Daniel Gaweda
Well Friends, I have started working at the church full time, as of this week, and am really enjoying it so far.
One of the highlights of this week, besides starting, was getting to meet a member of the Pastor’s College, who graduates on Sunday. Daniel Gaweda hails from Wales, in the UK, and has spent the last year in the PC in order to return to Christchurch in Wales to serve on their pastoral team.
Daniel Gaweda, a PC photo
I will be praying for him, and all the other graduates as they head all over the world!
Historic Fashion Revolution…
Historic Fashion Revolution…
Well friends, I’m excited to report that the summer fashion renovation of Jason Cunningham has roared to life today with a massive wardrobe renovation.
The most notable items purchased today were two pairs of jeans. These jeans mark the first pair of jeans ever to me worn or housed within the wardrobe of Jason Cunningham ever! Traditionally, Jason wears khaki cargo pants or shorts, complimented with a solid color top – usually either Red, blue or the occasional green. This all changed today, with the addition of not only a yellow shirt, but also a green and red plaid shirt as well.
The two pairs of jeans are said to be from American Eagle, as are many of the items purchased, and one is said to be a heavily faded, while the other a darker, richer blue. Neither are dark or intense and both illustrate the ever-popular “stressed” look.
“I am very excited about these new looks” Cunningham said, “I think this will breathe new life into what was becoming a mundane collection of clothes. I generally try and stay away from mundane.”
Keep an eye out for these new outfits over the next few weeks, as Jason wears them around town.
David & Casey Somerville’s Wedding…
David & Casey Somerville’s Wedding…
Well friends, as promised, a nearly full account of the marriage of David and Casey Somerville as I have experienced it last weekend.
The Build Up…
Friday Evening
It started for me on Friday. My last class of the day ended at 2pm, and I was picked up by dad shortly there after. Once at home, I had a few hours where I organized my room and caught up with the family. That evening we had the wedding rehearsal. That was the first moment that it began to sink in that my close friend David Somerville was getting married. Wow!
Now, I had arranged for David and Garrett to come over Friday afternoon to record a brief message to the happy couple. The idea was during the car ride, I would play light classical music in the background. After a suitable length of time of classical music, an “Urgent message from the BBC” would break in and announce the marriage of David and Casey Somerville. This BBC message was recorded by the three of us. It featured many of the SDP characters we’ve had over the years, all wishing them congratulations. We recorded this successfully on Friday afternoon. To be edited on Saturday.
After the recording, Garrett left, and Danny mentioned that he would probably stop and get some food on the way to the rehearsal that night. We then decided to go have dinner at Pot belly’s on our way there. Dinner was wonderful.
Well, I was made aware at the rehearsal, that one of my duties as Head Usher, rolling out the carpet, was removed from the ceremony leaving me with nothing to do during the ceremony at all.
This hurt me a lot. A few weeks before, David had called to make sure I was ok with the fact that I wasn’t a groomsman. The funny thing is that prior to him calling, I was perfectly fine with the whole arrangement, I was Head Usher, MC, and Chauffeur – what could be better? Well as I listened to him explaining the reasons that I wasn’t a grooms man, I was seriously hurt. Evidently, I wasn’t Godly enough to be an Usher. Now, I have always had a problem being Godly by church standards. I’ve usually excelled at confronting sin, but have been a little weak in Biblical fellowship in my relationship with David – something I’ve been trying to rectify in my college relationships, especially with Colin. However, because of this failing, I was out of the running for Groomsman – aka, wasn’t Godly enough to be a groomsman, or so I choose to think of it. So with those wounds freshly dug up, proceeded to have an emotional breakdown as I had no role in the wedding ceremony.
Realizing my sin, and recognizing my need for help, I headed outdoors, and called mom. She kindly, graciously, and with seemingly infinite wisdom corrected me, and prayed that God would change my heart to enjoy the wedding weekend, and not have a pity-party the whole time. PRAISE GOD HE CAME THROUGH. God changed my heart so that I was able to genuinely enjoy the remainder of the rehearsal, and the whole weekend completely content with whatever duties God saw fit to have me perform. For that I am eternally grateful. Nothing is worse than having your experience of your friend’s big day, being ruined by sin. NOTHING.
After the rehearsal, we headed to Mrs (Jean). Mays’ house to hang out. Strangely, of the 5 or 6 people there, Danny and I found ourselves just sitting on the couch listening to everyone else’s conversations, completely silent. While I had no problem with it, Danny and I were commenting on it later. Neither of us are particularly silent people, but a spirit of silence was on us that night, and yet I was content to be silent. Garrett did try and involve us, and I never felt excluded, but I just didn’t have anything to say. A very strange way to spend an evening.
Saturday
Saturday morning was spent sleeping in, and having woken to the splendid sight out my window at home, I rose with grace, and energy to greet the day. It is rare that I can write that honestly, but I truly did.
Having gracefully, and energetically greeted the day, I vacuumed out, and wipped-down my car in preparation for transporting the bride and groom to Baltimore on Sunday evening. Then, realizing that I had neglected to buy a wedding present, OR a card for the happy couple proceeded to run to _________ and buy a CD player for them to enjoy. I figured since David & Casey have Silver Dome Productions as a shared experience that we all enjoy, they can use their new CD player to share the joy with their kids. hehe. No no… they wouldn’t do that. They’ll be good parents.
Saturday afternoon was mostly editing the BBC piece that would play in the car on the drive up to Baltimore. That was finished in time for the rehearsal dinner that night. It was also that night that I realized I had left all my ties at college and would need to borrow Danny’s (the one pictured above).
The rehearsal dinner was incredible – a little awkward for a returning college student who had trouble reconnecting with old friends, and was getting annoyed by Mr. Somerville’s constant dinging of a wine glass to get everyone’s attention so he could make a mundane announcement about a joke he made in a conversation which only 2 people were involved in. The BBQ was amazing! Al Seamon prepared an amazing array of steak, ribs, and chicken all barbecued to perfection. Then, square dancing. To my relief it was actually not that complex, and loads of fun. The moves are simple and the caller tells you what to do at any given moment, so that the hardest part is now knowing your partner. I had a blast, and had David’s wedding not been the next day, it would’ve been the highlight of my weekend.
Sunday
Sunday was David & Casey’s big day, as Head usher and chauffeur, I took it upon myself to be in charge of their luggage and make sure the bags ended up in the right cars, going to the right places. I had arranged with David to preload his bags in the Buick for the drive to Baltimore. Now this was pretty tricky, because there were 3 cars involved in the getaway process. First, there was Casey’s car – the “official getaway car”. David had wisely anticipated the car being pranked by good-natured friends and family, and arranged secretly for a backup car. On Sunday, after church, Mom and I drove to Joe G’s house to pick up his shiny black BMW convertible. A sleek vehicle if I ever saw one. While driving it back, I was stopped at a red light. I decided to put the top down, since this will be the only time I will drive a convertible during the daytime! Well, sadly for me, the roof got stuck halfway up/down, and wouldn’t go any further. Just then, the light turned green. Ack! Knowing that you can’t drive with the roof like that, I stayed in place, and jabbed the button to put the roof back up. As cars raced around me, the moaning roof finally clicked closed, and I was able to drive on – but only after turning bright red in the face, and being deeply embarrassed. Once in the safety of the Church parking lot, I tried it again, and it worked.
I drove home had a quick lunch, signed David’s card, and prepped the gift, changed into my suit, and headed back to the church. Ushering is an fairly easy job. I enjoy it. However, next time you go to a wedding and an Usher offers to escort you to your seat, don’t say, “No – my husband will do it” in a tone that would be more appropriate for a situation much more embarrassing. That was the only downer. I should write a book on the art of declining gracefully – for it is an art – not that I’ve mastered that art, but being rude is never a good place to start.
Whilst ushering, Nate, gave me Casey’s keys and informed me that the car was properly pranked. I thanked him, chuckled a little at the thought of how David would respond to a pranked car (but really at how we were tricking him) and took the keys. Now, Casey is a very nice person, but her keys weigh about as much as the car itself. And carrying them around was quite a task. I have a newfound respect for Casey.
During the reception, more specifically, the toast, I snuck out and drove the pranked car around to the front of the building. I wasn’t sure where Nate wanted the car, or how easily it was supposed to be seen – this resulted in the car ending up off-center.
Meanwhile, I left the keys in the driver’s seat, and raced around the building and jumped into the BMW – with my chauffeurs cap affixed smartly in place. I waited there for what felt like an eternity – thought it was mostly my excitement. The excitement was enhanced by the fact that Garrett was supposed to give me a call when I was supposed to drive around the corner, and I kept being buzzed that my cell phone battery was dead. Frantically I paced around the car, and twitched in my seat waiting for the call, but hoping the phone wouldn’t die before I got it. Finally, the call came, and I jumped on the accelerator, and raced around the corner into the pickup-drop off lane at the church, and surprised everyone by not being an ignorant driver accidentally driving into the middle of a wedding, but rather, being THE getaway car! David & Casey jumped in, and off we drove, into the crisp evening air!
We drove to David’s house, jumped into the Buick, where we had bottles of water chilled and waiting for them to drink on the ride up. The classical music from the tape we had recorded on Friday was softly playing as the two of them cuddled in the back seat. It might best be described as the first moment of relaxation in what had been a frantically busy weekend.
Then, the calm was broken by an urgent report from the BBC. David said he grimaced, knowing it was probably something bad. Then, an accented Danny crackled onto the airwaves announcing the marriage of David and Casey, and turning to several SDP staffers to hear their reaction to the news. It was PERFECT. The happy couple laughed at the right moments, and seemed to enjoy our SDP surprise. Casey even said that the whole wedding was made possible by the SDP – I’ll admit there were a lot of SDP people involved. hehe.
A more perfect weekend couldn’t have been asked for.
Jason and boxing…
Jason and boxing…
Well friends, I am relieved to announce that this congressional term is coming to a close. After more than 9 months of diligent work, we are finally reaching summer break, and with it the associated “elections” that so swiftly change the balance of power during these months. Certainly the balance of power in Hughes District 210 is changing dramatically. Long-serving representative Simon Stilwell, is moving off campus, and hence will be vacating his spot in the room. Stephen, likewise will be leaving the details of which I prefer not to mention. The long and the short of it is his that his maturity level is preventing him from getting over his decision to not speak with me, and thus he has decided to ruin the rest of the semester by making things difficult for me. I am fighting back by working hard to restore the relationship, by being friendly, wishing him well this weekend while he’s at home, and always asking if I may turn out the light, or close the window, etc. To my surprise, this has had no outward effect, and remains staunchly indifferent to my gestures of friendship. Perhaps there is a reason I’ve had him as a roommate longer than any other human being (1 whole semester).
However, Stephen is not moving far. He is switching districts again, back to 207, where he was living before moving in here. He will be living with Josh Rothman, the long-serving representative of 207 – a district with frequently changing residents.
So now, here is the election map for Fall 2007.
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGES IN DENOTION, following the recommendation of the Committee of Cartographical Denotation, “The Majority” and “The Axis” no longer exist, and will no longer be denoted as such. This chart is to illustrate the number of rooms with residents that we know versus new and incoming residents whom we don’t know.
In addition to the numerous open rooms, the Hughes Two Constitutional Monarchy is losing its beloved Monarch, Halley Ofner. Halley is moving to Nebraska Hall to be an RA there where, no doubt, she will live happily ever-after. There is a great deal of nervousness in the Hughes Two Congress about this change, as the Monarch has substantial power to restrict the freedom of the residents, and while Halley has always used her power responsibly, the fear is that the new monarch will abuse her authority and that the residents will suffer. Time alone will tell.
In other news, the last few evenings the new representative from 210, Jyrell, has been teaching me what he knows about boxing. While Jyrell doesn’t claim to be an expert, and has never been in a match, he does seem to understand the basics of form and technique which he has been teaching me.
Hopefully these “lessons” will increase my masculinity points…
In other news, many of you may be aware that I have long suffered from insecurities regarding my leadership ability. I recently railed to mom about how little High School’s “Leadership Development” at the church had provided practical leadership skills that I could apply to daily life. I have long considered myself a very poor leader, and consequently shirked that responsibility often.
Well, God decided to change that, and He used Professor Patty Lewis, of the Kogod School of Business Marketing Department to do it. It was 3 weeks ago, when she had handed out group assignments for our final group project. After looking over the sheet I noticed that I was once again a group leader, and was fairly disappointed because it was my 3rd time that semester.
After the project was finished, and everything was turned in, and I was working on my personal Brand Plan, I decided to go talk to her about some of her comments she had written on my rough draft. I couldn’t read her handwriting.
It was at the end of the discussion, she mentioned that she had chosen the group leaders by hand. I chuckled, and explained how she must have made a mistake because I wasn’t a strong leader. She shook her head, and said quite to the contrary that no only was I a strong leader, but one of the best in the class! She also said that I she didn’t know where I got these strong leadership qualities since I didn’t have many opportunities to lead in High School.
This completely surprised me! She went on to explain that Leadership was a different quality than management. I demonstrated strong leadership which is the ability to gather a group together, set a direction, and involve the entire group in finding creative or effective ways to go in that direction. A manager simply barks out orders or tells people what to do and when to do it, and finally makes sure they actually do it.
Part of the problem was that I had the wrong view of what a strong leader was. I considered leadership to be management. However, no one likes working with a manager and the only way to get people to cooperate is to offer incentives or penalties for their cooperation. A leader will interest and involve others in such a way that they want to follow and contribute to the common goal. Personally, as a follower, I can tell you that this mistake is common among families in our church. I can name a few parents who manage their families rather than lead them. Management is important sometimes to ensure effectively run homes, but leadership is a better long-term trait and contributes to happiness of the home in the long run.
SO men! Next time you’re leading, consider this. Don’t boss people around, lead them!
And thats the news… Join us next post for a special Somerville Wedding post that I assure you will be dripping with details you won’t want to miss. hehe.
