January 2, 2008 Update!
Happy 2008!
I have been horrible at updating this the last little while and I've heard from a few friends that they're waiting for my next update so here it is - January 2nd!
I am now 1/2 done my internship - crazy how time flies! There is a lot of learning happening - mostly about my own role and presence etc ... It's hard to verbalize some of the learnings (although I have to of course for my mid-term evaluation etc)! I have been learning what it's like to work with someone who doesn't really like change .... Learning how to do a lot of really important work in a very short period of time (i.e. The bulletin for Christmas eve being prepared on the 21st of December) .... Learning how to do that work with someone who likes to simply re-use stuff that has worked - like last year's bulletin ... Again preparing a funeral with 2 days notice and on the morning of Christmas eve.
There is so much more learning that has happened - how to be the voice of reason when all that is happening around me is unreasonability .... Playing the part of mediator for various groups in the church and doing it effectively ....
There has been some conflict with folks re: communication (or lack thereof) and because I seem to have some communication skills I often am brought into those situations to help mediate.
My lay supervision team has been functioning at the lowest level possible and so in the new year I am hoping to facilitate them towards a greater mandate and purpose - we'll see if and how that works. Most of it will depend on if the co-chair (that is sort of bossy) will heed my advise and back off a bit.
I have been doing some fun stuff - went and saw a high school production of "High School Musical" and a live theater production of "Hairspray" - both were fabulous - I'm looking forward to going to see "RENT!" in March.
Christmas eve was hard - having a funeral in the morning. It was the attempt to bring the Christmas story into the reality of death ... The hardest part was having the husband ask me to wish the folks who gathered a merry Christmas on behalf of himself and the family. However it was lovely and was what the family needed.
The Stephenson family from my congregation invited me to join their family on Christmas eve (after the service) and to spend the night so that I was not alone on Christmas morning. What a blessed gift they offered me in that! Also my friends Nancee and Christine were present on both Christmas eve and Christmas morning - to be surrounded by chosen family - and good friends - on Christmas was a great gift for me.
Then I drove to Toronto in the evening of Christmas day to fly home to Quesnel to visit my family. My flight was at 7 am out of Toronto on boxing day and so I stayed at my friend Rick's and set my alarm for 430 and had a call into the cab company for 5 .... I woke up and looked at my clock thought I had missed my alarm and was only 1/2 hour away from missing my plane. I phoned the cab company and was looking for the phone number to the Toronto airport when the person at the other end of the phone told me it was only 1130 at night - I must have been so tired and so worried that I just imagined it!
In Quesnel I got to see my family (all of them) and see some great family friends and do some catch up. My family had spent the 23-26 out at a cabin resort about 100 km outside of Quesnel - I'm glad I missed that! On December 30, I was able to preach at my home Congregation of St. Andrew's in Quesnel. It was a blessing and an honour to share a message with those folks - along with my mom, dad, brother (trevor), sister-in-law (Melanie) and niece (Jasmine). Very cool to be able to preach an honest and vulnerable sermon including those people of my family and also my church family that helped to nurture me first into the church.
On New Year's Eve I went out with my brother Curtis his partner Melanie and their children Jasmine (11) and Emery (15 months) and was in bed by 1115 - didn't even stay up to ring in the new year! Must be getting old!
I left Quesnel this morning (Jan 2) and was supposed to fly prince George to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Toronto. For some reason, there were a bunch of flights cancelled out of Vancouver so I was bumped to a later flight. However, I talked them into a flight at 8 on the 3rd so that's when I'm going. I had a quick day of visiting - not a lot of people - and my friend Alison is fabulous to let me stay at her place and drive me to the airport in the morning.
Then I spend a night in Toronto and head off to Oshawa for my friends Maya and Adam's wedding. That should be great!
There might be more you want to know - if there is let me know! Only 4 months left of internship! Crazy! It feels like I just got here!
Have a blessed and faith-full year!
I have been horrible at updating this the last little while and I've heard from a few friends that they're waiting for my next update so here it is - January 2nd!
I am now 1/2 done my internship - crazy how time flies! There is a lot of learning happening - mostly about my own role and presence etc ... It's hard to verbalize some of the learnings (although I have to of course for my mid-term evaluation etc)! I have been learning what it's like to work with someone who doesn't really like change .... Learning how to do a lot of really important work in a very short period of time (i.e. The bulletin for Christmas eve being prepared on the 21st of December) .... Learning how to do that work with someone who likes to simply re-use stuff that has worked - like last year's bulletin ... Again preparing a funeral with 2 days notice and on the morning of Christmas eve.
There is so much more learning that has happened - how to be the voice of reason when all that is happening around me is unreasonability .... Playing the part of mediator for various groups in the church and doing it effectively ....
There has been some conflict with folks re: communication (or lack thereof) and because I seem to have some communication skills I often am brought into those situations to help mediate.
My lay supervision team has been functioning at the lowest level possible and so in the new year I am hoping to facilitate them towards a greater mandate and purpose - we'll see if and how that works. Most of it will depend on if the co-chair (that is sort of bossy) will heed my advise and back off a bit.
I have been doing some fun stuff - went and saw a high school production of "High School Musical" and a live theater production of "Hairspray" - both were fabulous - I'm looking forward to going to see "RENT!" in March.
Christmas eve was hard - having a funeral in the morning. It was the attempt to bring the Christmas story into the reality of death ... The hardest part was having the husband ask me to wish the folks who gathered a merry Christmas on behalf of himself and the family. However it was lovely and was what the family needed.
The Stephenson family from my congregation invited me to join their family on Christmas eve (after the service) and to spend the night so that I was not alone on Christmas morning. What a blessed gift they offered me in that! Also my friends Nancee and Christine were present on both Christmas eve and Christmas morning - to be surrounded by chosen family - and good friends - on Christmas was a great gift for me.
Then I drove to Toronto in the evening of Christmas day to fly home to Quesnel to visit my family. My flight was at 7 am out of Toronto on boxing day and so I stayed at my friend Rick's and set my alarm for 430 and had a call into the cab company for 5 .... I woke up and looked at my clock thought I had missed my alarm and was only 1/2 hour away from missing my plane. I phoned the cab company and was looking for the phone number to the Toronto airport when the person at the other end of the phone told me it was only 1130 at night - I must have been so tired and so worried that I just imagined it!
In Quesnel I got to see my family (all of them) and see some great family friends and do some catch up. My family had spent the 23-26 out at a cabin resort about 100 km outside of Quesnel - I'm glad I missed that! On December 30, I was able to preach at my home Congregation of St. Andrew's in Quesnel. It was a blessing and an honour to share a message with those folks - along with my mom, dad, brother (trevor), sister-in-law (Melanie) and niece (Jasmine). Very cool to be able to preach an honest and vulnerable sermon including those people of my family and also my church family that helped to nurture me first into the church.
On New Year's Eve I went out with my brother Curtis his partner Melanie and their children Jasmine (11) and Emery (15 months) and was in bed by 1115 - didn't even stay up to ring in the new year! Must be getting old!
I left Quesnel this morning (Jan 2) and was supposed to fly prince George to Vancouver and then Vancouver to Toronto. For some reason, there were a bunch of flights cancelled out of Vancouver so I was bumped to a later flight. However, I talked them into a flight at 8 on the 3rd so that's when I'm going. I had a quick day of visiting - not a lot of people - and my friend Alison is fabulous to let me stay at her place and drive me to the airport in the morning.
Then I spend a night in Toronto and head off to Oshawa for my friends Maya and Adam's wedding. That should be great!
There might be more you want to know - if there is let me know! Only 4 months left of internship! Crazy! It feels like I just got here!
Have a blessed and faith-full year!