excuses for sticking one's head in the sand and not investing, not caring, not studying, and not contributing to the process.

It does matter. They aren't all the same. Things can change. This election proves it. Anti-establishment candidates all over the country are riding a wave that may take them all the way to Washington (or their state capitols). We may be celebrating conservative victories tonight that a year ago no one could have ever dreamed of.

Ultimately, if it's true that it doesn't matter, that they're all the same, that reclaiming our country's Constitutional foundation is impossible, we have no one to blame but ourselves. United States citizens today have more freedom than any people in history ever have. We have come close to squandering it. But thank God many are starting to wake up. It's time to make a big noise, folks. We can do it. And if we make a loud enough noise, tomorrow "Yes, we can" (to borrow a phrase) will be come "Yes, we did."

Go and vote and catch the wave that is only now beginning, that will take us to 2012 and beyond as we fight to get our country back.

Reformation Day 2010

Gradual

Psalm 48:1, 12-13 from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Hymn of the Day

"A Mighty Fortress is Our God" from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Communion Hymn

"Salvation Unto Us Has Come" - Stanzas 2 & 3 from Cheryl on Vimeo.

"Salvation Unto Us Has Come" - Stanza 6 (Setting by J. S. Bach) from Cheryl on Vimeo.

*For complete information about the musical settings used in these videos, go to the Vimeo link for each video.

How Times Have Changed

Me and Trevor in December, 2000, at a Young Naperville Singers choir concert for which he sang and I played

Me and Trevor in October, 2010, following a Chicago Blaze chess team match in which his win helped secure the team's berth in the 2010 United States Chess League playoffs



Can someone please tell me where the years have gone?

Update on Our House Restoration Project

Notice I called it a "restoration"--not remodeling--project. Remodeling is adding on, updating, contemporizing, making new. We are not doing that. We are reducing, not increasing our square footage. We are ripping off, not adding, a sunroom. We are not updating but returning our home to its original state, c. 1979.

Today the tree guys came. It's amazing how quickly they work, sawing off branches, feeding them into the chipper, grinding stumps until there is no indication a tree ever stood in those spots. We are two trees down (leaving one only) in the back yard: one extremely mature tree that was right next to the house, rudely pushing on the foundation, and another, a younger but still sizable apple tree whose dropping of sickly fruit and attracting of bees had resulted in my youngest not wanting to play in his own yard. We are all looking forward to being apple free next year. For Evan, no apple tree means no (or fewer) bees; for the rest of us, it means no more "Essence of Rotting Apple" wafting across our yard and no more having to pick up yucky, squishy apples just so we can mow the grass!

In addition to the tree removal, a few days ago our sunroom was gutted--all the inner paneling removed so as to expose the roof and attic.

When the sunroom was added, whoever did the work got "creative" with the wiring. So there is a mess of cords in the attic above the kitchen and family room (where the sunroom adjoins) coming from and leading to who knows where. Our electrical panel is outdated so in addition to cleaning up the wiring mess we will be getting a new panel. Once the electrical work is done the demolition and restoring of this end of the house will resume. The French doors at the far left end will be replaced with a sliding glass door, and to the left of that will be a doggy flap for our beagle, who drives us crazy with wanting in and out All Day Long. The glass on each side of the fireplace, which at one time was windows, will be walled up so that bookshelves can be placed on both sides of the fireplace on the other side. Yes, we will lose some light, but we need the wall space. The fireplace, currently a 2-way that opens into both family room and sunroom, will revert to being a 1-way opening into the family room. Ultimately this end of the house will be closed and insulated and sided and what you see will become the exterior back wall. The slab where the sunroom is right now will become a patio.

I'm told this will all be done by Thanksgiving. We'll see.

Unbelievable

I just saw a segment on Fox News about the problem of kindergarten bullying. Yes, you read that right. We're talking about 5-year-olds. Instead of fighting over Legos, in many cases they are forming cliques for the purpose of ostracizing and tormenting selected individuals who don't dress the "right" way or possess the latest status symbols. Here's a recent New York Times article about the phenomenon.

But as disturbing as it is to hear about kindergarteners being so systematically cruel to their peers, that's not the part that I found unbelievable. Humans in their fallen, unredeemed state are nasty creatures. Hurting one another, unfortunately, is what we do. Children are no exception. So no great surprises there.

No, what I found mind-blowing was the mom who recounted her decision to let her 5-year-old daughter fight off the bullies herself so that she could learn "valuable" lessons about getting along with difficult people.

IS THAT MOM OFF HER ROCKER?

I was the target of bullies for most of my junior high years. When I was in sixth grade we moved to a rural area of Texas that was populated mostly by families that had lived there for generations. I was a buck-toothed, red-headed, fair-skinned, book-wormish outsider and that made me ripe for bullying. And it wasn't just the occasional, random comment. It was large groups of girls going out of their way to make my life miserable. I was called "bleached legs" and "rubber lips" (because of the way my protruding teeth made my lips look) and I don't know what else. I remember one particularly painful episode in home economics class when several girls in the class enacted my wedding day. They opined that instead of "Here Comes the Bride" the processional song would have to be "Here Come the Lips."

I don't know where the teacher was that day. It amazes me in retrospect how often it seems there was no teacher around.

I was 11 or 12 years old at the time, naturally shy, and the product of a family background that had already taught me the value of staying out of people's way. I was not able to defend myself against those girls, nor did I learn anything worthwhile about handling difficult people. What I learned was how to cocoon myself up into an even tighter little ball and put up a bunch more walls in an effort to keep from getting hurt again. Some of those walls are still there and I doubt they will ever come down.

But enough about me. I did not get the name of the mom on the Fox News program who was promoting letting 5-year-olds fight their own battles, but I searched online and found this recent column that sounds very similar to what I heard on television: "Sometimes It's OK to Let Your Kid Be Bullied." The author talks about not wanting to be "that" sort of mom: the one every teacher dreads because she is the ever-present "helicopter" hovering around, wanting to control and micro-manage every aspect of her child's life. Well, I've got news for you, lady: 5-year-olds need to micro-managed. They NEED their parents. No one else is going to look out for them the way we will. No one else cares that much. If we abandon them, they might as well be wandering alone in the forest, with a Big Bad Wolf hiding behind every tree.

The author of the "Sometimes It's OK" column says that when things finally got out of hand, she did step in. The verbal bullying finally turned into physical abuse on the next-to-last day of school. Nice going, Mom. But if you had done something sooner maybe your little girl wouldn't have had to go into her summer vacation with scratch marks.

Here's the deal. Children are little sinners. They are selfish and want their way. When you put several of them in a room together they are bound to have disputes. But a dispute between children who are on equal footing is one thing. The terrorizing of one who is weak by one (or more) who is more powerful, either physically or emotionally, is an altogether different thing. I don't care whether we're talking about children, or middle-aged men, or little old ladies. When the weak are being victimized, the strong are called to help. And when that happens, our children really do learn a valuable lesson.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

I Think People Are Waking Up

Check out this video from a few nights ago. It was taken by an audience member at a League of Women Voters sponsored debate among the candidates for Illinois' 8th Congressional District. Running for the seat are Joe Walsh (R), incumbent Melissa Bean (D), and Bill Scheurer (Green Party).

As the debate was about to begin, a member of the audience stood up to ask the moderator if the Pledge of Allegiance would be recited prior to the start of the debate (that person is a little hard to hear on the video). The moderator said no. Watch what happened next.




What is stunning to me is to see the moderator take the audience to task by "disrespecting" her--HER!--by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. This woman obviously doesn't get it.

Here's a video the Walsh campagaign put out after the debate. It includes footage of the same incident closer to the stage, and in this video the questioner who asked for the Pledge can be heard loud and clear.



You can read more about the entire incident here and here.

Saying and Meaning

One of my favorite confessional Lutheran blogs, The Brothers of John the Steadfast, has in recent weeks criticized the decision of Concordia Seminary-St. Louis to replace weekday chapel with Small Group Bible study once per quarter. The criticism is due in part to the cancellation of chapel. What is one of our seminaries doing cancelling chapel for any reason? But it also arises out of concerns about the nature of Small Group Bible study. I capitalize the letters "Small" and "Group" because they are not mere adjectives: rather, they signify a certain approach to Bible study with which most confessional Lutherans are decidedly uncomfortable. Small Group Bible study is in practice centered not as much on the Word as it is on the people in the group. One of its primary emphases is the social component: building relationships and encouraging personal sharing and accountability. Often Small Groups are instituted in an attempt to break a large organization into smaller cells so that everyone feels "connected." It's a laudable goal. But the introduction of Bible study into the Small Group structure (instead of just focusing the groups purely on fellowship) means that more often than not the Bible study is led by a lay person rather than a pastor. That is a dangerous path to trod. In addition, the Small Group approach to Bible study is to read a passage and then ask for input from the group with questions such as "What does this mean to you?" and "How can you apply this passage to your own life?" Those questions may seem innocuous enough. After all, what is the Bible if not God's Word for me? Shouldn't I be not just reading but thinking about how that Word is significant in my own life?

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say no. And here's why. I don't have to think about how God's Word speaks to me because I already know. It speaks to me exactly what it speaks to every other sinner. It either kills me with the Law or it saves me by the Gospel. When I start thinking that it means anything more than one of those things--that maybe it speaks to me a little differently in this verse than it speaks to someone else--then I am getting into very treacherous territory. Because in my experience, the more human beings try to overthink God's Word the more likely they are to get it all mixed up. I don't know if this is his own expression or one he borrowed from someone else, but my Pastor likes to say that we Christians are highly prone to either "legalize the Gospel" or "Gospelize the Law." We like to take the Gospel and turn it into some sort of guide for living ("What Would Jesus Do?) and conversely we like to take the Law and use it to make ourselves feel better ("I'm not as bad as that guy over there"). Neither is proper. Both are pitfalls that lead us into all sorts of trouble. And both are highly likely outcomes of Small Group Bible study.

Now some might say, "But in the case you cite, the people in question are not laity but seminarians--pastors in training." Yes. And in this case Small Groups appear to have professors assigned to lead them. But I can't help wondering, what is the point? Aren't these seminarians in classrooms with those very same professors for hours each week? Aren't classes small groups? Why, then, the need to create another sort of Small Group structure?

I think the answer is two-fold. I think there is probably a sincere desire to offer an opportunity for the seminarians to support and encourage one another in the challenges of their various vocations. But I think this is the wrong way. It is a great example of the sort of legalism my pastor talks about. Something that should happen naturally--the mutual conversation and conversation of the brethren--is being prescribed. My guess is that there is already plenty of that conversation and consolation going on: between classes, in the library, in private homes, in local pubs, on the phone, or online. Why the need to systematize it? If there is concern that someone is being left out, why not just take steps to include that person and help him to feel more assimilated? The observant professor might invite the lonely seminarian over for a meal or perhaps encourage several of his students to invite him out for a beer. Why must there be an entirely new and sweeping structure put in place to achieve what a few caring souls could do on their own?

I think the answer brings us to the second likely purpose of Small Groups at the seminary. I think the second and perhaps primary goal has to do with pastoral formation. The desire is to give these pastors in training some Small Group experience in the hope that when they have their own parishes they will institute Small Groups. And therein lies the problem. If anyone can execute the Small Group model successfully, it is probably seminarians and their teachers. But when those seminarians become pastors who promote Small Groups in their parishes, I don't think there is any way they can possibly ward off the undesirable effects of the Small Group model. So why go there at all?

I think those who promote Small Groups probably have the best of intentions in most cases. They value Bible study and know that it is something that is sorely lacking in the lives of many Christians. They value people and long to bring God's comfort to hurting souls. Small Group Bible study seems a way to accomplish both. But if the outcome of Small Group Bible study is the tolerance of incorrect understandings of Scripture in the interest of not hurting feelings, or a harmful emphasis on subjective feelings rather than objective truth, or the turning of Gospel into Law through an emphasis on taking the day's learning and going out and doing something with it, or the establishment of small cells within a congregation in a way that may cause people to identify more strongly with their small groups than they do with their whole parish family, then there is a problem. And I think it is more likely than not that one or more of those problems is going to occur.

So what of the title of this post? I think when it comes to God's Word we might do well to focus less on what it means than what it says. Asking ourselves what that Word means rather than what it says seems to me an invitation to go down that familiar old path of "Did God really say . . . ?" And we all know where that leads. Don't we?

Final Group of Congo Videos

Setting the Table

A few months ago, frustrated by the number of people who mistakenly refer to this blog as "A Round Unvarnished Table," I decided it was time to quit fighting them and to join them. I claimed the Blogger address "roundunvarnishedtable" as my own, figuring that if people went looking for me there, they would at least be able to find me and I could redirect them here. I also had in mind to actually do something with the new address. "A Round Unvarnished Table" was born, but it is only in the last few days that I have actually done something with it. Please consider this your official invitation to stop by and take a look and let me know what you think!

Two Must Reads

A solution to the problem of the national debt that just might work: "Can We Privatize the National Debt?"

The resignation letter of Harold Lewis, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of California, upon departing the American Physical Society after almost 70 years of membership. Why? Because the APS continues to promote the myth of global warming, which Dr. Lewis calls "the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life."

It's Coming!

And it doesn't get much better than this. Watch the video below to find out more about Reformation Week on Issues, Etc. Don't say you didn't know. I just told you! :-)



Also, if you would like inserts for your church bulletin, those can be found here. Note that there are four inserts for each time zone.

More Congo Videos

Célébrons l'Eternel (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty LSB 790)




O Merveilleux Amour (What Wondrous Love Is This LSB 543)




Jésus-Christ est le même hier, aujourd'hui, et éternellement HEB 13:8 (This one is not in LSB. ☺But my husband loves it so much I have a feeling it's going to show up stateside one of these days. Maybe in a Chicago burb near you.)

Bye-bye, Deck

Tree Freedom!

This is for Elephant's Child, who wanted to see the slope of the ground under there.

Piece of deck grown into the tree.

Who is that guy and why does he keep showing up in my pictures?

In the photos the piece of deck that runs alongside the sunroom next to the sliding glass door is still there. It's gone now, along with the opossum that was living under it. There is nothing but dirt and rock outside our back door. I'm not looking forward to next week's rain.

Too Soon

I have never been one of those who complains about Christmas merchandise popping up in stores this time of year. I get it. It's fall, after all. People are starting to make their Christmas shopping lists and think about their holiday activities with family. Some of my OVERACHIEVING friends are already working on Christmas cards. And it takes retailers time to transition from one season to the next. They can't change their store inventories and decorating themes overnight. So I get it.

But come on. This morning on my walk I saw a house in my neighborhood with one of those electric, light-up Christmas trees already placed in the yard. REALLY? ARE YOU SERIOUS? I'm not big on Halloween. But whatever happened to pumpkins and mums and scarecrows? I'll even put up with your witches and ghosts (although I personally dislike spooky/creepy Halloween decorations). But please, can we hold off on the Yuletide decking of the halls (and yards) until, say, at least November?

Pumpkin Farm

Evan climbing up the slide

Evan coming down the slide. He was going so fast, and my camera is so slow, that I only managed to get the top of his head!



Caitlin going up.


Hay ride!

Friends Evan and Evan (my Evan is on the right). The other Evan was in my Evan's preschool class a few years ago. They were Evan T. and Evan M. His parents have decided to homeschool him now, so we are looking forward to a lot of play dates and field trips!

Caitlin, Evan M. and Evan T.

Green Acres is the life for me!

Choo-Choo!

Corn Maze

Petting Zoo - Two Cute Chicks

The End of an Era

Today we start the process of saying farewell to our aging solarium. We grieve its passing not at all. It has been a source of nothing but grief for the almost eleven (!) years we have lived in this house.

Our house is about 30 years old. The sunroom was added by the previous owners about 15 years ago. When we first bought the house the sunroom still held some charm. The previous owners had also installed a hot tub, and for the first few years of living here we did enjoy saying words we never expected to say: "Do you want to go out to the sunroom and sit in the hot tub?" But in time the hot tub lost its appeal--my husband is sensitive to the chemicals and I was not motivated to maintain it for solo soaking--and shortly after we moved in we also discovered that the sunroom leaked. (Do you have any idea how slippery ceramic tile becomes when water is sitting on top of it?) The leaking was minimal at that time but has only grown worse over the years (you can can read more about that here) and now has started to compromise the part of the house to which the sunroom is attached. It was time for the whole mess to go (the hot tub quit working--and we got over our infatuation with it--years ago).

Here are a few exterior shots of the sunroom and deck taken last month:

Here's our handyman, general contractor, and friend, Mr. "D," beginning to remove the deck.

The bunnies under the deck have driven Shiloh (our dog) crazy for years. Today is her day! Of course, the bunnies have made for the hills. But she's gonna make sure there are no stragglers.

I plan to continue taking pictures as the process unfolds, so if you're into this sort of thing, keep checking back!

Hymn Singing in Brazzaville

Pastor May recently made these available on YouTube. I think Phillip will be offering some reflections on them in due time, but I can't wait until then to share them with you. Aren't they wonderful? And isn't it incredible to think of our brothers and sisters in Christ on the other side of the world singing with such joy and enthusiasm the same hymns and liturgy that we do here in the USA? (Would that all of our churches always sang these songs with the energy and gusto you see here. And without an organ, no less. Imagine that.)

You will notice that Phillip is not leading the singing in these videos. That is because once his teaching was done it was important that others take over as songleaders. He was only there for 9 days, after all (of which there were only about 7 days of actual teaching). The goal was to help our fellow Lutherans in Brazzaville embrace these songs long after he and Pastor May left. I don't think that's going to be a problem, do you?

C'est un Rempart que Notre Dieu (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God)



Ecoute l'appel de Dieu (Listen, God Is Calling)



Je suis un enfant du Père (God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It)



And here's a short video of Phillip teaching some harmony parts on "Il est né"

New Friends

Greetings from Brazzaville from Cheryl on Vimeo.

In case you didn't hear . . .

He's home!

We're talking hours, now

I removed the "MY HUSBAND'S HOME!" countdown widget from the sidebar. Even though it showed hours, minutes and seconds, it was only actually counting down days because it only allowed the countdown event to be identified by date, not time. Today I went looking for a new widget, one that would let me count down to Thursday at 12:35 p.m., which is when the Cantor's plane is scheduled to land. But after spending the ten or so minutes I was willing to give to that venture, I still came up empty. I am surprised it turned out to be so difficult. But everything I found that was in the customizable, all-purpose countdown widget variety was only capable of showing date, not time. Fine. Widget or no widget. HE'S GETTING HOME IN LESS THAN THREE DAYS! For those of you that are math-challenged, that's less than 72 hours! I talked to him briefly on the phone today. He warned me in advance that the time on his calling card was low and we could be cut off at any moment. So we said our "I love you's" and exchanged a few pieces of news and wouldn't you know it, just as we were settling into a comfortable chat, I lost him to a busy signal. Ah, well. I'll get the real thing soon enough. Well, actually not soon enough, but soon. Word to the wise: don't go looking for me Thursday afternoon. I've got a date. :-)

Update on the Cantor

Il est arrivé!

Phillip arrived in Brazzaville Monday night at around 6:00 p.m. Congo time. We are six hours earlier here, so that amounted to almost 24 hours of travel from the time I dropped him at the airport. He was greeted by President Mavoungou, the head of the Congolese Lutheran Church. The day after his arrival Pastor James May of Lutherans in Africa joined him and from what I understand they are now off and running, working daily with the local pastors and musicians. I have received several emails from Phillip, but in order for him to use President Mavoungou's computer the generator must be turned on, so emails are short. He is also typing on a French keyboard, which makes it hard to type very quickly. The first time he emailed he took time to try to make it accurate, but the last few have looked kind of like this:

OK internet is sloz qnd iùve got to run: ils ,ùqttendent1

zill prqy for q good qnd sqfe move!

are you getting ,y phone ,essqges

LOVE YOU!

The "good and safe move" part is a reference to the fact that we are in a few days moving my mom to our home. As you can see, the z on the French keyboard is where our w is, and the q is where our a is and the comma is where our m is! After a few rounds of this I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. By the time he comes home I will no doubt be fluent in French keyboard!

I couldn't help noticing that he did make sure those last two words were spelled right.☺

In addition to several emails, we have received several voicemails as well. He cannot be reached on his cell phone but did purchase an international calling card and has found a phone there to use. Unfortunately we have missed both of his calls. But it was wonderful to hear his voice, and from the messages it sounds like he is staying healthy so far, which is great news. One of my biggest concerns was that he would experience gastrointestinal distress, but that hasn't happened. He was well instructed in all the things that he needed to avoid, and he also took along a Steripen for water sterilization. He is, however, experiencing some vocal distress, which is not good considering that he is spending his days leading people in song, so if you think about it please pray not only for his general well-being and his and Pastor May's work but also for Phillip's vocal condition. We don't need him getting laryngitis while he is there.

One of the challenges he faced immediately upon arriving was his cash situation. He took plenty of cash along to pay for things like his own room and board and the feeding of the pastors and musicians that are coming to learn, but when he went to exchange U.S. dollars for local currency he was told that they wouldn't exchange any pre-2001 bills, period. Not only that, but the bills marked 2001-2003 are exchanged at a lower rate. What's up with that? If anything, considering the U.S. economy these days, I would have expected the opposite!

One interesting thing is that he found out that the local musicians are in possession of an electric guitar and a piano. This is a surprise! We anticipated percussion only. He has not reported back yet on the condition of those instruments. My guess is that he will only utilize the piano if it is in decent condition. A bad piano is more of a hindrance than a help. Phillip does not play guitar (not much, anyway) so if they want guitar music one of them will have to provide it!

Thank you for your continued prayers. Seven days to go!

Suggested Reading

Edie at Life in Grace has written a post that I heartily recommend. It appears to be about homeschooling, but in actuality it is about sin, repentance, forgiveness, vocation and life under the Cross. It is worth your time, whether you are preparing to spend another day at home with the kids or heading out into the work force. I promise it will be worth your time.

Parting Shot

The Countdown Begins

You may have noticed a new gadget in my sidebar. We're going to be doing a lot of counting down in our house over the next few days and weeks. Phillip leaves for Congo Sunday after a full morning directing musicians and choirs at church. Right now we are counting down the hours until I have to take him to the airport. There is still so much to be done. Today we'll be spraying all his clothes with insect repellent and weighing hymnals to figure out the best way to pack them so as to avoid as much transportation cost as possible.

He has never gone this far from us before. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it when I drop him off at the airport on Sunday. Up to now I think my strategy has been to do or think about something else and block it out of my mind as much as possible. But the man is going to Congo. It will take him a good 24 hours or more to get there. He will likely have no phone or internet access during his trip, so I will have no clue about what he's doing, where he is, whether he's sick, or whether he's safe. I think I'm getting the very tiniest hint of what military families experience when their loved ones are deployed. For us it will only be ten days. But what a long ten days it will be.

I would appreciate your prayers for the well-being of my husband and his traveling partner, Pastor James May; for the success of their efforts to facilitate the singing of God's Word among our fellow Lutherans in Africa; and for the well-being of our family here at home while he is away.

Back from St. Louis

What a grand and glorious day. I think I may have already mentioned ☺ how thrilled I was yesterday to be able to attend the Service of Installation for the new President of the Lutheran Church, Missouri-Synod, Rev. Matt Harrison. I didn't take many pictures. There was just too much going on. But here are a few for my readers who are interested.

Here I am sandwiched between two of the coolest, smartest Lutheran ladies I know. That's Mollie Ziegler Hemingway on the left and Elephant's Child on the right.

I couldn't decide which of these to post. We just looked so great in both of them, don't you think?

Phillip and I managed to grab President Harrison for a quick shot after his already immortalized banjo solo. The photographer, our friend Pastor Fritz Baue (who sat in with the band on fiddle), didn't quite wait for the "ready" sign, but I'm not complaining. I'll take it!


Sitting in with the bluegrass band: Pastor Baue is second in the line-up and Pastor Harrison is fourth. They just needed an accordion player!

Here are a few pictures from rehearsal the night before the installation. My husband, who was also installed yesterday on the Board for International Mission (and elected as Secretary to that Board), was asked to play for one of the musical offerings during the installation service. He provided piano accompaniment for Mrs. Monique Nunes, wife of Rev. John Nunes, who along with a small choir of friends and family, sang Richard Smallwood's "Total Praise," a musical setting of Psalm 121. The song was performed full-out in a no-holds-barred Gospel style, and there were no doubt those who didn't care for it. Phillip anticipated that there would be criticism, and it has already come, from our own dear pastor. But when the President of Synod comes knocking on your door, you don't turn him down. And in this case why would one want to? It was an absolute joy to meet Monique and the choir and watch the interplay between them and my husband as they put the song together, and I personally think their contribution to the service was magnificent. I would encourage those who found the piece to be out of their stylistic comfort zone to consider that it was a Biblical, liturgical, authentic expression of the piety of many within our synod. And there was no screen, no impassioned songleaders imploring the assembly to join in on a song they didn't know, no drumset, and no complicated production elements. There was just a song and some great singers and a piano and a guy playing it. I personally thought it was appropriate, given the catholic and international character of yesterday's service, to have one piece that wasn't led from on high by organ and 4-part white-robed choir (as much as I love both of those things).

To Mrs. Nunes and the choir, it was a pleasure to meet you and watch you prepare this piece with my husband. I'm glad Pastor Harrison invited you to sing for his installation, and I appreciate your willingness to serve. I hope our paths cross again someday. It was fun to see my husband having this much fun!

Meet Me in St. Louis

Things may continue to be slow around here (meaning around the blog, not my life) for a few more days. Tomorrow I will be traveling to St. Louis to attend the Service of Installation for the newly elected President of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Rev. Matthew Harrison. I'm so excited! I am looking forward not only to seeing and worshiping with many in my extended church family, but also to personally witnessing an historic moment in the history of our denomination. My husband is already in St. Louis, attending meetings and providing music for devotions while preparing for his own installation as a member of the LCMS Board for International Mission. He will also be serving in the liturgy on Saturday as pianist for one of the musical selections. It's going to be an amazing day! Hope to see you there, if not in person, at least in spirit!

UPDATE: Here's a blog post with pictures on the first day's proceedings.

How I spent part of my Labor Day weekend, or What did we do before smart phones?

A few days ago I found myself alone in a van with a certain 6-year-old. We had a little time to wait; I had a camera phone in my purse; need I say more?

In our family it seems to be the men who get blessed with gorgeous eyelashes. These came from Evan's paternal grandfather (may he rest in peace), to whom Evan bears some resemblance and with whom he shares the same initials.

Is that a great face, or is that a great face?

And now for a little silliness.

And a little more.

And a little more.

Who needs photo booths?

Evan wanted to take one of me.

And then there was this one. Can you believe I took it myself with a cell phone in the back of a van while waiting in a church parking lot? I would challenge the best photographer in the world to capture what got captured in this shot.

Something Interesting I Heard

Yesterday Mark Steyn was filling in for Rush Limbaugh. I only heard a few minutes of the program, but he was talking about the shameful inability of the United States thus far to rebuild on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City. In the course of his commentary, he bemoaned the tendency of modern memorials to emphasize things like understanding and healing rather than the strength, indefatigability and exceptionality of the American people, and he talked about the characteristics that set Americans and their country apart from every other. (For those who may not know, Mark Steyn is Canadian.) It sounds like a cliché, but it's true: the story of this country reveals it to historically have been peopled by the most industrious, creative, progressive, tenacious, and able people in the world.

At one point in his disussion of the "wimpification" of our country (my word, not his), Steyn referred to the song "America the Beautiful." He pointed out that most of us, when we think of the song, think only of the memorable descriptions of America's natural landscapes. But then he reminded his listeners that the poet Katharine Lee Bates, who wrote the words to the song, celebrated not just the natural beauty of this country but also its impressive technological and man-made wonders. Consider the fourth stanza:

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

This stanza is not about America's sublime countryside, but about her shiny, modern cities and about the men who saw "beyond the years" to imagine them! Did you ever notice that? I don't think I ever did. But the next time someone turns "America the Beautiful" into nothing more than an environmental anthem, I know what I'm going to say.

Here's a link that provides a little more detail about Bates' inspiration for this stanza: a stop at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.