Roasting Stephanie

“Love is blind,” they say.  But, I’d like to think that I have my eyes wide open when it comes to the love of life, my wife Stephanie Gregory, who’s here today to be roasted.

Many of you know Stephanie as an educator, a church deacon, and a wife, mother, and daughter.  But today I’m going to try to fill out your picture of Stephanie a little by sharing with you a little about two of her other traits, her mischievous sense of humor and her penchant for footwear.

Stephanie gets her mischievous sense of humor partly from her family.  And one group of people she shares it with is her students.  Stephanie teaches elementary school over in New Albany.  First thing in the morning she may be speaking with some of her students about where they live.  After reporting to her what neighborhood they live in, they turn to Stephanie and say:  “Mrs. Gregory – where do you live?”  Stephanie says, “I live in Louisville.”  And her students ask:  “How do you get here?”  Without batting an eyelid, point to her wet hair, Stephanie says:  “Well, I swim, of course.”  Believe it or not, Stephanie’s second graders usually believe her.  Her fourth-graders – not so much. 

Stephanie also shares her sense of humor with the kids at church.  For example, after worship, she might say to now five-year-old Rose, granddaughter of Martha Miller, “You’re coming home with me, right?  Little Rose looks a little worried and then says, “Uh . . . I think I’m going home with . . . my parents.”  Once in a while, Stephanie pulls out all the stops, and gets caught.  Rose loves pink, and one Sunday Stephanie said:  “Rose, you’re coming home with me.  We’ve got a pink house, and I just got a pink car!”  Without hesitating, Rose said.  “Sure!  Let’s go!  I want to see the pink car.”  Well, Stephanie doesn’t have a pink car.  I don’t remember how she finessed things, but she was caught.

We’ve talked about Stephanie’s mischievous sense of humor.  Now I want to talk about her penchant for footwear.  When Stephanie was growing up, she lived with her Grandmother a lot.  One morning at the breakfast table, she said:  “Grandma, I think we need to buy me some more shoes.  I’m out of shoes.”  Grandma Gregory looked puzzled, but she said:  “Are you sure?  Let’s go up to your room and see.”  Stephanie was a little hesitant, but up they went.  Grandma Gregory went into Stephanie’s closet, and counted 89 shoes.  She was very stern with Stephanie:  “You’re like a little Imelda Marcos.  This is way too many shoes.  Why don’t we go through your shoes?  I bet some of them don’t fit or are worn out.  And some of them you have probably forgotten about and will still fit and still look great.  They’ll be like new shoes.”

Ironically or not, Stephanie grew up to have problem feet.  She’s generally tackled this now, but one of her strategies has been to buy good, expensive shoes, especially Dansko and Birkenstocks.  Vincent and I got used to her buying these shoes.  In fact, Stephanie and I went to a co-ed bridal shower for one of her colleagues a few years ago, and we played a Newlywed-type game where Stephanie and I had to answer the same questions, separately, and then we’d see if our answers agreed.  We were asked how much Stephanie had paid for her last pair of shoes, and I didn’t hesitate.  I said “$120.”  I knew that because that’s how much all of her pairs of shoes cost.

Stephanie still goes astray occasionally, and sometimes she gets caught.  Every once in a while, Stephanie comes home and tells our son Vincent and me:  “I bought some shoes, and I got a great deal.”  “A great deal” is always a bad sign.  Vincent asks:  “How much did they cost?”  And Stephanie hesitates and says, for example:  “$65.”  And both Vincent and I yell at her.  I say:  “$65?  You know what’s going to happen.  You’re going to wear them a couple of times, and then you’re going to have to give them away, because they’ll kill your feet.”  Vincent and I have the “$100 rule.”  If the shoes cost less than $100, Stephanie has no business buying them.

Stephanie has gotten caught in other circumstances too.  One summer Stephanie lived for a couple months in my little apartment in Illinois.  The apartment was furnished kind of primitively and only had a little 1950s black and white TV, that we somehow got attached to cable.  It only got the three basic stations, plus Fox, PBS, the Weather Channel, and QVC.

One night Stephanie called me and said:  “I was watching TV tonight and saw a great deal on QVC, but they were Birkenstocks, and they’ll match a couple of my outfits great, and so I bought them.”  I said:  “Honey . . . . what . . . color . . . are . . . they?”  Stephanie hesitated, and looked nervous, and then said:  “I don’t know.”  It turns out that the shoes did match some of her outfits, but when she bought them she had no idea if this was the case, because she was watching a black and white TV.

I’ve tried to share with you something about Stephanie’s lesser known traits, like her mischievous sense of humor, and her penchant for footwear.  I’ve also hinted out how she sometimes uses these traits in her public roles, like when she kids her students and bonds with guests at church about shoes.  I feel can give you a broader perspective on Stephanie.  After all, I’m in love, but I’m not blind.

 - Perry

Appalachian mission trip reflections

God, I believe, calls each of us to a ministry.  And God may call us to many different ministries over the course of our lifetimes.  God, I also believe, gives us opportunities to explore new possible ministries, to develop skills for ministries, and to exercise leadership, including spiritual leadership.

There were lots of these kinds of opportunities during our Eastern Kentucky mission trip.  And the trip affirmed for me the concept of call.  Let me elaborate on each of these.

Because our mission team was so small, everyone got a chance to shine and lead.  This was the case even though on a trip with a bigger team, some of us might have been eclipsed by others who were more outgoing or more assertive.

Our chances to lead came at our home base (the house next to the First Presbyterian Church of Hazard – where we cooked, ate, cleaned, played, and had devotions), at the work site (at the two houses which he tried to help the Housing Development Alliance finish), and out on trips where we experienced the beauty of the mountains and learned about the issues that mining raises.

I took a photograph that I love of the three young people – Hannah, Emily, and Ethan – scrubbing the floor of an HDA house that was almost done.  But Emily is taking a break to chance the station – or whatever – on her smartphone.  I was initially skeptical when the kids started listening to one of their phones at this site.  But the kids had all just cleaned a pile of gross garbage out of the front yard and the street, they were into the music, and they seemed to be working even harder to the sound of the music.  I eventually was happy enough that I moved on to our second house, leaving them and Hilda to finish up.

Later that night I was leading food preparation for dinner when I decided there were a couple of more food items we needed.  I wondered whether I should stop cooking and take time to drive to the grocery store to buy those items.  But, after a while, I decided there was no need for me to do  this, when I could simple send the kids to the convenience store a couple of blocks away, which should have what we needed.  And off they went on what turned out to be a bit of an adventure, but they came back with what we needed, and I was happy for them to take the lead on this.

Many of you know that I’ve been involved in a bit of a career transition.  It now looks that I may teach college next year.  It’s been almost 10 years since I taught college students, and occasionally in the past I wasn’t firm enough with my students or I wasn’t very popular with my students, or both.  While on the mission trip, I was sometimes firm with your kids, and they usually listened to me.  And often they still seemed to like me, which was I nice combination that gave me some good experience and confidence going into teaching. 

On those long car rides, they kids also share with me some insight and information on youth culture, which I’ve fallen a little behind on, and on school norms.  For example, they told me that kids a year or two or three away from high school shouldn’t be surprised if they were told to put their cell phones, tablets, and laptops away before class.

Finally, your kids and Hilda and I, along with the carpenters, electricians, HVAC people, and landscaping team formed, I thought, a pretty effective cross-generational, cross-gender, cross-class, and cross-cultural team.  Many of my classes will definitely have to also be this if I am going to succeed back in the classroom.

So, I thank God and you all for this opportunity to serve, learn, grow, and lead.  I’m also thankful for experiences that confirmed for me that I might have a new call and prepared me a little for that call.

May it be so.

-Perry

10 years ago

In late October here in Louisville fall has been rather warm. That was not the case 10 years ago when my family and lived in Minnesota. 10 years ago this weekend I headed south for the weekend, while my wife, son, and dog went north instead, past Duluth, MN, to the North Shore of Lake Superior, to Grand Marais, MN, and beyond. Despite the warmer weather in Georgia, I’ve always been a little jealous of my family, as my wife told some very entertaining stories about their visit up there.

I had found them a cute motel along the lake, with little cabins on one side of the road and on the other side, big white Adirondack chairs, next to the lake (which didn’t really have a beach). They got there late, but the motel had advertised pizza. So when my family asked for food, they pulled some frozen pizza out and popped it in a toaster oven, and that was their dinner. It was cold that night – there were already no leaves on the trees up there – and so my wife cranked up the radiator heat. The heat took a while to get going, and at 3:00 a.m. my wife woke up to our dog vomiting, because he had gotten so hot in the room. They rushed outside and crossed the road. I’ve always enjoyed thinking of that vision: Stephanie, Vincent, and Frisco sitting out in their pajamas on the Adirondack chairs, looking out at Lake Superior at 3:00 a.m.

In the morning, my family got up to watch Canadian TV about the actor who played Dumbledore dying. And then they drove on to Judge Magney State Park, where lots of hiking was in store. At one point, my wife urged them down a hill, but our son stopped, sat in the middle of the trail, and cried. It’s downhill, said Stephanie. But, Vincent cried and blurted out, “eventually we’ll have to come back up a hill” (to get back to the car). So he stayed put and Stephanie and Frisco went on.

Entertaining memories – memories of a wintry late-October Minnesota weekend – that I missed.

-Perry

Hail to the chief!

At the risk of offending my Republican, independent, and Clinton Democrat fellow Toastmasters, and our guests, I am going to speak today in praise of the work of our President, Barack Obama. With a high unemployment and profound political polarization, this may seem like an odd time to be praising the President. But, ultimately, President Obama’s record makes my task an easy one.

I’m going to praise the President’s leadership in five areas. I’m going to talk about he has led our country out of two wars, help prevent economic catastrophe, begun to reform three critical sectors of our economy, tried to ease polarization, and served as a role model for all of us.

Let me first talk about the wars. Some people may argue that it was President Bush that laid the groundwork for the withdrawal from Iraq and that the situation in Afghanistan is so complex that any president would have begun withdrawing troops from there. The latter is just not true. When President Obama asked his generals in 2009 to prepare plan that involved starting to withdraw U.S. troops 18 months later, they essentially declined to do so. President Obama had to get out his laptop and type out a three-page plan that made way for the withdrawal a year and a half later. It’s only because the President took that initiative that the withdrawal is underway.

Let me now talk about the economy. Tea Party folks, bless their hearts, like to ignore what was patently obvious in the fall of 2008. Capitalism, let to its own devices, can destroy itself. Sometimes the government has to come in and save the day. As much as President Obama might have had to hold his nose about the bank bailout, the auto bailout, and even the fiscal stimulus package, long-term zero-percent interest rates, and the temporary extension of ALL the Bush tax cuts, he had the government do what it had to rescue the economy.

The three critical sectors of the economy that President Obama has begun to reform are the energy sector, the banking and finance sector, and the health care sector. Let me focus on the health care sector. Regardless of what you may personally think about the universal health care mandate, you must concede these facts: The United States has the highest-quality health care in the world. But the United States also spends more money on health care than any other country, for among the worst overall health care outcomes of any wealthy country. The health system is broke. Obamacare, if you want to call it that, is a good stab at fixing it.

Let me now talk about easing political polarization. From the point of view of summer 2012, it’s easy to forget that President Obama TRIED to appoint three Republicans to his original Cabinet. He jettisoned some of his most cherished policy objectives that were particular anathema to Republicans: the “public option,” “cap and trade,” and repealing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. And parts of his program that have been enacted he borrowed from Republicans: The health insurance exchange system was an idea of Senator McCain. The universal health insurance mandate was an idea of Governor Romney. Most recently, the administrative version of the DREAM Act, for young undocumented immigrants was an idea of Senator Rubio.

Finally, let me talk about President Obama as a role model. I want to refer you to the photograph that most of you should have in front of you, a photo I like quite a bit. I understand that a man was retiring from the White House staff in 2009 and he and his family toured the White House and met with the President. The man told the President that his son, then five, had a question for him. The boy told the president that he wanted to know if the President’s hair was just like his. President Obama leaned down, as you can see in the photo, and asked: why don’t you see for yourself? When the boy hesitated, President Obama said, “Go ahead – touch it, dude.” After the boy did indeed touch the President’s hair, he nodded that, yes, indeed their hair was the same. Throughout his three years in office, President Obama has generally avoided talking about race. But this was an occasion in which this boy, African-American, seemed to appreciate that the President was also African American. Now, I’m not African American, but I can tell you this: As a biracial person, with an immigrant father, with roots in Asia, and with a funny-sounding name, I also appreciate that the person in the White House is a biracial person, with an immigrant father, with roots in Asia, and with a funny-sounding name. President Obama’s story helps convince me –like many others across the country and across the world – that anything is possible.

I’ve spoken today in praise of the work of President Obama. I’ve talked about how President Obama has served as a role model, tried to ease political polarization, begun to reform three sectors of the economy, helped save our economy, and led us out of two wars. I hope that I’ve persuaded one or two of you to do what I plan to do in November: the vote to re-elect President Obama. Think about all of the difficult challenges the President has faced in the past three years, and all he has been able to accomplish despite these challenges. I can only imagine what he could accomplish in four more years. Watching that would help remind me – and Republicans, independents, and Democrats alike – that, truly, anything is possible.

-Perry

Progress!

Click on each of these images to see evidence of Vincent's school progress. The information below was from the English he was essentially taking for the fourth time - for the second time for high school/college dual-enrollment credit.

Medical innovations

All three of us have been embarking on medical innovations. At a quarterly visit with one of Vincent’s doctors, the doctor heard more stories about Vincent’s long sleeping and sometimes sleepless nights and laid out a path for Vincent to take a waking-up medication that might require a sleep apnea diagnosis – so off Vincent is to a sleep specialist later this month. Although Vincent’s got less than a month to finish his English class, he’s been periodically energetic, apparently writing down ideas for novels, scripts, or video game storyline ideas. Vincent apparently came back from a counseling session with this idea – ostensibly to do research for Asian-themed story lines – by going back – 2 ½ years after quitting – to St. Matthews Martial Arts, where teachers all seemed to remember him.

As I continue to go to physical therapy to work on my knee, I’ve gone back also for an aspect of the shoulder-neck-back problem that began during a June 2006 visit to Michigan. I had hoped to combine knee and shoulder visits – but I’m having to separate them , for reasons of time – and so I’m going not only for essentially do-it-yourself work on my knee, but also work on my shoulder, for which I need more help. On my first visit my PT found evidence of shoulder problems and gave me a chiropractic-style intervention that I’ve only gotten for this injury (not for the knee injury). We also took about her idea (an epidural) and my idea (acupuncture?). PT for two different injuries for a while.

Stephanie’s forays into sewing classes helped her realize that it’s not easy to find patterns that fit her, and some patterns may produce clothes that need to be altered. That – and a return to Weight Watchers, with its new Points Plus system – got her not only to count points (plus) again but to use our gym membership regularly. After going to the Breckinridge Inn gym/pool twice in one year (for some $600 – that’s $300 per family visit), we’ve gone five times in the past month – including three times in the past week. Now, in turns out that some of the knee weight machines actually bother my knee. But between swimming and weight machines and the stationary bike/”elliptical” machine – both of us have been losing weight.

-- Perry

2010 Outreach Council Annual Report

Outreach Council serves as a hub and catalyst for Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church’s outreach, mission, and evangelism activities. In 2010 Agnes March, Bob Abrams, Chris Snyder, Izzy Jones, Janine Linder, Jeff Gilbert, Lowell Linder, Lucy Steilberg, Marcus Perry, Perry Chang, Rebecca Barnes-Davies, and Wanda Abrams participated regularly in Outreach meetings, with Amy Linfield, Carlos Lara, and Pastor Jane Larsen-Wigger also participating periodically. Marcus and Perry led the Council as co-chairpersons. Participating in individual meetings were Alan Pauw, Brooke Pierson, Diana Stephen, Gail Bingham, Jennifer Thalman Kepler, Kashama Lengulula, and Paula Tibbs.

Everyone is welcome to Outreach meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month, in the Fireside Room.

Key activities of the Council, and the church, this past year included:

- Book distribution. Thanks to the generosity of CHPC’s Ann Yeargin, the church gave 1,000 books (Bluegrass Breeze and One Tiny Twig) to local children and families through half a dozen partners: United Crescent Hill Ministries, Presbyterian Community Center, Eastern Area Community Ministries, Breckinridge-Franklin Elementary School (in Irish Hill), and Fairmont Elementary School (in New Albany) (pictured above). The council worked with the books’ author, Dan Rhema. Among the others who helped with this were: Alan Pauw, Chris Snyder, Dave Bush, Diana Stephen, Gayle Trautwein, Izzy Jones, Pastor Jane, Johanna Wint, Marcus Perry, and Stephanie Gregory.

- Food for Thought series. Working with Pastor Jane, Charlie Boyd, Molly Boyd, Bruce Whearty, and Lora Whearty began this series of light lunches and presentations by Crescent Hill folks involved in various missions and ministries this past spring. Many presenters made PowerPoint presentations, and most let folks know how they could get more information and what follow-up action they could take. Making presentations were Anne Del Prince, Bruce Whearty and Lora Whearty, Christi Boyd and Jeff Boyd, Fletcher Padoko, Jerry Van Marter, Mary Love, Stephen Bartlett, and Tricia Lloyd-Sidle. These lunchtime events gave people a chance to hear about different mission, outreach, and advocacy opportunities, and gave individual CHPC folks a chance to reflect on what difference their work (paid and volunteer) has made in their lives and the lives of others.

- Mission month. With a kickoff sermon at the beginning of the month by Pastor Jane that reminded Crescent Hill folks why we do mission, Crescent Hill celebrated August as mission month. Church mission teams that traveled to Appalachia and Guatemala (and participated in the Presbyterian Youth Triennium) led worship services. All long-term Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers who Crescent Hill supports participated in this. Christi Boyd and Jeff Boyd (in west Africa) spoke at a Food for Thought lunch, and Jeff also gave a Minute for Mission during worship. Amanda Craft (in Guatemala) spoke to a Wednesday evening audience (pictured below), before Council meetings. (Our own Hunter Farrell, director of PC(USA) World Mission, also preached.) Carrying over into early September were: (1) a worship service led by participants of Louisville Presbyterian seminary Brazil mission trip (with Rebecca Barnes-Davies preaching), which Outreach had recommended for church support; (2) a sermon by JoElla Holman, who later this past fall left for the Caribbean became a fifth PC(USA) mission co-worker the church supports; and (3) a dinner with Nancy Collins (in east Africa) and some Outreach folks. Carrying over into December was a talk by outgoing Young Adult Volunteer Luke Van Marter to current Youth Group folks and Youth Group alumni/ae. The month plus helped focus the church’s attention on mission.

- Ministry opportunity fair. In October Outreach put together displays about its work and arranged for displays by several CHPC ministries and CHPC partner organizations (many of them staffed with people to respond to questions): greeters ministry, Guatemala mission partnership, Habitat for Humanity, joint three-church English as a foreign-language teaching ministry, PC(USA) international mission co-worker liaison team, Presbyterian Community Center, Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville, and United Crescent Hill Ministries. Participating in this were Amy Linfield (who designed two beautiful displays), Ana Lara, Bob Abrams, Diana Stephen, Jamie McMillin, Jennifer Thalman Kepler, Lowell Linder, Stephen Bartlett, and Wanda Abrams, along with mission partners Irene Spicer and Lori Jacobs. Several dozen Crescent Hill folks signed Christmas cards for the mission co-workers, and their families, who the church supports, and several people signed up for volunteering or to receive more information for each of the ministries with displays/sign-up sheets. The Latin American food in the Outreach Council corner (which Lowell supplied) was among the most popular at this very successful event, and drew more people to the displays (pictured below). The event also pushed Outreach to pull together more detailed information about fall 2010 volunteer opportunities with some dozen ministries with which the church works.

- Preschool. 2010 was a time of promotion, reflection, and restructuring for this 50-year-old-plus children’s ministry of the church. Licensing issues, up-and-down enrollments, staff changes, the economic downturn, and changing marketing strategies helped trigger a discussion among Outreach Council, the session, and especially the preschool board about the preschool’s future. A mid-year marketing campaign that included several dozen Crescent Hill families and individuals putting CHPC Preschool yard signs in their front yards, and inviting opportunities to talk about the preschool and the church in general with neighbors, netted just enough students to continue preschool operations during the 2010-2011 school year. Discussions about the future (of both the preschool and ministries to children in the community, in general) continue. Participating on the board are Ada Asenjo, Katherine Futrell, Pastor Jane, Janine Linder, Julie Leake, Lucy Steilberg (board chairperson), Lowell Linder, Sally Flick (preschool director), and Tom Peterson.

- New members. Two classes of 16 people total joined, affiliated, or associated with Crescent Hill church, in March and October. Those included: Andrew Black and Dawn Black, Anne Del Prince, Dana Hemming, Donna Burch and Marsha Berry, Eric Proctor and Laura Hayes, Jennifer Thalman Kepler and Paul Kepler, Jim Hubert and Kristy Hubert, Kara Smith and Taylor Smith, Risa Musto, and Stephanie Gregory (who moved from affiliation to membership). Pastor Jane and Lucy Steilberg helped coordinate new member activities and connecting new members and sponsors.

- Giving and benevolence. Outreach helped coordinate the church’s participation in four churchwide special offerings, the One Great Hour of Sharing offering (which helps fund the PC(USA)’s Disaster Assistance, Hunger, and Self-Development of People ministries), Pentecost Offering (which funds PC(USA) ministries for at-risk children), Peacemaking Offering (which helps fund the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program), and Christmas Joy Offering (which helps fund assistance to needy active and retired church workers and PC(USA)-related racial ethnic schools and colleges). This year the church received about $7,300, down slightly from the previous year, when there were fewer competing giving opportunities. That includes $2,715 for the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, $1,321 for Pentecost, $1,862 for Peacemaking, and $1,398 for Christmas Joy. Two of these offerings include local funding opportunities, and Outreach recommended that $330 of the Pentecost Offering receipts go to support the Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children and that $465 of the Peacemaking Offering go to help support the peacemaking lecture series at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, in honor of Professor George Edwards, who died in 2010, and Jean Edwards. Brad Wigger, Chris Snyder, Janine Linder, Jerry Van Marter, Martha Gee, Ruth Farrell, Sally Pendleton, Shannon Langley, and Stephen Bartlett helped promote the offerings. Outreach made recommendations about use of the brand-new CHPC Mission Fund, including $1,000 that went to the United Crescent Hill Ministries (and got the church a logo on the December Santa Sprint and Stroll promotional materials and T-shirt) and $500 to the EFL ministry. Outreach also worked with Dave Bush and UCHM to turn some $800 Crescent Hill church folks donated into $4,000 for utility assistance for Crescent Hill residents (through the Metro Match program) and to have Crescent Hill church folks donate nonperishable food items for UCHM’s emergency food assistance program once a month, instead of just once a year. Outreach played a role in a successful December effort to shore up end-of-the-year finances, which helped the church keep its 2010 benevolence commitments.

- New ministries. Outreach Council blessed and helped provide an advisory committee member (Lowell Linder) for an outreach ministry with French-speaking African immigrants and other French-speaking people. Helmed by Kashama Lengulula and Paula Tibbs, the ministry began offering Sunday afternoon worship services in the CHPC sanctuary in November. Outreach also helped provide a member (Lowell Linder) to a new board for the CHPC Community Garden, as well as $500 to the year-old EFL ministry.

- Neighborhood outreach. Outreach Council talked periodically during the year about ways to reach out to Crescent Hill/Clifton neighbors. The Council continued to have the church buy ads in the Crescent Hill Community Newsletter, mailed to residents, and considered other strategies.

-- Perry