Checking in
Days continue to pass by rapidly this summer out here in Allentown. Smols, like I said earlier, I wish we could put our days on pause and switch half-way through. I think that would be healthier for both of us.
Two weekends ago, we drove down to Easton to chill with Mom, Laura, Tim and the newest member of the family, Maggie. She is a beautiful baby, and I am looking forward to the fun that it will be to be an aunt to her and to get to know her as she grows up. My sibs and I were so blessed with awesome times with our aunts and uncles as little ones. They would take us for a few days at a time during the summers and we'd swim, play, laugh, and revel in each others company. It will be so fun to make memories with this little one, too.
Last Monday, Gonzalo went in for eye surgery. He has ptyrigium--basically a piece of muscle tissue that grows over the eye--which the doctors removed before it could grow any more and potentially affect his vision. He came out of the operating room wearing a great white gauze eye patch and a clear plastic cover. All of the fun that we could have had pretending to be pirates for the day was ruined by how very painful this was for poor Gonzalo, especially as the anesthesia and pain medications wore off.
The next morning, after a pre-dawn trip to the ER (and some intense pain medication), the doctor removed the eye patch from Gonzalo's eye, and then he fainted because of the strong meds and no breakfast. The rest of the week was quieter, and every day Gonzalo was in less pain (thank the Lord).
In more happy events, I helped Living Water Ministries kick off their first ever "Road Trip Camp," where two counselors and 5 high schoolers spent the week in Allentown doing service projects and some outdoor adventure activities in nearby Jim Thorpe. It was great to get reconnected to camp ministry, although I also became very intro-spective about how much I have changed since being a camp counselor. It will be a good task to figure out how I can integrate camp into my adult life.
And now, I'm about to begin day 2 of our 4-day summer Day Camp. It's one of my favorite weeks of the year, always leaving me happily-exhausted.
But I have to say...with all of THAT going on...it makes me really wish that the other pieces of my life (Oh, like my regular job) were more stable right now. In one week, a new intern is coming. In three weeks, Pastor Zeiser is leaving. In five weeks, our interim (the current Bishop of the synod) will be starting. Somewhere in there, our current pastoral associate/former intern is leaving too. All of this shifting-and-changing leaves me--and my colleagues who are also staying--feeling a little bit like a sapling tree being blown around in a windstorm and not sure if my roots will hold on.
I was really emotional on Sunday in watching the Pastor lead worship, give communion, even interact with people, because I know that he won't be a part of this community for much longer. And in some ways, it feels like Pastor Zeiser is already just a memory. The guy working in the office next to me is Bishop Zeiser already, who is so very occupied with preparing himself for this new office and thinking through the last pieces of work that he has to do at Christ Church, that he is no longer with us. He's like a phantom-pastor, and the loss of that dynamic leadership and partnership in ministry is what makes me most sad.