What I Did This Week

• packed up all the dishes from the china hutch in newspaper, put them into boxes to store in the "pod"
• chased the dog. Once a day so far she has escaped out the front door while we were moving a piece of heavy furniture. She runs up and down the street, sniffs a few shrubs, generally makes herself a pest. If I wasn't so mad at her, I could admire her great running stride (she's part husky). Today she has not run out the front door yet. I'm praying that we make it to tomorrow without another incident. Tomorrow she goes to stay at the pet-sitter.
• tried to set up a first planning meeting for our Children's Sabbath this year
• visited two people in the hospital
• nursing home call
• shopping for sofas; we are throwing out the old one but haven't settled on a new style yet. We admire Stickley furniture, mostly from afar
• packed books, packed books, packed books
• cleaned closets, most notably the pantry, the linen closet, and the closets in all rooms. We have too much "stuff"! Existentially, I know this now.
• had a brief conversation with one of my parish members at the grocery store yesterday. He mentioned the churchwide assembly news, and that it was controversial. However, he also mentioned the argument by some that "it's been this way for 2,000 years! We can't change it now!" He remarked, "But 2,000 years ago, we also thought the earth was flat." (By the way, this is not one of my younger members, but one of the more senior members of my congregation.)
• planning meeting for a fall prayer breakfast with city officials and pastors
• lunch with parish member, who asked what I thought of the churchwide assembly actions. Afterwards, drove home in the torrential rain that was right after the tornado hit.
• read the book Julie and Julia. I was just getting through it, until last night, when one particular section made me laugh so hard I started crying
• had a brief conversation with a woman at the check out of a local supermarket. She said, "I guess the Lutherans aren't going to be advocating abstinence any more." I said, "What are you talking about?" My position, unfortunately, unlike some others, cannot be reduced to a sound byte: you know, the people who say, "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." I think the position we have taken is entirely consistent with advocating abstinence.
• dusted, dusted, dusted
• met with a couple in prepration for a baptism tomorrow, still one of my favorite things ever

How was your week?