Inquiring

We’ve been going to a new church for a little more than a month now, and by new I mean new in several ways. It’s the first church we’ve attended on a regular basis since moving back to east Tennessee last spring and it’s a denomination with which neither Chuck nor I have experience. Because it’s all new, we’re attending an Inquirer’s Class for a few weeks before we make the decision to join. In fact, I even had coffee with the pastor last week at a local coffee house because I had questions, and I felt it was better to just get it all out there instead of floating along confused. To date, I think it was one of the most honest conversations about religion and faith that I’d ever had with a pastor or church leader. It was really refreshing. In the Inquirer’s Class yesterday morning, after a detailed lecture about the history of the Christian church and how denominations came to be, Chuck leaned over to me and whispered, “I’ve been in church all my life and have never had it explained like that before.” I agreed.

The boys have been longing to go to church again, which is not only pleasing to hear but it’s also been a catalyst for getting us back on our feet on Sunday mornings. We spent a good year away from church, for a number of reasons, but mainly because we’d been living this crazy separated life between Texas and Tennessee, and frankly we were exhausted. We spent as many mornings in our pajamas as we could.

In other news, school is moving along nicely. Jackson is excelling (again) in reading, spelling and math. He’s attentive during science, though some concepts don’t yet register. Jeremy is thoroughly enjoying astronomy and government, but his struggles with reading make every subject a challenge. I’m continually looking into new programs and other curriculum that may help, because it certainly isn’t for a lack of interest. Jeremy is eager to read all the popular bestsellers, but with so many stumbling blocks on one page, he is easily frustrated. If anyone has advice, I’m open to suggestions.

Lastly, I’ve chosen to run one more half marathon this year, but this time it’s a local race, which means no traveling or out-of-town expenses. I’ve been trying to run a different state or two each year, but running nearby race is the smarter choice this fall.

Next year, I’m thinking coastal. All of those Runner’s World ads for Virginia Beach and Charleston are too tempting to ignore.