Friends Far Away

This morning, I got up early so I could get to the gym before first light.  Another weekend with crap weather – rain.  We’ve had A LOT of rain here in Southern Middle Tennessee this year.  Last week – Monday through Friday – was mostly sunny with temperatures not super cold.  But most weekends, we’ve had rain.  That’s what is expected again this weekend – more rain.

I didn’t make it to the gym this morning, though.  After paying a bill online, I checked my email and read an email update from the Gibello family.  I’ve mentioned them before on this site.  My son still asks about them and remembers their visit and their camper trailer, which he thought was pretty cool.  My wife and I agreed to make what for us is a fairly large, one-time donation (in addition to our small monthly commitment) because while we’re looking for a congregation to worship with, we’re not doing regular local-church giving.

Friends from the Chattanooga area are coming up to visit this afternoon and when my son woke up this morning, he talked about the Gibello family, confusing them with the family that’s actually spending the afternoon with us.  Odd, huh?  I hadn’t mentioned that I’d just been reading Melissa’s blog posts from her journal.  My son enjoyed looking at the photos of life in PNG, thought the stilt house was cool, thought using a leaf-hut outhouse might be problematic, and he thought having a large river near the house would be “kind of creepy, actually.”

A Birthday, Visitors, A Comprehensive Exam

A Busy Weekend

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I agreed to host a family visiting our congregation last weekend.  After having said we’d do it, I thought, “Ah, isn’t that the weekend I’ve got my comp?” as well as, “that’s Mom’s birthday, too.”  Because I’m naturally too absent-minded to focus on rearranging things that can’t really be rearranged, anyway, I carried on with the plan, which was really no plan beyond not fighting with happenstance.

Comprehensive Examination

My graduate studies program requires that the candidate for a master’s level degree pass the National Board for Certified Counselors comprehensive certification examination.  A few months ago, I ordered the prep book from the organization after having taken a sample exam online.  The online test questions were really easy.  When the book arrived, I glanced at it.  Over the past month or two, the names Vygotsky and Kohlberg came to mind again and again.  Last Friday night, which was the night before the test, I reviewed some material about both Vygotsky and Kohlberg, took the practice examination (which was included in the study guide I’d purchased) and scored the instrument.  My score was not stellar.  I was weak on the theories of both Super and Roe, so I looked them up and reviewed them.  Around 2:00 am, I went to bed.

Saturday morning, I awoke between five and six, breakfasted, showered, dressed and drove over to my friend Theodore’s house, arriving there around eight.  Theodore’s got a Ph.D., has taught numerous university courses online, holds a couple of positions with a local school board, and had agreed to proctor the online examination for me.  I greeted him and his family, we drank coffee, ate cinnamon rolls, and talked for a bit before I took the test.  Anyway, I correctly answered a sufficient number of the 160 test items (among the 160, questions on the theories of Vygotsky, Kohlberg, Super and Roe) to warrant a passing grade.  My relief was immense.

The Gibello Family

The Gibello family arrived at our house during the early afternoon, last Saturday; they arrived with a mini-van and a small travel trailer.  We didn’t know what to expect, and neither did they.  Years ago, as part of another congregation, we had a good experience hosting a missionary couple who were (and did) travel to Australia to help found a Reformed theological seminary there.  We hoped this experience would be similarly good.

Turns out we had a great time.  The children played together pretty well (although our son, a couple of years older than their son, was way too bossy at times), we enjoyed cutting up with the Gibellos, who are normal people with intact senses of humor and good insight.  Whenever I encounter anyone, what I hope for is to find someone who is:  1) Oriented to reality; 2) Competent or working to develop competence; and 3) A person of general good will.  Usually, if the people I meet hit two out of three, that’s pretty good.  The Gibellos hit the mark three out of three times.  That’s better than good.

Caleb and I didn’t get to take a bike ride Saturday, but he’ll be taking the Razesa when they come back through Tennessee in May.  My friend, Eric Thompson, bought the bike at Ciclos Madrid in about 1985 when he was serving as a missionary in Spain, so it seems fitting that Caleb Gibello should get the bike as he’s preparing to travel to Papua New Guinea to serve as an itinerant missionary to people in remote villages there.  I doubt he’ll be able to take the bike to PNP, but he’ll have something economical to monkey around with on home visits.

My wife and I have decided to help support our new friends with a little money each month.

Mom’s Birthday

Mom said she was feeling pretty bad Saturday when we invited her over to the house for supper with the Gibellos and to celebrate her birthday.  We finally did get to see her on St. Patrick’s Day – she invited us over to her house to share the traditional corned-beef and cabbage meal she makes annually.  We had a good visit and gave her a present; took some leftovers home, too.  I ate the last of them Thursday night.