Annual Conference

Annual Conference is going well in Lakeland. Last night Mommy's covenant group of clergywomen friends took her out to dinner for a celebration and today was the first official day of meetings starting with the clergy session this morning for Mommy at 9am. During the clergy session all those to be licensed as local pastors, commissioned as probationary elder/deacons or ordained as full elder/deacons have to go forward by group and line up along the stage so that all the other pastors can officially vote on the recommendation of the Board of Ordained Ministry to pass you. It's a formality, but fun nonetheless because after they vote, everyone stands up and cheers and screams that you've finally made it through the process!

Mommy also won a prize at clergy session. The pastors were asked a few weeks ago to submit our whackiest complaints from church members and she submitted three complaints that came in a letter from a gentleman at Tice about six months after we'd been there. He complained about her name (how immature Debbie sounded), complained about where Daddy sat (should sit in back or go to a different building instead of sit up front) and told Mommy she needed more humor and jokes since he knew all these Bible stories and if all she was going to do was preach the Bible, he could stay home and be better entertained by the TV. Out of all the complaints submitted, Mommy made the top 3 and got a gift card to Starbucks so she could "de-stress."

And thankfully Mommy's friend Amy arrived safely today from Mississippi. Grandma picked her up from the Tampa airport and met us for dinner in Lakeland. Amy's staying with us at the hotel in order to be here for Mommy's ordination. Tomorrow, Mommy has a full day: ordination rehearsal at 6:45am, answering Wesley's historic questions of pastors in front of the whole conference at 1:30pm, and ordination itself starting at 7:00pm. A long, but exciting day ahead.