Just as the the ball in Times Square was being prepared to drop and all is finalized for our Northern Ireland mission trip, we’ve added the 8th and final team member.
Presuming all are accepted, the team will consist of 6 females and 2 males. Interestingly, only 3 team members will be attending high school after the trip is over.
With exactly 5 months to go, we only need another $15,600. Not too shabby, eh?
I got about as far as I expected to on the pool table. The main sanding is complete and a coat of primer now covers everything.
Since the primer for the orange part is really peach… The pool table looks like it belongs in a candy store. Hopefully tomorrow I will make some serious progress and maybe even get it done. I think I have about 3-4 more coats of paint to go. So far, so good.
That’s right. Today is one of those rare double days off. I get the day off because it’s my scheduled day off plus it’s a holiday so I get the day off.
At Blue Cross [my former employer of 7 years from 95-02] I would get an extra day off when this happened, but in ministry this usually means I don’t take a day off at all. Funny math, eh?
Today, I am having breakfast with a deacon. (I enjoy that greatly) Then I am off to the LF room to work more on the pool table. Hopefully by the end of the afternoon I’ll have it all sanded and primed. Then later tonight we are going to a friends house from the church for a big New Year’s bash. Something tells me there won’t be any booze at this? I consider it half work and half fun since there will be tons of students there and their parents. This will hardly be a rest.
I’m not mad about the no day off deal. In all reality it is my fault. I made the choice to schedule these things and I am happy with it. If I really wanted the day off I could take it.
This is the joy of having a super-flexible work schedule since I can work as much or as little as I like.
Tonight is the 7th of the 8 Crazy Nights series. As I write this the early arrivals are enjoying xbox, NES, and PS2 all throughout the building.
8 Crazy Nights has been a success, but I am tired. I long for some days off at grad school where I can be alone and not have to worry about endless details. I also look forward to the relative silence as I drive to Huntington and back.
Next year? Too soon to make a decision. I think it has been great in a lot of ways, but I would need to hand off parts of it if I were to do it again.
Every time we have a youth event or even church I am getting a massive headache.
Why am I getting headaches? Well, it has to do with how I am being treated by the people of the church. I love them, they seem to love me, but I am just getting overwhelmed by their constant talking to me.
Here is the scene that practically kills me each week. Light Force will end at 8:30 PM. About half of the students and their parents will leave within a few minutes, but about half of them will all want to hang out in the room. Great right? Yes it is great. But then 2-3 students at a time will ask me questions, tell me about their weeks, ect. Of course, I love this interaction and would relish in it if it were done in a quiet and organized way… But all of them are talking to me at the same time.
One student will tell me about their weeks events. A parent will interrupt to ask me about an event. Another student will chime in about something random. Another student will want to tell me about a picture… And the original student still wants to talk about their week. It leaves me absolutely spinning when they finally do leave.
It is normal over the last 2-3 months that I get home utterly overwhelmed by this. I don’t want to talk to the kids. (Who desperately need their daddy!) I don’t want to talk to Kristen. (Who desperately needs her husband!) All I want to do is vegetate and watch TV or escape to the basement to browse the internet aimlessly.
Dear God, please help me find a way to solve this problem. I love these people, but the headaches are a headache. Help me to find a way to minister to Your people and still want to go home and be with my family.
I can’t figure this out completely but my new gmail account is getting loads and loads of SPAM. Thankfully, it is pretty much just harmless advertising and doesn’t seem to be anything damaging, it’s just annoying to look at.
As of right now, since Sunday I’ve received 1052 SPAMs. If I needed a loan or movie rentals or a dating service or vitamins or stolen video games… I now know exactly where to go.
I contacted the gmail team to see if there was anything I could do to block this or figure out where it was coming from so I could stop it… Their only suggestion was to set up filters. I’ve learned from experience that this doesn’t work. The long and short of it is that the spam account I created to catch all of this seems to be working. It’s annoying, but working.
I’m not sure if refelting is a word, but the Light Force pool table got refelted today. One of the deacons who had seen it done once really made it happen. I just kept him company and looked pretty.
Now I just have to get around to sanding, filling some holes, and painting it. But at this stage in the game, it is at least playable. (Though I might be closing it off until a grand opening or something like that.
I suspect this may be 100,000-150,000 by the time it’s all said and done.
The eerie sight of dead bodies being buried in mass graves littered TV screens yesterday. Is there any amount of relief that can relieve this terrible suffering?
A couple of things worth noting:
Two wonderful saints just dropped by the church. I don’t think I’ve ever met either of them before, but it was a pleasure to meet them.
Both of the ladies names were Elizabeth. (A name I am partial too, the two women in my life share that as their middle name!) This mother/daughter combo is full of energy and joy, they were a great encouragement to me. Though there stay was brief and they only wanted a bulletin, I pray that will darken my door again.
Praise God for allowing small things to happen that encourage me.