Fun 4th and other things

Happy Fourth of July, to all of my American readers! I've heard fireworks going off the past three nights and hope you all have seen some beautiful ones.

I have to admit, this year is kind of weird for me. For the past, well since I can remember, I've always been in one of two places for the 4th. I've either been at the beach with my family (sometimes as many as 12 of us in a 3-bedroom condo) or I've been in A Place Apart- Lutheridge- with my L-Ridge family. This year, my blood family is at the beach, my L-Ridge family is at camp, and I'm in Sylva. I know it's part of growing up, but it's still kinda weird.

Shepherd of the Hills has a 4th of July picnic every year at a member's house. Bonnie's house is amazing. It is an old farmhouse, most likely dating back to the 1800's. Bonnie made all the trim in the house, and added a whole bunch of stuff. All by herself. It's pretty neat. She has a HUGE yard and a pretty full veggie garden. There are a bunch of trees, so we all had shade to sit in. It was a pretty good picnic.

Everyone brought a bunch of food and we had sausages, hot dogs and chicken. Twas really, really good. We had maybe 45 people show up, including a lot of kids. At one point, I was playing monkey in the middle with two of the older kids while tossing a ball back and forth with one of the younger ones. It was really nice to be able to sit back and relax with everyone from church. I always find it fascinating to see people outside of their normal habitat.

On Sunday, we got to install and bless a new communion set. The one used previously had been the communion set used since the formation of the church in 1974. The new communionware looks really good, and now we'll be able to retire the first set and display it with the Charter. It was the first Sunday in which I was not the Assistant Minister, so PR asked if I would be willing to bring part of the set up to represent the Campus Ministry aspect of the Church. I will always remember getting to help with the installation of the new set. That was pretty cool.

This Thursday, I'm going to be heading to WCU to see something called The Liars Bench. By the sounds of it, I'm gonna hear lots of local storytellers and learn about the Appalachian culture. I can't wait!!

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I'm going to be teaching a self-defense class on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to being able to share something that I absolutely love with others. The things I help teach people may only give them a few seconds, but sometimes a few seconds is all you need.

Next Sunday, I will be leading Sunday School. I'm looking forward to it, because PR has given me free reign with whatever I want to lead/discuss, as long as it deals with spirituality. I am planning on talking about labyrinths, and probably doing a craft with it too. I hope people will be open to doing something like that.

I hope you all have a great Holiday week!
God's Peace