not nearly so long this time...

so, i'm "finishing" catching up now...
After Thanksgiving, Cindy and I actually had a weekend with no monumentally busy plans. it was nice after four weekends of "go go go".

The one thing that did occur the weekend of December 3-4 was that i became a "novice member" at the church i have been attending here in Chicago, Living Water Community Church. They do a novice membership before full membership just to kinda give both parties a chance to really check each other out. *grin* seriously, though, while i didn't like the idea at first, i am now a firm supporter: it really impressed upon me for the first time the true nature of what it means to be a member of a church (and by this i mean a community of believers dedicated to seeking God and following Jesus together, not just a physical church address).

One of the highlights of the service that Sunday was that the Cambodian congregation that is part of our Living Water congregation played an important part in the service, performing a play of the annunciation, a traditional Khmer dance (performed by a little girl dressed in traditional garb and encouraged by her mother at the back of the church), and a hymn sung by the whole Khmer group. All in Khmer, of course. And it was so cool- listening to the lilt of such a foreign-sounding language and knowing that it was the word of God, the words of Mary and the Angel Gabriel, and the hymn we all sang earlier O Come O Come Emmanual. It was also cool for me because anyone that has known me for any length of time will know that i dream of one day visiting Cambodia. (and Vietnam, Thailand, Laos...) The presence of a Cambodian group within hte congregation at Living Water was one of the affirmations from God to me that this was the body of believers i belonged with in chicago.

Another highlight was that we had communion after my little "becoming a (sorta) member ceremony" and that i was one of the servers of the bread. Living Water forms two lines when taking communion, with a bread and cup in each line at the front of the worship area. each line has its own bread server who serves the entire time, but the cup is passed from one person to the next person as believers come to take communion. it is a much more personable- intimate is the word i want i guess- way of serving, to each other, looking each other in the eye and saying the words "the blood of Christ shed for your sins". but being the one serving the bread was even better. what a joyous occasion! especially after the membership commitment, i was blessed to be the one greeting each person as they approached the cross, to ask their name (i'm so bad without nametags) and call them by name and say "The body of Christ, broken for you"... To see the young and old all coming in solemn joy. it gives people the chance to greet a new member too, and i appreciated that.

another thing i loved about serving communion: although there are a fair number of younger children (8+) that have been baptised and came to receive communion, for those that are not baptised, the bread server says a blessing over them as they come forward. at first i was a little nervous about "giving blessings", i gotta say i warmed up to the task very quickly. what a gift bestowed upon me, not just them, to be an adult member of the church placing a hand on the head or shoulder of this little child of God and praying a blessing just for them. I mostly prayed versions of "may (name) know that no matter what they may do, there isn't anything that they can do that will ever keep you from loving them" etc.

so, the next weekend, Marty and Holly Lehman from Elkhart came up on the South Shore Train Saturday morning. cindy and i met them downtown at the station, stashed their overnight items at my office a block from the station, and (eventually) ended up at the Field Museum. (really, you don't want me to recount the frustrating three stooge-like series of events that leads me to say "eventually".) When i was in high school, Marty was my mentor at church, and Holly is her 11-yr old daughter. Phil, Marty, and Holly were in my small group (for like 5 years... wow) before i moved to chicago. we spent most of the day at Field (seeing the special Pompeii exhibit) and then hopped onto one of the free Chicago Trolleys to go to Navy Pier to see an IMAX movie. This year, The Polar Express was 3D at IMAX.

now, i wasn't too thrilled about the whole 3D thing. the last time i saw anything 3D was, well, i can't really remember, it was a long time ago. with those two colored glasses. it was less than impressive. but, hey, they wanted to go, so i'm going along for the ride, right? besides, i've not seen The Polar Express yet, can't even remember the book (although i know i've read it) so at least i'll get to see a critically acclaimed movie born of the creative talent of Tom Hanks.

Well. 3D has come a long way, baby. it was very cool. i was hooked after the first 60 seconds of the first preview. and i will definately be going to see the 3D version of the underwater movie coming soon to an IMAX near me!

Marty and Holly left on the early train Sunday morning. After taking them to the train, Cindy and i- huh, can't remember. we did something. must not have been that outstanding.
That just leaves this past weekend, and no one came to visit us and we didn't go anywhere, and it was nice. i did 6 loads of laundry on Saturday. Cindy weatherstripped 6 windows. (what a difference weatherstripping makes with our ancient and non-sealing windows...) we did some dishes. we watched an episode of Numb3rs that aired Friday night but that we missed most of- because we were checking out my friend Kris' new-to-him automobile. (Chevy Blazer, very nice, even if it IS an SUV.)

Yesterday's church service was the last Sunday of Advent, and I've gotta say i'm a bit bummed i don't get to be a part of the "grand finale"- the Christmas service, the lighting of the center white candle, the celebration that 4 weeks of expectation has lead up to... because i know that the celebration at Living Water will more than live up to the "grand" part of the "finale" label. *smile* but, cindy and i are driving home to indiana Saturday morning.

I have to actually eat my lunch now. (i've got 16 minutes left of my lunch hour.) although i'd like to write more, i need to eat.
besides, wouldn't want to overload you all after such a long absence.