Life In The Old Anglican/Episcopalian Church

Amy and I are celebrating 2 weeks living in the Anglican Church Building in Idaho Springs, Colorado. We are paying rent and utilities and getting a great deal. We have almost all of the expected amenities one would expect...except for a shower.

The main thing is that it's warm and cozy. Amy's happy and that's what counts.

It's fantastic to be able to work in the same building you live in. No rush hour traffic to contend with!

I preached last Sunday night at our church/home. The topic was living through a "wilderness experience."

Amy and I attended the Anglican Mass the second Sunday of November officiated by Fr John Longcamp. It was a great service with a great time of fellowship afterward. So, Amy and I have two churches using our home for worship. We're looking forward to decorating the church for Christmas.

We had a couple of new people attend services, John Mark and Shannon. Yay!

To my peeps in Idaho Springs...come on out Sunday night and sit down in our comfy pews and check out Pastor Craig as he expounds on the book of joy, Philippians. We always have a great time of food and fellowship immediately following.

Amy's got me working out at the Rec Center, jogging the indoor track, lifting weights, sauna etc. She's so good for me!

We visited the Elks Lodge this morning to peruse the bake sale and lunch put on by Chris, Anne and Larisse who I worked with last year at the community melodrama. Bought some goodies for Sunday night service at Calvary Idaho Springs.

It looks like we'll be spending Thanksgiving with the Nelsons down in Englewood. Amy and I are really looking forward to reconnecting with them.

I'm preaching at the United Church which is literally next door to our church. Their preacher is going to be out of state for Thanksgiving and some of the Church Council members invited me to preach the Sunday following Thanksgiving which is November 27th. So, all my Clear Creek peeps come on over Sunday morning at 10am.

Amy's birthday is November 24th Thanksgiving Day. Yay! Amy bought me a badly needed pair of sneakers for the Rec Center for my birthday which was November 16th. I've got her gifts already.

We had a huge snowstorm last Thursday and CDOT closed I-70 so Amy and I were stranded at Pastor Craig's home overnight. It was a great time spending the night with the Babcocks. We had to cancel Thursday night prayer service at Calvary Evergreen due to the 5-6 inches of snow. Lots of "spin outs" on I-70 necessitated the highways closure.

Amy and I are at the Frothy Cup having tea right now. We're having a movie night at home as soon as we get back. Then tomorrow I'll be helping out at the Adult Sunday School class at the United Church then services at Calvary Evergreen then evening services at Calvary Idaho Springs. Busy day tomorrow.

Pics show Amy at the bake sale today and at the church following the Anglican Mass. Fr Longcamp is seated to the right at the table as well as at the altar in the last pic.

Grace and Shalom to you all and good night.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Schoenbein

November 19, 2016- Saturday

 

Setting Up Housekeeping

It's been a week now since Amy Pettit and I tied the knot, got hitched, jumped the broom, became one etc. And, it's been adventuresome already!

We spent our honeymoon sicker than dogs either with a stomach bug or food poisoning possibly from a 4 star restaurant at Denver West.

What better way to become familiar and intimate with your brand new spouse than vomiting and diarrheaing 15 hours straight? We breezed through that whole "in sickness and in health"clause not realizing it would be invoked the very next day.

Now that the dust has settled...Amy and I have set up housekeeping at St John's. We negotiated a rental of some rooms for about 60% less than the average fair rental value at this 90 year old edifice downtown Idaho Springs.

Amy worked a small miracle turning the aged Spanish Mission into a cozy newlywed nest with her throw rugs, little cute accent pieces and other miscellany lending a feminine mystic to an otherwise drab interior.

I love the idea of living where I work. I set up my office in the church and will be holding office hours from 9am- 5pm M-F.

It was so good to see Clara my step daughter and her good friend, Caroline, who I knew so many years ago as a little girl. She and Clara were born around the same time not too long before I first moved to Colorado back at the turn of the century.

Likewise, it was fantastic reconnecting with Rich, Marge and Jeremy Nelson from Englewood, Colorado. They invited us to share Thanksgiving with them which we quickly accepted.

Amy and I spent last night at the Argo Hotel to make up for our 2 nights suffering sickness. As luck would have it however I got sick again but not nearly as bad.

Right now I'm studying and preparing for my upcoming sermon. Amy is listening to and singing her praise music. We just got off the phone with my sister and brother in law Marty and Marten Zimmerman respectively from Cincinnati. It was a great conversation covering religion to politics to family.

Clocks are getting turned back tonight as fall gets underway and mornings get brighter and late afternoons gets darker. Seasons coming and going. The cycle of life stops for no one and no thing.

Pics are of Amy and St John's.

Well...gotta go. Grace and peace to you all.

BR Schoenbein
Amy Schoenbein

November 5, 2016- Saturday