No blog in the summertime.....

Yeah, we have kind of slowed down on the blogging.

The blog is dead.
Long live the blog. :D

I've been pretty busy being married and all. Our situation changed a little bit too. As opposed to heading to Alaska next year, Rebecca and I are headed to Rockford, IL. The pastor up there took another call. So that's negative.

The major thing this week for me is preparing the congregation for the Churchwide Assembly. I'm leading a congregational forum on Sunday letting people know about what's going on in Orlando next week. We've got some folks here who are highly interested (and critical), so we'll see what happens.

Besides that, it's closure time. I've been called "pastor" a couple of times, which is cool. It'll be weird to not have a "flock" next year, but I'll get used to it. So you know, I'm going to be in Rockford next year, so you might not see me too much around seminary land. I'm going to get done in 2007. God bless everyone!

I'm flying solo!

Howdy strangers. Wedding planning has made my life pretty insane, but I needed to stop by and share a couple things.

First of all, right now, I'm the solo pastor of this congregation. My supervisor and his family are in Colombia until May 4 adopting a son. So, I'm the show! I may have to do a funeral at some point, and there's lots going on. But it's good experience for me.

2 Fridays ago, we had a Junior and Senior High lock-in. From midnight to 6:30, it was about 20 kids, and ME. They tested my patience repeatedly, but eventually we got under control enough for breakfast. I then went home and slept. I don't know if my sleep pattern has gotten back on track YET. :D

And the other big piece of news: Rebecca found out about her internship next year. So, next year, I'll be taking classes online....in ANCHORAGE. Talk about your frozen tundra! I told her that it's ironic that the girl who hates cold is going to Alaska. :D I was initially ambivelant, but the idea grew on me. Plus, the church has a service at 8, which means I can get to the Viking bar 2 miles from the church to watch the games which start at 9! :D :D :D

I may post one more time before Rebecca makes an honest man of me. God bless everyone, and I hope to see/hear from you soon!

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher

Wedding Webpage....

Well, if anyone's curious, here's a link to Rebecca's and my webpage for our wedding. When we get invitations out (hopefully by tomorrow at the latest), people will be able to RSVP through the website! Pretty sweet! Enjoy snooping around!

http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=3244249592267067&guestpassword=

Take care!

OK, time to breathe.....

Hey folks. Many moons have passed since I last regailed you with tales from the prairie. That's primarily because the time I usually used to post here has been taken up by more important tasks, also known as planning for my wedding. The day is May 21, in case you didn't know, so we're running fast and furious to the finish line. My duty as of late has been getting the guest list set up, so our guests can RSVP online, and we can get invitations out. Yee haw! :D

As for internship, things are well. I just got done with mid-year evals, which were mostly painless. I also finished my section of teaching confirmation, which was an adventure. As you may recall, I was teaching a section on "Lutheran Identity". 3 kids failed the test I gave them, which I thought was a softball. For example, one question said, "Jesus is also known as the ___ of ____.", while another gave these three as the other options for who Luther's wife was: Joan of Arc, Helen of Troy, and Jennifer Lopez. So, of course, I had one student answer the first question: "Jesus is also known as the Joan of Arc." Rather exasperating. But, we're still gonna get-r-done.

Holy Week is fast approaching, and I'm looking forward to it. I get to give three "meditations" on Good Friday (We're doing the seven "last words"; I get "Father forgive them", "Why have you forsaken me?", and "It is finished."), and I get to preach at the early service on Easter morning! It should be pretty fun.

Well, back to work. God bless all of you!

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher

I'm giving up being single for Lent! :D

Hello my friends. Things are going well in the land of Miller. Rebecca and I have begun planning for our wedding, which we're going to "turn around" pretty quick. In other words: our tentative date is May 21. Yeeesh. We're gonna do it, though. I know we can get it done.

As for ministry, things are going pretty well. I have a communion visit either today or tomorrow where the lady specifically asked for me, so that makes me feel good. Last night was kind of harrowing. Ash Wednesday services were at 7. I got a call from my supervisor at 5:45 saying we had a call and we needed to go. Come to find out that the brother of one of our members committed suicide, and they wanted us to accompany them to tell his mother. That was really hard, folks. Plus, we come to find out that this woman lost four close relatives in a four-year span, including her first husband to suicide. So, we spent as much time there as we could, and then hightailed it back to town for services. I also had not changed into my clerical shirt yet, so I had to run to the house to change, to my office to get my mic, and then to the front of the church to start the service. Ah, the fun of ministry. :D

I hope things are well with you all, and thanks for all the congratulations. Jared, I hope your planning is less stressful than mine will be, and I wish you the best of luck as well. God bless!

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher

Momentous Occasion!

Hi folks. You know that I haven't posted on here very frequently lately. Primarily, that's because my free time has been taken up by a wonderful woman by the name of Rebecca, who many of you know. We have been spending as much time as we can together, and we have fallen hopelessly in love. This morning, at about 4 am, she found me lying outside her door, with a sign above my head that read, "I can't sleep without you near." She woke me up, and I told her that I loved her more than anything in this world, and I asked her to marry me. She said yes! We haven't set a date or anything like that yet, but it will be fairly soon. There will be much more to come for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this affects my time for ministry. But folks, she's so worth it. She is the love of my life and I can't wait to spend the next 50-60 years getting to know her deeper and deeper. God bless you all! I'm gonna go smile some more! :D :D :D

Been a long time....

Hey folks. It's been about a month since I last posted, not because I haven't wanted to, but because much has been going on around these parts. If I'm not off at a class, worship, or a game for some of my confirmation kids, I'm up in the Cities seeing my gal. A chicken sans head comes to mind. :D

But seriously, things are going really well. I've preached twice since Christmas, and I've begun to teach the large group section of our confirmation class. This section is entitled "What is a Lutheran?", so it's right up my alley. I'm preparing a session overviewing the sacraments right now. I've also switched to teaching the adult class on Sundays from the JHSS. We're going through "The Freedom of a Christian". It should be interesting. :D We've got our annual meeting coming up in about a week and a half, so that should be fun.

One of my fun outlets is found on oldlutheran.com. They have a "Table Talk" board which anything and everything gets talked about. It's my theological outlet. Go check it out if you have time.

Otherwise, things are hunky dory. God bless!

In Christ's Hope,
Christopher

p.s. Closed circuit to Rena: Who says you can't be big and tender? ;)