Church

Church
Well, the first thing to be noted, which was different than any other church experience I've had, is that their church has an Israeli flag hanging in the sanctuary. When asking Joel about this later, he said that they believe, and this is a paraphrase “God is not done with Israel. We believe that God still has a plan for Israel. We don't know exactly what it is.”

It seemed like a normal non denominational church. A big open room with a few screens that displayed the music verses, and lots of chairs. People were friendly, greeting us and Joel and Teresa on the way in. There was singing beforehand, and Joel sings REALLY loudly, reminding me of my Uncle Joe. This fact is neither here nor there, but I didn't know a single song that was sung. I didn't feel judged at all for not singing along.

At the beginning of the service, they ask if there are any guests, so I introduced us to the congregation.

The preacher that week was the youth pastor, and it was the first time he preached the Sunday service. He was excited to be able to preach in shorts and sandals. I would say it was about an hour long.

Teresa had some catching up to do, so Vince and I stood with Joel in the back of the church while she socialized. We talked a little more about our faith backgrounds.

Once we were back in the car, Joel apologized. He said that they would like to have us back to their house for lunch, but they have houseguests and a really busy schedule, so they wondered if they could take us to Chipotle for lunch. The particular Chipotle they wanted to take us to is one that serves Polyface pork, so they were anxious for us to try some of their food (without spending an arm and a leg at a nice restaurant).

Pacing

Sunday morning there was a lot of pacing. Since we didn't know how long their church service was (and he never answered as to appropriate attire), I left in a long skirt, high collared shirt and dress shoes, with Vince in nice pants and a nice shirt. I also packed a sandwich, and KIND bar, and some trail mix in my purse, just in case. Go to www.kindsnacks.com for information on these awesome snack bars! My biggest fear was that they would invite us to lunch back at their house, and I would have to pass on everything. For example:
"Would you like some milk we got from the cow this morning?"

"Oh, well, then how about some freshly baked bread from last night"

"How about some pastured eggs from our chickens?"


Regardless, at 9:15, we were ready. We walked to the lobby at the front of the hotel, and waited outside. Writing this in late fall is VERY funny because it's about 35 degrees outside now. It was HOT. During the day it was getting up to 95 degrees F. I also wasn't sure if this church had air conditioning!

For those of you who are Salatin nerds, I have some information for you. He drives a Subaru. I can't tell you what the model was, but it was a four door. Teresa and Joel picked us up, and if I could read lips from outside a car, I swear I saw Joel say to Teresa “Well, they are real! Here they are!”.

I was so happy to meet both of them, and the first thing I noted about them is that they laugh. A lot. If you read “Everything I want to do is illegal”, this might surprise you. They have been through, and continue to go through, a serious amount of hardship just to bring folks clean food, raised well, that tastes wonderful!

They were courteous, asking us about our trip (Teresa, his wife, gets car sick too). He said that he was really glad to hear me talking. Teresa had, and rightfully so, brought up the idea that I may be a mumbler. He was relieved to know that the person recording the book knew how to speak well.

They had to take a different route to church (their house was about 25 minutes from the hotel), so Teresa directed Joel. We then had a discussion about GPS systems, and he said that he's never used one. He does a lot of traveling to do speeches, especially in the little Subaru, and said he would just prefer the old fashioned way.

This is when our education about the Shenandoah Valley began. The highway we followed was a very old route, followed by Native Americans. Evidently, this valley is very bountiful, with lots of different food sources, so it was well traveled.

wandering questions

If you'll notice, I make sure that Joel knows that Vince will be there. Us big-idea people (Joel and I) can often have spouses who can be suspicious. Just wanted to make sure everyone was in the clear!

At this point, I'm also excited to find out just what kind of church this dude goes to. His views are ALL OVER the board!

-- Beginning of message --

June 24th
Hi Joel,
Vince (my husband, who I think I've mentioned before) and I will plan
on being at your place around 8 or 830 Monday morning. We'll wander
around the farm after that to check it out!

I've actually never been camping in my life or else I would take you
up on a place to pitch the tent!

Thank you for the invitation to attend your church on Sunday morning.
Should we meet you there around 945? Just let us know where is
appropriate to meet, as well as the dress that is appropriate. I tried
to find a website but was unable to do so. We also go to a non denom
church, so this should be fine! I like seeing how God works in
different ways that are beyond my perspective!

Also, here is my contact information in case something happens. My
cell phone number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. We should be bringing the laptop in
case you can't access the files that I've recorded, but I don't have
any idea if we'll have internet access at our hotel to receive any
emails you send. We'll leave Saturday morning, and will probably
arrive around 5pm.

Look forward to meeting you!

Theresa