Wisdom teeth update: the actual extraction sites are fine and healing nicely. However, I now have pretty serious pain in my lower-right teeth. I suspect this is because my teeth are moving and this must be a little taste of what it feels like to have braces (which I never had). If so, wow, kids--that sucks and I'm sorry. But in any case, the amount of Advil I'm taking is slightly worrisome, since I'm about to be out of town for three weeks. I really want to be all better now.
Senior-Pastor leaving update: SP's last day is August 3. He's packing his office now, which implies that he'll probably be actually gone pretty close to...oh, August 4. I return from Scotland August 1. awesome. Anyway--I've been wondering why I feel a little weird about this, and I think I've figured it out. SP and I are friends as well as colleagues (at least, I'd like to think that). I have never had a friend move away, at least not that I can recall. I've always been the one to move away, or at the very least we've all moved at the same time to go on to different things (as when our YAV group came home from Egypt). So it's weird because I feel like I should be the one packing and panicking and trying to figure everything out, except I'm not because I'm staying here and he and his family are the ones packing and panicking and trying to figure everything out. This is a very strange new experience for me. I think I'm getting a little taste of what I've been doing to my friends and family for the past, oh, 20 years.
Teri's political mind update: I hate listening to news stories about Israel/Palestine/Iran/Iraq/Egypt/Syria/other middle eastern countries. It just makes me crazy how we oversimplify and how we tend to be so one-sided in coverage. How come we are all up in arms (ha, pun intended) about Iran's potential nuclear program but not Israel's verified but lied about nuclear capabilities? How come we are so incensed about things "Arab leaders" say about Israel but not things Israeli leaders say about Arabs? How come we are so intense about "democracy" only if it matches ours or if it's convenient for us, but we ignore the fact that Israel has a two-tier citizenship system that makes democracy impossible and Egypt (the model for middle eastern democracy?) is ruled by a dictator who's been in power 28 years? Also, I'm tired of hearing only about Muslims and not about any religious or ethnic minorities at all. And in this country, I'm tired of the assumption that everyone's a traditional evangelical Christian. I mean, seriously. (some of this is leftover from my reading of the Faith Club, which I'll blog about momentarily...)
leaving town update: Sunday afternoon, 16 RCLPCles (12 high school youth, 3 adults, and me!) will board a train for downtown Chicago. We'll spend a week learning about (and hopefully doing something about) urban poverty by living in what I once would have called a "sketchy" neighborhood, hearing stories of people who currently live in poverty and/or who have gotten out of poverty, and serving/serving with people in need in the inner city. We'll be at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food banks, urban daycares, etc. We'll also be using public transportation as our exclusive means of getting around. It sounds awesome! We'll be seeking to train ourselves to see the face of God in the city. I know God's hanging out in the city and now we have the opportunity to be part of that mission. If you're interested, I'll be posting daily updates, with photos as much as possible, on the church blog.
At the end of the week, the youth and three other adults will come home on the train and I'm headed to the airport for two weeks in Scotland with two wonderful friends. We're spending a week on Iona (my favorite place in the whole world!) and then five days in Edinburgh (a long time in my opinion as I prefer Glasgow or the Highlands, but whatever), and two days in Glasgow. Woohoo! I canNOT wait!!! I'll be internet-less while I'm gone those two weeks, leading me to...
internet fasting update: the past two nights I've been leaving my computer in my office and spending time with my kitties and a bunch of books (or trying to sleep through the pain of my teeth). It's been good, though the morning is the harder time, I think. I'm so used to checking the weather and also doing blogreading over my morning cereal and tea, so I don't spend as much time on it at work. It's made for interesting mornings--yesterday I came to work earlier than usual. Today I tried to do some of the Bible in 90 Days reading, which I am super behind on. Which I should be doing right now...and I'm teaching a class on this week's reading (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, and 25 Psalms) in 2.5 hours. So I'm going to get back to Job and I'll update you on my books later....
Poor teeth!!!
ReplyDeleteFear not, Teri! I'm scheduled to arrive on August 5th, so your number of friends in the greater Chicagoland area will stay relatively stable.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you're going into the city with only PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION to get around! How will you ever survive?!
LOL--I know! but suburban kids, you know, are not used to the sketchy areas. East Garfield Park by El at night...yeah. I'm all for it but I think it will be a learning experience for the kids. :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad you'll be here around the time I get back. We have to hang out ASAP! :-)