Being a twenty-one-year-old in an adult Sunday School class and a stranger from California draws a lot of attention. That was the situation when I went to the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection with Ruth this morning. We arrived early to give her time to prepare for teaching the class (today was the first of three lessons she is teaching on biblical happiness), so I had time to visit with the friendly people who came over to welcome me. One man – George – told me about his time as a college student in California when he kept himself employed by cleaning pools in Beverly Hills. Everyone wished me well on my journey.

     After Sunday School, we went home for lunch. We planned to return to the church in the evening for a worship service. At lunch, I met Ruth’s daughter, Rebecca, and two young grandchildren, Rachel and Jordan. We talked about school and sports, and after the meal, I was requisitioned by the kids to join them in their lego building and card game playing.

     Ruth is involved with giving tours of the church she attends (it really is a grand building and it is becoming famous for the enormous stained glass window housed within), so she had to leave for the afternoon. I tagged along with Rebecca and her children to spend the afternoon at their home. In the course of my time with them, I took a tour of their dad’s huge collection of baseball cards which are displayed in the basement, played Spot It (a matching card game), and I was coerced into playing Just Dance (a video game which is exactly what the name makes it sound like).

     In the evening, Ruth and I went back to church and listened to the pastor, Adam Hamilton, preach a sermon on the famous story of Peter and John as they met a met a lame beggar on their way into the temple. Then Ruth had Handbell practice, and I got to catch my breath, write all this down, and get ready for bed.