Back from NJ

Well I made it back from NJ last night about 7 PM. The ride out there took about 7 hours and the ride back took 9 hours and 45 minutes! I was sailing along just fine when there was a detour off the Turnpike. There had been an accident that blocked both lanes. We were re-routed off at Breezwood and supposed to get back on at Bedford, but I missed the Bedford entrance and drove to the next exit at Somerset on Route 30. Augghhh. I was tired and tense when I got home.

On the other hand the visit in Linwood with my friends at the Seaview church went really well. It was fun to see them all again, and the atmosphere , though a funeral, was very upbeat. I did my part leading the funeral service. The church choir was there with an empty seat symbolic of Geneva's spot. The hand bells played in her honor, since she was a member of that group, and many people shared a word of remembrance about her life.

The weather there was very windy and rainy on Wednesday night, and rainy and chilly on Thursday. Wednesday night Andy and I went to "Pratt's Hill of Beans". A new coffee house in EHT. They had open mic night where people played musical instruments and read poetry. It was nice, something different, and relaxing. Earlier Thursday night I had dinner with my old golfing group at the Greate Bay Country Club. It was a pleasure seeing them again (We'd have golfed, but the rain prevented that.) The Morrises look great! We laughed a lot.

I had a nice visit with my former secretary and got to see the remodeling going on at the parsonage. Pictures below. Despite the last part of the drive home, it was a wonderful trip. Folks missed Dee. I let them know about the funeral she attended in PA and her other commitments that prevented her from traveling with me. She said the service for her brother-in-law went well here.

68 Degrees in November !

Yesterday, Dee went to her second day at the new job while I prepared for my trip to NJ to lead a funeral service for my old friend Geneva. I've worked out most of the details by email and phone and so things should go smoothly there. It will be nice to see the people from my former congregation again.

I was happy to hear form Cokesbury Bookstore that the book I ordered had arrived - Story Journey. I'm thinking of using it for a class at our new church sometime in the future. I'd read it and used it before, but couldn't find my copy.

Kerri seems to be doing well. Now that they are anticipating a new baby, they've found a new place to live with more room. And of all places, it's on a country club golf course! Go figure! They plan to move in December.

In the evening Dee and I went to the funeral home in Butler to be with Dee's sister Ruth. Ruth's husband's funeral is today, Wednesday, in the afternoon. Dee's sister Donna and her husband drove up from NC, and other relatives were there too. It's always good to see them. I'll be driving to NJ today for the funeral there on Thursday.

When we got home, we watched some of the election returns and then went to bed. Dee has a cough that's been hanging on for 3 days.

Golfing with Friends

Yesterday was the "employee appreciation day" at Treesdale. We were allowed to bring three guests to play golf. Here are the other three guys in my foursome. Tim, Tom and John and I enjoyed the pizza and pop prior to tee off in Arnie's Grill at the club and then played the Grove and Lakes Courses. We didn't keep score, but we did keep track of any pars we may have made. It was a beautiful day! The weather cooperated and rose to 69 before we were done. However, as the afternoon wore on, temperatures slipped and dusk creeped up on us, we decided to call it a day after 5 holes. Here are Curly, Moe and Larry on the 3rd tee of Lakes Course. As you can see the Fall colors were still vibrant.

Dee had her first day at her new job at the Worthington, assisted Living Homes. She said things went well and she had a few stories to tell about her day of learning and meeting new people. We enjoyed a yummy dinner of sloppy joes prepared by Dee. Then, I was off to Bogmeister practice. We're working hard on the Christmas songs December performances at various places around the area for the holiday. We finished early so people could get back to see most of the Steeler's game. It's nice to see many of the new guys returning week after week. Hopefully some of them will stay with us after the Christmas season ends.

A Death in the Family

Sunday we were welcomed into the life of the Cranberry Community United Presbyterian Church and I was able to help lead the service. I also gave the children's talk using a "show and tell" about the importance of using our time, energy and financial resources to do what God wants. I used the jar of 10 walnuts and rice to illustrate how priorities work. If you put the rice in the jar first (representing all the things we want to do) instead of the walnuts (representing what God wants us to do) then you can't get the walnuts all in. But if you put the walnuts in first, the rice fits in just fine. There were about15 children up front for the story. Lots of fun!

Afterward, we had a quick lunch at McDonalds. When we got home, Dee had a message from her sister, Ruth, who lives in Butler. Ruth's husband El had died suddenly earlier this morning. Shortly after that I had to go to the Air Guard base to lead worship, so Dee headed to Butler to be with her sister, Ruth at the funeral home. They've planned for a funeral on Wednesday morning with viewings on Tuesday. I'll be heading to NJ on Wednesday to conduct a funeral for an old friend at the Seaview Baptist Church on Thursday morning.

We pretty much stayed around the house the rest of the evening getting ready for the week ahead. Dee will begin a new job (as a receptionist) at the Worthington Assisted Living and Residence here in Mars. She'll be working 4 days a week to start, but since she'll be filling in for a woman who is having a baby, she'll do full-time for awhile until the person comes back from maternity leave. She gave her other job notice that she'd accepted another job. They were saddened to hear she was leaving because they liked her work.

Memorials and Worship

Saturday is always our "clean the house day". So that's what we did in the morning. I'm in charge of vacuuming and Dee does the dusting and polishing. That way we have the rest of the day to play and go places.

Dee had been wanting to search for a headstone for her mother's grave, so we wound a place in the phone book we thought we'd try. It was en route to a nice place for a late lunch, so we went there (near Grove City). We talked with the lady in charge (the place was had been a "tea room" and gift shoppe before it was her "office" for lawn sculpture and monuments. She worked for Kurtz Memorials. We found what we liked, and got the approval of the sisters. And so we went with the one that seemed to be what would work in the location next to Dee's dad.

Afterward, we went and had a lunch at the Elephant and Castle near the Grove City outlets. We had a coupon and had been wanting to give it a try. It was a nice pub like atmosphere and the food was good. Then we headed home. In the evening Dee went to dinner with her friends from Countours (9 this time), and I went to a Saturday night worship service at a nondenominational service in Cranberry. The newspaper said it is one of the fastest growing churches in the USA, so I thought I'd check it out to see what and how they do it. Their parking lot was full for the 6 p.m. Saturday night service. There were three large projection screens,fifteen musicians ( a little orchestra and three guitars, a drum set and a keyboard person along with 4 singers). One of the guitar players was center stage for the music. A gal sang a solo which people were to join in toward the end. I noticed that most people were not singing the songs with the praise band, just the band was singing. However, those that were singing in the congregation were into it.

The sermon was informal, with the preacher sitting at a table at times, and prancing across the stage at other times. The message was good, and he had an outline in the bulletin for people to follow, fill in the blanks, and interact with him from time to time. I could see people writing works in the blanks and even the children were doing it. The congregation was mostly people in their teens and early 20s and 30s with a smattering of people in their 50s. They had lots of greeters and people to welcome you, they had gifts for the first timers. They had an emphasis on mission and service to others. The sanctuary front wall was black with the three screens as white. There were tiny windows 8 tall and thin ones on each side with the blinds shut. They even had a projector pointed toward the back wall so the people on stage could see what everyone else saw on the front wall.

When I left I checked out the "gift" area, and spoke with a lady. I noted they had gift New Testaments for first timers. An interesting experience and pretty much what I'd expected. Maybe not as much "holy roller" as I'd expected. Everything was a little louder than I'd want on a weekly basis, but the crowd seemed to like that. I'm glad I went because there was food for thought regarding the church's future direction and various possibilities and methods of drawing new people into the faith. The service was about 70 minutes long and included communion, so that was shorter than I thought it would be.

At home, Dee and I compared notes for the evening, and we watched a little TV, turned back our clocks before going to bed.

Today we'll officially be welcomed into the Cranberry Community United Presbyterian Church (CCUPC) where I'll also be assisting as liturgist, and later I'll go to the Air Base to lead worship. Dee will be heading north to meet with her sister Ruth to chat and reconnect.