Jackie’s Ordination

Last night Randall Trego, Barbara Carmichael and I went to an ordination.  What’s so unusual about that?  It was Pentecostal.   Remember how I’m terribly uncomfortable in the company of Pentecostals?

When these feelings surfaced earlier in the year I talked with my Moses Mason (my CPE supervisor) and Pastor Chris about them and they both told me I should attend a Pentecostal service and just get over it.  That solution didn’t work for me, so I tried another tactic and asked Randall Trego to meet me for lunch so I could talk to him about it.  According to Pastor Chris I was just looking for somebody to reaffirm my feelings (I hate it when he’s right!).  So, I invited Pastor Chris to have lunch with Randall and I.  I’d been trying to get the two of them together anyway.  Randall suggested that I talk with Jackie Richardson, another of the pastoral care volunteers at St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital.  She’s a member of the Assembly of God and Randall thought she could lend me some insight — apparently she  had helped him through a similar situation.

The next week Jackie and I met in the chapel at SLTW.  She was ever so patient with me — explaining the way Pentecostals pray and worship.  Jackie is a very special person.

Last month Jackie gave us an invitation to her ordination as an Assembly of God minister.  She’d been working ever so hard to accomplish this and we wanted to support her.  So, last night Randall and Barbara and I went to her ordination.  It happened to be at the end of their District convention, so the service was nearly 3 hours long (including a 45 minute sermon delivered by their national president)!  Randall, an Episcopal priest, helped to bless her at the end of the service.

It was a completely different service from anything I’d attended since the Sunday I was scared out of my mind as a child when I went to a Pentecostal church with a friend.  Lots of waving of hands and praying out loud.  The woman behind us spoke in tongues! But, here’s the kicker…  I knew one of the songs we sang during the service!!!  Our former music director, who was a recovering Baptist, had our choir at Tree of Life sing it last year.  I didn’t raise my hands or speak in tongues, but I surprised the heck out of Randall and Barbara when I belted out the words to that song!

Congratulations, Jackie!  You’re truly a child of God and I am blessed to know you.

The First Goodbye

If the goodbyes I say one at a time in the next six weeks are anything like this first one I’m going to be the one who needs a chaplain!

Jessie and Smokey just left for their new home.  Their new person is Carol Long, who saw the flier I put up at Curves.  I know she’ll be good to them.  They’ll have two cat companions at their new home in Grangerland.

What’s left?  Let’s see… last CPE class is May 11… last day in pre-op at St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital will be May 23… goodbye lunch with the chaplains at St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital on May 27…   goodbye to my family at Tree of Life on June 5.

I can’t take my pastor with me, so I guess I’m going to need a chaplain!

What a Day!

I may have broken my record for number of church services attended in one day — four!  The 6:30 Sunrise Service at Tree of Life was held in the cemetery in front of the sanctuary building.   Seventeen people and numerous fire ants were in attendance.  Madie stepped in the fire ants, but I’m the one that got bitten — two times!  It was a great service, though.

At 8:30 the Tree of Life and Grace Lutheran choirs joined together to sing at the traditional service at Grace.  Then we all raced down 105 (luckily there were no DPS troopers out there this morning!) to Tree of Life for our 10:30 service.  The combined choirs were spectacular at both churches!  The attendance for all three services at Tree of Life today was 324 people!  Attendance at our Camelot Pines gathering was very slim, but many of the residents were spending the day with family.  Pastor Chris really outdid himself.  He should be home taking a nap, but Madie tells me “the whole family” will be at their house at 4:00 this afternoon for an Easter egg hunt.

Speaking of Madie, she really made my day when she told me that the quilt I made her made the trip to the emergency clinic and the ambulance ride to Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital Friday night.  I told her that the quilt was made with love and that love goes with her wherever she takes the quilt, so it was only right that it should have been with her.  Dad (Pastor Chris) anxiously made it through the Good Friday service juggling the iPad to read his parts of the Good Friday drama and the iPhone for text message progress reports from the hospital.  The good news is — it wasn’t appendicitis, but a kidney and bladder infection so she came home that night.  God is good!

Finally! Now What?

My CPE evaluation is done and it’s been e-mailed to my supervisors.  What’s next?  Let’s see…

House is full of dust bunnies…  Don’t think that counts for Easter so I guess I’ll have to clean house.  Wait – I have to finish the May worship server schedule and get it off to the church office for the May newsletter.  Won’t take long enough to delay cleaning  house more than 30 minutes, though.

Choir practice with the folks from Grace Lutheran this evening.  We’re singing together tomorrow for our Easter Sunday services at both churches.

Three Easter services tomorrow…  Sunrise service at Tree of Life at 6:30 (in the cemetery),  8:30 service at Grace and then then pray the DPS doesn’t stop any of us as we speed down 105 to Tree of Life for our 10:30 service.  Hopefully we’ll get there before all the breakfast is gone so we can grab a bite before our 10:30 service.  Make that four services — Camelot Pines at 1:00!

Pre-op chaplain duties at 6:30 Monday morning and then round on the floors if I’m needed.  Choir practice at 7:30.

Tuesday just might be beach day.  Wonder if I can talk Pastor Chris into letting me take Baby Dell so I can make sermon notes while I listen to the water?  Ladies of the Night quilt bee at Quilter’s Quarter in the evening.

Wednesday = CPE Evaluation day.  Oh, joy!  No patient rounds, though.

Thursday is the day one of my pastoral care associates at The Woodlands will be ordained.  Randall and Barbara and I are going to Houston to  help celebrate and then have dinner before we drive home.  I really owe Jackie — she helped me a lot when my discomfort with Pentecostals surfaced.

Friday is my last overnight on-call at St. Luke’s downtown 😦

May 8 is the day I’ll preach at Tree of Life.  Last CPE day is May 11.  Going to Denver on May 12 for Megan’s confirmation.  I’ll have until the 17th to find a place to live.  May 19 is the last Family Systems class.  Walking with Team Robotics Outreach in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Great Strides fundraiser on May 21 (team leader Chris Sanborn was one of my CF campers, had a double lung transplant in 2003, and is an engineer at NASA).  Lunch in Brenham with Susan Lake on May 26.

Brian and Bryson get here on June 4 to help with the move to Denver.  Last day at Tree of Life is June 5 (let’s not talk about that right now).  Load the truck on June 6.  Set off for El Paso on June 7 and spend the night at Denny II’s.  Arrive in Denver on June 8.  New life starts on June 9!!

You Want Me to Do What? Seriously?

Nope!  He was serious as a heart attack.  Pastor Chris wants me to preach at Tree of Life before I move to Denver.  At first it was going to be May 1 because he’s going to be doing some heavy duty home repair the week after Easter and, if he doesn’t have to preach that Sunday it’ll give him more time to devote to the repairs.  I thought about it for a few minutes and then agreed.  A week later he told me very apologetically that he’d forgotten he’d told Brad Fuerst, the Lutheran Campus Pastor down at Rice University that he could preach at Tree of Life on May 1.  Before I could thank God for HUGE favors he continued…  “but I still want you to preach before you move so think about another date.”

I’ll be in Denver on May 15 for Megan’s confirmation and Pastor Chris and every other Lutheran pastor in Southeast Texas and South Louisiana will be at the Synod Assembly on May 22, so I’d already arranged for Robin Reeves, an Episcopal priest who’s finishing her term as a Bishop’s Fellow chaplain at St. Luke’s, to preside and preach on that day.  We’re in full communion with the Episcopal church, so she can preside over communion.  (I had this underlying fear that Bishop Mike would give approval for me to preside at communion if there was no clergy available.  And, the only thing that scares me more than preaching in front of Bishop  Mike and Pastor Chris is not having them there for support!)  For a little while I tried to convince myself that I’d done my part by getting Robin for the 22nd and I didn’t want to do anything too close to my last Sunday at Tree of Life — June 5.  So, I sort of let it slide by.

That didn’t work — my CPE supervisor and my fellow chaplain interns told me I was chicken.  I rose to the bait and looked at the Lectionary to see what the lessons and Gospel were for the month of May.  The only date that looked even remotely interesting was May 8 when the Gospel topic is the Walk to Emmaus.  Randall Trego had told me earlier that, if May 1 was on that topic he had a good book for me to use as a sermon resource, so I  had that to start with.

So I caved in and told Pastor Chris I’d preach on May 8.  This conversation took place via e-mail and phone conversation, so I couldn’t see the charmingly evil smile on his face, but I’m sure it was there.  He’d won!  This morning he gave me some guidelines and pointers on developing the sermon.  He wants me to talk some about my CPE experience.   He says I have 8 minutes.  And, he wants people to leave saying “Wow — that was excellent!” (no pressure here).  I’ve given temple talks at Tree of Life and at Lord of Life, so I think I can do it.  But, seriously… you want me to do what?!

The Place Looks Deserted

After I came home from working on the grounds at church I decided to finish tearing out the flower beds I had planted in front of my apartment.  My sweet neighbor, Marie, had taken the concrete edging I used around the beds and all that was left to do was smooth out the dirt and pull out the left over roots and weeds so that the yard guys can mow and edge.  Marie thinks her next door neighbor, Gilda, might like to have the bird bath over in front of her place.  If she does, I’ll move it over there for her.

I threw the mildewed wire mesh flamingo in the dumpster on the way out to church.  That just left the solar light decoration with three turtles that each sit on a wooden post.  I had to decide whether to keep it or toss it.  As I was working Marie came across the courtyard and sat down on my glider.  She hates that it looks deserted now — like I’m already gone.  I sat down and talked with her for a while about her husband, Tex.  His health is failing and she’s worried.  She knows I’m a hospital chaplain, and she obviously needed to talk.

We decided to replace the battery in the solar light decoration and see if that was the reason it wasn’t working real well.  Then we put super glue on the bottom of the turtles so they’d be more secure on their posts.  My grandson, Bryson, likes turtles — maybe I’ll take it with me and see if there’ll be a place on the patio of my new apartment.  If not, maybe Brian will want  it for his back yard.

Marie commented that the only thing that keeps my place from looking deserted is the glider on the porch.  She doesn’t want me to go, but she said she’d do the same thing if her children and grandchildren didn’t live close by.  After she went home I finished picking up the roots and weeds and took the bag to the dumpster.  When I came back I looked at the porch and saw that she’s right.  The place looks deserted.

The OFL at TOL

The OFL  (also known as the Old Farts League from Frio River days) showed up at Tree of Life for work day today.  Some of us  raked, trimmed, and spruced up the grounds to get ready for Easter.  New wood chips were put on the playground (the YFL was too quick — didn’t get a picture of them) that the kids enjoy so much.  Another group worked in the kitchen and pantry to clean up and clean out.

The stair railing was repainted so that the skate boarders who come after everyone is gone can scrape the paint off with their skate boards again.  But, plans are in the works to try to thwart their fun with additions to the top of the rails that will make it hard, if not impossible (hope springs eternal) to skateboard down them.

I’m Not Even There Yet and It’s Already a Memory!

I just read in McCall’s Quilting magazine that one of the best quilt shops in the whole world — the Great American Quilt Factory in Denver — has closed.  The two women who owned the shop also wrote a column in the magazine and have retired after 30  years in business.  I was so looking forward to shopping there on a regular basis when I move, but now the shop is only a memory.

My first visit to the store was when my granddaughter, Megan, was about two weeks old.  Darla, her mother, and I had just taken her to her first visit to the doctor.  Darla just couldn’t bring herself to do it, so I got to hold Megan for her first shots.  I had lots of practice at the Baylor College of Medicine Pediatric Pulmonary office where the nurses often “let” me hold our tiniest patients when they got shots because they didn’t want to be seen as the bad guy.  Thank goodness I was able to overcome that image when the kids got old enough to come to camp and have fun with Miss Diana!

After our visit to the doctor’s office Darla took me to the Great American Quilt Factory.  Megan was still a little fussy after her visit to the doctor, so one of the clerks asked if she could hold her while Darla and I shopped.  Darla was a little hesitant, but the clerk gently reached out and took Megan.  As  Darla and I walked through the shop with our mouths hanging open at the riches before us the clerk took Megan to visit the other ladies.   Soon the women in a nearby classroom were oohing and aahing over her and she was completely happy.

There was an Office Depot store down the way in the strip center where the quilt shop was located, so our next stop was there so that Darla could pick up something she needed.  We parked the car and walked across the drive to the sidewalk approaching the store and stopped in amazement (with our mouths hanging open again, I’m sure) as an elderly woman pulled into a handicap parking space at about 10 mph.  The dear soul didn’t even hesitate as she approached the sign showing it was a handicap space.  She just ran right into it, backed up, and ran into it again.  After she turned off the engine and we thought we were safe, we quickly made our way into Office Depot.   Believe me, we were very careful to make sure she was nowhere to be seen as we walked back to our car.  We’d  had enough excitement for one day!

Choose Your Words Carefully

After yet another incident where I had a confrontation with someone who is very special to me I turned to one of my pastoral care mentors for help.  My problem, you see, is that I still have a  problem choosing the right words sometimes.  I think I’ve gotten a little better over the past few months, but this particular person doesn’t think I have.  Today I got this video from Randall.  It says volumes with few words.

Someday maybe I’ll learn — thanks to people like Randall who believe in me.

Help Make CF Stand for Cure Found — not Cystic Fibrosis

I’m proud to be a member of Team Robotics Outreach in the Great Strides walk to help make CF stand for Cure Found! not Cystic Fibrosis.  The leader of Team Robotics Outreach is Chris Sanborn, one of the campers who attended Camp Fun, a camp for kids with Cystic Fibrosis when I was the camp director from 1985 to 1992.  Chris, who is now 39 years old, had a double lung transplant in 2003 and is an engineer at NASA.

The 5K walk will be held at the University of Houston Central Campus – Lynn Eusan Park on Saturday, May 21.  My goal is to raise $150.

To donate online just visit my Great Strides Home Page: http://www.cff.org/great_strides/DianaStigleman! (NOTE: If link looks broken, cut and paste ENTIRE link into address bar.  If you are presented with a “Find A Walker” page, enter Diana’s first and last name and click on “Find Walker.” Then click “View Walker” in the results list to go to “Diana Stigleman’s Great Strides Home Page.”)