Now you're talkin'

Line 'em up for lunch at Chili's! That is one smart waitress and she was rewarded for her efforts!

A full Sunday

Last night, or rather very early this morning, Justin sent me a text message from New York. He reported he was going to be on the plaza at Fox and Friends in the morning and wanted me to watch for him. He also asked me to let ‘the up north family’ know too but the only way I could do that reasonably was to post it on Facebook and hope word spread.

Linda J. and I were in communication via text message when we finally did see him. Kerry reported going downstairs to her neighbors’ apartment to watch of their TV. She said she saw him a couple times so at least three of us spotted him, sporting his Packer hoodie and smiling just like his mama! He told me he would be there around 7:30 and I thought I did see him earlier and got all excited. There was a tall man wearing a Packer sweatshirt with a coffee cup to his face. Justin reported that was not him, he was not on the plaza yet. The next time I did see him, though, was actually him, twice!

After the early morning (post midnight) text messaging, I had a little trouble going back to sleep but eventually did, waking up again in time to watch F&F so as not to miss seeing my boy. I hesitated leaving for Bible study and missing seeing more of him, in case Rick Reichmuth spoke to anyone in the crowd, but risked it. When I arrived in the Fellowship Hall, no one was there. Spooky.....Their coffee cups and cloth bags with Bibles or hymnals were next to chairs and service folders on the tables. The Rapture???? No, everyone was in the church, which was not typical. Pastor opens Sunday school first and then comes into the Fellowship Hall for Bible study, where the majority of us are already in place. Yesterday he had everyone leave the F.H. and go into the church for a Bible history lesson, since the kids were not actually having a lesson during Advent. They are preparing for their Christmas program now, with seven or eight kids being in SS, four from one family!

The highlight of our worship is singing the Gathering Rite: “Come, Come Emmanuel” where the congregation continually sings this refrain as the cantor, Robbie, sings the stanzas underneath it. So beautiful and sets the perfect tone for Advent worship. After church was a Family Connects function complete with soup and rolls, so folks who didn’t get the memo found themselves in the middle of making ‘holiday’ ornaments for the Fellowship Hall tree. I was invited to come to eat but was going out instead. The Chappells and I went to Chili’s where I had my standard fare of appetizer as meal. The funny thing was how the waitress set me up with three mugs of Diet Coke at once!

Once home, I rested up for Ladies’ Advent Service at Victory. Janet B. was coming to pick me up, offering to be the driver, and I suggested she come over after cleaning up the mess from the Family Connects event so she could rest too. She did, but not with enough time to really rest. We saw a few minutes of the Packer game before we had to leave for Victory and oh, how I wish I could have watched that game!

The service was lovely, the music amazing, as Suzanne and Rachel accompanied the singing. I got to see Stephanie again and sat together at the same table, hosted by our young friend, Elissa. She is a high school student, perhaps a 9^th grader, not sure of that, at whose table I sat last year. And a wonderful hostess! Janet, Carol and Laurie rounded out our table, plus Stephanie, who is a neighbor to Elissa. Her mom, Emily, came when she got done working at the hospital and we squeezed her in. While we ate, I got updates on the football game, which was nearly tied up. One of the men on site to help with clean-up and all that was recording the game at home and did not want to hear what was going on. Kerry and others were filling me in via Facebook but it was my neighbor, Jessica, who let me know the outcome. I told her I was not home to watch it and she said, “No wonder it was so quiet down there!” Her remark to me was “What a great game for Justin to watch!”, which I thought was so nice of her to note.

We dropped off Kerra, the UNF student who is studying voice and sang with our choirs for Reformation, on our ride home. There are photos of her, I believe, posted on my site, singing with Robbie at the piano. She is a lovely young woman who performed for two concerts already this weekend and was exhausted by the end of the day. Janet left me at the door with her promise to see me tomorrow, as I am hosting the Ladies’ Group Christmas party. I must say it was absolutely fantastic to see my lady friends at Victory again, many of whom I did not see at Reformation, and see the gorgeously decorated tables, over-the-top beautifully done. I had opted to not have our own Ladies’ Advent Service, as I leaned over to tell Janet, “This is a tough act to follow…” I explained that I no longer had it in me to make things like this happen but she strongly disagreed! In her words, “STOP”, with palms extended. Just picture it….