Children Taken By Surprise

I have to be brief since I'm heading out the door to work in a half hour, but wanted to do this while I was thinking of it.

I am the new worship coordinator for children's ministry (K-5) at our church, Hope Church. This is a new position and I'm definitely new to the game. I am in charge for lining up worship each Sunday and innovating different ideas for exposing kids to praising God through song, dance, etc. We're trying to move forward from simple PowerPoint lyrics and a downloaded song playing in the background. Crossing my fingers for live worship the majority of the Sundays in a month!

This past Sunday was kick-off Sunday for the children's ministry school year. We wanted something exciting and engaging to start it off right. I think we did just that! My awesome and talented husband agreed to write and perform a rap for the kids. He took the song 2 Step remix (instrumental), recorded his voice several times over on a computer program, rewrote the lyrics, and then performed it live on Sunday. It was SUCH A HIT. He has gotten so many compliments and thank yous from those who were lucky enough to experience it live. Although the kids--and the adults--were very much taken by surprise and not at all used to worshipping in this way, it definitely was a step in the right direction. The hope is that Jeremiah might perform this once a month so that the kids eventually learn it and can have 'ownership' over it for the year. We'll see! You can check out some of the performance here.

Chooch

I'm appeasing my husband with this post. I didn't want to do it. Jeremiah wanted to let people know about this part of our life.

Here is Carlos (better known as Chooch), our dog for a week and a half. Originally named Leroy, we knew that didn't do this sweet guy any justice. We were brainstorming names one night and once I said Chooch we knew it was the name for us. We adopted this one year old beagle/hound mix with great intentions, but unfortunately we decided it was best to give him back. Best for him and for us. And looking back, we feel 100% right about that choice. Although it tore me up that we brought Chooch here to a good home with lots of good things and lots of love and then sent him back, we think he's happiest being free to roam and play with his other dog friends most of the day. There were several factors we agonized over to make our decision. To say it was an emotional week is an understatement.

Choochie is a great dog with lots of love to give. If you are looking to rescue a sweet dog, we can give you more info about how to make Chooch yours.

Under Construction

As you know by now, we're new homeowners! As you also know, we have yet to actually reside in that new home. Construction started mid-July on our new condo and is said to be finished and ready to close mid-December. We're crossing our fingers for an early finish, but know not to get our hopes up. We stopped by this morning to snap some pictures of progress thus far. Woo hoo, a roof and windows! Men were working on our actual unit, which was kinda fun to see. We're the bottom right condo when you look at the first picture. I sort of wanted to walk up to the window and let him know we were watching and not to screw it up. I didn't.

Under the Knife

Yes. My first ever surgery. And my first ever experience with stitches.

I wouldn't have qualified the procedure as surgery before I was sent back to the room. But then I was instructed to lay down on the table, which, by the way was covered in that god-awful white paper (I thought surely I could sit up for this 'minimal' procedure). And then the doctor walked in with a full-facial clear plastic mask. And then they draped one of those blue cloths with a hole in it over my knee--exposing only the area to be cut. And then mid-procedure the doctor pulled out a clotting machine to stop the bleeding.

I consider that surgery.

But alas, all for a great cause. Finally, I am freak-free now that the "fetus" on my knee is gone and that terrible mole on my chest as well. No longer will little kids go cross-eyed after staring at the freakish thing on my knee for so long. No longer will I have to spend ten minutes trying to explain not only what a scar is, but why mine looks so outlandish to a three-year-old. And no longer will the elderly ask if that's a cookie on my chest.

With both areas numbed, I luckily didn't feel a thing other than a slight tugging as she stitched up my knee. That is the weirdest thing ever and almost sent me over the edge.

And now I am hobbling along, trying not to bend my left knee. Knees are really important and really useful. Who knew? Well now I do. Now that I have to calculate every move before I make it. Fortunately, I have a verbal doctor's note not to exercise. I can get into that.

Excuse the vulgar nature of this post. But as much of a milestone as this is in my life, I had to share. At least I didn't post pictures.

I am Hope

Our church has been showing a series of video testimonials every other Sunday called "I am Hope." The idea behind this is to encourage church-goers to be the church. Not only to come to church, the building, but to be the church, to share our lives and Christ in our own world.

Jeremiah had the fortunate privilege of sharing his experience in this way. You can go here to check it out, and while you're at it, check out the others too. We are so lucky to be part of such a thriving community.

Special Delivery

A few weeks ago I got a surprise package delivered to my doorstep. I racked my brain to try and figure out what Jeremiah or I had ordered as I rummaged for a pair of scissors to open it. Lo and behold we hadn't ordered anything! Instead, lookie here what I got...

What a great surprise!! My dear friend Kristin is recently engaged and has asked me to be her matron of honor! I could not be more excited! Kristin and I met in college when I was her Bible study leader. We've been great friends ever since and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding, too. Her and her fiance, Andy, are getting married next August 6th. Knowing Kristin, this wedding will be one of the most fun days of my life. I absolutely cannot wait and am so honored she asked me to be a part of her wedding!

Back to School

Tomorrow is the first day of school. Craziness.

Jeremiah will have his hands fuller than they have been the past two years. Hard to imagine. Each of his three classes are co-taught, being that there is such a high number of special education students. He's been knee-deep in paperwork the past couple days trying to learn each kid's needs and accommodations. It's a tall order, but he's the man for the job. He also plans on tutoring after school.

Fortunately, I will be back at the same elementary school again this year. This time around however, they are expecting me to offset large class sizes in both 2nd and 1st grades. That's nine classes, about twenty-five kids in each, and one of me. You do the math. They also need my help at random times doing school-wide tasks. I'm not so sure how much of an impact I'll be making this year but I'm crossing my fingers for the best.

In a couple weeks I'll also be starting a second job. I'll be working in a human services office doing administrative stuff Monday through Thursday for a few hours.

Here's to 5:45am wake-up calls and long days. Here's to greedy teachers having to go back to work. When's winter break??

Listen to the Water, Listen to the Water Rolling Down the River

Remember that nursery school performance? Like it was yesterday I bet. And twenty some years later I experienced it first hand, only this time regrettably not outfitted with blue streamers 'round my wrists.

Despite that, we managed to have a great time at the river for a day. This is big in Richmond. The majority of the population goes to the "riva" for many a weekend in the summer, and even year-round. Not all river destinations are the same though. For instance, we were in Tappahannock (Chris Brown's hometown, and yes, he like goes to the gym and Target in Richmond) while others span to destinations an hour away. Sometime in the future, as I understand it more, I might be able to explain the phenomena better. Just know that it's the thing to do around here.

Friends from church invited us to a house their parents' have right on the water for the holiday weekend. Although we couldn't go overnight due to a new dog (more on that later), we managed to work in a full afternoon. The weather was amazing here. Low 80s sunny and breezy, absolutely gorgeous. Note: temps are back up in the 90s this week. We were looking forward to meeting some new people and getting to know new friends better. I enjoyed lounging on the dock with the girls, while Jeremiah played some intense lawn games, smoked some pseudo-cigars, and threw back a couple brewskies with the guys. We then took a cruise out on the water for about an hour, just basking in a lovely, relaxing Sunday.