Jury Duty

Today I had my first jury duty experience. Ever since my high school government teacher told us we should take advantage of jury duty as a way to learn about the justice system I've been fascinated by the idea of being on a jury.

I was actually looking forward to the process - until I realized that on Monday I'm supposed to be in Pasadena for our Fuller staff meetings with all the staff from around the country. We do this just twice a year, and I've been looking forward to it for 6 months! Not only is it so fun, but we have meetings and training sessions that will affect my job for the next year. So I started to get a little nervous, but thought, "Nah, what are the chances?"

Shows what I know. I got what I asked for - I learned a lot about the jury system, starting with you never know what to expect and should prepare for anything! I figured I could check in over the phone and not even have to go in - wrong. I figured with only two trials that day and 100 people in the room I wouldn't be called - wrong. I figured if I did get called to a courtroom that they would do the selection that day and the chances were that I wouldn't be selected anyway and life would be back to normal before Monday - wrong.

On the way up to the courtroom I ran into a friend from church who happens to work in the D.A.'s office. It was fun to see a friendly face in a strange place! When we got to the courtroom they read the details of the case, and then had us fill out a questionnaire. Although my buddy wasn't in the courtroom, the D.A.'s office was prosecuting the case. On the questionnaire they asked if we knew anyone in the justice system in Oakland, so I mentioned my friend's name. I was hoping a little bit that would be my ticket out of there and my ticket to Pasadena, but also not wanting to exploit the system and be a whiner.

Then the judge said we would need come back another day for jury selection - on Monday! We had the option to fill out a "hardship" form if we wanted to be excused from the case. We had a two hour break and had to come back to plead our case before the judge. My heart was pounding the entire two hours! I spent time talking on the phone with my co-workers and Danny trying to come up an argument the judge would accept. I felt bad the whole time since I really didn't want to skip out on the system, but I really wanted to be part of the staff time in Pasadena!

I came back at the right time with butterflies in my stomach, ready to be grilled by the judge on why I wasn't smart enough to postpone jury duty before the day it began. (Like I said, I realize now how naive I was about the system.) Then the court clerk came out and said the judge had looked over our questionnaires and had a list of people who were excused. I held my breath...and my name was on the list! I'm thinking that the fact that I already bought plane tickets for next week and the fact that I know a guy in the D.A.'s office probably combined to get me excused.

I had been praying all day about it, alternating between selfish "I want to go to Pasadena!" prayers and "Take control and do what's best" prayers. When I heard my name called I was really thanking God! Danny asked me later if I would have thought to put my friend's name down on the questionnaire unless I had run into him, and I'm not sure that I would have! God may have thrown me a little bone by having our paths cross.

So I'm relieved of jury duty for a year, get to get on a plane and see my friends on Sunday, and learned a lot in the process. Not too bad for a day I didn't have to go work. (Now that my heart has stopped pounding, the change of pace was nice!)

Other than that, here's a quick run-down of what we've been up to:
- In one weekend, we went to a musical, a wedding, and a funeral
- The funeral was for an elder at the Campbell church who died suddenly of a heart attack. Browning was a dear friend, my adviser and confidante while I was a missionary in Japan, and I feel more like I lost a grandfather than an elder. Through the grieving process I've learned that not all churches have elders like Campbell elders, who are true shepherds and pastors and not just administrators. I'm truly thankful for my Campbell church family!
- The day Browning died Danny and I had tickets to see Bon Jovi in San Jose. I had been looking forward to it for about 7 months, but I wasn't really in the mood to celebrate. But, when my boys hit the stage and got a few songs going, I was on my feet and singing along, albeit a little more somber than my usual Bon Jovi-induced hysteria. I love them in concert!
- I've begun my Spring class at Fuller, Intro to Christian Spirituality. It's exciting to be "forced" to read spiritual classics like Celebration of Discipline!
- We're still planning on a vacation, maybe to Italy, but may have to put it off because we've got sticker shock on the airline tickets. But we definitely need time off, and I need to get off the continent, so I'm praying it happens!

I think that's about it for the Fitelsons for now. Leave us some love!