Hello, friends. We do so much in the course of a day, that it feels like 3 have gone by at the end of it.
I was blessed in the morning to have breakfast with Cathi Matuza's sister, Diana. We enjoyed our time together including stories about her (and Cathi's) mother and father who have both passed in the last year and a half - her father in the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, Em tried to swim in the pool. She bravely made it about 4 laps before she couldn't feel her body anymore and gave up. Admittedly, it was cold yesterday. Very cold.
We then met up at the Worship and Plenary sessions in the Great Ballroom of the resort. It's a very interesting and exciting thing to be in worship with over 1,000 other people. The worship leader is Rev. Chip Andrus, a minister from Harrison, AR, just down the street from where I was raised. He wrote several of the songs in our Presbyterian Sing the Faith hymnal and plays his guitar to lead us all in song. It's quite an awesome experience, especially when we sing old favorites like The Font of Every Blessing to his very contemporary sounding guitar. Em and I have been in conversation a lot about the new ministry at Smithtown Presbyterian - a 5:00 p.m. Saturday service twice a month. It's bringing in new families or families who haven't been in a while that aren't able to attend on Sunday mornings. In our imagination, if we were to do something similar at PCSH, it might have a "feel" (on a much smaller scale) like we're experiencing here at APCE.
Rodger Nishioka's plenary session was about Encountering the Other: very thought-provoking and coincidentally connected with workshops we both attended later in the day. It's great to be in a learning environment where you are inspired and invigorated. Both Em and I are finding that we are responding to the material presented with new and fresh insights, excitedly writing down sermon and teaching thoughts and ideas - just wait till we get home!
In the evening, we joined with 5 other women from the Synod of the Northeast and went to dinner in Seaport Village. I worked in the Village over 25 years ago when I did a short 14 month stint living in San Diego, first at the Harbor House, a fine seafood restaurant and then at The Crystal Palace, where I engraved crystal goblets, glassware and souvenir items for people. We at dinner at the Harbor House (where the clam chowder was as good as I remembered it) and then afterward wandered the quaint shopping area. It's designed like a little village with shops in separate structures, all individually owned and filled with delightful items. Believe it or not, The Crystal Palace was still there! It has since been bought and is therefore no longer owned by the folks who had it while I was there, but the clerk was soooo gracious to me and even showed me a photo hanging on a bulletin board in the backroom where new owner is with the former owner as they are celebrating the changeover.
Emmi and I came home tired, but filled and are now ready to begin a new day afresh - excited to see what it may bring. (Did I mention that yesterday was freezing cold and rainy all day? A big disappointment to those of us looking forward to California sun - what ever happened to "it never rains in California"? But today's a new day....)
More later,
Pastor Rebecca
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