Summer at the Ice's, part 2

The long hot Middle-TN summer rolls on...

Laura is having good and bad days as Ella's due date nears. Darby can't stop talking about her new baby sister. The room that the girls will be sharing is now complete (save a few details). Darby loves it. Mac is glad that the work is done. She is enjoying some high-end spoiling by both sets of grandparents. Mac's parents are taking her to visit her great-grandmother Ice in Indiana this weekend (we have the house to ourselves and we don't know what to do with ourselves). Laura's mom will be in for a few days next week and will take Darby back to St. Louis for another few days (what will we do for 4 straight days?).

Mac continues a counseling course and is about half-way through an internship at the Disciples Historical Society. More about those two pursuits in forthcoming post.

Last week I was privileged to share a meal with the new president of the Historical Society, Glenn Carson, and Sharon Watkins, nominee for General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Dr. Watkins was in town for the installation of Dr. Carson as President. (Thank you Sara for inviting me). Afterwards I met several wonderful folks at a reception at the Society. It was a joy to reconnect and talk with my friend Clint Holloway, who is Associate Minister at First Christian in Nashville. Clint worked at the Society for a few years; I met him when I first started research work on J. W. Shepherd.

What struck me most about that day was that for all the fanfare associated with Sharon's nomination as General Minister, she was as humble and yet as called and determined as anyone I've ever seen. It would be easy for her to gloat about breaking the ground as the first woman President of the Disciples (or to wring her hands at the tough problems the Disciples face). Instead, I saw a disciple who loves her church, who loves God and who chooses to be hopeful about the work of God in the world and the work of God in her. She expressed her confident expectation that God through the Disciples has a word to say to our world and that it will be her privileged ministry to facilitate unity and purposefulness among Disciples so that the word of God be proclaimed.

I have to applaud that attitude and that hope. I'll have more to say about her remarks in another post.

The Postmodern Theologies short-course had to be modified; I'm reading for it, but since I'm auditing, I admit to a bit of laziness. Ok, a lot of laziness. Nonetheless, I'll get it done somehow and I know it will be great.

So the summer is half-over; I'm actually looking forward to going back to school. Judges-Ruth-and Samuel are up for the Fall; the gospel of Luke for the Spring Semester. These are two of my favorite semesters.

On deck for the blog: I've got some more reflection about my summer pursuits (counseling and the Society internship) I'd like to banter about. I'm also mulling over a series of posts about the ministry of teaching. This series is really thinking out load for me; I've never written on this before so I want to trot out some metaphors and ideas, tease out a preliminary understanding. Hopefully the discipline of putting finger-to-keyboard will force me to articulate just what it is I propose to do as my vocatio. And maybe some of you will critique me along the way?

Coming very soon: a prayer by Karl Barth.

Grace and peace.