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Camden, my son who seldom gets sick, spiked a fever tonight of a hundred and four degrees. Poor thing. You know something is wrong with your baby when he comes home from school and falls asleep on the couch. Bless his heart.

Curt stayed home with both boys tonight while I went to church for our Wednesday night Food and Faith dinner. What an interesting class! I'm so glad I went, even though I was worn out after my day-long workshop in Cranberry. We've been discussing the history of Christianity and the Episcopal Church. Tonight we moved from the basement parish hall to our beautiful nave and sanctuary upstairs. Larry, our priest, pointed out so much detail in our church that I've previously taken for granted. Here are some random things I learned tonight that will certainly enrich my worship when we go back this Sunday. Thanks be to God!

* The stained glass windows tell stories from the Bible. They originated in the middle ages to educate the illiterate.

* Our liturgy is based on the ancient Jewish synagog practices of call-and-response services. These are designed to keep the lay people involved in the worship.

* Jesus mandates only two sacraments - Baptism and Holy Communion. A sacrament has two parts - an outward manifestation (water, wine, bread) and an inward manifestation (God's grace working on the participant).

* We stand to praise God, sit to learn, and kneel to worship. - Yes, we Episcopals are quite active!

* Our church's design is based on medieval architecture.

* The arched beams in our ceiling are like an upside-down arc. Get it - Noah's Arc?!

* Our liturgy includes at least four Scripture readings - a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and from the Gospel of Christ, as well as a Psalm responsively read or sung.

I really love our church and what going there is doing for me. I'm learning to really worship, appreciate, and let Christ live in me. And I see a difference for my family, too. Camden is learning Bible stories, and he really cares what God is thinking. Curt is as eager to learn and worship as I am. And, Benjy is happy here. Yes, the cookies at Coffee Hour on Sundays is a bonus, but I think he senses a higher power at work. :)

Thanks be to God!