Hot Like Tortillas

Friday, September 2, 2011

Smith Update - The Return to St. Louis

We met up with Patty (Brittany's mom) and her friends who were vacationing in California. We toured The Hearst Castle.

Inside of Hearst Castle - this dining room was used for inspiration for the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies.

Awesome pool.

Awesome pool #2 - indoors.

Last sunday at Trinity Pres in SLO - sweet friends.

This was the group of regulars from Theology Pub for college students that Dan went to most Monday nights.

Dan with the Trinity elders.

Sweet friends, from L to R: Julia, Iris and Annie.

We love the Appels!

Sunset at the Hermosa Inn on the way back to Texas.

Happy 3rd anniversary!

The summer flew by, and it’s already been a month since we drove east toward the rising sun, away from the Pacific Ocean and the wonderful people of Trinity Presbyterian Church in San Luis Obispo. Though the internship ended, our full schedule did not.

Dan preached our last Sunday at Trinity Pres in SLO - it was a great way to end, although sad to say goodbye to all our wonderful friends in California.

The Hermosa Inn, Paradise Valley, AZ. Our first stop driving east was at this wonderful boutique inn in Scottsdale, AZ. We stayed two nights for our 3rd wedding anniversary and began readjusting to the heat we did NOT face in SLO. We highly recommend this inn- especially if you get a deal through Jetsetter.com

We stayed a week in Texas- splitting between Dan’s hometown- Longview, and the Dallas area. We had two baby showers- one from the Gracey clan (Dan’s mom’s family) and one from the Tanamachis, Menascos, Leard, and friends. We enjoyed celebrating with our friends and family the coming arrival of Jonah. We also stopped in Tulsa, OK for a night, to see our niece Katherine’s baptism Sunday morning. Our travels through Texas and Oklahoma provided great time with friends and family.

We separated for our drive back to STL and Brittany drove our new Jeep Grand Cherokee- a great and truly appreciated gift from Dan’s parents. Thank you so much!!!

Since being back in STL, we’ve: continued prepping our 300 sq ft apartment for Jonah’s arrival; started a 6 weeks childbirth class at the hospital; Dan’s returned to free-lance landscaping and Brittany has substituted taught at Covenant Christian School.

Dan’s school started back this week. He’s excited about his classes- especially his class about the Psalms and Wisdom Literature of the Bible, and a class about Leadership and system dynamics in relationship in ministry. Brittany will also spend time at the seminary this year- she will be a Teaching Assistant and Grader for one of her great education professors- Dr. Donald Guthrie.

Life is pretty much getting back to normal... except we have a baby coming in about a month!!!

Prayer:

We are grateful for how the Lord blessed us this summer. Please give thanks with us for:

The hospitality and love of the folks of Trinity Presbyterian Church and the Medlock family for letting us live with them
Much love and support showered during several baby showers
A great safe car for Brittany and Jonah- Dan’s parents’ former Jeep Grand Cherokee. Now we have a safe place for a car-seat that has working AC.
A wonderful scholarship from First Presbyterian Church, Longview, TX
An amazing blessing of a full tuition waver from the seminary. The scholarship is for students in their final year, planning to enter pastoral ministry, and who met certain qualifications.

Please Pray

For Jonah’s continued development and preparation for his arrival in about a month
Brittany’s health as she becomes more uncomfortable and closer to delivery
Dan as he tries to figure out how to balance caring for Brittany and Jonah, as well as diligence in study, and regularity in his landscaping work.
Our future as Dan starts applying for jobs for when he graduates in May.

Sorry the photos aren't working on the other postsI

If you want to see the photos from the first 4 recap posts, let me know and I will email them to you. Otherwise, I think from now on the photo problem should be fixed for blog updates.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Smith Summer in San Luis Obispo (Recap #4)

Wow! We are about to enter our final week of internship on California's Central Coast. The time has flown by and we will be said to have to say good bye to some of our new friends. The people have been wonderful and the experience has been educational as we continue to prepare for ministry.

Some highlights from the past two weeks:

* We traveled to Atlanta, GA for Reformed University Fellowship's Assessment. It was like a three day job interview with RUF Area Coordinators and other former RUF campus ministers. Dan preached a modified version of the sermon he did three Sundays ago at Trinity. We both participated in two case studies- or scenarios to see how well we interact with others and with problem solving. We also spent a good amount of time with our two assessors, David and Ruth Green. At the end, they told us that we passed without any reservations. They will try to place us on a campus for Fall 2012, but cannot guarantee a job for us right now. They have to see what opens up. We're grateful for our time there and grew in our appreciation of each other as ministry partners through the process.

*After RUF Dan flew back to CA and Brittany flew to St. Louis for a busy weekend with her mom (who flew from Dallas to meet her). They rearranged the apartment for life with baby Jonah, shopped for strollers and car seats and other baby things, and went to a doctor's check-up. Dan was glad to have her back this past Tuesday. Brittany was glad to get a little nesting done and time with her mom.

*Last Friday, the folks at Trinity gathered at Grover Beach for a church-wide bonfire/potluck. Dan enjoyed having more conversations with Trinity folks. He's going to miss these evenings on the beach!

*The women of Trinity Pres threw Brittany a baby shower this past Thursday. We both have felt so loved by these people, and Brittany enjoyed celebrating the coming arrival of Jonah with these wonderful women.

* Conversations over coffee, breakfast, and lunch- Dan and Brittany have both met with different folks from the church over the last week and a half and discussion life, faith, marriage, babies, vocation, and the church. We love relational ministry.

*Other things: Kayaking on Morrow Bay, beer brewing and bottling, Theology Pub, hospital and home visits, session meetings, worship planning....

Please Pray:

- in praise for a good trip and time in Atlanta at RUF Assessment- as well as thanksgiving safe travel.

- for Dan as he prepares and preaches God's word our last Sunday here.

- for us as we begin the long drive back on Aug 1. Please also pray that we have a refreshing 3rd year Wedding Anniversary at a nice hotel (at a great price) Brittany found in Scottsdale, AZ.

- that we would end our time well here with good processing and debriefing so we can reflect upon what we learned.

And now for the visual learners:

Dan always has to stir the pot

Smelling the beer ingredients... mmm

Men's kayaking event

Dan and Andrew Medlock kayaked together

Trinity Presbyterian congregation making their way in for Sunday worship

Chilling on the beach after kayaking

Dan talking to some folks before church

No trip to the california coast is complete without some winery visits!

Originally composed July 25, 2011

Smith Summer in San Luis Obispo (Recap #3)

Hi Friends and Family,

We are halfway through our SLO Summer and it is going fast! Some highlights from the past few weeks:

*We stayed one week in Morro Bay with our new friends Chip & Beth Appel while the Medlocks hosted friends from out of town. The Appel's house is within sight of the beach, and it was much cooler there. Chip is a deacon at Trinity Church and he took Dan out surfing our last day with them. Chip is a soil sciences professor at Cal-Poly and loves to teach, so Dan had a great time learning surfing - which is hard!!

*We took a guided tour of Cal-Poly this past week. It's a beautiful campus and it was hopefully good to hear a refresher about college life and what students are thinking about as they come to college. (Lots of questions about sharing bathrooms and what the dorm food is like!) I'm sure people were wondering why we were on the tour since we don't look 18ish and the only kid we have is obviously in utero.

*Dan has been working on his next sermon as well as putting together a plan for Trinity to launch a small group ministry in the fall. He's been reading over resources and talking with Jon and other Trinity members to try and put something together that is both educationally and theologically robust but also in line with Trinity's context and church personality. He's reading Simple Church by Thom Rainer. Dan also helped plan a men's event which is happening right now (Saturday morning). They are kayaking and having lunch on a sand bar and had lots of men sign up to go, which is great.

*Brittany has helped Laurabeth lead a book discussion over the past two weeks over the book Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus. So far they all really like the book. Brittany even wrote a case study for the first week to help the discussion get going.

*Other things: baseball games, yummy mexican food, more jamba juice, beer tastings, fireworks, and lots of fellowship.

Prayer Requests:

THIS WEEK! We travel to Atlanta for RUF Assessment. We are really excited about this and looking forward to how God will use this to help give us direction in our future call to ministry. Please pray that we wouldn't be anxious, and that we would be honest and candid with the assessors, and not try to be anybody but ourselves. Pray for patience and energy, for us as well as the assessors, as we've heard it can be an intense three days of hard questions and thoughtful reflection.

Also continue to pray for Dan's sermon preparation and delivery tomorrow. He preaches at least two more times after this as well.

Pray for Brittany and Jonah's continued health - Brittany had a stomach bug last week but is pretty much back to 100% now. Brittany is also traveling to St. Louis for a Dr. appointment before returning to SLO next week. Pray that all the tests turn out normal :)

We think we probably still have some money to raise, but we'll find out for sure next week at Assessment how much we still need.

Thank you all for your prayers!
Love,

Dan & Brittany

4th of July party with church members

One of Dan's favorite activities here - weekly Theology Pub with college students!

Black Horse Coffee - Dan meets here to plan worship with Bret every Tuesday morning.

Cold water

Chip's crash course in surfing

He stood up once, but mostly made it to his knees. Much better by the end!

Professor of soil sciences analyzes the sand quality :)

Surfer dudes

Beth & Brittany in Morro Bay.

Taco Temple - so good!

Morro rock in background.

Sweet family in Morro bay who hosted us for one week.

Feeding the seagulls!

Cal Poly tour - beautiful campus

Agricola! Board games with the Rooks family

Dan & Jon at Tap It Brewery. Right now they only make IPA and APA, but both are pretty good.

At the local baseball game. Lots of big 12 players come out here to play for the summer.

Originally composed July 9, 2011

Smith Summer in San Luis Obispo (Recap #2)

Hi friends and family!

It's been another fast two weeks of our California Adventure. Here are some highlights:

*Dan preached for the first time at Trinity Church. Check out their website (http://www.trinityslo.org/). Dan's sermon is available for download. He preached on Pentecost Sunday on Acts 2.

*We enjoyed lots of fun and fellowship with Trinity members so far including a Bunco night, a beach bonfire, a beach lunch get-together, the weekly Farmer's Market on Thursday night, a games night of Bohnanza! and much more.

*Lucy went to the beach for the first time, but I don't think she liked it. She had sand everywhere in her eyes and face and wouldn't romp in the water with the other dogs. She is happy to lay in the sun on a nice pillow at home instead.

*Baby Smith now has a name: Jonah Mills Smith. Mom and baby are doing well. Jonah kicks a lot throughout the day. Brittany is having some back and hip pain but overall is doing fine.

*One thing Dan has especially enjoyed is the weekly "Theology Pub" on Monday nights. One of the ruling elders has led group discussion with college students every Monday to discuss the week's sermon or whatever else comes up relating theology and life. Dan has been able to attend three times and even lead once. We both really enjoy getting to know and minister to college students again, even for just this short time. (Students are mostly from Cal-Poly, which is located in SLO)

*We traveled this past weekend to Dallas for a quick trip to attend a family wedding and were also able to see all our Dads to celebrate father's day.

*We have almost raised all our support! Thank you for your prayers to this effect. We now only lack $1000 towards the fee of RUF Assessment in July.

Prayer requests: Prayer for our continued work with the church. Dan will preach 4 more times, as well as working on helping develop small group and children's ministries at the church (Brittany will help too). Also please pray for pain relief for Brittany (she's trying some new daily stretching techniques to help with this also). Prayer for our upcoming trip to Atlanta for RUF assessment and for the rest of the funding we need.

We miss you all and hope you are well - please keep us updated on your lives as well!

Below are some pics from the past 2 weeks as well.

Love,

Dan & Brittany