Merry Christmas from the Moneys!

Every year, we receive several Christmas cards from family and friends. Many of them include newsletters and family photos. Each year, I intend to send one out, but I never get around to it. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, you can have a Christmas card, albeit a virtual one.

We're all doing well. Our biggest news of the year is the birth of Gregory James, our second child (click on the link for more info). We call him Greg. He is an absolute delight, especially now that he's sleeping through the night. He looks exactly like James, and his resemblance to Susanna at the same age is uncanny.

Susanna at three is delightful, intelligent, energetic, and talks so much that we have difficulty getting a word in edgewise. She started preschool this fall, really enjoys it, and is doing well. Depending on the day, she either considers Simon (our black Lab) or Greg her best friend. Susanna has adjusted very well to being a big sister, and really loves her little brother. As you can see from the picture, she's not a huge fan of Santa, but that's OK.

James is still working at Booz Allen Hamilton, loves it, and they love him (great news in this economy!). I'm on "family leave", which means most days I'm at home with both of the kids. For the record, most of the time I love it. I'm also moonlighting as a hospital chaplain for a local hospital system, which provides not only a paycheck but also a vocational outlet. Only God knows what the future will hold for me in that arena (full time chaplaincy, returning to the local church, extending my family leave), but for now I feel blessed to be where I am and do what I'm doing.

May your Christmas be merry, your New Year be happy, and may God shower you with blessings!

Love,
James, Patti, Susanna, Greg, & Simon Money.

Well, This Should Be Fun!

Remember this post from last week? Well, the very next day, my pastor sent an e-mail to several of us who have pastoral experience and/or seminary education, asking about our level of interest in worship leadership AND seeing if any of us would be interested in preaching for him on January 2 while he's away (Imagine that! A pastor taking off after Christmas! like he's expecting to be TIRED or something). I replied on Tuesday afternoon, saying that I would be happy to preach at either service (we have a traditional service and a contemporary service) and would love to help out with worship leadership. (Of course, being ME, I said that in about ten sentences instead of two, and included a Brief History of My Vocational Life.)

So, I sent that e-mail and gnawed my fingernails checked my e-mail every five minutes patiently waited for his response (I really was patient. Having been a pastor, and still having many friends in the "business", I know that pastors cannot spend their whole day answering e-mails and phone calls). Yesterday, we went to a fun-filled family thing at church (it really was great. Free pancake breakfast and photos with Santa, a "angel gift shop", and a cookie walk/sale thingy) and within five minutes of us entering the pancake breakfast, he came over and confirmed that I would be preaching at the 11am service (that's the contemporary one, which we usually attend).

So, there you have it. I have my first preaching gig in over a year. I was freaking out hyperventilating for a few minutes, but I'm actually feeling good now. I'm pretty excited. It helps that I was reminded of a few things: first, that experience has shown me that as long as I am faithful to the "process of preparation" as one fellow blogger described it, I (with the help of God, of course) will produce good work and my nerves will be considerably reduced. Second, that no matter how large the congregation may be (average attendance around 250; I'm used to 40-50), I only have an Audience of One, and that would be the One who created me, loves, me, and called me to do this in the first place. God is the only one in the room whose socks I want to knock off, so to speak. Third, I am someone for whom learning and growth both come through experience. In order to gain that experience (and therefore learn and grow), I need to take some risks. This will also be a good initial test for me to see if preaching is indeed something I'm called to do/find fulfillment in, and whether I should go back to the local church. 

So, pray for me, will you? Particularly that I am faithful to the One who called me to ministry and whose Word I will be bringing, but also that my preaching will not cause my pastor to regret asking me to preach in the first place.

Food for Thought

I had another topic I was planning on writing about today, but then I clicked over to Joelle's blog and read her most recent post, which had me cocking my head and going, "huh" in a very good way. In other words, it provided me with a perspective I hadn't considered. That, by the way, is one of the reasons that I read Joelle's blog; she has this way of showing things from a different (but legitimate) perspective.

In this case, she's linked to this article from another blogger. I highly encourage you to read it, for the reason I mentioned above (different perspective). This blogger offers an alternative to the highly-popular Advent Conspiracy. One suggestion she offers: if you have money to spend, go ahead and spend it, but spend it wisely (keep your dollars local, focus on what will bring the most joy to others, not on giving gifts just for the sake of it).

Anyway, go ahead and read the article. I think it makes several excellent points.

Into Every Blog a Few Typos Must Fall

I took a look at the title of yesterday's blog post and realized that instead of "Danskos" I had put "Dankos"...without the "s". Brilliant, Patti. I will confess to being a complete and utter grammar/spelling snob. It drives me up the wall when people (particularly well-educated people) consistently make major grammatical and spelling mistakes. A few of my pet peeves are:

-Saying "you're" instead of "your" when using the possessive. Ditto for using "your" instead of "you're" when you mean to say "you are".
-Referring to the large table in a church that traditionally holds Communion elements, flowers, and Bible as "alter" instead of "altar" (the correct spelling).
-Using apostrophes when indicating plural nouns.

I could go on, but you get the point. I do pride myself on having very good grammar and spelling. However, I have noticed some grammatical errors in my blog posts AFTER I had published them. One major error was even pointed out by my MOTHER. It's pretty embarrassing to pride yourself on great grammar and then find errors/typos that wouldn't exist if you'd just been a little more careful (or if Blogger would add a "grammar check" feature).

So, if you find a grammatical mistake in a blog post, you have two options. First, you can e-mail me and point it out so I can fix it ASAP. Or, you can ignore it and figure that grammatical mistakes happen to all of us. It's your choice. I suppose there's also the option of noticing an error/typo and simply judging me, but if you're the type of person to do that, I'd just as soon you pointed the mistake out to me, so I can fix it.

No one's perfect, right?

If It Weren't For My Dansksos, My Feet Would be Bleeding

I probably walked about 15,000 steps today. I visited 29 patients and their families over a ten-hour period. That may not sound like a lot to you, but given that I am supposed to have MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION with each of these patients, it is a lot. Trust me.

I clocked in at 10:30am and clocked out at 9:25 pm, so I guess I technically worked for eleven hours. Whatever. My feet hurt. My mind is numb. I'm going to bed. I'll iron James' clothes in the morning.

I do feel very satisfied and fulfilled, though. But mostly exhausted. And cold. Do you know it's really cold outside?

Night-night.

Random Ramblings, Cookie Monster Edition

James is making chocolate chip cookies. Our new oven does a really, really nice job with cookies. Apparently his co-workers have requested chocolate chip cookies, and James is obliging.

I'll bring some into work tomorrow, too. I'm working at DePaul tomorrow, and am fairly excited about it. Getting myself (professionally dressed and groomed) and two kids out of the house, to day care, and to work on time is really not fun. However, I really enjoy working the occasional shift because a) I get to do something I really really love and b) I get to talk to adults. It's a nice break from being "Mommy" 24/7. And as a nice bonus, I make money!

I'm sort of in this "vocational limbo" where I'm deciding what to do for the next few years and for the long haul. Because I'm a provisional elder, I have eight years from the time I was commissioned to "fulfill the requirements for ordination and full membership." The requirements include: three years of full-time service (I currently have one year) and approval by the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry (which involves papers, psychological testing, and interviews). Since it's common to be "continued" at least one time, I really should add in a year or two of insurance. Therefore, by July 2013 I need to be beginning my third year of full-time service in order to really have a good shot at being ordained by 2015. If I'm not ordained by 2015, my understanding is that I have to re-apply for provisional membership and begin the process all. over. again. Therefore, I'm weighing my options and figuring out how I can accomplish that...and if accomplishing that right now is what God wants me to do (and part of that includes what's in the best interest of my family). It's somewhat frustrating and painful, because part of me feels like if Danville-gate hadn't happened, I wouldn't be in this situation. But it did happen, and I am here, so...

Greg is so so so much better. I'm only giving him two breathing treatments a day now, and I'm hoping to only give him one tomorrow, one on Tuesday, and then be DONE.

I must go now, because I need to clean up the cookie mess and then go to bed. Toodles!

On Ecumenism: Just Call Me Christian

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:5-6

When someone asks me, "what are you?" in regard to my faith, I usually respond, "United Methodist," because that seems like the clearest, most straightforward answer. It's certainly true: I've been a member of the United Methodist Church for 20+ years, attended (and have a degree in religion from) a United Methodist college, my seminary student body was two-thirds United Methodist, and I am, of course, on the track for ordination in the United Methodist Church. It's where I feel most at home theologically.

However, saying that I'm United Methodist doesn't tell my whole faith story any more than saying I grew up in Northern Virginia tells my whole life story (see the "about me" section for more info on that subject). My mom was raised in a faithful Catholic home, and while she left the Church when she married my dad (a divorced non-Catholic), she certainly did not leave God or the church. For the first 12 or so years of my life, my family attended non-denominational, charismatic churches. James and I were married in an Episcopal church (I had been working there for almost two years) by a Baptist campus minister, with a United Methodist pastor celebrating the Eucharist. I've experienced some of the most awesome worship of my life at a Catholic church in Georgetown (my friend Joe took me*, and I returned on my own several times. It was awesome to the point where I gave brief thought to converting, but there are four or five theological/polity issues that need to be resolved before I would seriously consider it**) and at Taize. I am currently praying the Christmas Novena for an intention very close to my heart. I have found the grace, love, and peace of God in Jesus Christ, revealed through the Holy Spirit, in every Christian tradition of which I've been a part in some way, shape, or form. In other words, I'm sort of a "religious mutt in the Christian tradition." I am highly ecumenical, and feel like I am blessed because of it.

Therefore, I always get a little confused/exasperated/incensed (pick your word, depending on the situation) whenever I run across individuals or groups who, instead of embracing other Christians as sisters/brothers in Christ, question the authenticity or strength of the faith of others or even their salvation because of differing beliefs. I once had a friend (who is one of the most faithful Christians I know, and a cradle Lutheran) tell me that someone from a large, well-known Campus Ministry Organization spent ten minutes challenging his friend's salvation once they found out he was Lutheran. I have another friend who was raised (and still is) Catholic who, while in college, spent a significant amount of time with the Baptist student ministry (while still attending Mass at the Catholic campus ministry and remaining connected with that community). While on a mission trip with his baptist friends, he mentioned to some church person that he grew up Catholic. Their response, "Well, at least you're Christian now." Apparently they thought that the two were mutually exclusive. I guess it's good that he didn't tell them that he was still Catholic, huh?

I really have two main criteria for deciding if someone is a fellow Christian. Technically, it's really just one criterion with added clarification: 
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-10


My added clarification (if I'm gonna be really strict) is that if you can agree with the contents of the Nicene Creed (click on the link if you're not familiar with it), or at least the Apostles' Creed, then I know we have enough in common, belief-wise, that I will consider you a brother or sister in Christ, regardless of whether you are Catholic, Episcopalian, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, non-denominational, Baptist, etc, etc. Of course, it goes without saying that salvation is completely within God's realm: it is not up to me to decree if someone is "saved" or not. I do believe that when we all get to heaven, there will certainly be many people present who we Did Not expect, and probably even more people absent who we DID expect. However, I do believe in drawing the line SOMEWHERE, and that explains what I wrote above, because it's the criteria the Christian Church has been using for the past 1500+ years.

I guess my bottom line is, if we're all essentially on the same team (Go team Jesus!), then why do we WASTE so much time and energy fighting over doctrine, polity, and practice, when we could really and truly UNITE and totally rock this world with the love of Christ?

*Joe and I have been friends for 11 years now. We first met through ICQ (anyone remember that?), because he was apparently looking for a new friend (Joe is always meeting new friends; he could be in a room of terrorists and within an hour or two will have become friends with half of them and be engaged in a discussion on Mid-Eastern cuisine and which restaurant in Riyadh has the best hummus. I say all that with a great deal of affection), and I had somehow put my settings on "open to random chat." We met in person several days later, and he subsequently introduced me to the best frozen custard in the world and did wonders for my understanding and appreciation of Catholics and the Catholic Church. He got married about six years ago to a lovely woman who I think is absolutely perfect for him (although I've only seen her three times) and they have a lovely little girl who is about a month younger than Greg.

**The biggest two are: the priesthood (I do firmly believe in the priesthood of all believers, although I believe that clergy should have a priestly function during the sacraments) and the infallibility of the Pope (because I just have issues with any human being infallible). There are other issues, but those are the two that are major stumbling blocks and are keeping me Protestant.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on ecumenism. I'd love to hear your thoughts/responses, and especially your experiences with other Christian traditions. 

Not to be vain, but my parents say she looks just like me when I was her age

Susanna's school picture. Isn't she beautiful?

More Advent Ideas

Check out this link for some great ideas for celebrating Advent with kids:
http://www.conversiondiary.com/2010/11/baby-steps-for-celebrating-advent-a-cornucopia-of-ideas.html

Let's Get In the Mood...

This is one of my favorite Advent hymns, apparently arranged by one of my favorite singers, Chris Tomlin. If you've never heard of him, YOU ARE DEPRIVED INDEED. This is from a Christmas album, obviously. His original stuff is amazing. The lead voice is, I believe, Christy Nockels, from the (now retired) band Watermark.

Celebrating Advent/Christmas with Young Children

You'd think that having a seminary education and being a member of the clergy, my home would be a model of Christian discipleship and my children would be able to recite creeds and Bible verses backwards and forwards before they entered preschool. I hate to burst your bubble, but that's just not the case. James and I certainly believe that it is essential for us to share our faith with our children, both through modeling and teaching. However, like so many of us, sometimes the best intentions are left by the wayside in the flurry of life. That's not to say that our life together is absent of spirituality. We pray together at every meal, we are actively involved in a local church, we encourage Susanna to "talk to God" anytime she feels like it (especially if she's scared or lonely), and I read Susanna a Bible story every night and a little prayer book. Her preschool is affiliated with our church, and I know she's getting spiritual nurture there, too. Greg is still young, but we will add in these things with him as he gets older.

I still feel like I certainly could be more intentional about the spiritual formation of our children. (I'm using  "I" because I'm the one who spends the most time with them, not because I'm totally leaving James out of the equation. He's often the one who gets my butt in gear and reminds me of the importance of these things.)  So, I thought that Advent would be a great time to begin putting my money where my mouth is. I owe this inspiration largely to Emily, who is also trying to think of ways to make this season more meaningful for young children.

So, here are some of my (very tentative) plans, and what we're already done. There is secular stuff mixed in with the sacred, but I don't see any harm in that, as long as we place the focus on the real meaning of the season (HINT: It's the birth of Jesus, the Messiah, the son of God, God in human flesh, the Light of the World, etc):

1. This week we're decorating the inside and outside of the house for Christmas, including putting up the tree. Susanna mostly followed us around while we did this, but we talked to her about what we were doing, about Christmas and preparing for Jesus' birth, and how some of our ornaments have special significance (like the one we bought for our first Christmas as a married couple, the one for Susanna's first Christmas, some of the ornaments I made as a little girl, etc). 
2. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Laugh if you want, but I consider it a sacred tradition.
3. In two weeks, our church is having a special Christmas activity for children, featuring breakfast, pictures with Santa, an opportunity to shop for (previously wrapped) presents, etc. 
4. On the 17th, Susanna's preschool is having a "Birthday party for Jesus", including a Christmas program. OH THE CUTENESS.
5. We live an hour from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and when we renewed our season passes, received three free tickets to Christmas Town, their holiday celebration. We're planning on going to that. 
6. Years and years ago, my mom made this beautiful Advent calendar. She gave it to me after we got married. I'm going to find it (we hung it up a few years ago, but haven't for the past two years) and hang it up somewhere in our house. There are 25 little flannel "ornaments" that are attached via velcro, with #25 being baby Jesus. The main part of the calendar is a Christmas tree. The idea is, that each day of December you add one more figure to the Christmas tree, with baby Jesus being the final figured added. I figure it might be a neat activity to do with Susanna (and Greg, but he'll be mostly watching) each night. 
7. Somewhere I have an Advent wreath, or maybe I'll just go and buy one (I haven't been to Cokesbury in a while! They must miss me!). Each night at dinner, we can light the appropriate candle for that week and maybe read a Bible verse. 
8. I'll read Susanna and Greg The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve. I'll also see what other Christmas books the preschool library has. 
9. Watching Christmas movies a few times a week, such as "The Muppet Christmas Carol". 
10. I can download some Christmas music from iTunes and see what Christmas CDs we have and simply listen to them together.
11. Our church has an "Angel Tree" program and I thought that maybe we could do that as a sort of service project. 

I'm keeping my expectations low, both for myself and for Susanna (again, at 10 months old, I'm not expecting much active participation from Greg). I really believe that so much of early faith formation is planting seeds and nurturing faith. My kids might not "get" it right now, but it is my hope and prayer that if we're consistent, then the seeds will eventually sprout and grow.

Anyone have any other ideas? This is sort of off the top of my head, so I haven't done much research. And I'm not exactly an expert in children's ministry, either.