Ukulele Stuff...This is the plan for learning the St. Patrick Day songs on the Ukulele.  Work on two only until I get them down and then move onto the next two and so on.  I'm already working on Molly Malone and Tell Me Ma.  They sounded fairly recognizable to me and husband (but he is partial, I'll take whatever compliments I can get). Practice moved to Thursday evening just before the a evening service. With days getting longer I can walk over to church from the train station.  If February schedule is my 8:30 to 5:30 shift then I will have to work that out. I stayed for the evening service, it was okay, maybe I was tired. I'm looking forward to a Sunday Bible class that will be starting in the near future.

Church Stuff....Good sermon on Jonah, chapter three God calls Jonah a second time. I like Jonah, a prophet who disobeyed, ran away, thrown into the sea, swallowed up and spit out by a fish. And guess what, he was given a second chance. Now Jonah was pissed off when God did not destroyed Nineveh. There sat Jonah on a hot dry hill waiting for the destruction. A fig tree grew one day and died the next. The people listened, repented and God changed is mind.  And there sat Jonah moaning and groaning.  Moral: Nineveh repented and God showed compassion. Why? Because He loves ALL. Everyone. ALL. This is what we hear every week, in every sermon. God loves all people. He come fr all and loves all.  And bottom line this is why I like St. Clements; they love all and accept all people. 

More church stuff: husband attended an all day Vestry Planning Retreat on Saturday. Over a glass of wine he shared his day with us. We are learning much. This is what I've learned from him: 

Vestry 

Made up of nine people and the Priest.

Not on Vestry but attend meetings: Treasurer and Clerk (minutes).

Assignments:

Senior Warden

People Warden (Junior Warden)

5 committees, 2 people each.

-Worship

-Christian Formation

-In-reach (reaching people in the church) 

-Outreach (reaching people outside the church) 

-Administration (the treasurer reports to this committee)

All committees are intertwined together. Each one chooses one project for the year. The next year they choose a new committee to serve on.

Husband is on the Admin. committee along with Mr. Senior Warden. His term is 3 years. Some people have been on longer so there term is 1 or 2 years.  One lady is new to this, she asked for a 1 year term. Due to circumstances people have been on longer because of folks moving or passing away. With the rotation, they will not have 6 people going off next year. 

Administration committee oversees the finances and grounds. There are some internal repairs that need to be made, wiring and cosmetic updated to Sanctuary. This is their project for the year. 

The Vestry is made up of men and women of varying ages from both services. 

Goals were set forth at the meeting and will be in the next Anchor. They are good goals and reasonable ones, I think. Much work to be done before the Priest contract ends Easter 2016 (he is a interim Priest commissioned to move us forward into the 21st century). 

Husband is looking forward to the next few months.  I am looking forward to the upcoming year, changes and moving forward. We feel we are right where we are suppose to be in terms of church home. 

There was much discussion of church history and the challenges they have had. One of the member said to this effect, "by dwelling in the past we are unable to move on."  She is ready to move on, she is one of the older members of the Parish, uses a walker and adores the new Priest. According to husband she is a hoot.  I just love how the older folks are in there pitching and believe strongly in this church. 

A couple of additional facts: 

Most Episcopal churches are small, 250 people is considered a big church.  Episcopal churches do not close small churches, if they did there would be no churches. 

A poll was taken why people like the Episcopal church. The number one reason..........

warm, loving and friendly.  

Weekend stuff.......another weekend bites the dust.  Always feel a bit down as it comes to a close.  There is so much coming up at work in the next 4 months, the final four of the school year.  I can't go there or anxiety creeps in.  I was awake at 3 A.M. on Friday about Open House.  We've got Grandparents Day, Open House, DRDP's paperwork, conferences and Western Day. Sigh......it's overwhelming to me.  Right now as far as I am thinking is Monday. Waffle breakfast for the December/January birthdays. Pizza birthday party in our class for lunch. I can travel light to work. Husband is off on Monday, he will cook dinner, drive me to and from work.  This helps. Also on Monday...Chapel (Praise and Worship) and P.E.  That's enough for one day. As for the other stuff, I cannot even sort it out in my mind. 

This afternoon I went over to Goodwill and find a shelf, a shabby chic white bead board shelf.  It sits next to my chair with my books, journal, Bible and my Uke. Love this spot in the living room. I either write from here or in the kitchen.

I end with a few Gratitude's:

-helping an elderly woman to the Altar for communion
-husband has Monday off
-white wood bookshelf holding my journals, Bible and books
-the sun came out doing church
-onions and peppers sizzling in olive oil

LynetteJoy