That is right folks, "a lot" is two words, not one! Moving on!! There is not a lot going on right now. But here is what I have got since being back from the trip!
I am fairly certain I have made a decision on my home church. I will know more after I meet with the head pastor. Just a few things to check out! :) It looks as though there will be plenty of volunteer opportunities, which I hope is the case... I will let you know when I know. It is the Annandale United Methodist Church. It is about 5-10 minutes away depending on traffic, so that is nice and close. The head pastor is a hoot! He looks for responses from the congregation when he asks us questions that may seem rhetorical, they aren't! And he is absolutely on fire for the Lord. He loves to worship... AWESOME! He notices newcomers and guests and has sent me an e-mail (since I actually gave it this Sunday) to welcome me and offer a meeting. I have been praying about it and it feels like a good fit!
I have joined a book club. It is the one Sharla is in and it is a great group of ladies! This month we will be reading a Chelsea Handler book. Talk about lewd! I think I can handle it so I said yes... Here we go! Buffy, I know you love her! I will let you know how the book reading goes.
As far as personal reading is concerned, I am re-reading "Christy" by Catherine Marshall! I forgot how much I love this book. Has it really been that long since I read it? Apparently! I am not that far into it at this point, but already I am touched by things Miss Alice Henderson has said. I was not in the same place spiritually when I first read it, so I wonder if the words are speaking to me differently now. Some of my favorite quotes from Miss Alice (so far): "Evil is real-and powerful. It has to be fought. It cannot be explained away, not fled. God is against evil. So each of us has to decide where we stand, how we are going to live our lives." and, relating to how a guy felt the urge to visit this young girl but waited two days, and when he went she had died. If he had gone when called she probably would have lived... (read the book) "...God's clear order went unheeded. And evil had it's day. The result of our disobedience is that simple, that terrible." This last quote spoke to me because I don't know that a call God has made for me to follow has resulted in something so devastating, however, it can. If we don't stop and listen to what God is calling us to do, only He knows the true impact of that call going unheeded. Like I said. I love this book. So many lessons in it...
Okay, today was a good day with Chuckles, and he took a good nap this afternoon. This is great because he has been cutting down to one nap, and not really getting enough sleep in that one nap. Just waking up cranky and not wanting to go back down! He has been sleeping in a bit later, which I think is helping with that! :) I was actually productive during his nap today! I got the last two blog posts up... the ones you all have been waiting over a week for... Yes, I am still sorry. I also got quite a bit of cleaning done too! Yes... I am not used to being quite so productive... But it opened up a lot of evening time for a bit of a change, so I was able to read and relax... Ahhhh....
Well, it seems I wrote quite a bit about not a lot! Hope you all are doing well! Miss you!
Peace and God Bless,
Jules
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Cancun
Cancun-Great time!! And definitely DO NOT pay any attention to grammar (or lack there of) in this one!
So, directly after the UM Conference, I flew to Cancun. Well, I skipped Tuesday and went to the airport instead! So, IT WAS A BLAST! Except that I lost my wallet... It is okay, everything is getting replaced, the most annoying thing is my driver's license but that is getting figured out too! Pictures are up on Facebook, but I will try to get them added here...
So I was waiting for the shuttle downstairs as we had already checked out of the hotel that morning... and there was NO COFFEE!! Now, I forgot to mention in my previous post that I was living off coffee at the UM Conference... FOOD? That was just to keep my stomach from going haywire from all the coffee! Especially Saturday. I gave Dad a run for his title of major coffee drinker that day!! And they had the gall to close down the coffee stand at like 7pm!! I know!!! CRAZY!!!! I made it through however... anyhoo back to the Cancun story... So it took them 45 minutes to get coffee and by that time, I took the shuttle to the airport...
I sat at the Des Moines airport for a while, (these were times I wish I had a laptop... then you wouldn't have been waiting for the blog... maybe the posting of, but it would have been easy as they would have already been written, LOL) I kept myself busy with books and people watching... I do love people watching... you have to be careful though... You don't want to be caught staring incredulously at people... Trust me on this ;)... Again, I digress... the flight was on time, and I had about a three hour layover is Dallas/Fort Worth... I wish I had stayed in the terminal I arrived in a bit longer, as there were a bunch of cute Army guys heading to OCS... Nothing like "people watching" to pass the time... Just kidding... Anyhoo, in Terminal D, where my departing flight was, there was this really neat sculpture thing... I really cannot describe it, well I could but there are pics instead! LOL, anyhoo, when you walk through this structure, it makes music... It was pretty neat! I then board to Cancun... I was very excited, and I got lucky sitting next to this nice couple who were doing trivia games and stuff like that. They were from Iowa too... Just goes to show that Iowa people really ARE nice!
Well, we landed and I took a cab to the hotel... Well, it was really a resort... I basically had an efficiency apartment all to myself... I let Chuckles come in to play a bit too! The room had laundry and a kitchenette as well as an amazing tub, an ocean view and a little living room area that led to the balcony... They had a series of pools which were infinity pools. If you are unfamiliar with infinity pool, if you are in the pool and look out to the ocean.. it looks like it never ends... that the pool goes straight into the ocean... Pretty amazing.
If you don't know me very well, you may not know that I absolutely LOVE the beach!! The smell of the saltwater and seaweed (I know it sounds kinda gross, but it is my happy place) the sound of the waves, the sand beneath my feet, the beating sun, the smell of sunscreen, the lightening of my hair... yes, I totally heart the beach! Anyhoo, I seem to be using that word a lot this post, It was amazing, that first day was kind of my free day... I spent time in the pool with S and R and Chuckles, and at the beach, swimming in the ocean... getting salt in my suit and my eyes... yes, it gets everywhere... Still love it though... The next day we spent more time in the water and even went to the aquarium... a waste of money, by the way... go to Xcaret... but I am now getting ahead of myself...
The day I spent alone with Chuckles, we almost lost his sand bucket... well we did lose it, just not permanently... Chuckles accidentally lost it when the tide came in, and I almost had it but a big wave came, and as I was holding Chuckles, did not quite catch it... I did not see it again for about ten minutes, when Chuckles and I were walking along the beach (yes it was a ways down the beach) this really nice guy found it and returned it to us... :) I was glad... The reason I was holding Chuckles is because he was going in after the bucket... I was sad when I had to tell him it was gone!! :) God looks out for us! :)
On Saturday, our last day, we went to Xcaret. It is pronounced like Eesh-kah-ret... Check it out at www.xcaret.com. If you ever get that way, you should totally go to Xcaret!! It is an eco-park. While that meant nothing prior to me going there, it is AMAZING!!! It is kind of like an aquarium and zoo and beach and pools and scuba diving and all kinds of stuff wrapped into one! Everything is natural so there is no real maintenance of things like pools. They have pools but they are fed by the ocean. There are underground rivers which you can snorkel through. Which I did and it was really neat... Also a great way to cool down around mid-day. The water is very cool... Almost too cool to begin with but you get used to it pretty quick. It is hard to describe. It is amazing! And totally worth probably two days of your time... We didn't get to everything in one day.
Well, Cancun is very American. 99% of the people speak English and most are quite friendly. Probably because Cancun was created to be an American tourist spot. But still. We got some gas outside of Cancun on our way back from Xcaret and had to speak Spanish, we got a bit more IN Cancun, and English worked just fine! LOL. Sunday we headed back. My flight was before theirs so I took a cab to the airport and barely made my flight! And I was there early!! Still, it was a great trip. minus the loss of my wallet... I bought a new one the other day... The only real money lost was my Metro Card... I did not have it registered... But there wasn't a lot of money on it anyway so that wasn't that big a deal. The real bother was my driver's license. But that is getting worked out.
WOW, looks like I had plenty to write about. And I fell sure I left stuff out... Well, until next time!! Hasta!
Jules
So, directly after the UM Conference, I flew to Cancun. Well, I skipped Tuesday and went to the airport instead! So, IT WAS A BLAST! Except that I lost my wallet... It is okay, everything is getting replaced, the most annoying thing is my driver's license but that is getting figured out too! Pictures are up on Facebook, but I will try to get them added here...
So I was waiting for the shuttle downstairs as we had already checked out of the hotel that morning... and there was NO COFFEE!! Now, I forgot to mention in my previous post that I was living off coffee at the UM Conference... FOOD? That was just to keep my stomach from going haywire from all the coffee! Especially Saturday. I gave Dad a run for his title of major coffee drinker that day!! And they had the gall to close down the coffee stand at like 7pm!! I know!!! CRAZY!!!! I made it through however... anyhoo back to the Cancun story... So it took them 45 minutes to get coffee and by that time, I took the shuttle to the airport...
I sat at the Des Moines airport for a while, (these were times I wish I had a laptop... then you wouldn't have been waiting for the blog... maybe the posting of, but it would have been easy as they would have already been written, LOL) I kept myself busy with books and people watching... I do love people watching... you have to be careful though... You don't want to be caught staring incredulously at people... Trust me on this ;)... Again, I digress... the flight was on time, and I had about a three hour layover is Dallas/Fort Worth... I wish I had stayed in the terminal I arrived in a bit longer, as there were a bunch of cute Army guys heading to OCS... Nothing like "people watching" to pass the time... Just kidding... Anyhoo, in Terminal D, where my departing flight was, there was this really neat sculpture thing... I really cannot describe it, well I could but there are pics instead! LOL, anyhoo, when you walk through this structure, it makes music... It was pretty neat! I then board to Cancun... I was very excited, and I got lucky sitting next to this nice couple who were doing trivia games and stuff like that. They were from Iowa too... Just goes to show that Iowa people really ARE nice!
Well, we landed and I took a cab to the hotel... Well, it was really a resort... I basically had an efficiency apartment all to myself... I let Chuckles come in to play a bit too! The room had laundry and a kitchenette as well as an amazing tub, an ocean view and a little living room area that led to the balcony... They had a series of pools which were infinity pools. If you are unfamiliar with infinity pool, if you are in the pool and look out to the ocean.. it looks like it never ends... that the pool goes straight into the ocean... Pretty amazing.
If you don't know me very well, you may not know that I absolutely LOVE the beach!! The smell of the saltwater and seaweed (I know it sounds kinda gross, but it is my happy place) the sound of the waves, the sand beneath my feet, the beating sun, the smell of sunscreen, the lightening of my hair... yes, I totally heart the beach! Anyhoo, I seem to be using that word a lot this post, It was amazing, that first day was kind of my free day... I spent time in the pool with S and R and Chuckles, and at the beach, swimming in the ocean... getting salt in my suit and my eyes... yes, it gets everywhere... Still love it though... The next day we spent more time in the water and even went to the aquarium... a waste of money, by the way... go to Xcaret... but I am now getting ahead of myself...
The day I spent alone with Chuckles, we almost lost his sand bucket... well we did lose it, just not permanently... Chuckles accidentally lost it when the tide came in, and I almost had it but a big wave came, and as I was holding Chuckles, did not quite catch it... I did not see it again for about ten minutes, when Chuckles and I were walking along the beach (yes it was a ways down the beach) this really nice guy found it and returned it to us... :) I was glad... The reason I was holding Chuckles is because he was going in after the bucket... I was sad when I had to tell him it was gone!! :) God looks out for us! :)
On Saturday, our last day, we went to Xcaret. It is pronounced like Eesh-kah-ret... Check it out at www.xcaret.com. If you ever get that way, you should totally go to Xcaret!! It is an eco-park. While that meant nothing prior to me going there, it is AMAZING!!! It is kind of like an aquarium and zoo and beach and pools and scuba diving and all kinds of stuff wrapped into one! Everything is natural so there is no real maintenance of things like pools. They have pools but they are fed by the ocean. There are underground rivers which you can snorkel through. Which I did and it was really neat... Also a great way to cool down around mid-day. The water is very cool... Almost too cool to begin with but you get used to it pretty quick. It is hard to describe. It is amazing! And totally worth probably two days of your time... We didn't get to everything in one day.
Well, Cancun is very American. 99% of the people speak English and most are quite friendly. Probably because Cancun was created to be an American tourist spot. But still. We got some gas outside of Cancun on our way back from Xcaret and had to speak Spanish, we got a bit more IN Cancun, and English worked just fine! LOL. Sunday we headed back. My flight was before theirs so I took a cab to the airport and barely made my flight! And I was there early!! Still, it was a great trip. minus the loss of my wallet... I bought a new one the other day... The only real money lost was my Metro Card... I did not have it registered... But there wasn't a lot of money on it anyway so that wasn't that big a deal. The real bother was my driver's license. But that is getting worked out.
WOW, looks like I had plenty to write about. And I fell sure I left stuff out... Well, until next time!! Hasta!
Jules
Thursday, June 17, 2010
United Methodist Iowa Annual Conference
Catch up time... to start I had a blast seeing who I got to see... So thank you all for making time, as mine was limited! I hope to see more of you next time I am in Iowa, which will probably be this fall/winter. I will keep you updated! :)
The Iowa United Methodist Annual Conference was awesome!There were a few things on the business end that frustrated me! However, Corey was a sport and just laughed at me!! Thanks for that! :) One of the highlights was a guest speaker named Bishop Kulah. He was from Africa. (I cant remember where, and didn't put it in my notes, sorry.)
Bishop Kulah said many things, and some of it related to where he came from. One of my favorite analogies has to do with walking. He started off by saying that where he comes from, walking is not a sport. Not a way to get fit. Walking is community, fellowship, meditations, questions and connections. When we walk in life we meet people in a community and fellowship with them. We meditate on things, ask questions of others we are waling with and make connections. (He put it much better than I, of course, I am not a Bishop either though, LOL.) So we should walk with Christ. Build a community, fellowship with other Christians. Meditate on God's word, allow Jesus to ask us questions, and make connections with Jesus and God, and our community! I love this. I cannot quite seem to put it into words that show how it makes me feel. I haven't been doing all that, and this was a good way to put it into perspective for me! WALK WITH CHRIST! :)
One thing I absolutely related to that he said, "Scripture is primary, discipline is secondary." This just may be my new motto! LOL. How often do we read scripture to make sure that what we are hearing is the true word of God. Are we learning and meditating on God's word? Or the word of our Pastor, or neighbor, or fellow Christian? Now don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that I am perfect, or that those listed above are not well meaning, but I believe this helps us to keep accountable to God, not to people. This leads to another quote: "Some people believe the Bible contains the word of God. I believe it IS the word of God" Which I too believe. We should follow the word of God! I feel that the Discipline of the UMC is rooted in the word, and as hard as it may seem some days, hours or minutes, I am trying to live my life through His word. I often fall short! Former Iowa Bishop Ruben Job said, "regardless of circumstance, you are a child of God." Regardless of the many times I fall, or fail, I can always remember that I am a child of God! And I hope you all do too!
Out in Fort Dodge there is this ministry that "takes it to the street." It is an outdoor ministry in which started out as a children's program, but now reaches those from infant to 92 years of age! It is a summer ministry in which they have sites outdoors where they do mini church services. The coordinator sometimes gets slack from some members of her congregation because this ministry does not necessarily bring more members into their church. But as she points out, it is not about filling the pews, it is about bringing the gospel to those who won't hear it anywhere else! Kudos Jennifer!! YOU ROCK!
Pastor Dwayne had a retirement ceremony that some people were able to make it down to Des Moines for! Which I am glad for, because my dad was one of them!! I love you Dad! ;)
Well guys, my next post will be about Cancun, it will probably be shorter than this one, but I hope you enjoy it! And I am sorry it took me so long to post this! LORI, I am sorry, I know I told you it would be up Saturday night! I fail!! The family had guests over and it was late before I got back upstairs! Sorry!
Til next time!
Jules
The Iowa United Methodist Annual Conference was awesome!There were a few things on the business end that frustrated me! However, Corey was a sport and just laughed at me!! Thanks for that! :) One of the highlights was a guest speaker named Bishop Kulah. He was from Africa. (I cant remember where, and didn't put it in my notes, sorry.)
Bishop Kulah said many things, and some of it related to where he came from. One of my favorite analogies has to do with walking. He started off by saying that where he comes from, walking is not a sport. Not a way to get fit. Walking is community, fellowship, meditations, questions and connections. When we walk in life we meet people in a community and fellowship with them. We meditate on things, ask questions of others we are waling with and make connections. (He put it much better than I, of course, I am not a Bishop either though, LOL.) So we should walk with Christ. Build a community, fellowship with other Christians. Meditate on God's word, allow Jesus to ask us questions, and make connections with Jesus and God, and our community! I love this. I cannot quite seem to put it into words that show how it makes me feel. I haven't been doing all that, and this was a good way to put it into perspective for me! WALK WITH CHRIST! :)
One thing I absolutely related to that he said, "Scripture is primary, discipline is secondary." This just may be my new motto! LOL. How often do we read scripture to make sure that what we are hearing is the true word of God. Are we learning and meditating on God's word? Or the word of our Pastor, or neighbor, or fellow Christian? Now don't misunderstand me. I am not saying that I am perfect, or that those listed above are not well meaning, but I believe this helps us to keep accountable to God, not to people. This leads to another quote: "Some people believe the Bible contains the word of God. I believe it IS the word of God" Which I too believe. We should follow the word of God! I feel that the Discipline of the UMC is rooted in the word, and as hard as it may seem some days, hours or minutes, I am trying to live my life through His word. I often fall short! Former Iowa Bishop Ruben Job said, "regardless of circumstance, you are a child of God." Regardless of the many times I fall, or fail, I can always remember that I am a child of God! And I hope you all do too!
Out in Fort Dodge there is this ministry that "takes it to the street." It is an outdoor ministry in which started out as a children's program, but now reaches those from infant to 92 years of age! It is a summer ministry in which they have sites outdoors where they do mini church services. The coordinator sometimes gets slack from some members of her congregation because this ministry does not necessarily bring more members into their church. But as she points out, it is not about filling the pews, it is about bringing the gospel to those who won't hear it anywhere else! Kudos Jennifer!! YOU ROCK!
Pastor Dwayne had a retirement ceremony that some people were able to make it down to Des Moines for! Which I am glad for, because my dad was one of them!! I love you Dad! ;)
Well guys, my next post will be about Cancun, it will probably be shorter than this one, but I hope you enjoy it! And I am sorry it took me so long to post this! LORI, I am sorry, I know I told you it would be up Saturday night! I fail!! The family had guests over and it was late before I got back upstairs! Sorry!
Til next time!
Jules
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