WHAT THE HECK... RESIGNATION?! UGH!!!!

When Eric picked me up this morning, we discussed intonation / the Lions game vs. the Blue Bombers / toxic vs. venom / his thinking that I need a good relationship with people / my being a snake / the hockey draft / the wedding / "cool people" / being "drunk" / obligations. At church, I couldn't get out of the car because of the grass - unfortunately, Cindy had to happen by and witness Eric reparking the car twice so I could get out! Once I got into the building, my usual row was full; I had to sit behind Jeremy instead! I said hi to him, and he wondered if I'd heard what some people had done after Fellowship on Friday. Apparently, they'd gone over to his place as a surprise, but he was in the shower. His roommate Ryan came home while they were trying to break in, and wondered just what the heck was going on, haha! This is why you don't just SURPRISE people! (the same thing happened to Connie a few years ago, in fact!)

Talked to Chrystal after that, and noted that her aunt was back from China! I assumed that Auntie Ying would be too jet-lagged to attend service, heh. Chrystal's parents and Emily are or will be on the same tour, so she'll get LOTS of alone time! We also discussed the wedding. Went back to my seat to find Connie nearby - she did indeed drive home last night as Jenny was feeling woozy! She packed a bit when she got home at 12:15 AM because of a work trip to Düsseldorf; hopefully, she'll be at church next Sunday after she gets back the night before! Said hi to Joyce, and handed Christon and Jeremy their birthday cards and Guylian chocolates later on. Learned that Julie, Yvonne, and Sabrina will be getting baptized next week (Seraphim baptism cards, or regular Thanksgiving cards?) - along with some other Sabrina (that'll be confusing!) and some guy named Vernus - WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT?! Oh, Chinese people...

During Communion, I joked that Stanley (sitting behind me) was being lazy since he wouldn't stand up to "pass the peace" with people, and he got the humor! Then I was surprised to feel a tap on the shoulder, which turned out to be Randal (of all the people) wanting to shake hands with me - FINE, WHATEVER! I followed Raymond and Randal (who happened to be sitting beside me - I kept personal space barriers!) to the other side for the sacraments. Good thing I did, since I saw Mr. Creep in the last row of the farthest section! UGH! Randal impeded my progress back to my seat by shaking Mr. Creep's extended hand, too! However, the announcement that Pastor John was about to make would drive most other thoughts from my head...

HE SAID THAT HE IS RESIGNING BECAUSE HIS VALUES AND VISION DON'T REALLY FIT WITH THE CHURCH LEADERSHIP! I thought that maybe one of his family members had a life-threating illness or something, but as he went on with the emotionally difficult announcement, that wasn't the case. People were shocked, sad, crying, and going through a bunch of emotions! Christon said it was a closely-guarded secret, and offered Connie his hand - I put an arm around her for added support and comfort.

Later, I saw Harrison eating chips and pretzels from a paper cup, so said hi. Little kid interactions usually cheer me up a bit, which is what I wanted. His dad Alex wanted to know if I were in Awana - yes, you DO see me almost every week! Turns out that Harrison got an extra-large Sparky uniform when he's really a small... sure, just exchange it on the 16th! Victor said hi to me, so I talked to him briefly about Awana... I didn't really care if he could tell I'd been crying! When I got into the fellowship hall, I'd pretty much decided to skip toddler Sunday School in favor of the quick forum to talk about the announcement and feelings. Got some coffee, and was talking to people when Auntie Catherine pulled me aside. She gave me a birthday card and a fountain pen (with my name spelled wrong - but she means well), so I thanked her for the belated birthday wishes.

Went over to where Christon was talking to Harmony and Jen, since I figured he'd have inside info on this... Wesley and Jeremy joined us later. Discussed 2004, lessons, this being different than the Pastor Glen situation, dreading today, post-mortem emotions, processing, not demonizing the Deacon Board, losing sleep, Lesley not keeping it together before service (so Jeremy started crying - and wished he could have taken the Communion platter from her), little hints like "re-structuring" / a pre-season game hint given only to Eric, who's good at hiding things (and why wasn't *I* invited?!), Christon telling Dylan to RELAX and RECHARGE in the Philippines (he doesn't know), last week's meeting, stages of grief like anger / sadness / denial / some acceptance, respecting privacy, and more. Chung, Christon, and others will remain on the ESCC and carry out Pastor John's vision of social justice as best they can, so that's good.

Calla, Karmie, Pastor John, Phil, Chung, Pastor Edward, Tim, Jon, and Christon spoke during the forum to clarify feelings and state that this was a final decision. Apparently, he's reconsidered it once already in June, when friends talked him out of the decision; however, he noticed the same cumulative events and patterns. There will be a family meeting to discuss this on the original date of the AGM, so that's why it was moved. Also talked about agony, personal reflections, kind offers, and more. My Sundays are looking busy this month, for sure! At least this time around, I won't have to deal with as much negativity from certain sources.

Afterwards, we all clustered around to discuss things some more; nobody was in the mood to discuss the birthday dinner tonight, but at least the birthday boys will get a break from cooking! Christon might just buy a rotisserie chicken from Safeway and call it done since he doesn't know if he'll have the energy for cooking. I know Jeremy's youth church had something similar happen, where the pastor who baptized him had to leave! People wanted to go out to have a (non-alcoholic!) drink so they could talk about things some more - when Mr. Creep came up to the group since he wanted lunch, Eric indicated that he wanted to go. That's certainly VERY good friendship, since he KNOWS how I feel about him! In the car, I thanked him for leaving - then he said he'd normally go for lunch (NO!), but there were other pressing matters to attend to. Well, good - I'm still glad I had a narrow escape!

He made sure that his family had left for O'Hare's pub without waiting for him, and then we were both mainly quiet / somber / subdued as we thought about things. Even our joking and such was muted! I saw a truck which said DERRICK TRUCKING - good thing it didn't say what I thought it might have! He jokingly thought I was a rude lady for making him check his email for what I'd be bringing, when I could expend a minimum amount of effort to tell him right then! However, I couldn't help him with the start time of tonight's dinner, so he WOULD have to check his email for that... HA! Also discussed what Randal had done during Communion (detailed above), BS small group outing (not sure what they're doing), and non-specific food items.

When I got home, I called my sister at work with the fresh news; Mom had beat me to it, she said. (I guess being the wife of the soon-to-be-retired church administrator has its perks...) I told her about the wedding - yes, the inside joke WAS "it's about time!" She thought it would have been a good wedding since I saw people I hadn't seen for years - oh yes! Also, she thinks that our parents are going to Italy on the 15th or 16th. If next weekend is just as hectic as this weekend (no indications that it WON'T be...), then I just might not make it to the family Thanksgiving dinner! Who knows.