Celebrations

During this Easter season, the Good's have had several exciting events and moments unfold. I'd like to celebrate them today.

As a followup to my Good Friday post, over 60 people came out to the Sunrise service, that was fantastic. It is great to get the four congregations together to celebrate.

One of the parishioners has been accepted in the PhD program at Duke, so I would officially like to recant my "Boring" comment of them winning a national championship.

That also got me thinking about making a list of all the colleges and universities that people connected to the churches I have served have attended while I was in their midst.

The church had the Good News Ringers and Singers from the Good News Home for Women in Flemington come to offer their gift of music last Sunday. It was great to have them.

This Sunday, we will be baptizing Kate, a delightful 3 year old in the congregation, and our daughter Isabelle. I cannot thank God enough for our two children, they bring a smile to my face everyday.

The Church will be hosting a gospel group called the Skyline Boys this Sunday. I'm really excited about this event for everyone, but especially for a man named Jason who had the vision to bring them to Stockton.

Last week, we hosted a local poet named Ray Brown for a poetry reading night. I'm always interested in trying something at least once. I hoped we would get at least a handful of people to support Ray, a decorated poet from Frenchtown. We had 25 people attend the event, with a nice mix of church folk, Ray's following and town visitors. What a great night! I'm thinking that for next National Poetry month, the church should hold a poetry Festival. Comment below with your thoughts!

I had a great conversation with our neighbor Roger, whom I learned is a kindred spirit when it comes to small town living, town design and what it takes to grow community.

Had a delightful time with the Kean students yesterday, who 'sacrificed their break' in order to get out early. They celebrated, but admittedly, I also enjoyed arriving home earlier. Both sections of the class have been great this semester.

Dad was generous the other night and picked up the tab during the visit to Lowe's. We got the girl's playground area looking sharp. And as my semi-annual physical workout, it felt good. Mom stopped by during dinner and it was fun to sit around and eat together.

The community garden is coming together in neat ways. 7 people showed up to clean up the ground last Saturday. We will be planting cool crops soon. And the school is climbing on board to be partakers of the community garden experience. The garden is growing, literally, and symbolically!

This morning, Sophie played in the sandbox and the playground area, and it was amazing to watch her play. I also planted a cherry tree. I look forward to watching it grow, as a symbol of the beautiful gift of life in Stockton that has been given to us.