Summer Staff Interviews: Emily Williams

Emily with Marcus (age 5.5), Ginny (age 3, this week!), and Logan at the vineyard after a busy morning picking strawberries in May

What's something that you enjoy doing in the summer, either growing up or these days? 

Our family has been trying to eat more seasonally (as much as is possible with two young fruit addicts in the household) since reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle last fall, so we’ve been looking forward to summer fruit season! Our neighborhood has lots of berry bushes... mostly blackberries, but also black raspberries, wineberries, and even a mulberry tree. It's such a satisfying, near-daily activity in our household, and it's fun to watch the kids monitor the berries until they're ready for eating. We also enjoy going out to Great Country Farms in Bluemont to pick strawberries, peaches, and apples, and have lunch at their cidery or winery afterwards. We love that Ginny and Marcus are learning that fruit comes from plants, not just the grocery store! 

What summer camp merit badge would you earn? 

At my camp growing up, I always loved Summit, which was a combination of rock climbing and other high ropes activities. Now, the rock climbing gym provides my favorite mixture of exercise, therapy, and extraversion (I’m actually writing this from the climbing gym!). 

If someone forced you to lead Wild Wonder, what delight of creation would you share? 

Probably something to do with languages and geography. I worked for a geography professor during undergrad, I speak Spanish and Albanian (the latter is rusty, but shows up on Pentecost!), and I traveled to 30 countries before turning 30 (I’ve since stalled out at 34… different things for different seasons!). I love the way that both the vibrancy and the similarities of world cultures illustrate God’s creativity and his love of all people.

What's your go-to or best potluck contribution? 

Brunch is one of my favorite things, so I love making a breakfast casserole. Bonus that it's also easy to make vegetarian. Or I ask Logan to bake something... he has done some great filled breads and I also love his sourdough blueberry coffee cake!

What's your ideal Sunday or sabbath rest day? Is there anything the congregation should know about your work rhythms or availability? 

I enjoy Sunday mornings most when I can be present with my family at church, especially since our kids each have different ways of engaging on Sundays. After church, we love to linger on the playground, then go home and make pancakes and eggs for brunch. I love getting a nap, and then Logan and I usually hang out in the kitchen, listen to music, and do meal prep for the week. We've also recently started a family tradition of doing some kind of roast Sunday dinner in the crockpot; our favorite so far is pasture-finished lamb shoulder!

Currently, I only work 15 hours a week with the church; my main gig is being a full-time parent and aspiring full-time human being. During the summer, my availability is fairly limited to Tuesday-Thursday mornings, plus an hour or so on weekday afternoons. Because of this, I’m not as responsive to emails as I am during the school year, and I’m much harder to pin down for calls. Please know that interacting with this community is one of the best parts of this job, so I do want to talk and email and text with you, but I try to save my limited bandwidth for the most time sensitive things!

Favorite Bible verse? 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Summer reading or movie recommendation?

I love a cosy mystery! Dorothy Sayers is probably my all time favorite author, I also really enjoy Rhys Bowen. I just read the latest installment of the Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney mysteries by Claudia Gray, a mystery series based on Jane Austen’s novels, which is really well done. (Unfortunately, book five ended on a cliffhanger and there is no projected release date for the next book, so be advised before you start!)

For movies, in the last year, I most enjoyed The Ballad of Wallis Island.  We also recently re-watched Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, which is fabulous. If I could only watch one movie for the rest of my life, that would be it!