A Day of Whale Watching

I found a coupon this week for 50% off a whale watching cruise. So four of us went out of Long Beach at 3 p.m. today. It wasn't a balmy day so we took our winter coats and headed out.

The captain said that we would hit 4 to 6 foot waves. It was fairly intense on the way out.

We saw quite a few fin whales and dozens upon dozens of dolphins. At one point our boat was surrounded by a pod of dolphins. I tried to take a good picture of whales or dolphins but the rocking of the boat by the intense waves made it too difficult. I only got one picture of wildlife...here it is....

We came in from the water as the sun was setting over the commercial port of Long Beach.

A good dinner with lots of belly laughs and some excellent coffee topped a great day!

Thank God for Camp

I went to the Camp La Verne Banquet on Saturday night Our youth served the meal and did the "Tebow." It was a good event and I was glad to be there. The food was good, the company was great, the institution we were supporting was excellent and I came home with two solar lamps that now grace my porch.

I grew up in Kansas and attended Camp Mt. Hermon in Tonganoxie, Kansas. There is nothing else quite like camp. At camp I learned :

• how to work with others to create a fun skit
• the song "Pass It On"
• how to row a rowboat
• how to ready a cabin for inspection
• how to tell a good ghost story

But most of all I got to spend time with a group of kids my age away from my parents but surrounded with adults who kept us safe and treating each other with respect. I am grateful for the many adults who give up a week of their summer to give our children a good camping experience.

Christ is Born

I have always been so impressed with the nativity scene created each year by the Creative Peacemaking team of the Claremont Methodist Church. It is a highlight of my Advent experience to drive by their church.

This year the church put up three couples: two women, two men, a man and a woman. A sign read Christ is Born. On Christmas morning members of the congregation came to church to find that their nativity scene had been vandalized. The two same gender couples had been pushed over. It is being treated as a hate crime and it made the national news.

The church has decided to leave one of the couples overturned to show what happened. I appreciate a church that is willing to speak a message of justice.

Christmas 2011

My family hasn't all been together since June of 2010. I have been so excited to have both my boys home for Christmas this year. I knew that I couldn't totally relax and enjoy them until noon on Sunday when the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services were over. We had a great vegan Christmas dinner cooked by Brett. We had Christmas crackers on the table thanks to our son who spent a year in England. So we all had to wear Christmas hats while we ate our lovely plant-based feast.

Then I got sick on Christmas night. I have been dragging around ever since. Brett has done much of the cooking. Thank goodness. I am not great at vegan fare.

I have rallied every now and then for a family excursion. We went to Fela! at the Ahmanson Tuesday night. Today I said I thought I could handle sitting on the beach in Laguna for a couple hours. We watched a seal body surf. That was an amazing sight.

Matt and I did one of my absolute favorite things in the whole world....we explored the tide pools.

But mostly I have been a slug....at least my family is all together.

Bucket List Fulfillment

I haven't written on my blog for too long. There have been so many deaths. I haven't felt much like writing. But Bryan whisked me away yesterday to fulfill a wish on my bucket list and I just have to write about it.

Since I was pregnant with Matthew I have wanted to attend an NFL game, preferably the Bears but any game would do. I didn't grow up in a family that watched football. I had zero interest in football and didn't understand the game. Then I got pregnant with Matt when Bryan and I were serving a yoked parish in Northern Indiana. I never experienced the healthy glow of pregnancy. I could barely keep any food down. I lost so much weight and became almost bedridden.

Bryan took over the duties of both churches and a sick wife. On Sundays he would preach at two churches and attend to church meetings and visit the sick. Then he would come home to an ill wife who had no interest in anything. To fight complete boredom I watched television. Without cable television I only had a few channels from which to choose. On Sundays that meant football. One Sunday Bryan came home and I greeted him with, "You will never believe how many yards Walter Payton rushed today." He said, "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" A football fan was born.

Ever since that pregnancy I have wanted to attend a NFL game. So Bryan and I attended a night game between the Chargers and the Ravens. If the Ravens won the game they would be the top ranked team in the AFC. The Chargers beat them 34-14. It was a fun game to be cheering for the Chargers.

So in a stadium with 80,999 other people, I learned what real fan loyalty looks like. "Wow!" is all I can say. The young man in the seat beside me started out by saying, "I am just going to apologize up front. I am going to get very intense. Cuss words are going to fly out of my mouth and I have been drinking all day." It was a good warning. I told Bryan that I now know what testosterone smells like: Axe body spray and beer.

A football stadium is filled with evangelical Christians, raving fans, people willing to paint their chests team colors, corporations, the worst food ever made....

...and flags...

We stayed down here in San Diego for the night. Here is the view from our hotel room. I love San Diego!

We are on our way to pick up Matt from the airport after not seeing him for over 14 months. Seeing Matt again is also on my bucket list.

Church Proud #2

It was a good day at the Progressive Brethren Gathering. Dr. Sharon Welch presented on non-violent direct action and how it relates to the Occupy Movement and what has happened within the progressive movement of the Church of the Brethren. It was good and was helpful.

Then we moved into people sharing ideas for action. Chris presented the paper that was adopted at the October 16 Church Council at the La Verne CoB. Josih, along with four others, shared about Feast of Love's progress. I shared from the BMC Board about our hope to see Supportive Communities Network expand. I was church proud again.

Our meetings are at the Highland Ave. CoB. I took a picture of their welcoming bench by their front entrance. It made me want to make more of a witness on our building.

Saturday night we took a tour of the Elgin Offices. Here is Mary Kay in the BVS office.

Then we ate dinner at the offices, did some strategizing and ended the day with a worship. Here are our rocks of grief and lament. (My rock is actually my dream for the church.) Then we anointed our hands for the work of justice. It was a long day.....

Church Proud

I am at the Progressive Brethren Gathering in Elgin, Illinois. There are four of us here from the La Verne Church of the Brethren. Mary Kay, Chris and I flew in together and landed at Midway Airport. We knew we were in Chicago when we saw all the Blues Brothers memorabilia.

After fighting the heavy Friday night traffic we arrived at Highland Ave. Church of the Brethren in time to grab a very quick bite before evening worship. The service was built around the scripture of the woman who anointed Jesus. Three people gave testimony to radical acts of faith. Two of them were from the La Verne Church of the Brethren. Josih spoke of Romaine Patterson and the Laramie Project. Mary Kay spoke of the radical act of showing up, standing up and speaking out. They were both excellent. Can a Brethren be church proud? You bet!

Tomorrow is strategy day.