paper vs 'puter

i wrote a blog post the other day in a notebook while i was trying to write a sermon...

it was amazing how some words spewed out instead of the words i expected

and right now, i'm too lazy to type up the words i took all that time to write and not type

mcville days

so it turns out that my new little town of residence hosts a weekend of activities every summer known as mcville days.

i'm excited because most things are free (unless you will be consuming food, which you must pay for)
- two street dances
- concert
- canoe races
- bike parade (i like how parades in nd are not always vehicles but can be golf carts like at stump lake)
- bingo
- kids' activities (games, fishing derby, etc)
- bake-off
- community worship

gift baskets

I'm loving the people of McVille, ND and the surrounding towns and the 7 congregations of my new parish!

I have received lots of gifts to help welcome me into the community.
For example, today I received the McVille welcome wagon present.
That's right.
A welcome wagon.
I got some homemade cookies and various items from local businesses (more is still hiding in the tote bag).
Best gift certificate: Denim shirt. Yeah. Pictures to come...

Other gifts from my new congregations to help fill my house (not pictured: gift certificates):

secret life in the parsonage

so, this is a dilemma that i never anticipated: living in the parsonage and yet no one at church knowing who their new pastor is...

i knew i was going to be living in a small town under the microscope where once i'm known as the pastor (have yet to really introduce myself in mcville other than to about 15 people) i'll be recognized going to the post office, grocery store, gas station, etc

but when i got back tonight from leading worship in binford, people were standing around in the church parking lot and talking. i know this cause i went for a short walk around town and there they were.
i said hi but didn't really take time to stop and chat since i have no idea who they were and they might recognize my name (it was on the sign right in front of where they were standing) but to them, i'm just a new person in town who just so happens to have the keys to the parsonage...

unpacking

one of the biggest challenges of moving is taking time to unpack.
and my house is only slowly coming out of chaos.

order of progress:
- tv, wii, dvd/vhs player, cable, internet all set up and working. biggest challenge was moving the old bulky tv or maybe realizing that the outlets are two-prong when all my electronics are three or maybe it was finding the internet hookup that was on the kitchen island...
- kitchen...krissa made me unpack while she was here
- books are all on shelves...until i pick up more from home...
- games are out and ready to be played if only i had people who are around...
- bedding is on beds or in the linen closet even though i still need to move my futon to its future location which i've yet to figure out...

what has yet to be dealt with: clothes and shoes and office supplies

being all pastor-y

i'm winding up my first week as a pastor.
shocking, right?
i mean, i got to wear a stole and everything while preaching...

this past week has been interesting. it's amazing at how easy i can slide into some parts of my job and role, while other parts are not a comfortable fit.

for example
- easy to call up and visit a complete stranger who is now "my" parishioner
- not so easy to sit in the office at the church i live next to (but i already knew that i hate sitting at desks since the desk in my house is in the "office" but my computer and printer are set up in the kitchen/dining room area with a view of the tv).
- easy to write a sermon
- not so easy to figure out the differences between Presbyterian and Lutheran services (future reference: Apostles' Creed and Lord's Prayer are most noticeable)
- easy to meet and greet people
- not easy to wear a clerical (seriously, i had one on this morning and decided to wear the alb and stole despite it being warm)
- easy to preside over communion
- not easy to stay awake right now since it's naptime...silly exhaustion that always happens after sunday mornings...

truck time

i drove a moving truck from st paul to mcville.

it might be the biggest vehicle i've ever driven, but not by much
(my school vehicle in 8th grade/early high school was a conversion van complete with curtains and tables).

but it is the first time i was proud of being able to back it into a driveway and then later parallel park.
without hitting any of the pickup trucks lining the road.
cause everyone in north dakota seems to have a truck.
and i secretly hope that i impressed the men by being able to parallel park a moving truck.
i'm pretty sure i impressed my dad.

sadly enough i have to return the big truck and will be back to driving my little subaru around.
but i will be sad to give up the big truck.
cause driving big vehicles is fun.

ordination pics

this one is my fave:

although this is a close second:

crazy pic with two sisters (i never noticed, but we are the odd ones in the family as we are #1, #3 and #5)

or the one standing with pastor nick and my angelic little niece (who is seldom looking so angelic and tends to look more like her mom does in the other pic)

opinions?

graduation...

i'm pretty sure my sisters were thinking of yelling some of these at my graduation...

and now for some pictures!

  

walking out of central lutheran in minneapolis

 

me and my roomie katie 

 

me and harvey

me and my parents kendall and diane 

 

sisters - kayla, krissa, kendra, me, kiana

me with jan and gary coleman 

it is signed... 

the fancy hood i will never wear again 

me and erin 

me and jacob 

me and lindsay 

me and josh

believe it or not, there were other pics taken but right now i either don't have them or they didn't turn out...

it's official!

i'm a soon-to-be graduate and pastor!

i turned in all my finals (the final final was turned in about half an hour ago), which means that i'm done with coursework and just have to wait for the grades to be posted (grades for 3 of 5 for my current classes are already posted) so that i can get a signed diploma.

next step: set up ordination and start date.
the people at my new parish (tri-county ministry in north dakota) kept asking when i would be started.
i think they were excited or something...
but i had to always respond that i was in the midst of finals and had been focusing on schoolwork and hadn't looked that far in advance, and that i had literally just signed the letter of call that day/the day before and had yet to set up ordination, after which i would pick a start date...
so they just have to wait about for me to get a few things lined up...

i went to synod assembly this past weekend and it was fun to be with my fellow first call candidates (technically i already knew a few of them so only 3 were new to me).
it was nice to put faces to names i had heard and who i will be colleagues with in the near future.

oddly enough, i was sitting and eating pizza on pizza friday (cause luther sem's cafeteria always serves pizza on fridays for lunch) with a few fellow students, when one (beau) pointed out that according to luther, ordination is a moot point since a pastor is a pastor as soon as a congregation calls them...
which kinda freaked me out
i mean, a congregation extended a call so i am already a pastor?
i had not even officially said yes (at that point, even though i knew that i was going to), and i was already a pastor?

the i realized that i didn't care about how nerve-wracking it sounds since i'm excited to be a pastor.

wow.
i apologize for jumping around and not having a clear train of thought.
but my thoughts are jumbled, and i guess my writing reflects that...