Sketches from a Young Married Intern's Album

     Can anyone else believe that Kristin and I have been married for over a year now?? I still can't! Looking back on the past year, there's certainly a weight of history to reflect upon, and I can acknowledge that a lot happened, but a year? It doesn't feel like a year! I can remember when a month seemed like an eternity, much less a year- when you recollected a year back then, it viscerally felt like 365.25 days, and then some! It's unbelievable to me that a year should go so fast, yet at the same time, it's not completely shocking. Time flies when you're having fun, and marriage is fun!*
     We spent Friday the 15th in Lake Geneva at a resort overlooking the lake. I was shooting for fancy, but holy smoke, that place was sumptuous! Two hundred dollar dinners taste even better when they're complementary, I've found... not that filet mignon and New York Strip really have to improve any.
     The rest of our weekend was spent at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, where we checked out the indoor waterpark, the theme park, and their very own haunted house. Their... not so awesome haunted house, complete with 40-something bald guy hitting on teenage girls, obnoxious tour guides complaining about her schedule and pay, and 5 minute tour of not-particularly-terrifying sights in an old farmhouse. I'm not complaining, honest! It was certainly a memorable evening and weekend. Praise God for his blessing on our marriage, now and always.
     My internship is going really well- so well, in fact, that's it's deceptively easy to take for granted how cool an opportunity it is to apprentice under the pastors at Morning Star. Every experience they train me for and guide me through is so edifying and humbling; their importance in equipping me is so vividly felt. I appreciate so much the chance that they've given me in taking me on and investing themselves in my training, and it's just plain a hoot getting to hang out with them throughout the week. The Leadership Team meetings are these singular mixtures of blood-earnest contemplation and (infrequent) shenannigans. Case in point: Henry, upon noticing that everyone brought their laptop to last night's meeting except for him inquiring if there was a general laptop reminder e-mail forwarded to everyone except him. Disappointed, he grabs a nearby tablet to scrawl some notes, when Jeremy suddenly asks, "Where's the pizza you were supposed to bring?"

Henry: Oh, I guess I screwed that one up?
Ian: I'm the intern, stupid mistakes like that are supposed to be my job.
Jeremy: Well, we do rely on you for that!
Henry: That's why I have you saved in my phone as "InternIan."

     I pretended to laugh, but I think everyone knows I was crying inside.
     Driving home today was like an obstacle course in a car commercial, owing to all of the green recycling bins the wind had strewn throughout the streets. Swerving through an intricate, twisting labyrinth of recycling collections is not typical fare here in Janesville.

     Was that random? Yes.






*Well, mine at least!