Changes.

A couple of weeks ago, the ministers of our church announced that they will be retiring in June. It probably shouldn't have come as a shock - they're getting on in years, and John (who is 76) had a mild heart attack last spring. Over their customary summer off, I think they realized that if they wanted a retirement period they should probably start it now.

It shouldn't have come as a shock, but it did. And over the last week or so, I've begun to realize that I seem to be taking it harder than most people.

Michael is interested in seeing what we might be able to do with a more active and energetic minister. At my DRE advisory council meeting, I heard some sentiments suggesting that other people don't place all that much importance in the ministers: "Ministers come and ministers go - you're part of the congregation, and the congregation endures." "This is one of the least minister-centric congregations I've ever seen." Many people seem sort of excited to think of who we might get next. The most negativity I've heard expressed is along the lines of, "Ugh, a ministerial search is so much work."

In my corner, I am quietly panicking a little.

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Conversations with my daughter: The inexplicable.

Alex: (out of nowhere) RK&K.
Me: That's where Papa works.
Alex: What is your work called?
Me: I work at a place called IHV.
Alex: I work at CDA.
Me: You do?
Alex: Yes. CDA is my work.
Me: What do you do at work?
Alex: I eat there. I get the food myself.
Me: What else do you do at CDA?
Alex: I go to CDA on the bus. Mama comes with.
Me: I come with you on the bus, huh? Do I come inside CDA?
Alex: No. You don't.
Me: Are you going to work at CDA tomorrow?
Alex: No. CDA is closed. It's closed on Sunday. It's open on Wednesday.

That was Thursday. Today she continued to maintain that she works at CDA. She pointed out a couple of different buildings in downtown Baltimore where CDA may or may not be located.

Her conversation about CDA is kind of limited, probably because she has no idea what people actually do at work. But when I asked, she did tell me that the food she eats at CDA is "Rice! ...and sago."

I swear I must have the only non-Pacific-Islander two-year-old in America who uses the word "sago" in casual conversation. I have no idea why. I mean, I know where from - it's this page of Beatrix Potter's A Tale of Two Bad Mice - but that doesn't explain why the phrase "Rice - coffee - sago" has captured her imagination to the extent that it has. It's just... one of those inexplicable toddler things.