invincible, but I can't sing

Today was the first Sunday since I got to Cullman that I didn't have to preach (we had a Discovery Weekend with the youth, and thus a youth-led service). So, I got to sit in the congregation during the contemporary service and just watch, which was kind of cool after a few months of leading the service but never just getting to experience it.

I was, however, unable to completely avoid mention during the service. Jim, the 9th grader who gave the sermon (and did an excellent job), mentioned me in two different ways, both of which led to me laughing extensively. First of all, he was talking about the different roles that people are called to in the church. He did a good job, except that he has a little overly-high view of ministers and youth leaders. He described us as "invincilbe," comparing our spiritual fitness to Super Mario when he gets the star super-power. So yeah, I laughed just a little bit at that. He also made a comment about "there are people who can sing really well, like Paige, and then there are ministers." He meant some people sing, some people preach, and he realized how it sounded,
and then started saying "I'm sorry Mr. von Herrmann and Mr. Alford." Several of the people around me started hitting me on the shoulder, saying "yeah, we knew you couldn't sing." So all in all it was a really good service, and I enjoyed getting the week off from preaching. Now I get to prepare for preaching at the traditional services August 20th.

We had four senior high guys spending the night at the parsonage the last two nights because of the Discovery Weekend. They were pretty fun, although I will definitely not miss getting up at 6 or whichever other repulsive time we had to get up to get everyone going.

So that's the weekend. Things are going well, I'm just trying to get my body used to the routine. It's doing alright, I'm just trying to make sure I don't get sick.