Day in life

Today started with me lying in bed, as most days do. Jon Marshall was at my door. He told me through the shutters "We need to leave by 8:30 because we need to be at Second Union Church in San Juan to make an announcement by 10:00."

Information from that statement that was new to me:
-Leaving by 8:30
-Going to Second Union Church in San Juan
-Making an announcement
-Ten O'Clock.

It was 8:15, and I was still half asleep. I said "Okay. I'll be ready," and I said it with tone that clearly said "I'm still in bed but I'm going to try to sound like I'm not." Being confronted with the information that you're going to address a large crowd of strangers in about 100 minutes helps wake you up fairly quickly. I sprang to life. Scarfed down a bowl of cereal. Took a lukewarm shower. Checked the email and the Amazonmp3 deal of the day, and bolted for the office to get some literature to share with the fine people of Second Union Church.

We didn't leave at 8:30. This wasn't entirely my fault, but I certainly didn't do anything to help. We go to San Juan most every Sunday for church. It's a great church, one with a big building, a fairly diverse English-speaking population, and a pastor I already think is pretty cool. That's not new. Stopping at a church to promote an upcoming retreat would be new.

Jon dropped us off in front of the church. Theresa laid out the details. She'd talked to someone earlier in the week about the possibility of us coming to make an announcement but never quite connected to solidify it later in the week. They may or may not know we're coming. This didn't bother me too much. Roll with it. It's much easier to not make an announcement and just hand out fliers and a poster. Easier, but not more effective. And so we met our contact (This makes it sound like we're spies) and she introduced us to the youth pastor. We handed over our promotional materials. They said they'd make sure everyone knew about it. Thusly, I was saved from making an announcement.

We went on to our church. I told you I liked the pastor there. I do. Not that he blows my mind every sermon, he doesn't have to. It's because he has nothing at all resembling pretentiousness. He's just humble. He's not a stage pastor, he speaks off-the-cuff, almost to the point of awkwardness. But he's not awkward, because awkward people make everyone uncomfortable. This guy puts everyone at ease. He's been there for years and years, and he stops mid-sentence to tell you stories and throws songs in there that no one is expecting, sometimes ones we already sang. I wish more pastors were like him.

We went to Little Caesar's for lunch. This is probably the cheapest way for missionaries to feed multiple kids. We waited a while, and I broke out The Dot Game to play against Ben, who is 11 and a boy and lacking social grace in all the places an 11 year-old boy should. Logan, his 5 year-old brother, literally crawled over my chair and dug his elbow into my forearm as he watched our contest with great interest. He always does this. It's annoying, but it's funny. Moments before, I shocked him by removing and reattaching my thumb. Eli, their 8 year old sister, wanted a shot at me in The Dot Game. She beat me.

We made our way back to camp, an hour-plus drive that takes us up into the mountains and back down along the Caribbean. There's one spot where you round a bend and see the sea in the distance, far below you, and the sun shines off it it looks like glass. If you catch it at sunset, it's amazing. You need to come see it.

I craved a nap, but I'm no good at napping, so I watched a few episodes of Community. This is the most ridiculous, clever, hilarious show on TV right now and you should give it a shot.

I went to work out. I started P90X four weeks ago. I'm amazed that I've stuck with it this long because I didn't feel terribly driven when I started. I just knew I was out of shape and hoped I could change that at least a little. P90X has a pretty bold reputation of being quite the butt-kicker. It is. But you just keep showing up and hoping they get easier. They do. Today was Core Synergistics. It works your core. Synergistics is a big word that means it works all of it. I think. It involves types of push-ups I can only assume were invented in prison yards or by drill sergeants and something called the "Superman Banana." You pretend to be Superman. Then you pretend to be a banana. It's harder than it sounds.

After that, dinner. I didn't really feel like cooking. And I wasn't about to go out. So I stuck some chicken tenderloins in the oven and baked 'em. Not bad. Dry. If you know how to get around this, let me know.

Then I started writing this blog. Can you tell I've run out of gas by now? After this, I need to call my parents. I do that most Sundays.