the searbys

This weekend we went to Atlanta for the National Missionary Convention. It was great just to reconnect with friends and recharge our passion for the world. Joel did a workshop and had about 100 people in attendance!

And, the boys had a hard time saying goodbye.

Sorry it's been so long everyone. It's been a busy week. I'm sitting here in the office at church waiting for Jen to finish up at her "spa party." I was painting at the house that Lee-Ann (the friend who owned the house we lived when we first moved here) bought, which happens to be a three minute walk from the church. Should we end up here at Harvest long-term, it sure would be great to get that house. Either way, it's a nice place. It has amazing wood floors that are old-fashioned parkay (spelling?) and had been covered up with carpet. They're all going to be refinished. It's a neat house, even though it looks like every other Florida house from the outside.

This week promises to be another busy one. We leave on Thursday morning for Atlanta and the National Missionary Convention. So between now and then we have to get a lot done, among the many weekly things we already do.

I don't think I ever mentioned that I am currently tutoring a doctoral student from the Religion department at UF. I'm tutoring her in Spanish. She has to pass a translation exam to finish this phase of her doctorate before moving on to her research, which she is hoping will take place in Chiapas, Mexico. She's a wonderful lady named Gayle who is getting her doctorate late in life and has tons of energy despite being super busy. We meet every Tuesday and Thursday at La Tienda, a great little mexican place near our house. La Tienda is about as authentic as you can get. The Mexican workers from around town eat lunch there and they serve real "campesino" Mexican food. "Campesino" means country folk (loosely translated) and the food at La Tienda makes you feel like you're in Mexico. It's great. It's also nice to keep sharp on my Spanish by helping Gayle to review and strengthen her ability to read scholarly Spanish writing. I've really enjoyed it.

Well, that's it for tonight. Hope you have a great day and hope to hear from many of you via e-mail and comments here on the blog.
-joel

Today we went to a small town just south of Gainesville called Micanopy. Even the name of the town is fun to say! They were having their annual fall festival that consisted of booths filled with arts, crafts, and food. It was a beautiful sunny day in Micanopy and it was nice to spend some quality time together.


We ate Louisiana Cookin’ from “Bayou Billy’s” where they sell tin mugs with the slogan “$1 Refills for the rest of you life!” We enjoyed a root beer and then some sweet tea (basically tea-flavored sugar water). It was a fun day!

What's the difference between working in the coffeeshop at Lincoln Christian College and working at a coffeeshop in Gainesville, Florida? In Gainesville, sometimes your help calls in hungover! Yep, no help for me in the coffeeshop this morning because she called in to say, and I quote, "I need your advice...(dramatic pause)...my friend from California came in last night unexpectedly (yeah, that happens) and I wasn't planning on going out or anything because I knew I had to work and everything but we just decided to go out and now I'm way hungover. What should I do?" Ok, don't give me a lame line like, "I need your advice." Just tell me you're hungover and can't come in. It's fine. I've been there (unfortunately) and know that you would be worthless to me if you did come in. And it really was fine with me so I just told her to stay home. Besides, now I don't have to split the tips and it was busy earlier so I probably did pretty well. Just thought I'd share that little story of life in Gainesville with you this morning.
Have a great weekend!
-joel

I know you folks in the North are getting a bit of an Indian Summer right now. The temps are up here in Gainesville too but the locals assure me, this is no Indian Summer. They call it "fall and winter" down here! That's right, 70's and 80's for the highs this week and next. No flukes, just the way it is!

This morning in the coffee shop was kind of crazy. We were training a new girl so there were four of us working (as opposed to two) and it was kind of crowded. Nonetheless, I continue to love my job at Coffee Culture, the free time (like right now, between 10 and 1) to do whatever I want and the interaction with people. I think the hours are wearing on me a little bit, especially since I don't really have any days off in a week. Although I don't work at Coffee Culture on Wednesdays or Sundays, I spend all day Wednesday from 9:00 am until 8:30 pm at church then Sundays I preach, usually eat lunch with someone and have stuff at church on Sunday nights as well. But, life is good.

Hope you're having a great day! Midwesterners, enjoy that warm weather 'cause it's gonna be really cold soon!
-joel