Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a College Graduate!

 Saturday afternoon was Parker's graduation from Florida Southern College. His graduation was held at the FP Funding Center (the old Lakeland Convention Center) where we used to attend Annual Conference and where Daryl and I both were ordained. 

Parker and his roomate Eddie before the ceremony started. 

Grandmommy was able to join us for the big day. 

It was FSC's largest ever graduating class! And in the program Parker was recognized for graduating "summa cum laude." 

Processing in. 

On stage is retired Bishop Bob Fannin (who we went to England with in 2011) and the current Bishop's assistant Alex Shanks, who is a member of the FSC Board of Trustees. Bishop Fannin gave the invocation. 

And here is the video of Parker's name being called and him walking across the stage. 

After the ceremony it was raining outside so we took all our pictures inside the convention center. 

We went to dinner as a family at one of Parker's favorites - Harry's in downtown Lakeland. Then everyone else went home and Parker and I worked on packing up his apartment. After running some furniture for storage to Grandmommy's, we came back and went to the Joinery for May Day Ice Cream. 

We finished packing a little in the morning and got the cars about half loaded. Then we cleaned up and went to church at First UMC in Auburndale where the Hill family is. Parker has worshipped here while at school over the last four years. Today was youth Sunday so we got to see the whole Hill family in action. It was a wonderful service!

After church we went back and finished loading the cars just in time for Parker's check out appointment. 

So for one last Lakeland treat, I took him to Lovebird Chicken for lunch. 

Grad Countdown is On!

These signs went up in our yard this week. Both of these boys graduate in May! 

And Parker's school had a big event today for seniors. One time a year the graduating seniors are permitted to get inside the Frank Lloyd Wright Water Dome Fountain (without the $5,000 penalty!) He is in the little tiny yellow circle in the middle of the picture. 

 

Team Parker

Parker has enjoyed playing intramural sports at school and his ultimate frisbee team won the championship this year!!!

 

FSC Beyond

Bishop Berlin preached this week at the student ministry at Florida Southern for homecoming week. 

Parker went and ran into Robert Bledsoe from our district - when Robert was in college, he served as our intern at Belleview and Druid Hills. 

 

Parker MBA program

Parker applied earlier this summer to Florida Southern College's MBA+1 program. 

And he got his acceptance letter!!!!  

He'll take a few classes as electives (at undergraduate rates) during his senior year and then just need one additional year to finish up his master's degree. We're very proud of him! 
 

Annual Conference Week - Part Two

Thursday of Annual Conference was Clergy Session first. This is the one that Latricia and I get to lead as we vote on all the clergy changes from the Board of Ordained Ministry. 

 

 

My friend Tracy Hunter was back in town for clergy session. So good to see her again! 

 

I got to celebrate with this outgoing and incoming pastor at Hope UMC Cape Coral in my district - also known as mother and son! 

Bishop Charlene Kammerer was back in Florida to celebrate the first wave of women clergy with special anniversaries - 50 years since her ordination. 

Our friends the Weavers were also at conference as delegates. 

And Daryl and I finished up the first night at the Methodists for Social Action (MFSA) dinner. 

 

Annual Conference Week - Part One

I started the weekend by worshipping at Pine Island United Methodist Church on Sunday. 

On Tuesday, Latricia and I had a meeting with Bishop Berlin to go over the schedule for the week and prep for clergy session. And then Daryl and I attended the cabinet dinner at Garden Bistro on Lake Morton in Lakeland. 

I've been doing this fitness and food plan (Faster Way) since February 15. The hotel gym was tiny and pretty bare, so I brought a bunch of my equipment from home to keep up with things. 

On Wednesday, I met some of the youth delegation who were interested in calling to ministry for lunch. We had a lovely time together. 

Then Bishop Berlin and I led a meeting for all of the extension ministers (those who serve beyond the local church; technically I'm an extension minister as conference staff). 

At the evening's picnic, the cabinet competed in a bucket challenge against the youth delegates and we won! 

Daryl and I ran into some familiar faces from previous churches too. That was fun!

And then at the Laity kickoff that night, our district lay leader got to speak from the microphone to invite people to give to the Annual Conference Offering.