bits and pieces

it feels like i haven't blogged in quite a long time, and since there's so much going on i've decided to give a "bits and pieces" report. it will be sterile, sans depth, emotion, sarcasm, technique, or skill. it's a plain yogurt report without flavor or color, but hopefully it won't leave such a nasty after-taste.

*beach weekends and time with family*

this summer has been sprinkled with time at wrightsville beach, nc, with jed's visiting family. the weekend after we got back from NYC, jed's sister and family came south to visit jed's brother and wife in nc, and so jed's parents plus jed's youngest brother plus me and jed went up to wilmington, nc, to struggle in the waves as a family. quite a fun weekend, full of sand, late nights, and lots of laundry to bring back. good memories...

*green shadow's show*

on august 15th and 16th, the green shadow participated in an end-of-summer show with katie coston from illyria pottery (the hostess) and christin pratt from just between you and me. what an awesome experience! i'll be posting all the discounted stuff that didn't sell on my etsy site so check back soon (www.greenshadow.etsy.com). not only was it my first show, but the other artists taught me a lot about marketing, demand, and the entire art business. super good fun! and, we're looking at doing a christmas show on november 7th and 8th - mark your calendars!

*jed's acl reconstruction*

the 19th of august marked surgery day for jed. no eating or drinking after midnight the day before so we made sure to stay up and eat and drink right up until midnight. poor guy. it was a hamstring transplant acl reconstruction so there are 4 incisions and lots of bruising. he's such a trooper, though! after gnawing through the pain the first two days, we've got it under control now and he's doing a bit better. he's the best patient a wife could ask for. my mom always told me (along with every other woman i've known) - "guys don't deal too well with pain so beware!" however, i think i'm more of a wimp than jed. he's just great. his 7-day appointment is tomorrow so we're hoping for lots and lots of good news. the best news he could hear at this point would be that he didn't have to sleep in that hot, bulky, tight immobilizer any more.

*back to school*

for the first time since i've known him, jed's not starting school this fall. no new correspondence course, no new classes to attend, no nothin'. wow. however, my li'l sis and bro are coming down to sc to ring in a new year at college. it'll be preston's junior year, and he's glad to be back because he'll get to see his girlfriend. abi is starting her freshman year at *sniff* COLLEGE! i'm so old. i remember when she was born. i remember when she used to terrorize me and i would boss her around. now we're both old enough to be ashamed at such acts, but we each think it still. it'll be so great to have them both here. good chance to spend time with them before heading up to the city! they get here on thursday and it's party time 'til labor day. wish me luck - i can never keep up with my wild family.


the end.

brooklyn, nyc

well, we've been back in greenville for approximately 65ish hours and my goodness do i miss the city. we miss the city. there were many prayer requests before going up there, but a specific one of my own was that God would give me a deeper burden for the people of the city, not just the city itself. one of the goals of williamsburg church was to have us conduct surveys of the people of williamsburg and greenpoint that would give them a better idea of the constituency of those neighborhoods. we asked questions like "if you could tell christians one thing, what would it be?" and "what is your spiritual condition?" and "how would you define religion?". the answers were very revealing since new yorkers typically share their opinions without too much nudging, and God used those surveys in my own life to show me how much people need him.

jed and i left the team a couple of times to go walk through a few potential neighborhoods of interest. one common theme was people. and they were everywhere! i think i can say that we wouldn't ever run out of people to minister to. now that we're back in south carolina, the one thing that we miss the most about new york is the people. did you know that i can leave my house in the morning, go to work, take a lunch break, and go back home at night after work and only come into direct contact with about 30 people? in new york, i could run into that many people by about 10am. it's amazing. the unique thing about urban settings is that the people come to you. no hunting out in the bushes for people to minister to, God brings them right to you!

our hearts grow more impatient by the day, it seems. we long to be up there more than ever. there are many things that still need to be tied down, but we often wonder if january will come soon enough!