A little Cheer Up.

My sister-in-law just sent me some pictures of my dog! She says that Stormy is doing pretty well. She wants to play all the time with their other dog, but he won't most of the time. Sis-in-law also said that Stormy is stubborn and is still trying to figure things out. She's cute, but kinda dumb. That's a great part of her appeal. :)

Anyway, so, in other news... Church was especially interesting and good this past Sunday. When I got to the church, Pastor came up to me and said, "Here is fair warning, I'm talking about you and your application process in the sermon this morning!" I told him that I'd try not to turn too bright red, to which his reply was, "Too late." Haha. So, during the sermon, on the text of Mark 6:1-13, where authority is discussed, and how Jesus was thought of as only the son of Mary and the carpenter Joseph, Pastor said that God calls us in our baptisms to God's service. Pastor talked about how the people in Jesus' hometown were asking among themselves, "Who does he think he is?" And then Pastor talked about how we might remember when I was that shy little girl in high school and that might question us to ask, "who does she think she is?" But, God empowers all of us in when God calls us by name and claims us as a part of the family of faith. Pastor told them about how I am nearing the end of my application to candidacy and am ready to go forth into actual candidacy if they will have me. My appointment in Springfield is on the 29th of July. The whole sermon wasn't about my journey thus far, just a minute or two. That was fine with me. But the BEST part of worship (for me, anyway) was after the sermon when Pastor invited the baptismal party forward. So, Sister, BiL, Younger Sis, "Howard," and I went up there. Y.S. and I are "Howard's" sponsors. So, Pastor was in front of the font facing the congregation, Sister, BiL, and Howard were facing toward Y.S. and me. Y.S. was closer to Pastor and so she had to hand him some things, which made me kind of laugh because Y.S. was probably reminded of her acolyting days. Haha. I can sort of read lips and when Pastor would ask Y.S for something, she would kinda turn to me and give me the, "what did he say?" look... I would tell her what he asked for and she would do it. It was funny. Well, I was up there smiling this huge smile like a huge dork, because baptisms are just so remarkable. Pastor would look up and the parents, at Y.S., and at me, and he probably thought, "What is this psycho smiling at?" But, I couldn't help myself. I even got teary eyed when Pastor poured the water over his head. My little buddy has been adopted by God because God loves him! It's so fantastic. It reminds me of my own baptism. But anyway, that's probably enough gushing for now. I'll talk to you later.