Season’s Greetings

The holiday season is here… Cozy-ness abounds! How can anyone be a Grinch with autumn scenery like this??

We got our first Christmas tree this year… we had to forego one last season due to the teeny-tinyness of our San Francisco apartment. The day after Thanksgiving we ventured out to Mount Pleasant and brought home a pre-lit, artificial tree from Wal-Mart – how American!! Here’s D caught mid-assembly, a proper “before and after.”

Thanksgiving was relaxing – and filling. Mom and Dad W were out for their first visit to the South. We enjoyed double-dating around Charleston for a few days. (Hey, Dad, there are your sunglasses!)

And to make sure our guests were ushered properly into the Low Country culture, D took Dad W crabbing Thanksgiving morning and they brought home some succulent hors d’oeuvres.

Though the morning was not without excitement for me and Mom W. Of course, the first holiday dinner I cooked for my new in-laws could not go off without a hitch – that’d be too easy. As the two of us sat chatting over amaretto tinged coffee and Gramma S’s scones, a sudden rush of water interrupted the conversation and the insuing flood quickly turned our attention to the kitchen sink. Needless to say, an hour later the floor and cabinets were drying, the plumber had left, and we were returning to our cold coffee and warm conversation. (Thanks for the emotional support, Mom!)

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To finish out our week off, D and I hit the beach before the evening high-tide in search of a respite from Thanksgiving leftovers. We brought home a tasty little guy – we think he was a Red Drum – and enjoyed a well-appreciated change in fare Saturday night.

And for any of you who are actually following the stocking progress, here’s the most recent snapshot… it’s getting longer!!

Betty Crocker Sunday

Actually, I’ve made a whole weekend out of it. I am so thankful to be on vacation for a week. Ahhh… I can hear myself unwinding…

We had no baseball this weekend, so I started prepping for Thanksgiving -my second year cooking the feast solo. (Except for calls home to Mom to double check ingredients and techniques.) I really love doing it – and I love having guests and the whole celebratory mess of it all.

Here’s the cranberry sauce – action shot!

…and the pumpkin pie…

Here’s my Gramma S’s pumpkin bread -on which we’ve already started munching…

…and her scones. Mmmm. However, I didn’t sprinkle in sultanas and roll out a one-inch thick circle, cutting out off-kilter isosceles triangles the way she did. I dowsed the dough with dried blueberries and cherries, dropped them into scraggly lumps onto a baking sheet and called it a day. But the taste is the same… buttery, mellowly floury, and the tang of fruit in every bite.

D was a little under the weather this weekend and insistent that only college football and french toast would cure him. We had no bread, so I made some.

In the down time between rising dough and a preheating oven, I started D’s stocking. (Yay!) More pics to follow as it actually takes the shape of a sock…

Our new church

Well, I suppose it isn’t ours, but we are starting to feel at home at First Baptist. D perused the internet when we first arrived in Charleston, making a schedule for us to visit various churches throughout the week. He liked the sound of a few of the Baptist churches, though we weren’t looking for any specific denomination, and so we visited. There was a lot of ear tickling and eye candy, and nothing really resonated with us until we arrived at 48 Meeting Street.

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The first month we attended, back in September, the church was doing a four-week series that both celebrated and educated the congregation on the church’s history. We heard from various board members of the Southern Baptist Convention, including the president. Those men were some of the most humble and learned speakers I have heard. And – I’ll be honest – that is NOT what I was expecting! (Yes, I have repented for that. ; ) )

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There is no shortage of things happening on or off campus and we are arranging our schedule around some of them. Sunday mornings we worship and then have Sunday School together – we’re studying Romans right now. Sunday nights there is a worship, prayer, and devotional time with a 20’s-ish age group that we plan on checking out this weekend.

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Wednesday nights the church hosts dinner at 5:00 and the pastor teaches and leads prayer afterward. Then we break off for formal Bible Studies – men & women. D is going through the book of Proverbs with the men’s group and I am doing “The Truth Project” DVD series with the women.

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We’re excited because we just found out about a Tuesday evening small group that is going through I Timothy. I love those books on sound churches! (ps… If you’re reading this in Redwood City, I miss you, my Titus ladies!!)

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Praise the Lord, they are a solid people and the pastor seems very convicted about serving the community. The body is active both in the K-12 school and in many urban/inner-city missions downtown. First Baptist has also planted several of the churches downtown, on James Island, and in West Ashley.

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Anyway – there is a bit of info for those of you who have been asking “Have you found a church yet?” Thank you for all the prayers that you hedged up around us as the Lord lead us to a new church home. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we look to find our place of service in the body of Christ.

November Laughs

Mrs. Mae and I happened upon this sign on our school bowling trip (a semesterly reward for students making good marks in academics and conduct). Let’s just say that – after we stopped laughing hysterically out in the parking lot – our calling into the wild and wooly world of South Carolina education was confirmed. Seriously…? Fingers??

Okay… now onto our classier hang out spots… Here we are again with Mr. and Mrs. Mae having some sushi at Wasabi. Yay for weekends!

The #1 ranked 13U team in the nation!

Well, the season is over… but we finished strong. The ranking is valid. Seriously – it’s really true. We were doubting the rumor at first, but then this website confirmed it:

http://www.usssa.com/sports/Rank2.asp?State=0&ClassID=41&SeasonID=12&RankSystem=0

D really made an impact on the team. He suggested they pray before the games and asked them tough questions, challenging them to play for the team and not for themselves. Back in September, a sacrifice bunt was the last thing they thought of as a successful play, but toward the middle of the season, it started clicking. They started listening and it was apparent that their hearts had been altered by their season under Coach W.

Please keep these boys, and their parents, in prayer. There are a lot of sad and seemingly hopeless situations in these families that can only be healed by His wounds.

We had a fun time traveling with the team and being a part of their lives for a season. Since I sat as far from the parents as I could get without taking a foul ball to the dome, I ended up teaching myself to knit and always had plenty of time to grade papers on the weekends… it’s amazing how much you can get done in 7 innings!

Who are Mr. & Mrs. Mae?

Who are they? To clear up the confusion, this lovely couple is not really “Mr. and Mrs. Mae,” just dubbed so because of internet security reasons… Anywho – they moved to Charleston this summer just like we did and we’re all very grateful for the friendship the Lord has blessed us with… yay for other young, married Christians!!

Mrs. Mae and I work at JICS together, she teaches English 9-12 and 8th grade Bible. We hit it off instantaneously and started inspiring one another’s crafting ambitions.

Mr. Mae is an artist, a photographer to be exact, and he is in the process of getting their wedding photography business established here in Charleston. And, yes, he and D are as much trouble when they get together as it looks like…

Exodus 23:25

We’re learning about dependence and servanthood. Both of our jobs require intense dependence on Our Savior to be able to serve wholeheartedly. “…for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5.

In our selfish human hearts, it’s way too easy to want to bail and find jobs that would pay more and require fewer hours. The Lord is faithful to whisper to us in our discouragement, and His sovereignty shines through making it obvious that we’re right where we’re supposed to be… in the center of His good and perfect will.

Here’s the CSU baseball team on a Saturday morning at a Habitat for Humanity site on John’s Island. D came home inspired to build us a home. So maybe that downtown fixer-upper dream will come true after all! The team has also been working with the Charleston Miracle League, an organization that sponsors teams for physically disabled children and youth.

These are pics of my Spanish III class at the Gibbes Museum. We were in a chapter themed “El arte” so I took them downtown for some practical application. They were required to search the gallery for a painting to present and critique (in Spanish). We had lunch in the courtyard and ended the day with a workshop in which they had to incorporate the chapter vocabulary into a work of art.

Sullivan’s Island

Busy weekend… don’t have tons of time to write… but here’s what we look like at the beach!

"Au revoir, octobre!"

Feeling French for no good reason. Maybe it’s the romantic grayness of the skies, or the shifty weather blowing in creativity, or all the clips from Paris Fashion Week I’ve been glimpsing off iTunes podcasts. Either way, I’m experiencing an undefined happiness that just seems French – “Parlez-vous francais?”

Despite the sudden francophone inclination, we’ve actually been quite American around here lately… baseball, crockpot meals, and church on Wednesday nights. Here we are out one night with Mr. and Mrs. Mae at Blend, our fave early-fall hangout.