Faytene's "cute" husband is rendered sheepish

[Posted at Bene Diction Blogs On July 30, 2011] Faytene Grasseschi—the former Faytene Kryskow—is not done with Canada yet. But she’s just started to figure out how to keep her new husband Robert Grasseschi busy while on the sawdust trail. Faytene and her friend and mentor Patricia King held a conference July 21-23 in the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, the Awakening Love Fest. A blooper by Faytene-- which she committed at the very last session on the evening of July 23 (which was open to the public)—is a little revealing. This last event of the Awakening Love Fest might have about two thirds filled the medium sized Peoples Church in Surrey. The crowd participated in happy, excited worship. Faytene and Robert Grasseschi were formally the masters of ceremonies for each session. Faytene, I must note, was in good form at the end of the worship part of the session, leading the audience in quiet and focused contemplation, trying to focus the crowd’s attention on Christ. Well done. That part was very good, but her fumble later was less so. Faytene, as part of sharing “a couple things on our heart that we wanted to do” had been talking about her goals for the Cry rally in Ottawa on August 27. I’ll deal with that in another post. So, as I mentioned, she was talking about her plans which led naturally to her wanting tp lead in prayer for Israel, specifically American policy towards Israel. Then she said this… Faytene: “Robert is going to help me on this part. He’s an American. A cute American…” This reduced the audience to laughter, with Robert flashing a weak smile. He then proceeded to pray. A bit later, Faytene had just thanked the volunteers at the conference by offering them free prints of her paintings, which were stacked on her book table in the lobby. Wanting to move on to the next item, Faytene Grassechi then said this: Faytene: “Oh sorry Robert, I was going to let you, I was going to get you to pray, but here, why don’t you say something?” [The audience is laughing heartily. Robert has a smile on his face and says nothing.] Faytene: “We’ll figure it out, we’ll figure it out. I’m just not used to this! Do you want to say goodbye or anything?” [The audience is still laughing. Robert may have said a quiet ‘Bye” but I am not sure.] As the laughter dies down, Faytene adds this… Faytene: “He was gonna pray!...Sorry, this is reality…” We can laugh with Faytene, as this could happen to any of us, but her blooper raises a few small points. 1) Can a man in his late 30s or 40s with graying hair properly be described as “cute?” Given that we know of how Faytene has sometimes dealt with people, we have to wonder if Robert is being out in his place a bit. I mean, Faytene is at a point in her work where being described as “cute” might make her grit her teeth a bit. Why do it to Robert then? 2) This raises a broader question too. I am pleased for Robert and Faytene that they fell in love and got married. But often in the Christian context when engaged people are to be married, they undergo counseling which, among other things measures compatibility. We know that Faytene will want to continue in her evangelism, so we can wonder how a former would-be actor such as Robert would fit into what Faytene is already doing. If Faytene had decided, say, that she wanted to start making movies or long form videos, Robert would be a great help. 3) With respect to Robert, how long does it take to plan to give him something to do? The very first time that I heard Patricia Cocking--as she then was--speak, her husband was helping at the book table. If Robert needs to work up to pulpit time, or doesn’t care for it, and he’s is coming along anyways, why not save an airfare and give him a job of this kind? Robert seems like a really nice guy from what I saw. Hopefully he won’t be treated as a bit of an afterthought in the future, as I fear that he might have been a week ago…