Busy week for me and the church

It's amazing how quickly a schedule can be filled up when you’re not paying a lot of attention. I helped a friend install his new garage door opener Monday and Today (after realizing that we didn't have everything we needed 2 hours in on Monday). Next week I have free tickets to the Greeley Stampede Rodeo, and my Mom comes into town for the weekend. I get to do a video shoot with a friend to help with a church program he is starting on Saturday the first and on the 3rd some friends and I are celebrating my seminary acceptance with a trip to Dave and Busters. From July 7th to the 17th I will be on a mission trip to Port Arthur, Texas with the senior high youth program for hurricane relief. It should be a great experience. Attending a lobster bake on the 21st and a party on the 29th caps off the month nicely for me. August should be pretty busy too, with me moving to Iowa (yes I know it stands for idiots out wandering around, but my favorite shirt does explain that not all who wander are lost) around the 24th of the month.

I am a little frustrated with the blog right now as it is not letting me upload photos, but hopefully we will get that fixed soon, but for now, text is cool. Part of me is toying with the idea of moving this to a different site down the road that will give me some more creative control, but for now, I'm still happy.

Well, it's been quite a week for the Presbyterian Church (USA), the denomination I belong to for the most part love. Everybody knew going in that it would be a very pivotal year for the church, and regardless of the outcome of General Assembly there would be some hurt feeling in the church. While the GA started out well with the announcement of the largest award ever given to the church, the news today that the donor may be in dire straights financially fits well into the soap opera that is GA. Up to now I applaud most of the decisions the commissioners have made, but there are some moves I question. I'm not going to get into any debates today about my personal views on all the issues, but I look forward to seeing how everything plays out. I ran into a joke online today that I think sometimes fits this denomination. I changed it around a bit to fit, but I think (and worry) that sometimes it may represent the church too well.

The pastor of a Presbyterian church decided that God was calling the church to a new vision of what path it was to take, so at the next session meeting he presented the new vision with as much energy, conviction and passion as he could muster. When he had finished and sat down, the clerk called for a vote. All 12 session members voted against the new vision, with absolutely nobody voting for it. "Well, it looks like you will have to think again," said the clerk of the session. "Would you like to close the meeting in prayer?” So the pastor stood up, raised his hands to heaven, and prayed, "LORD, will you not show these people that this is not MY vision but it is YOUR vision!" At that moment, the clouds darkened, thunder crashed, and a streak of lightning burst through the window and struck in two the table at which they were sitting, throwing the pastor and all the session members to the ground. After a moment's silence, as they all got up and dusted themselves off, the clerk spoke again. “Well, that's twelve votes to one then."