In Need of God

This is a great poem. For those of you who are interested, check out the whole range of things on the young clergy women project site. Thanks to tensegrities for pointing me back to a great site.

My favorite human petri dish and the disappearance of my voice

This is a picture of my nephew, Erik. He and his parents (my sister and her husband) visited us over Memorial Day weekend and we had a great time. It was a first trip to Montana ("Mon-TAN-AAAaaaaa!!" with arms in the air) for Erik. A first trip to Yellowstone National Park for his dad, as well. I've heard it said that everyone loves the sound of his/her own name. That's exponentially true for me when it's Erik saying "Auntie Lindean." I've also heard it said that kids who spend time in day care get just about every cold virus known to humanity out of the way before they hit preschool. Erik could be a good case in point. I have moved multiple times in the last few years, and usually manage to catch the germs of the neighborhood fairly quickly. Perhaps my previous tenure in Bozeman rendered me slightly more immune this time around, because I'd been remarkably healthy for me, even during the winter, when the queen-of-upper-respiratory-infections usually asserts her reign. Enter nephew from Washington, age nearly-two-years, the cutest petri dish out there. And... I am finally on the mend, after being pretty out of it for a week and a half. I lost my voice completely for 3+ days (it's amazing how much I talk! and how hard it is NOT to talk!). My husband acutally scheduled a doctor's appointment for me and then drove me to it. I missed our Synod Assembly. I'm still a walking pharmacy, with a love/hate relationship with amoxicillin. But those slurpy sloppy nephew kisses are worth it. Every time.