Falling behind

… on correspondence, mostly.  I need to write to quite a few people!

Seems like we are getting busier. The kids are participating in two workshops with our homeschool group – a book group and a writing group.  They’re enjoying homeschool PE and James is about to join the Cub Scouts.  So Eleanor and I are looking for a club for her to join.  I am not too keen on Girl Scouts anymore.  American Heritage girls looks interesting, but the closest troop is 108 miles away.  I don’t know if I’m up for starting a troop myself, not yet having a church to link up with (and use for a meeeting place).  But we’ll see…  There is a “home ec” 4H club not too far away that we are going to check out.   She has met some nice girls through the homeschool group but hasn’t really clicked well with anyone yet.

We have been participating in a “kids’ club” through one of the churches we’ve been attending.  This is a nice church, and the club is fun, but something’s been bothering me about it.  Today I figured it out.   James and Eleanor have no one to look up to in the club groups (boys and girls are separated).  There are no older kids.  There are no more mature kids.  And, you know when James is the most mature boy in a group, well….  He still needs older boys around to look up to.   In fact, I don’t think there are any older kids in the church!  As far as we can tell, all the kids are 9 and under.  That’s not a good reason to reject a church, of course.  But we do need to find some good companions for the kids. They are still best friends, but face it, Eleanor just isn’t into shooting nerf dart guns and James does not want to play dolls.

So we are slowly finding our way and know that the right church and right situation is there for us.

In the meantime we are enjoying the cooler fall weather.  We are reading a book on puppy training in anticipation of finding a dog.  Cris is studying – lots of reading, lots of writing.

Now you know what’s up with us.  Let us know what’s up with you.

Church music observation

Cris made the following observation after attending yet another church on Sunday:   Why is it they can repeat the same short, simple phrases of a praise chorus 4 or 5 (or more?) times… but can only manage 1 or 2 verses of a hymn?

A welcoming church?

Yesterday we made a repeat visit to a church that was on our short list.  We went back because we liked the liturgy and preaching (and the music!) and, frankly… because it’s very close to home.  We’d gotten used to living close to church, and all the benefits that go along with that.  On the day of our first visit the pastor had politely asked guests to head down to the fellowship hall directly after the service, while members were to stay for an announcement by the Session.   We didn’t feel like fellowshipping with each other alone (we do that all the time) so we left pretty much right after the service.
Before we left I had a conversation with one of the members, and she subsequently sent me a very nice email with lots of information on local stores, etc.  We also got a nice letter from the pastor, welcoming us and mentioning that the happenings on the day of our first visit were unusual.  So, we figured we should go back.

We still liked the service, and the sermon was good.  It felt a little formal and stiff to me.  Afterwards we stood in line to greet the pastor then headed down to the fellowship hall.  There were a couple of sullen teens in the hall, and some men in the coffee room, and that was it, so the kids and I went in search of moms and children.  I guess the families with kids had left by the time we got outside!  There were some women milling around, but they were in conversation and had that “closed” look about them.  I’d blundered into those situations before and wasn’t about to do so again.  Cris chatted with some fellow seminary students for a bit; we didn’t stay too long.  When we were driving home, I thought about what felt wrong.

I realized later that there hadn’t been any announcements during the service.  No goings-on to report, I guess. But also no welcome to visitors.  If we hadn’t been there before we would never have known there was a fellowship hall and coffee and chatting to be had there.   So I realized that while I didn’t feel exactly unwelcome, it wasn’t real warm and fuzzy either.   It didn’t feel as though  (as a good friend of mine put it once, talking about another church) we’d crashed someone’s family reunion.  But it was kind of close.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been a new person at church, and I’d forgotten how uncomfortable that is.   So that led me to think about all the times I ducked into the kitchen after the service so I wouldn’t have to chat with people I didn’t know.  (I did have work to do, right?)   Or stood in a small closed circle chatting with people I did know.  Shame on me.

On a brighter note, a woman I met at another church we visited invited us to attend a potluck picnic this week.  That church has small-group weekly Bible studies, and hers is having a picnic this week instead.   Even Eleanor was interested in that event, so we’ll see how that goes.  That will be Wednesday.

Tuesday morning is Cris’s final exam – if you’re awake at about 9:30 am (Eastern) on Tuesday and in the mood to pray, Cris would surely appreciate it.   That night the seminary is having an ice-cream social for all the families and everyone is looking forward to that too!

We’ve been here 4 weeks!

Yes, time does fly whether we’re having fun or not. (But we are mostly having fun.)

Checked out yet another church today. Really liked the liturgy and preaching… lots of kids… the “right” music according to Eleanor… not so close to home, though. One of the homeschooling moms told me about their little group so we’ll check out one of their park days. Park days are big around here with the homeschoolers. Any Evergreeners remember how clingy Eleanor was when we first started attending there? She didn’t let go of my arm till one Rachel appeared at church one day. Well, she’s back to that, and now she’s added scowling into the mix.   It wasn’t so cute at age 5, but even less so at 8.  Being in new situations and meeting new people is difficult for her.   Of course, it’s difficult for many of us, but some hide it and manage it better than others.  If anyone feels so inclined, a prayer for her to, um, lighten up a bit would be appreciated.

It’s a very rainy day. After church we went to the library and are about to hunker down with our load of books and some tea. Yes, life is getting back to normal. Only a few boxes in the living room. In our old house, no one would even notice! I could cover ‘em up with a sheet and have a new table! But here… no room for extras. I am also missing one box of kitchen stuff, which must be hidden in the garage. One wonders how necessary those kitchen items are if I’ve put together 4 weeks of meals without them!

Another Sunday, another church

Yesterday we checked out the OPC church in town. Very close by, and right across the street from WTS campus. We saw a few students that we’d met at the new student lunch a few weeks ago. It was a nice church with a liturgy very similar to Evergreen’s.  At the end of the service visitors were invited to go to the fellowship hall for coffee and, you know, fellowship, but members were asked to stay for an announcement by the Session. It felt a little odd to be going to the fellowship hall to hang out alone, and it was clear that visitors were not to hear the announcement, so we came home. We did chat with a few people and might yet go back.

Cris is halfway through Greek. It is wearing on him a little. We knew it’d be busy but didn’t quite understand how busy. The Monday quiz was met with groans by all the students. We still had time for our evening walk but lately he’s been bringing his flash cards along to review vocab as we go.

As we walk around the neighborhood, we have realized that there are 2 main house plans to be seen. They just repeat, with minor variations, over and over… it’s interesting to see how people have changed and updated their houses. On the next street over, we just see our house again and again! We’re already thinking of things we’d like to change before we move again. Our kitchen will surely have to be updated before we sell the house. And a roof over the back deck would be so nice… a place to enjoy the summer rains.

Church today

Today’s church experience was quite a bit different from last week’s. The church we went to is a daughter congregation from Tenth Presbyterian in Philadelphia (which we have not yet attended). It’s held in the Masonic Hall right on the edge of the city, on a street full of trendy shops and restaurants – think NW 23rd in Portland. Eleanor was very nervous when we went in. As we sat down, the prelude started – and she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw a keyboard and an oboe – no guitars or drums. When I handed her a Trinity Hymnal she was even more relieved.

The service was similar to Evergreen’s. The doxology is sung after the offering and before the sermon – both kids brightened up when we stood for that. “Is it over already?” Eleanor whispered. She expressed only slight disappointment when I pointed out that there hadn’t been a sermon yet.

As we prepared for the Lord’s Supper, the pastor (a professor at WTS) referred to the wine. Both kids were nervous. They’d both had the experience of wine at Chehalem Valley and were not looking forward to it. But it turned out to be juice.

After the service there was fellowship time with extensive snacks. Lots of meeting and greeting. The congregation is small and low on young girls. But both kids said they liked it and would go back.

We have some other churches to check out before we settle down. But this looks pretty promising.

The search for a church

Last week we started our search for a new church. Of course Evergreen is The Church as far as James and Eleanor are concerned, and they want a church that is exactly the same.

We went to a church called New Life which we knew would be quite a bit different. We warned them that it wasn’t going to be like Evergreen, but that we needed to check it, and all the other churches around, out before we picked one. As we walked in and James saw the stage setup with guitar and drums, he turned to Cris and whispered, “Eleanor is going to hate this.”

He was right. She sat stone-faced just about the entire time. Every now and then she’d forget she was supposed to be mad and would smile at the baby in front of us, till she’d remember and put the frowny face back on. At one point the music had a sort of gospel flavor to it and people were clapping. I tried to, but she held my arm tight to my side.

Afterwards she complained about “hip-hop church” (it wasn’t) and the lack of hymns (though we had sung “Amazing Grace”).

I was pretty bummed that she hated it so much; not that I was eager to go back, but I was hoping to sign her up for a day camp they’re having later this month. But she would have none of it.

Tomorrow we’re going to check out a new church that’s spun off Tenth Presbyterian. That should be more to her liking.

Cris finished his first week of Greek and if he ever comes up for air, he might write something about it. It’s a lot of work, but he’s enjoying it. As we all knew he would.