Wednesday August 31

I've survived my first night of teaching at the local community college. I'll be teaching a class there one night a week until mid-December. There are 22 students enrolled in my class but only 17 showed up. My Indonesian friends will be shocked to hear that most of the students showed up for class 10 minutes before starting time. This is a computer class with a big focus on Word, Excel and Access. It will be pretty intense but this is my third semester of teaching a class like it so I should be able to stay one step ahead of the students.

At Hardin Valley Academy we are preparing to hold the Student Government elections tomorrow. Students who are part of student government play leadership roles in planning many activities for the student body. There are many posters and signs up all over the school spreading the word about various candidates. The candidates also had the opportunity to videotape speeches, which were broadcast throughout the school yesterday.

Tuesday, August 30

We are still waiting for the heat to break here. Half the United States is flooded as a result of Hurricane Irene while we didn't get a single drop of rain. All we got was a day of lower temperatures with low humidity (wonderful!) and now we are cruising back into the oven! The forecast is for a temperature of 97 on Thursday, so thank goodness for air conditioning.

Stephen and Betsy await their ministerial call and at this point it is wearing on their patience. God grant them more patience.

Craig has been in Reston, Virginia for over a month now. I believe he is loving his job, his location, his short walk to work, and the fact that he is a few hours drive from Blacksburg and the love of his life, Brooke.

Jacob is getting plugged in well at West High School. He has played with the marching band at the two football games and will travel to Maryville on Friday night for the next one. Maryville is the top rated football team in the state so it might not be pretty for the West Rebels.

We've been back for over three weeks now and we believe we're over the whole jet lag thing and are pretty well adjusted back to American life. I believe when the college football season starts this weekend and I'm relaxing on the couch then the transition will be complete.

Sunday, August 28

We've had a nice relaxing weekend, resting up from a busy week at school. Stephen and Betsy traveled to Atlanta to pick up some furniture, so we were back to our original three for two days. We really didn't do that much, though I finally got around to trimming our bushes by the side of our house, bushes that have been out of control since our return from Indonesia.

At church we received many compliments on our presentation from last week which made us feel very good for doing it. Nobody volunteered to go to Indonesia in the near future, but I think we have inspired several members to think about going somewhere to spread the Gospel.

Many of our friends are interested in the format for a Lutheran worship in America, and I have scanned our bulletin. Unfortunately our scanner doesn't capture every bit of every page, but I think you'll be able to get an idea from this.

Our bulletin includes all the hymns of the service and the majority of the liturgy. By printing every part of the service in the bulletin, it makes it easier for older people and non-Lutherans to follow the service.

We begin with the Confession of Sins.

Then the choir and the ministers process in, led by the crucifer with the cross.

During the summer we only have two readings from the Bible. During the rest of the year we have three readings, normally an Old Testament, Psalm and Gospel reading.

Sermons at our church usually last from 15 to 20 minutes. Our ministers usually stay in the pulpit but have been known to venture out into the congregation once and awhile to better connect with the members.

We have communion at our church for every service, every Sunday. During our five weeks in Indonesia we did not have communion once. When do Christians in Indonesia share communion?

With Communion complete, it is time for the service to be brought to a close, with the Blessing and the Benediction. This closing hymn, "Life High the Cross", is very special to Nancy and Jim. It was used in their wedding ceremony; the hymn was played as Nancy walked down the aisle.

Friday, August 26

Whew! That was a busy week. Unfortunately I think this is what life is going to be like for at least several months. Some of the busyness comes from the normal routine, and having to do meetings and other activities after school. Another part of the busyness comes from special events, such as the preparation for Stephen's ordination. That part of busy will be something to truly celebrate.

The Friday night football report: Jacob's West High Rebels beat crosstown rival Fulton, while my Hardin Valley Hawks lost, sad to say. Jacob reports that his marching band needs to improve before I make a special trip to see them. Nancy and I went to a dinner party on Friday night, otherwise we would have joined Jacob to see his band perform.

Thursday night at HVA we held Parent Open House. All the parents who want to attend come and meet their child's teachers. The night starts with all the parents picking up a copy of their child's schedule, and you can see by the length of the lines that many parents attend. Mostly parents of freshmen and sophomores attend, though I did have several parents of seniors and juniors stop by.

This is a view of the road I drive to work every morning. It is called Interstate I-40W / 75S. W stands for West, S for South. It has two names because there are two major highways that join together for a short stretch of road. This road has four lanes going both directions. I take this road heading West to Hardin Valley while Nancy takes this road heading East (towards downtown Knoxville to go to her school, Dogwood Elementary.

Interstate highways are public highways (not toll roads) that join major cities. Notice a few things: the huge truck to the left (our roads are full of them), our vehicles travel on the right hand side of the road, and the cars and trucks are actually in the lanes which are marked with painted lines. After traveling about five miles on the Interstate highway I turn onto another major highway called the Pellissippi Parkway. Pellissippi is an Native American Indian word. The speed limit along this road is 55 miles per hour, which is the same as on the Interstate. Many cars travel this road in the morning as it leads to several large government offices where thousands of people work. This part of the drive is especially beautiful in the winter because you are able to see the Cumberland Mountains in the background. When it is hot you cannot see them because of the haze in the sky.

Wednesday August 24

This has been a busy week and it's only going to get more busy. Monday night Nancy had open house at her school. That's when all the parents of students come by the school and meet the teachers. She also had a meeting of the leaders of Teens Encounter Christ (TEC), which is a retreat ministry led by high school and college students.

Last night I had my orientation night at the college where I teach my computer class. Those classes will be on Wednesday nights, starting next week (thank goodness I didn't have class tonight).

Today after school I had a training session on part of the new teacher evaluation system we will be using this year. Nancy picked up Jacob from his afternoon marching band practice and took him to his last piano lesson. He has been taking piano lessons from the most wonderful teacher for four or five years, and now he simply doesn't have time for them any more.

The rest of our week doesn't slow down one bit. Tomorrow night I've got another teacher training workshop, followed by the Hardin Valley Academy open house. Nancy has another TEC meeting also tomorrow night.

On Friday we will all collapse for a few minutes after school, then Jacob travels with his marching band to their football game, which is against another high school in Knoxville. Nancy and I will join several other couples from our church for a dinner party. No, I don't have to cook anything, except for maybe a little bread. I believe if we arrive without any bread then they won't let us in.

The Cost of Living in America

Those tropical fruit items that cost a few thousand Rupiahs in Indonesia are quite a bit more expensive in America. You can find pineapples, coconuts and mangoes at most grocery stores, but you pay a big price for them. Pineapples cost $3.99, the equivalent of 35,000 Rupiahs. When they go on sale, the price is $2.99. And none are as ripe as the ones at the traditional market!

Sunday August 21

Today was the day for our presentation about our time in Indonesia to our home congregation. We titled it "Seeing the Face of Christ in Indonesia" and it included images of many of our friends. It was a great deal of fun putting it together as it brought back so many memories. We wore our batik shirts, thanks to Marnala and Kristen for their shopping help.

First we were introduced by the head of Christian Education.We talked about many aspects of our experience in Indonesia. The presentation was attended by over 100 members of our congregation.
Jacob played the ukulele and we sang "This is the Day" in English, Bahasa Indonesia and Batak. Our members did a good job singing in these languages, which were completely new to them.
After our presentation we went out to lunch with Jim's parents (on the right side) and Jim's Aunt and Uncle (seated next to Jim).
Jacob had a great traditional southern American meal of biscuits and gravy, grits with cheese, bacon, and fruit. He ate every bite.