What's Goin' On in Wilmore?

It has been over a week since my last update. Here is a sampling of what's been up with me at school and personally. Two weeks ago today we had Jon Rowe (pictured below) come in for the day from Colorado to personally coach us in Public Speaking. He is a professional presentation advisor who specializes in "High Stakes" communication. We each had to do two 5 minute messages, be critiqued and learn how to be more persuasive and effective in our communication. Each presentation was video-taped so we could see our strengths and weaknesses. It was an excellent day.

See Brian here thinking about what to say for his next talk. Below is Kent is laughing at Gordon's funny joke.

This week has been a hectic and busy one. I started and finished a class called, "Anthropology for the American Church." This course was to help us understand how to assess the unique cultural situtation of the American church and be able to understand better the setting of our next church.

We also had some sickness in the house this week. Maggie got a flu bug that spread to Aiden, then Pierson, and then Max. Kate took Pierson to the doctor Tuesday morning and he was sent right to the UK Children's hospital to be examined. Any baby under three months of age with a high fever needs to be examined in case of meningitis. He had blood work and a spinal tap. The results were negative and Pierson and Kate came home yesterday.

Wednesday night I went up with the girls to see Mommy and Pierson. Kate's mom and Dad came up too to help us. While we were there, a local church came by to do BINGO over the TV set and give out prizes. They had a blast.

Maggie has made friends with several local kids and here you see them drinking water and doing "Cheers" together.

Maggie also liked the cake that Alicia made for us while Pierson was sick. That is all for now. I had intended to update once a week on Monday but I will do it as often as I can, sometimes once a week or sometimes more. I leave for London in two weeks. I will write a least before then.

Miscellaneous Pictures

Maggie's Sixth Birthday!!!

We took cupcakes to Maggie's class on Friday and Friday night we had cupcakes for our Grillapalooza with our Beeson Friends. The Next morning Maggie opened presents from Gran, Kate's friend Wendy and from Kate and I.

Then later that day after soccer we took the family to Boyd's Orchard to have lunch and play. They have a harvest playground with slides and castles and the kids had a great time.

Grandpa entertains the crowd with magic tricks.

A Final Picture of our kids with their friends Max and Xavier. They grow up so fast. We have to enjoy the ride.

A Saturday With the Layers!!!

For the past two weeks, we have taken Maggie for soccer class. She is one of the youngest one the team but one of the fastest. One of the gifts we received when we left our church in June was a soccer ball and we played soccer a lot. Maggie is liking it very much.

The boys also do swimming classes at the Luce center at 10 and 10:45am. They are learning slowly but surely.

The Abbey of Gethsamane - September 1-3rd, 2006.

During Labor Day weekend, our Beeson crew went to Gethsamane, a catholic trappist monestary in Kentucky (south of Louisville) for a silent retreat. Here there are signs that say, "Silence is spoken here". You could talk outside in the countryside or in one of the talking dining rooms. It was a beautiful setting for this unusual experience. The purpose of the retreat was to get away to be with God and rest.

I must admit the setting made me a little giddy. Often I found myself laughing (outside of course) because of how uncomfortable I felt. It was a reverent place with about 40 monks who dedicate their life to God.

These monks have seven worship services a day. They begin at 3:15am, 5:30am, 7:30am, 11:45am, 2:30pm, 5pm and 7:30pm. They stand in the "pews" below facing each other, wearing robes. They sing the Psalms through every two weeks, repeating it over and over again. Many of the older monks know the scriptures by heart.

This monestary is famous because Thomas Merton lived and wrote here. He is buried outside of the church just like the other monks. Many protestants like his writings.

They had a statue garden that was a nice walk. This is Mary, Jesus Mother. They definately hold Mary up to divine figure and pray to her. Brother Chrsitian referred to her as God's spouse. This is very uncomfortable for us as Protestant Christians.

The garden went into this area modeled after the garden of Gethsamane. Here is a statue of the disciples (Peter, James and John) who went with Jesus but fell asleep while he was praying.

Just a stone's throw away is this moving statue of Jesus crying out to God asking him to take this cup from him. Yet he did God's will not his will.

If you are wondering if I got up to worship at 3;15am. No I decided to pass. I attended many of the services and found them meaningful. There is no way I could be a monk though. I respect them and there is many things I can learn from them but no way I could join them. You can find out more about them at www.monks.org. They sell fruitcake and fudge that is out of this world.