Today was a super full and happy day, however, at church we understood that some people in our congregation are in a lot of pain right now.
Without going into details, our church’s leadership made a decision that affected one of the members of our congregation and several people were very upset about it. Because our Pastor is the one who was designated to carry out the decision, she was feeling very alone and unpopular. Also, the person who was affected by the decision felt very hurt and upset as well. What was interesting to me was that in the first half of church, the people against the decision were able to lift their voices and share their feelings. Our Pastor was also asked to share her feelings by the congregation. In the end, the person giving one of the talks shared a story that helped everyone have empathy for both sides. We then had a potluck and said goodbye to Roy, who is moving, and people shared their favorite stories about him. Even this was a very uncomfortable church session, it was awesome to see a community working out its issues in real-time, with both passion for justice expressed, and empathy and humility expressed.
We then went shopping and picked up Georgia who was joining us for dinner! I made dinner and it was one of my favorite meals I have made. It was relatively standard with salmon, fingerling potatoes, salad, bread and sliced peaches, but everything turned out really good, and I ate until I was completely stuffed. Everyone else enjoyed the dinner also.
While I was making dinner, Georgia played Sleeping Queens with Ammon and Clarissa. The kids were so into the game and I could here their energetic play. It was so sweet for Georgia to give them that experience and I wish I would have taken a video.
Also, while I was making dinner, Lily was helping Mary with a school project. Mary had to do a project that she could learn something from and she chose to make peach muffins. She was asked to take pictures of her project, and I’m including them here to help her remember.
The peach muffins were absolutely delicious.
After Lily dropped Georgia off, we tidied the house and then the Giles came over. They are our friends and hometeachers and seriously the sweetest family ever. Our kids absolutely light up around them because they show such genuine interest in each one of them. First Mary played her concerto for them and they effused with praise for Mary (Mary even got a standing ovation). Ammon then played and also got great praise. Afterwards, Ammon and Clarissa talked and talked, and talked and talked……..and talked….and then talked some more telling them all about the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Versailles, our garden, our new soda maker and on and on and on. The Giles were so sweet to give the kids such genuine attention and affirmation. Here is a small clip below: