General Assembly 2009

Last week, Fix and I drove with Annie and Nick down to the General Assembly of the PCA.

All the commissioners assembled and the meetings began. Oh wait. That's not a picture of the commissioners! Let me back up. When we got into town after a 14-hour car ride, the four of us hit up Downtown Disney for dinner and a little fun. The Lego store was awesome.

Don't you just love things made of Legos?
London Legos for Zuni.

Fix posed with this Lego-dog so we could show Rock later. His dog obsession continues...

I know, I know. I look crusty. And my attempt to pull out my jeans didn't work. Sigh...

Anyway, the next day we went to Disney World, "where dreams come true."

Dreams of going to Disney's Coronado Springs Resort for G.A. that is.

Here's what the scene looked like in the Meeting Hall. Although I did skip a few of the more mundane reports, I thoroughly enjoyed taking covert pictures during sitting in on the Assembly meetings. In all seriousness, I fell in love with the Presbyterian system of voting/decision making. I love how it's not up to one person or group of people who determine what happens in our denomination.
Instead, at G.A., all the commissioners (pastors and elders) make decisions together and no voting happens until both sides of the story have been fully represented. Fix liked it too.
Nick... hmmm.... I don't know about Nick. Anyway, right now you are probably thinking "That's all fine and dandy, but can you list the four best things about G.A.?" Sure I can! Thanks for asking.
1) The Westminster Seminary California luncheon. It was a good time to catch up with alumni, eat a good meal, and hear about what's new at the Sem.
2) Reconnecting with all sorts of friends/fellow pastors who we see on a rarely-to-never basis. Above, Fix chats with Anton, a fellow WSC alum.

3) The little alligator I saw at the resort's lake. Please ignore the gross stuff floating in the water.

4) Last but not least, the Mickey Mouse butter. This just barely beat out the $12.99-unlimited-refill-souvenir-cups that Fix and I purchased because, in the pricey world of Disney, they were actually a good deal.

They finished all official business on Thursday afternoon, so we spent Friday morning relaxing at our resort's pool. It was there that we discovered our sunscreen is most likely past it's expiration date because after only 2 hours, Fix and I were both fried.

Thanks again to Annie and Nick for being such delightful traveling companions and for driving/letting us drive your car! After we took this picture we drove off to South Carolina on the first leg of our trip home. But more on that in my next post...