Visiting Vineyard

Today we ventured out to visit a new church - Vineyard Church @ Anaheim, see here.

Wayne informed me when I first got here that there was a Vineyard church near were he lives. I asked if we could go since I've heard a lot about Vineyard churches and wanted to have a Vineyard experience.

I was impressed by the size of the church. The sanctuary had signs indicating north, south, east, or west entrances. We entered through the north entrance and found seats. Worship had already started and it was better than anything that I've heard on any of the Vineyard's CDs; it is true that live worship is better than any recorded worship. The Pastor was laid back, but shared a powerful message about giving and forgiveness. After service, we stopped by the Newcomer's area and picked up our free guest packet, which included a free Vineyard CD and coffee gift certificate at their bookstore cafe. We visited the bookstore and all got coffee. We truly enjoyed sitting in the cafe and sharing stories.

We decided to stop by a Chinese restaurant on the way home for lunch. This was no ordinary Chinese restaurant that one would find in Potsdam. The wait staff brought carts loaded with food to our table and we selected different dishes. Most of the dishes contained food that I couldn't eat. Consequently, I ordered off the menu.

This past summer I remembered ordering sticky rice when I visited a Thai restaurant with Theresa and Blanche this past summer. I asked Irene if this restaurant would have sticky rice and she said yes. We ordered sticky rice. It was not what I had in mind since it was wrapped in some sort of kale leaf. Three waiters came to our table to inquire what exactly I wanted. I said sticky rice with mango. They all agreed that they had that and departed the table. One waiter returned within minutes with a bowl full of rice that looked like it had hot peppers in it. I shook my head and informed him that this is not what I had wanted. The waiter then asked me if it was the sticky rice dessert. I said yes. He departed with the dish he had brought and appeared minutes later with what looked like what I was expecting. One bite, though, told me that it was not. That was ok because Irene liked it and she brought home with us.

This is my last evening in southern California. I travel back to NNY beginning tomorrow night. I'm taking a red eye flight and will arrive in Syracuse Tuesday morning. I look forward to coming home and getting back into the routine of things. I'm sure that my two cats will be happy to see me too.