the Carnival continues!

I live in the suburbs of Chicago. I don't know if this is true in other places, but out here we have a system for celebrating the Fourth of July--a system that spans 5 days throughout the metro area. If you wanted, you could attend a fireworks show every night for five nights! Each city, town, and village has its own celebration, sometimes including a festival with live music and carnival rides, often including booths from local restaurants, and always including a fireworks show that lasts anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes and costs from 17,000 to 100,000 dollars.

fireworks over Crystal Lake, July 7th

My own suburb's fireworks show was last night. It was pretty good--about 20 minutes of colors and shapes exploding in the sky, followed about 2 seconds later by the sound. (I admit that I was grateful not to be a dog-owner these past several days...)

One of the great things about fireworks is that you never quite know what's coming next, and you never know if this is the grand finale or if there's something even better coming.

So for this week's carnival topic, let's keep the fun going by pondering something surprising...

What's the most surprising connection you've made through RevGalBlogPals? Or the most surprising or helpful thing you've learned/experienced through this galship of friends?
of course, feel free to interpret the question however you'd like--"connection" could mean with another person or a congregation or even just bits of information that finally connect into a coherence you never expected. Things you've learned or experienced may have been helpful, surprising, or even surprisingly helpful though they at first seemed silly. Your experience and imagination is the limit--there are no wrong answers, only stories we all want to hear!

Post a response on your blog and send us the link! Or post your answer in the Facebook Group, or in the comments here. On Wednesday we'll collect them up and have yet another feast of fellowship to enjoy!