Indiana to Knoxville

Took lots of good pictures today, but too tired to get them uploaded just now. The beagle and I are settled into our hotel room just north of Knoxville. Tomorrow is the last leg of the drive, another 6 or 7 hours, and then I land at my dad's in Beaufort. Yay!

Pics coming soon.

And I'm off...

I'm planning to "blog my way South." And so here's the first official entry from "the road."

First of all, here are some pics from my last day in Lansing (ok, DeWitt).

There goes my stuff!

I'm pretty sure my apartment hasn't been this clean since I moved in... maybe since BEFORE that!



Goodbye, Michigan. Hellooooo, Indiana. Gonna try to capture every state line sign I pass...




I'm at my mom's in Auburn, Indiana for a couple of days this weekend. I'm taking off on "the big drive" tomorrow morning, with a stop-over in Knoxville, TN, where I just made my reservation at a pet-friendly motel.

A Bittersweet Glimpse

Once upon a time, these were "my nuns" (and in a way, they always will be):



This makes me wistful and almost weepy. I miss Marywood, affectionately and humorously referred to by some as "the Motherhut" (or, if you prefer, "the Mothership")--especially the chapel. I miss those awesome prayer books (I had to give mine back when I left the candidacy, and you can't just buy one since they were a limited printing), and chanting choir to choir. Mostly, of course, I miss getting to hang out with those beautiful, talented, outstanding women. Sure, I've had invitations to visit, and there's really no reason I couldn't. Except that, I just can't.

But I am glad they are posting things like this, and nice to see some familiar faces and realize I can still remember names--even if it takes me a second! This one is funny & sweet all at the same time:



These videos are an excellent outreach tool. I think people really want to see just what, exactly, "nuns"--ok, they're actually Sisters--do.

Scouting: Churches

Unity

• Unity Church of Hilton Head Island
• Unity Savannah, GA

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

• UU Beaufort
• UU Congregation of the Lowcountry, Bluffton

United Church of Christ (Open & Affirming)

• Circular Congregational Church, Charleston

Metropolitan Community Church

• MCC Charleston

Episcopal (ideally, Integrity USA)

• All Saints, Hilton Head

United Methodist
American Baptist
Quaker/Friends
Non-Denominational

---

Here's an interesting reference I came across while perusing the Circular Congregational Church site:
Living the Questions
"Resourcing Progressive Christians"

People know that at its core, Christianity has something good to offer humanity. At the same time, many have a sense that they are alone in being a "thinking" Christian and that "salvaging" Christianity is a hopeless task. What is needed is a safe environment where people have permission to ask the questions they've always wanted to ask but have been afraid to voice for fear of being thought a heretic.

Living the Questions is a source of curriculum and media for both seekers and "church alumni/ae" convinced that Christianity still has relevance in the 21st Century. Providing a variety of flexible resources, Living the Questions can help people explore the future of Christianity and what a meaningful faith can look like in today's world.

Living the Questions invites questions of faith through these 12 topics: 

1. An Invitation to Journey 
2. Thinking Theologically 
3. Creativity and Stories of Creation
4. Restoring Relationships
5. Evil and a God of Love: The Place of Suffering
6. A Kingdom Without Walls
7. Social Justice and the Prophets
8. Intimacy with God
9. The Lives of Jesus 
10. Compassion: the Heart of Jesus’ Ministry 
11. A Passion for Christ: Paul the Apostle 
12. Out into the World: Challenges Facing Progressive Christianity

Interesting facts about my soon-to-be new home state

South Carolina:

• Is one of the original 13 colonies
• Was the first state to vote to secede from the Union and was the founding state of the Confederate States of America.  :-|
• The state tree (which is also the state tree of Florida), the Sabal Palmetto (a.k.a. Cabbage Palmetto), featured on the state flag, is in fact NOT a tree, but is actually a grass. 
• In addition to its commonly-known nickname of "The Palmetto State," South Carolina also bears the nicknames "The Iodine State" & "The Rice State."
• They have a State Dog, the Boykin Spaniel.

Well, that's a good enough list for now. I'm sure I'll be coming across loads of other ones, and I plan to "blog my way South," because there are oh-so-many new and amusing sights and experiences I'm sure I'll just have to share!

Say hello to the newest Sand Shark!

Come Labor Day, this Midwestern girl will be living in the South. I just got a full time job offer as a Reference & Instruction Librarian at the University of South Carolina Beaufort! Yay!!