Gettin' my fix...

I should've captured all my thoughts on the Feast immediately upon returning. Dr. Scott Winnail and Mr. Wally Smith and Mr. Lascelles Frazier gave wonderful messages, each touching on various aspects of the meanings of the Holy Days, the final fulfillment of the days, and training to be servant rulers/judges and members of the family of God. We also had good sermonettes by members from different locales, and a couple of DVD sermons as well. I knew a couple of people who were celebrating their first Feast (one has only been attending services PERIOD for a coupla months), and I think the messages, particularly the messages given on the last day of the Feast and the Last Great Day, did a great job explaining the meanings of the Festivals in a way they could easily understand. Whenever we have visitors at services who don't have a COG background, I often wonder how some things come across to them. When we have a live speaker it's not as much a problem, as the live speaker can give a little background info on the topic, but when it's a video... I remember the jolt I felt when I heard someone mention 2nd and 3rd tithe without explaining what they were.

Nicholas had a wonderful Feast. He made quite a few friends (as usual), and did not limit himself to the kids he already knew. He now has friends in Jamaica and Canada to go with his U.S. contingent. He became particularly attached to little Rachel from Calgary. He wanted us to stay in MoBay until Sunday b/c that's how long Rachel was staying. He's already ready for next year's Feast. He said something quite touching on our flight from Atlanta to Miami on the way down. We were looking at the scenery below us when he says in a soft voice, "I wish Grandma could see this." Awwww... One day, son; one day.

The M.R.S. is still on Cloud 9. She got to hook-up with her "sister", and go shopping, and FINALLY make it to Jamaica. I'm planning to milk the FoT as long as I can.

Getting back into the real world has been a bit of a drag. I've got to put my nose to the grindstone for the remainder of this year and crank out some data, prepare for conferences, catch up on my labwork, and write a paper for submission to a journal. I've got to have a meeting sometime in the next two weeks to find out if I have to take any more classes or not, and to determine if my project is sufficient to earn a doctorate. Theoretically, my committee can decide that my project is insufficient and have me do something else, or they can make me take more classes. I don't think that's going to happen, but I'm a little nervous nonetheless.

I need to update my links. I read more blogs than I have listed, and I think the links should reflect that. Incidentally, I met another blogger, Jalpenojelly, at the Feast - though I didn't know she had a blog at the time. I'd even left a comment on it before leaving, but I didn't make the connection until I returned home. Oh to have back those brain cells I killed back in the day!