Spooky

Today's high temperature:  56 degrees

Rainy all afternoon

==============================

I saw this posted on Face Book this morning and guess who it reminded me of?

My lawn guy showed up this morning and got the rest of my leaves mulched and bagged.  A good thing because today is the last day for the yard waste pick-up.  I only had a dozen bags this year.

So--no more lawn mowing to pay for.  YAY!

Do you remember the Hydrangea's Pearl gave me last month?  I put them in a vase and set them up to dry.  Look how nice they turned out.

Then

              and now

================

I'm so proud of Pammie!  She lives at Jen's for most of the week.  She forgot to get an absentee ballot, so, today, she drove all the way back up to Byron to vote and then drove all the way back down here.  She had to take Evan with her.  Took her over an hour and close to 45-50 miles.  I don't know many people with a commitment so strong to go through all that just to vote!  She is her Momma's child.  I have never missed an election--50+ years now.  I'm sure her vote for Governor probably canceled mine, LOL.

=======================

The high light of my day.  Andrew turned 13 yesterday.  Tonight we went out for supper.  I always stand behind the kids for our picture, so I can see how they are growing.  This year, we stood side by side--I wouldn't be able to see over his head!

He skipped 7th grade when he went into public school this year.  Plus, he takes two high school courses the first two hours of the day--Advanced Geometry and German.

I only had to ask if he liked the new school and...I got the whole lowdown on what happened last year in their church and church school.  I was horrified!!

I never cared for their head minister--he was so arrogant to me every time I spoke to him.  After Jen's and my fiasco, he is the one who told her, "honor thy mother does not come into being in this case."  I was shocked at that because I don't know ANY minister who would say that.  They would speak of forgiveness.  

Then, last year on his birthday when Andrew told me about the minister--had invited people over to watch the UofM versus MSU football game.  The kids were in the family watching with him and when MSU started beating UofM, he started yelling, swearing, threw a book at the TV and told the kids to leave the room.  Again, I thought  "what kind of a minister of the church is this guy!"

  

Well--the parents of the six graders had formed a group.  They were trying to enlarge the school to include 7th and 8th grade.  They were researching teachers.  The minister addressed the group one night and said, "Get someone who we could pay a low salary."  One of the parents remarked that they needed good teachers to prepare the kids for high school.  The minister said, "Well, they don't have to have accreditation--most of our teacher's don't and they are doing all right."

Jen was appointed by the group to check into this and she did and...found it not only to be true, but that they were teaching at below most other schools in the area.

In a science class that Andrew was taking, the teacher's would not address or let the kids read a chapter where it stated, "the earth was formed 4 billion years ago," because that statement went against the church's tenets.

The minister told the Associate Pastor to set the schedule for classes and times for the school.  The Associate Pastor was the principal of the school.   After working for several months on it, the minister took the job away from him.  This caused hurt feelings--as the associate pastor is a really good guy.

One day, during their 2 hour religion class, the minister had the kids watch a film on Evolution versus Creationism.  Afterwards, he asked Andrew what he thought.  Andrew replied, "I thought Mr. Nye made some good points.  I think that evolution and creation can be used together.  God caused the Big Bang and created our earth and everything on it. Evolution is how we have grown through the process."

WELL--the minister yelled at him in front of the class, then pulled him out of class.  Made him sit in his office and told Andrew that he was going against everything he had been taught.  Everything the church believed.

Jennifer was called in.  The minister got all over her and wondered what she was teaching her child.  When she explained that she was teaching her children to ask questions, to research and explore all different perspectives.  The minister informed her that she was a "just a woman" and it wasn't her place to teach her children anything about church doctrine--that was to be left up to him.  Jennifer told him, as the children's mother it was her duty to bring them up to be good Christians and that included being fair to others beliefs.  The minister told her to leave.

The next week, they got a letter in the mail telling them they had been "kicked" out of the church.  A week later, they got another letter that informed them, their membership had been rescinded--they were excommunicated and they were not allowed to even come onto the grounds of the church or school!

I can only imagine how Jennifer felt--the humiliation.  She worked hundreds of hours, pro-bono, for the school.  She was on many committees.  She thought they were top dogs in that church.  She must have been devastated.  The only redeeming feature is that, 20 families also left the school AND the church.

This is a Lutheran church and I know they aren't keen about women having any positions of authority in the church, but...................................this particular church seems to be strange in all their thinking.

So--basically that church treated Jennifer in the same way she treated me.  However, I feel no vindication in any of this.  I'd like to find that minister and slap the living "you know what" out of him.  How DARE he treat my daughter like that.  How DARE he treat my grandchild like that!!!

I told Andrew, "You guys ought to start going to the Methodist church.  We are all about free will and choice and asking questions.  We all approach our relationship to God in different ways."

====================

I will NEVER tell Jen what Andrew told me.  If, someday, she wants to tell me herself, that will be fine, I still won't betray Andrew's confidence.  She probably thinks I would say, "told you so", because six years ago I DID tell her I thought her minister was a bit too haughty in his sermons and the way he acted, but I sure wouldn't say anything like that to her.

Oh--he loved it when she headed committees that should have been his job.  He loved when they were paying huge amounts of money to the church AND school and encouraging other families to enroll.  But, one tiny disagreement on something that has been debated for years and has no real consequence to how my grandchildren believe--and they get kicked out.  

Can you imagine getting a letter from your church saying that you can no longer attend?  I suppose if I went to that church, I'd been kicked out long ago--one, for being divorced and two, for living with a man I wasn't married too.  Good thing the Methodist church is a bit more forgiving, loving and lenient.

=================================================
I wish I had a recent picture of Evan, but I did get the kids school pictures today.

Elise 10 1/2

                                                                  Alex 8


And this is what is spooky--at least to me--
                                                                   Andrew 13

My ex-his grandpa
at age 16

The same nose--eyes, thank goodness, Andrew doesn't have grandpa's pointy ears.

He's got MY slight cleft in his chin and a different mouth, but.....................you can sure tell these two are related!












Every time I see Andrew, it sort of shakes me--he looks so much like Gary did at the same age and I think, Andrew will look more like him, the older he gets.  He is going to be a handsome man!