The weeds, mainly the ones with the plans to take over leadership and remake our fellowship into their image, began to campaign quietly for the removal of certain staff. At the same time, there were a number of parents of young adolescents who had become disappointed that a popular young staffer had not been promoted to a full-time permanent position. A story was spread that this young person had been sabotaged in his position by others who were jealous of the young one's popularity. Their wrath was particularly focused on his immediate supervisor - the steady, albeit uninspiring leader of the youth group:, however, there was much more to the story that remained hidden behind the scenes. The weeds used the anger with the supervisor as the means to have him removed and replaced with their guy. Every week, the weeds' ringleaders worked side by side in ministry with the man they sought to replace and regularly reminded their temporary allies that he was the cause for their favorite leaving our church. And so the weeds turned the natural frustration of others into a reason for removing this leader, whom they saw as an obstacle to their takeover plans and lobbied to have their own candidate installed as a replacement.
I wish I could say then that I knew what was happening around me, but I didn't. I knew that the guy they wanted out lacked support from a certain crowd, but I never knew why; these people didn't prefer the young leader to the more experienced one. I was completely unaware, as were the majority of their allies, that the weeds plotted a mini coup to remove our pastoral staff and replace all of them with those aligned with their fundamentalist theology. Had members of their alliance known what the real intent, it would have fizzled immediately.
There were agendas and motives that seemed to compete against one another. I was aware that the young leader had additional, more powerful foes that helped to engineer his exit, this had nothing to do with how these foes regarded the young man's immediate superior. This small group of church members had their own bad reasons for seeking leadership change and certainly weren't interested in bringing in someone who would be obliged to rival faction. They pushed their own candidate as a replacement instead.
Having parental support can be very important, but support is no substitute for skill and qualification. I learned very quickly that the one under the weeds' patronage was in way over his head - without education, experience, or skill to manage a group without an extreme mount of help. When that promised help dissolved overnight leaving me alone with him to lead the ministry, I knew it would be an even greater challenge. As soon as their chosen replacement had his first stumble, his patrons backed away from their endorsement and remarked, "That's what happens when you pick unqualified people for a job." The ones who had been duped by the weeds into supporting the change soon discovered that their teens didn't like this new leader any better than the one they got rid of; these kids had already checked out of our church, never to return.
The weeds were fine with the others leaving because he removed most of the public school students. Even if the weeds' own children weren't happy with their leader, they were certain that it would be a strict environment regardless. Until it wasn't, that is. One family from the weeds left to find a more constrained youth group for their child and forbade his interactions with his former friends at church. The result was a disaster; their son rebelled and left Christianity altogether. Within six months the remaining weed leaders realized that their man was not as easily controlled as they desired and even though most of the volunteer staff had quit, still one remained (me) who didn't fit their ideal. They began to complain more openly about the church as a whole and specifically about the awfulness of the youth group. When the remaining students themselves refused to attend, the church had no other choice but to again seek a more satisfactory replacement.
The last of the ringleader weeds eventually left our church when their final demands were not resolved to their liking by church leadership; they led others out, but left a small cadre of like-minded friends behind. Sadly, the ones left behind turned out to be more powerful and destructive to the church as a whole. More on that in my next post...
Monday, March 23, 2020
Reconnecting During a Quarantine: Stubborn Weeds
Nearly eight years ago I postponed posting to this blog. Things at work became crazy busy and the nature of my work made that aspect of my life off limits to blogging. My other life at church seemed to take a back seat to my professional career which I was trying to finish well prior to hanging it up for good. The youth ministry in which I served and had previously been headed by leaders with dubious character and/or qualifications was then being headed by someone of good integrity, experience and education. Not long before my last post, the final holdovers still in leadership from previous awful regime moved on and out of our church. Our youth group was significantly smaller, however a large graduating class of middle schoolers was coming up in 2013. The situation at church seemed hopeful and the future exciting. However, the "weeds" planted by the enemy are very stubbornly removed, even if new ones aren't being added.
The most nefarious weeds, I discovered, were the ones in which people pretended to be ones who cared about the spiritual welfare of others in our church when in reality, they sought control or power for their own selfish ambitions. The holdovers in youth ministry were one example of this, two of them had become involved with the group back in the days we had mistakenly hired someone who preyed on students for his own selfish desires. These two had their own selfish reasons to minister to students, none of which involved helping them learn to follow Christ. They instead looked to youth ministry to reconstruct their own self-described painful teen years into happier ones; they behaved not as responsible mentoring adults, but acted as giddy teenage peers wanting to hear the latest dating gossip. When the scandal over the leader's bad acts was revealed some months after he was terminated, their own participation in the coverup up of his deeds in order to stay in his good graces and remain in the group became known. Despite their role in the whole mess, they were allowed to remain in ministry and continued their divisive presence.
During that time frame, new people entered our church, some who had grand plans to turn our church into something that would be comfortable for them; it would be a church that had no room for "those people" - folks who looked differently with piercings, tattoos, or casual clothes, or who didn't fit into their fundamentalist ideal of what Christians should be. They were clever with these plans; they shared their goals only with others whom they believed were on the same page. Some wanted to be in positions of power in order to get their pet project or mission funded by the congregation. Others wanted a platform to showcase their skills. None of these people talked about wanting those who don't know Jesus to find Him.
These attitudes were also held by teenagers who garnered these thoughts from their legalistic parents. "Holiness" was gauged by how closely how others conformed to their standard, not how their heart reflected God's love and mercy. It helped to force out an honorable, but unexciting youth pastor when these same folks demanded "someone else" (a someone who was more like them - homeschooled, for example, and who would enforce certain rules determined by the "fundies.")
At this point, the "weeds" had now reproduced on their own since no one had yet recognized their growing danger to the healthy and young plants of our church family. More on these weeds next time.
The most nefarious weeds, I discovered, were the ones in which people pretended to be ones who cared about the spiritual welfare of others in our church when in reality, they sought control or power for their own selfish ambitions. The holdovers in youth ministry were one example of this, two of them had become involved with the group back in the days we had mistakenly hired someone who preyed on students for his own selfish desires. These two had their own selfish reasons to minister to students, none of which involved helping them learn to follow Christ. They instead looked to youth ministry to reconstruct their own self-described painful teen years into happier ones; they behaved not as responsible mentoring adults, but acted as giddy teenage peers wanting to hear the latest dating gossip. When the scandal over the leader's bad acts was revealed some months after he was terminated, their own participation in the coverup up of his deeds in order to stay in his good graces and remain in the group became known. Despite their role in the whole mess, they were allowed to remain in ministry and continued their divisive presence.
During that time frame, new people entered our church, some who had grand plans to turn our church into something that would be comfortable for them; it would be a church that had no room for "those people" - folks who looked differently with piercings, tattoos, or casual clothes, or who didn't fit into their fundamentalist ideal of what Christians should be. They were clever with these plans; they shared their goals only with others whom they believed were on the same page. Some wanted to be in positions of power in order to get their pet project or mission funded by the congregation. Others wanted a platform to showcase their skills. None of these people talked about wanting those who don't know Jesus to find Him.
These attitudes were also held by teenagers who garnered these thoughts from their legalistic parents. "Holiness" was gauged by how closely how others conformed to their standard, not how their heart reflected God's love and mercy. It helped to force out an honorable, but unexciting youth pastor when these same folks demanded "someone else" (a someone who was more like them - homeschooled, for example, and who would enforce certain rules determined by the "fundies.")
At this point, the "weeds" had now reproduced on their own since no one had yet recognized their growing danger to the healthy and young plants of our church family. More on these weeds next time.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
The Youth Worker’s Lament
You were once a student in our youth ministry. Every week you came to youth group, both Sundays and midweek. You never missed a camp and hardly ever missed an outing. You even brought your friends who didn’t know Jesus to come along and you prayed regularly for their salvation. You read your Bible and prayed often; you were frequently the first to share the answer to a question asked in Sunday School. As you grew in your Christian walk, you branched out in ministry –working with younger kids in the children’s program, helping to lead worship or working behind the scenes in a support role. Eventually, you went on a mission trip and you were so inspired by it all that you believed it was possible that God was calling you to full-time ministry.
But then it happened . . . you graduated high school. It was time to move on to college. We warned you that you needed to stay connected to a good church if you moved away from ours or if you remained in town to get plugged into our college group. However, college groups aren’t nearly as exciting or adventurous as our youth group. Emotionally, you just wanted to remain a high school senior for while longer –with no pressure or expectation to be anything more than a youth in a youth group. It became easier and easier to sleep in on Sunday mornings, especially when you stayed out late Saturday night. It was too difficult to go out to Bible Study during the week because you needed to study or maybe because you now have a new group of cool friends who just aren’t into church.
Then you met that one person who showed a special interest in you; they thought you were smart, cute and funny. You felt the same way about them. It sort of bothered you at first that they weren’t a Christian; you had been warned that Christians shouldn’t date non-Christians but surely the youth leaders didn’t have this one in mind when they gave that warning. After all, your beloved is the one of the nicest, most moral persons you ever met, better even than most Christians you knew. Anyway, you thought to yourself, “How could a loving God judge my friend so negatively, condemning them to hell for not believing in Jesus?”
Not long after, you began to question some other things you had been taught in youth group: whether Jesus is the only way to eternal life, the Bible is God’s Word and is reliable, it’s important to be in fellowship with God and with other believers, and the idea that Christ followers should live righteously, avoiding sexual immorality. The last idea really got in the way of things with your beloved who wasn’t taught the principle that sexual activity was reserved for husbands and wives inside marriage. They grew up in a culture that allowed everyone to do anything with anyone as long as no one got hurt. Pre-marital sex was about determining “compatibility” with your partner and having fun. Co-habitation is just a form of trial marriage, taking the car for a test drive before locking the buyer into a contract. And so, day by day, bit by bit, you surrendered your Christian values to your lover, adopting their world view as your own. You have a whole new notion of what “fun” is now – parties, drinking and hooking up with the one you’re with. The fun you experienced in youth group was nothing like this.
It’s been a few years since you were my student, but I have watched you from afar, observing how you keep moving further and further away from Christ and the things I taught you. I still remember the faithful student who, like the Apostle Peter, promised never to deny Christ nor fall away from Him. I also remember telling you about seeing ones just like you make the same promise and show a similar commitment in our youth group but who later went astray from their faith. You laughed and thought I was just being cynical and pessimistic, but here you are. I know that deep down, if you truly were a child of God, you know the desperate state of your soul today. You know you are not right with God and there is a misery caused by the Holy Spirit’s conviction of your sin that no amount of alcohol, drugs or sex can really wipe away. I know you long for the joy of your salvation you once knew. I plead with you to come back now. The longer you remain away from God, the more your conscience is seared. When God can no longer get the attention of His children through kindness, He often uses more drastic means, i.e. as the Bible teaches, the Lord disciplines those He loves. I know this from personal, difficult experience. Please come back to the Father who waits for you with open arms.
If on the other hand, you were never really born again into God’s family and your “Christian faith” you demonstrated in high school was just a ruse to impress people, you are among the most to be pitied. How sad that you were that close to the saving power of the Gospel but did not grab hold of the eternal life freely offered to you. I’m afraid that my words here will have no affect on your soul since you were able to resist successfully the pleadings of God’s Spirit in times past. However, if you can hear what I am saying, now is the time to be reconciled to God. You have no guarantee of tomorrow, no one is. In either case, I’m here to point the way to Jesus.
But then it happened . . . you graduated high school. It was time to move on to college. We warned you that you needed to stay connected to a good church if you moved away from ours or if you remained in town to get plugged into our college group. However, college groups aren’t nearly as exciting or adventurous as our youth group. Emotionally, you just wanted to remain a high school senior for while longer –with no pressure or expectation to be anything more than a youth in a youth group. It became easier and easier to sleep in on Sunday mornings, especially when you stayed out late Saturday night. It was too difficult to go out to Bible Study during the week because you needed to study or maybe because you now have a new group of cool friends who just aren’t into church.
Then you met that one person who showed a special interest in you; they thought you were smart, cute and funny. You felt the same way about them. It sort of bothered you at first that they weren’t a Christian; you had been warned that Christians shouldn’t date non-Christians but surely the youth leaders didn’t have this one in mind when they gave that warning. After all, your beloved is the one of the nicest, most moral persons you ever met, better even than most Christians you knew. Anyway, you thought to yourself, “How could a loving God judge my friend so negatively, condemning them to hell for not believing in Jesus?”
Not long after, you began to question some other things you had been taught in youth group: whether Jesus is the only way to eternal life, the Bible is God’s Word and is reliable, it’s important to be in fellowship with God and with other believers, and the idea that Christ followers should live righteously, avoiding sexual immorality. The last idea really got in the way of things with your beloved who wasn’t taught the principle that sexual activity was reserved for husbands and wives inside marriage. They grew up in a culture that allowed everyone to do anything with anyone as long as no one got hurt. Pre-marital sex was about determining “compatibility” with your partner and having fun. Co-habitation is just a form of trial marriage, taking the car for a test drive before locking the buyer into a contract. And so, day by day, bit by bit, you surrendered your Christian values to your lover, adopting their world view as your own. You have a whole new notion of what “fun” is now – parties, drinking and hooking up with the one you’re with. The fun you experienced in youth group was nothing like this.
It’s been a few years since you were my student, but I have watched you from afar, observing how you keep moving further and further away from Christ and the things I taught you. I still remember the faithful student who, like the Apostle Peter, promised never to deny Christ nor fall away from Him. I also remember telling you about seeing ones just like you make the same promise and show a similar commitment in our youth group but who later went astray from their faith. You laughed and thought I was just being cynical and pessimistic, but here you are. I know that deep down, if you truly were a child of God, you know the desperate state of your soul today. You know you are not right with God and there is a misery caused by the Holy Spirit’s conviction of your sin that no amount of alcohol, drugs or sex can really wipe away. I know you long for the joy of your salvation you once knew. I plead with you to come back now. The longer you remain away from God, the more your conscience is seared. When God can no longer get the attention of His children through kindness, He often uses more drastic means, i.e. as the Bible teaches, the Lord disciplines those He loves. I know this from personal, difficult experience. Please come back to the Father who waits for you with open arms.
If on the other hand, you were never really born again into God’s family and your “Christian faith” you demonstrated in high school was just a ruse to impress people, you are among the most to be pitied. How sad that you were that close to the saving power of the Gospel but did not grab hold of the eternal life freely offered to you. I’m afraid that my words here will have no affect on your soul since you were able to resist successfully the pleadings of God’s Spirit in times past. However, if you can hear what I am saying, now is the time to be reconciled to God. You have no guarantee of tomorrow, no one is. In either case, I’m here to point the way to Jesus.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Farewell to 2011
It's hard to believe that the year is down to its last few hours. So much has happened in the past twelve months -some good, some bad. We've said goodbye to some friends who are now in the presence of Jesus while we welcomed the new life of little babies into the world. I saw High School students grow in their relationship with Christ and in turn help lead others to faith as well. The world remains a fearful and unsettling place to many, some put their trust in Mayan visions of the Apocalypse instead of putting their confidence in the Lord of All. Others look for the government to solve their problems, but political solutions seem inadequate. Strong dictators come and go while people "occupy" and protest that democracy is failing them.
In the midst of all this chaos, God remains in control; nothing happens outside His notice. If 2012 truly turns out to be the end, it is good to know that He is "with us always, even to the end of the world."
In the midst of all this chaos, God remains in control; nothing happens outside His notice. If 2012 truly turns out to be the end, it is good to know that He is "with us always, even to the end of the world."
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Back to Blogging
Man, it's been so long since I last posted here. It's funny how I can blog twice a day during Lightseekers Camp, but can't find the desire or time to put into my own blog. Someone recently asked if I blogged and was surprised to hear that I actually had one. What can I say? Getting my MBA sort of pushed me out of the habit and then mindless pursuits have kept me away. Perhaps I shall try the shorter, more pithy sort of blogging that Laura uses, however I'm not nearly as prosaic as she is. Maybe I should just comment on how the world is behaving these days (not very nicely, I'm afraid) or even relate about my current reading assignments. I need to ponder this, but hopefully, I'll be back again soon.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Closing Out 2010
As I sit here in the mountains, watching an old movie, I pause to reflect on this past year. Yes, this will be my one and only post for 2010, but I promise to begin blogging on this site again. For one thing, I am now done with school, finishing my MBA in late October. It had been the sinkhole for nearly all my creative writing; in all my years of primary, secondary and undergraduate education, I hadn't written as many papers as I did these past two years. Even though my last assignment was done over two months ago, it's taken me a while to shake the feeling that some assignment is due in the coming week. Perhaps once I finally see my diploma, it will truly seem real.
School was not the only great thing on my mind; work has had its moments of joy, but there have been far more moments of frustration and anxiety. The remaining 57 months before I reach retirement age cannot come too soon, I fear. The state of the economy does not help, but adds to the pressure.
The good news is that I celebrated my 50th birthday this year, bringing me that much closer to the day I can retire. It was a wonderful party, attended by nearly forty of my friends and family. My family too is growing - my brother got married and now he and his wife are expecting a son.
There have been many births this past year in the lives of my friends as well as those friends who are no longer with us. The world changes, yet the one constant remains is the Lord who created it all. He is our peace, our hope and our life. When things seem to crumble, He is there; when we experience joy beyond reason, He is there too. As we move into a new year, may we know the comfort of His presence and the strength of His righteous right hand.
School was not the only great thing on my mind; work has had its moments of joy, but there have been far more moments of frustration and anxiety. The remaining 57 months before I reach retirement age cannot come too soon, I fear. The state of the economy does not help, but adds to the pressure.
The good news is that I celebrated my 50th birthday this year, bringing me that much closer to the day I can retire. It was a wonderful party, attended by nearly forty of my friends and family. My family too is growing - my brother got married and now he and his wife are expecting a son.
There have been many births this past year in the lives of my friends as well as those friends who are no longer with us. The world changes, yet the one constant remains is the Lord who created it all. He is our peace, our hope and our life. When things seem to crumble, He is there; when we experience joy beyond reason, He is there too. As we move into a new year, may we know the comfort of His presence and the strength of His righteous right hand.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Mountain Quiet
I'm sitting here at Lake Arrowhead on the sofa in front of a crackling fire (I wouldn't say roaring - I've been struggling all evening to keep it aflame because the wood is wet from today's light rain.) Except for the sound of the fire and the motor of the refrigerator in the kitchen, it is completely silent. Laura is already asleep outside (she likes to sleep in the cold weather) and the neighbors who were bustling about earlier have all settled in. I've always liked the winters here because it is so tranquil and I have tried to spend my yearly break between Christmas and New Year's in the mountains. Most often I've been successful in getting away to this place and frequently I've had the pleasure of having friends join me. Yet this year, Laura and I are the only ones at the cabin; plus, there have been no phone calls, no emails, no text messages or pages. My cell phone died and I didn't even notice. I AM GLAD! After the stressful last few months of work, school, even ministry, I am delighted to just be by myself and rest. I have slept like I haven't been able to in months. Oh, I have the internet to keep informed of the outside world, but there's no live TV with the talking heads telling me what they think I need to hear.
I know that soon enough the quiet will be broken and that I will return to the everyday routine that is my life for the other 50 weeks of the year. For now, I will enjoy the time the Lord gives to restore my soul, body and mind. See you soon.
I know that soon enough the quiet will be broken and that I will return to the everyday routine that is my life for the other 50 weeks of the year. For now, I will enjoy the time the Lord gives to restore my soul, body and mind. See you soon.
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Frog and the Scorpion
It's been a while since I've blogged here - I've been relying more on the short blast messages of Facebook and Twitter, plus I've been focused more on school. However, with all the interesting things happening in the political world, I thought I would make some comments.
I've noticed that a lot of people who were previously uninvolved with politics have become quite active due to what they see as a government growing at an alarming rate coupled with elected officials who seem to ignore or belittle their constituents' protestations. I myself am somewhat of a political junkie in that I love to read various websites on a daily basis and political best-sellers but, I don't write letters, attend rallies or protests, nor do I involve myself in campaigning for issues or candidates. I also have a fairly consistent political philosophy - one of limited government,low taxes, strong military/national defense, free-market economics and conservative social values. Consequently, I tend to judge and vote for political candidates on their conformity (or lack thereof) to my own philosophy and while I obviously don't agree with the folks across the aisle from me, I would expect them to vote according to their core beliefs. I respect them at least for their loyalty to principles, if not for the beliefs themselves.
This brings me to the subject of this blog post - people, who for whatever reason, voted against their own philosophy or political bent in the last election and are now complaining that things didn't turn out the way they wanted or expected. This is very unrealistic - in what universe do human beings, particularly elected officials, consistent act contrary to their stated platform or core values? I am particularly amused at "so-called conservatives" who voted for Obama because they believed that he was "post-partisan" or that he really couldn't be as liberal as his legislative voting record indicated he was. Some conservatives and independents voted for Democrats because they wanted to teach Republicans "a lesson", naively assuming that a left of center Congress couldn't do much worse or muck things up too badly. Boy, were they wrong!It's interesting to read their comments on the websites lamenting their 2008 vote, praying that Obama, Pelosi and Reid don't inflict too much damage on our Republic before the citizenry gets a chance at a do-over in 2010 and 2012.
I guess these folks have never heard of the parable of the Frog and the Scorpion. The scorpion tries to convince the frog to ferry him across the river on his back. The frog initially rejects the scorpion's plea. "You are a scorpion and might sting me, killing me if I let you get too close." "No, Mr. Frog," said the scorpion, "I will be grateful for your kindness in granting me safe passage across the water and would never sting you. Besides, to sting you while crossing would mean the death of us both." This promise seemed reasonable to the frog and so the two commenced out across the wide river. Halfway through their journey, frog felt the sting of the scorpion's tail. "What have you done?" asked the frog as they started to sink as the poison began its deadly work, "now we will both perish. How could you break your promise not to sting me?" To which the scorpion replied, "You know what I was before I ever got on your back; I cannot deny my nature."
When those on the right side of the political spectrum decide to either vote for their foes or sit home on election day to spite members of their own party for their lack of ideological purity, they are extremely foolish, like the frog was. The two, four or six years plus that the leftists possess the reigns of power will not be pleasant, laws and policies will be passed that will fundamentally change this country forever ala FDR and the New Deal - not in a way true conservatives would find acceptable. My suggestion is that they not vote while holding a misguided "hope" that these politicians would somehow "change" into something they are not. We may not have liked the Republican alternative, but at least he was reliably pro-life and definitely not influenced by radical or Marxist heroes (Ayers, Alinsky, Wright, et al). Even if some conservatives believed that the damage caused by a leftist President's policies was minimal or recoverable, having the opposing side control all three branches of government along with the mainstream media would not be an environment in which government would get smaller, taxes would be reduced or strict constitutionalist judges would be appointed. How are these voters surprised now that they are being stung?
I've noticed that a lot of people who were previously uninvolved with politics have become quite active due to what they see as a government growing at an alarming rate coupled with elected officials who seem to ignore or belittle their constituents' protestations. I myself am somewhat of a political junkie in that I love to read various websites on a daily basis and political best-sellers but, I don't write letters, attend rallies or protests, nor do I involve myself in campaigning for issues or candidates. I also have a fairly consistent political philosophy - one of limited government,low taxes, strong military/national defense, free-market economics and conservative social values. Consequently, I tend to judge and vote for political candidates on their conformity (or lack thereof) to my own philosophy and while I obviously don't agree with the folks across the aisle from me, I would expect them to vote according to their core beliefs. I respect them at least for their loyalty to principles, if not for the beliefs themselves.
This brings me to the subject of this blog post - people, who for whatever reason, voted against their own philosophy or political bent in the last election and are now complaining that things didn't turn out the way they wanted or expected. This is very unrealistic - in what universe do human beings, particularly elected officials, consistent act contrary to their stated platform or core values? I am particularly amused at "so-called conservatives" who voted for Obama because they believed that he was "post-partisan" or that he really couldn't be as liberal as his legislative voting record indicated he was. Some conservatives and independents voted for Democrats because they wanted to teach Republicans "a lesson", naively assuming that a left of center Congress couldn't do much worse or muck things up too badly. Boy, were they wrong!It's interesting to read their comments on the websites lamenting their 2008 vote, praying that Obama, Pelosi and Reid don't inflict too much damage on our Republic before the citizenry gets a chance at a do-over in 2010 and 2012.
I guess these folks have never heard of the parable of the Frog and the Scorpion. The scorpion tries to convince the frog to ferry him across the river on his back. The frog initially rejects the scorpion's plea. "You are a scorpion and might sting me, killing me if I let you get too close." "No, Mr. Frog," said the scorpion, "I will be grateful for your kindness in granting me safe passage across the water and would never sting you. Besides, to sting you while crossing would mean the death of us both." This promise seemed reasonable to the frog and so the two commenced out across the wide river. Halfway through their journey, frog felt the sting of the scorpion's tail. "What have you done?" asked the frog as they started to sink as the poison began its deadly work, "now we will both perish. How could you break your promise not to sting me?" To which the scorpion replied, "You know what I was before I ever got on your back; I cannot deny my nature."
When those on the right side of the political spectrum decide to either vote for their foes or sit home on election day to spite members of their own party for their lack of ideological purity, they are extremely foolish, like the frog was. The two, four or six years plus that the leftists possess the reigns of power will not be pleasant, laws and policies will be passed that will fundamentally change this country forever ala FDR and the New Deal - not in a way true conservatives would find acceptable. My suggestion is that they not vote while holding a misguided "hope" that these politicians would somehow "change" into something they are not. We may not have liked the Republican alternative, but at least he was reliably pro-life and definitely not influenced by radical or Marxist heroes (Ayers, Alinsky, Wright, et al). Even if some conservatives believed that the damage caused by a leftist President's policies was minimal or recoverable, having the opposing side control all three branches of government along with the mainstream media would not be an environment in which government would get smaller, taxes would be reduced or strict constitutionalist judges would be appointed. How are these voters surprised now that they are being stung?
Friday, April 03, 2009
Stuck on Stupid
A few years back, during Hurricane Rita, there was a military commander (LTG Honore) who coined this phrase when answering reporters' inane questions about the relief effort -the reporters kept asking why such and such was done in the past while the general was trying to give out information that would be helpful to the survivors. He chided them for being "stuck on stupid" for focusing on irrelevant details that could not be changed while ignoring potentially lifesaving info that needed to be broadcast.
I commented on a similiar phenomenon in post (Not All Gloom and Doom) three years ago in which I talked about people who were "stuck" in some trauma that had happened years ago. I know a couple of people who are frozen emotionally at the point of their marriage break-ups over forty years ago. They are almost like the character of Miss Haversham in Dicken's Great Expectations. Miss Haversham had been jilted on the day of her wedding many decades before, but had shut herself up in her house wearing her dress with the cake and flowers still laid out as though expecting her tardy groom to show. Her disappointment had turned to bitterness and bitterness into hatred for all men as she trained her young ward, Stella to exact revenge on males by breaking their hearts once they had fallen in love with her.
These real Miss Havershams continue to relive their moment of pain, sometimes crying their hearts out as if the trauma occurred yesterday. Like Miss Haversham though, their hurt has turned into bitterness and over time they have become quite unpleasant to be around, save for a select few that they allow in. The ones who are even worse are the ones who seek to settle the score -not with the actual object of their victimization (the villians themselves might be dead or out of the picture), but others that these Havershams view as apt surrogates. On more than one occaision, I have been unwillingly selected as their foil. I really want to say to them,"I am not X, get over it."
I've had a Miss Haversham in my life; I wish I knew what her problem was -she definitely seems stuck in what may have been a happier time for her when she was a teenager, but that was a very long time ago. She also doesn't seem to want to have "grown-ups" around who might frown on her childish ways. In her mind, I am the evil one -the one that ruined her blissful return to her youth (or perhaps I just remind her of the one) and so she attempts to "get even with me". How silly and pathetic! Her lack of forgiveness and lack of desire for healing only hurt her, not me. Her heart, like Miss Haversham's wedding cake, becomes dark and moldy, full of the sin of bitterness.
You might say, "Aha! I know exactly of whom you speak." No, unfortunately, you may guess wrong because there are more than one Miss Haversham-types around these days. However, if you see yourself as one who is stuck on stupid and is bitterly reliving the past in order to try to feel right about yourself, get some help. We all can get in a rut every once in a while -the Miss Havershams though, end up living there.
I commented on a similiar phenomenon in post (Not All Gloom and Doom) three years ago in which I talked about people who were "stuck" in some trauma that had happened years ago. I know a couple of people who are frozen emotionally at the point of their marriage break-ups over forty years ago. They are almost like the character of Miss Haversham in Dicken's Great Expectations. Miss Haversham had been jilted on the day of her wedding many decades before, but had shut herself up in her house wearing her dress with the cake and flowers still laid out as though expecting her tardy groom to show. Her disappointment had turned to bitterness and bitterness into hatred for all men as she trained her young ward, Stella to exact revenge on males by breaking their hearts once they had fallen in love with her.
These real Miss Havershams continue to relive their moment of pain, sometimes crying their hearts out as if the trauma occurred yesterday. Like Miss Haversham though, their hurt has turned into bitterness and over time they have become quite unpleasant to be around, save for a select few that they allow in. The ones who are even worse are the ones who seek to settle the score -not with the actual object of their victimization (the villians themselves might be dead or out of the picture), but others that these Havershams view as apt surrogates. On more than one occaision, I have been unwillingly selected as their foil. I really want to say to them,"I am not X, get over it."
I've had a Miss Haversham in my life; I wish I knew what her problem was -she definitely seems stuck in what may have been a happier time for her when she was a teenager, but that was a very long time ago. She also doesn't seem to want to have "grown-ups" around who might frown on her childish ways. In her mind, I am the evil one -the one that ruined her blissful return to her youth (or perhaps I just remind her of the one) and so she attempts to "get even with me". How silly and pathetic! Her lack of forgiveness and lack of desire for healing only hurt her, not me. Her heart, like Miss Haversham's wedding cake, becomes dark and moldy, full of the sin of bitterness.
You might say, "Aha! I know exactly of whom you speak." No, unfortunately, you may guess wrong because there are more than one Miss Haversham-types around these days. However, if you see yourself as one who is stuck on stupid and is bitterly reliving the past in order to try to feel right about yourself, get some help. We all can get in a rut every once in a while -the Miss Havershams though, end up living there.
Monday, March 30, 2009
A Small Pause to Reflect
As I have mentioned earlier, my MBA coursework has been grabbing all the attention that would otherwise be reserved for blogging. In a sense, the weekly Blackboard discussion boards that we do for our classes is a form of blogging, just not readable by the general public. I probably could re-post some of my thoughts from the Ethics discussion, but it is like listening to one side of a phone conversation -you miss the whole back and forth that defines the dialogue.
This term is somewhat different in that we are having a dialogue not only with our fellow classmates from work, but also with classmates we haven't met from the main campus. It was interesting to imagine what these other students were like based on their writing styles and thought processes. However, on Saturday the two classes came together for an ethics panel in Riverside, sponsored by the University. Although we were not introduced to the others, I observed some familiar names on the name tags. There, just two tables over, were a collection of a half-dozen twenty-something males - bright and shiny MBA students.
I shouldn't have been surprised that the MBA students from the main campus were youngsters, fresh off their undergraduate programs, but I wonder if they were surprised that most of their off site counterparts were more than twice their ages. Perhaps they even felt an air of superiority over their elder classmates. I remember the cockiness of my own youth -the feeling that I and my companions had the world by the tail. We just knew that we were that much smarter than "older ones" who either had never learned what we just did or who had forgotten it many years before. Yet with age comes experience and with experience,wisdom. It is a wisdom gained not by textbooks but by living life. That life has caused me to stop form time to time and reflect upon how I got here. Hopefully, my young classmates will begin to do so as well.
This term is somewhat different in that we are having a dialogue not only with our fellow classmates from work, but also with classmates we haven't met from the main campus. It was interesting to imagine what these other students were like based on their writing styles and thought processes. However, on Saturday the two classes came together for an ethics panel in Riverside, sponsored by the University. Although we were not introduced to the others, I observed some familiar names on the name tags. There, just two tables over, were a collection of a half-dozen twenty-something males - bright and shiny MBA students.
I shouldn't have been surprised that the MBA students from the main campus were youngsters, fresh off their undergraduate programs, but I wonder if they were surprised that most of their off site counterparts were more than twice their ages. Perhaps they even felt an air of superiority over their elder classmates. I remember the cockiness of my own youth -the feeling that I and my companions had the world by the tail. We just knew that we were that much smarter than "older ones" who either had never learned what we just did or who had forgotten it many years before. Yet with age comes experience and with experience,wisdom. It is a wisdom gained not by textbooks but by living life. That life has caused me to stop form time to time and reflect upon how I got here. Hopefully, my young classmates will begin to do so as well.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Tripping Up the Gender Analyzer
There is this site that takes the content of a blog and "uses Artificial Intelligence to determine if a homepage is written by a man or woman."
The results?
"We think http://thruaglassdrkly.blogspot.com/ is written by a man (63%)."
Wrong, AI, I am definitely a woman. Maybe it's the high concentration of engineer-speak in my writing. My friend Laura comes up as a woman on hers. Maybe she uses more feeling-oriented language.
The results?
"We think http://thruaglassdrkly.blogspot.com/ is written by a man (63%)."
Wrong, AI, I am definitely a woman. Maybe it's the high concentration of engineer-speak in my writing. My friend Laura comes up as a woman on hers. Maybe she uses more feeling-oriented language.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Reflections on 2008
Now that we have finished a full week of the new year, I have decided to blog about some of the events of the past year. It was a year full of change - both for our world and for me personally. It gaves us an election season that ushered in a leftist president and equally liberal congress, propangadized for and abetted by a MSM intent on demonizing anything right wing, conservative or evangelical Christian. We saw the collapse of the financial system along with the loss of our retirement and investment assets. Gasoline prices skyrocketed only to plunge to levels of a decade earlier. All of my favorite sports teams made it to the playoffs only to lose out on their championships. Even the Beijing Olympics were more frustrating to me for what didn't happen for the USA athletically (US Women's Softball, for example) and for being the showcase for a hardline communist regime than for the truimphs of Michael Phelps.
Personally, there were also a number of highs and lows. I became an aunt for the first time just a few months before my uncle died, my mother's only brother. While I was not particularly close to him recently, it still reminds me of how small my extended family is and how my only remaining relatives from her side of the family are all only cousins now. I realize how old my father is (83) and remember that his side of the family is not long for this world either. I became re-acquainted with an older cousin who has supplied some family history but there is so much more that is unknown than known about my ancestors. I have gone back to school for the first time in over 20 years while my education-loving roommate deferred starting her doctoral program for the whole year. I have stayed in the same job and same office but now have a new boss. One of my nemeses was finally exposed for being a cad while another one who seeks ill for my life has only partially been revealed (I must say that this one will probably suffer a similiar fate, perhaps this year - people who sow discord and attempt to rip others down in order to build themselves up emotionally or further themselves along in life, work or ministry tend to reap their own destruction. Since I know this particular evil one reads this blog, I must say to them, consider yourself warned. The Lord will repay you for what you are doing; no amount of self-justification by you will make your deeds right.)
Yet in the midst of this disappointment I have mentioned, I am more at peace than I've been in a long while. This is because I know that God is on the throne and in control. Those who do evil (to me or others in the world in general) will get theirs, either in this life or in the world to come. Those who follow Jesus closely will receive great reward in heaven one day. God is Judge and rules in righteousness. As I discover the reality of this truth and apply it to my life, I can have confidence even as the world goes crazy.
Personally, there were also a number of highs and lows. I became an aunt for the first time just a few months before my uncle died, my mother's only brother. While I was not particularly close to him recently, it still reminds me of how small my extended family is and how my only remaining relatives from her side of the family are all only cousins now. I realize how old my father is (83) and remember that his side of the family is not long for this world either. I became re-acquainted with an older cousin who has supplied some family history but there is so much more that is unknown than known about my ancestors. I have gone back to school for the first time in over 20 years while my education-loving roommate deferred starting her doctoral program for the whole year. I have stayed in the same job and same office but now have a new boss. One of my nemeses was finally exposed for being a cad while another one who seeks ill for my life has only partially been revealed (I must say that this one will probably suffer a similiar fate, perhaps this year - people who sow discord and attempt to rip others down in order to build themselves up emotionally or further themselves along in life, work or ministry tend to reap their own destruction. Since I know this particular evil one reads this blog, I must say to them, consider yourself warned. The Lord will repay you for what you are doing; no amount of self-justification by you will make your deeds right.)
Yet in the midst of this disappointment I have mentioned, I am more at peace than I've been in a long while. This is because I know that God is on the throne and in control. Those who do evil (to me or others in the world in general) will get theirs, either in this life or in the world to come. Those who follow Jesus closely will receive great reward in heaven one day. God is Judge and rules in righteousness. As I discover the reality of this truth and apply it to my life, I can have confidence even as the world goes crazy.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
School Days
So if you've been wondering where I've been instead of blogging, I have gone back to school. Yes, for the first time in more than twenty years, I have re-entered the world of academia to begin an MBA program from the University of Redlands held at my worksite. I'm more than half-way through my first class and it has been a real adjustment to have to do so much writing - afterall, as an engineering major, I never had to do much written work except in my G.E. classes. I will say that my blogging over the past few years has helped to enhance my writing skills and the websites that I regularly read help to challenge my thinking, both reading and writing being essential to doing well in this course.
Anyway, I'll try to come for air from time to time to blog about how things are going.
Anyway, I'll try to come for air from time to time to blog about how things are going.
Friday, October 03, 2008
To Bee or Not To Bee
Yikes! Two months since my last post. Bad Ann. Anyway, it's not like I haven't been meaning to, I've just not made blogging a priority. One reason for the lack of posting is that I'm instead trying to be more diligent with my "gardening". Now if you know my living situation, you know I live in a condo without a yard. I do have a balcony but most of the plants there are of the cactus variety. Although I am a farmer's daughter, I have a tendency towards a brown thumb -it's hard for plants other than cactii to be healthy when you forget to water them for over a week. For the past few years I have been practicing my horticulture skills on the plants in my office at work.
After killing the first few potted plants I tried, I have been having more success in the last two years with my pothos (devil's ivy) and my peace lillies. (I also have an orchid that never blooms because the temperature is not variable enough inside). This success emboldened my to try at home. Using some empty pots from the last failed attempt at growing herbs, I went out and bought some more seeds -basil, thyme, parsley, chives, sage, rosemary to plant. The basil, parsley, chives and sage grew right away while the others faltered. I went out and bought some already young plants to replace the thyme and rosemary. I also bought a small grape tomato plant to grow in my kitchen along with the herbs.
While I'm still having problems with the thyme, rosemary, oregano and now, unfortunately the chives (all are dead as I write this), the tomato plant outgrew my kitchen and had to be moved to the balcony where it began to produce a few tiny tomatoes. "Hooray", I thought, "success!" That was somewhat short-lived because my homeowners association made me clear my balcony for powerwashing which they claimed was only for a few days. The few days became a few weeks and although the tomato plant had plenty of blossoms, there was no fruit on the vine.
My dad said I needed to play bee to get it pollinated properly but he never explained exactly how I was to do this other than brushing the flowers. That gave me all of about three tomatoes. Consulting the internet for help told me that yes, I needed a bee or a least a wind to blow the pollen around (not things you find indoors, BTW). Well, finally the tomato vine went back outside but even then the flowers would drop without fruit -no bees were coming to my balcony. One more visit to the internet told me the proper technique to play bee; I needed to vibrate the tomato plant behind the flower, perhaps using an electric toothbrush, to simulate the bee vibrations and to drop the pollen out. While I do have an electric toothbrush, I thought I'd try tapping rapidly with my finger first and shazam! I'm starting to get tomatoes. So when I step out on my balcony every other day between 9am and 4pm, it's just me playing bee.
After killing the first few potted plants I tried, I have been having more success in the last two years with my pothos (devil's ivy) and my peace lillies. (I also have an orchid that never blooms because the temperature is not variable enough inside). This success emboldened my to try at home. Using some empty pots from the last failed attempt at growing herbs, I went out and bought some more seeds -basil, thyme, parsley, chives, sage, rosemary to plant. The basil, parsley, chives and sage grew right away while the others faltered. I went out and bought some already young plants to replace the thyme and rosemary. I also bought a small grape tomato plant to grow in my kitchen along with the herbs.
While I'm still having problems with the thyme, rosemary, oregano and now, unfortunately the chives (all are dead as I write this), the tomato plant outgrew my kitchen and had to be moved to the balcony where it began to produce a few tiny tomatoes. "Hooray", I thought, "success!" That was somewhat short-lived because my homeowners association made me clear my balcony for powerwashing which they claimed was only for a few days. The few days became a few weeks and although the tomato plant had plenty of blossoms, there was no fruit on the vine.
My dad said I needed to play bee to get it pollinated properly but he never explained exactly how I was to do this other than brushing the flowers. That gave me all of about three tomatoes. Consulting the internet for help told me that yes, I needed a bee or a least a wind to blow the pollen around (not things you find indoors, BTW). Well, finally the tomato vine went back outside but even then the flowers would drop without fruit -no bees were coming to my balcony. One more visit to the internet told me the proper technique to play bee; I needed to vibrate the tomato plant behind the flower, perhaps using an electric toothbrush, to simulate the bee vibrations and to drop the pollen out. While I do have an electric toothbrush, I thought I'd try tapping rapidly with my finger first and shazam! I'm starting to get tomatoes. So when I step out on my balcony every other day between 9am and 4pm, it's just me playing bee.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
The July That Was
When I last blogged, I was sitting in my dorm room at High School camp. Now, a month later, I am finally able to get back to it. As soon as camp was over, I drove from San Diego to begin my vacation in Lake Arrowhead. (perhaps I'll get around to putting those pics on the flickr badge). There it was family (both my brother and sister were there for the 4th), fireworks, food and fun. Oh and Laura and I did manage to do some work projects around the house -she has fully documented them on her blog.
I was back at work for only two weeks before I was off again to Lightseekers Camp from which I just returned yesterday. Lightseekers is our children's camp that I have been a part of now for the past five years; I do all the audio visual tech stuff (sound, video, pictures) for worship and host a blog describing our events so the parents can read about their kids. You can read my daily postings here.
I was back at work for only two weeks before I was off again to Lightseekers Camp from which I just returned yesterday. Lightseekers is our children's camp that I have been a part of now for the past five years; I do all the audio visual tech stuff (sound, video, pictures) for worship and host a blog describing our events so the parents can read about their kids. You can read my daily postings here.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Blogging From Camp
Here I am sitting in the dorm at Point Loma Nazarene University, able to liveblog about my experience as a counselor at HumeSD. The girls are all in the room next door talking about "stuff."
Here's my observations so far:
Our dorm rooms, the campus atmosphere, the speaker (Darren McWaters) and musical worship have all been excellent. Darren, particularly has been able to communicate basic theological truths in a way the students could understand. Hume does know how to put on a program camp quite well. The things that haven't been so great are the activities offered (while very cool to go surfing, sea kayaking and skatepark; all of these are fairly expensive -$20 mostly and limited to a certain number who had parent permission, money along with the ability to do these things). Some of the students complained that there wasn't much to do if you weren't into the beach (the weather has been cool the past two days too.)
The food in the cafeteria was okay (I must say Biola's cafeteria is much, much better -I have eaten there with Laura), a step just below the cafeteria at work. I don't think offering pizza and burgers as an option to high school students every lunch and dinner is a wise thing nutrition-wise.
My pet peeve though is recreation. It is very well-planned and executed here. But it has the same problems with rec back when I was a youth 30 years ago -the very nature of the competition -it's very competitive. It's not just Hume -TFB never did much Hume Lake Camping until I was in college/young adult age. We often did our own camps at Lake San Antonio, Bass Lake or caravaning, yet we still had these competitions that brought out the worst in people, including leaders. Forest Home and Thousand Pines were not much different back in the day. The points scoring always seem subjective and arbitrary -for example, my students complained that it seemed they won most of their team games yesterday, but somehow they slipped from 10th to 14th place. The girls' attitude was why even try, why bother to memorize verses if they may or may not improves their standing (No, Bible memorization does not have value for them by its own right, although it should.) And although, it hasn't happened yet here, I remember the "creative scoring" that was used to boost teams that have fallen behind so they could come from behind and win on the last day (not because they said all their verses either.)
I'm not saying to do away with rec, but there has to be some way of rewarding achievement without rewarding bad behavior (the cheating that is perpetuated in the games -one boy today through a ball from the sidelines, hitting one of our girls who assumed that meant she and her partner were out. Since they were in a race, they stopped playing and our team lost. There was no deduction for the boy's team that played foul.) Then there is the "spirit points" that seem to help those teams that have HS cheerleaders on their teams. Pity the squad that lacks cheerleaders and jocks while instead populated by the asthmatic, awkward and "geeky". (The memory verse requirements are there to "even things out, unfortunately, there are no spirit points for cheering on the memorization wiz.) I know that camp recreation is a big part of the summer camp experience, but it really should look less like one of those teen summer camp movies where the teams play dirty tricks on the other side. We aren't there, but the temptation seems to be great.
But even with these concerns, I feel overall, it's been a wonderful week. I'll blog more later, especially on what we've been learning.
Here's my observations so far:
Our dorm rooms, the campus atmosphere, the speaker (Darren McWaters) and musical worship have all been excellent. Darren, particularly has been able to communicate basic theological truths in a way the students could understand. Hume does know how to put on a program camp quite well. The things that haven't been so great are the activities offered (while very cool to go surfing, sea kayaking and skatepark; all of these are fairly expensive -$20 mostly and limited to a certain number who had parent permission, money along with the ability to do these things). Some of the students complained that there wasn't much to do if you weren't into the beach (the weather has been cool the past two days too.)
The food in the cafeteria was okay (I must say Biola's cafeteria is much, much better -I have eaten there with Laura), a step just below the cafeteria at work. I don't think offering pizza and burgers as an option to high school students every lunch and dinner is a wise thing nutrition-wise.
My pet peeve though is recreation. It is very well-planned and executed here. But it has the same problems with rec back when I was a youth 30 years ago -the very nature of the competition -it's very competitive. It's not just Hume -TFB never did much Hume Lake Camping until I was in college/young adult age. We often did our own camps at Lake San Antonio, Bass Lake or caravaning, yet we still had these competitions that brought out the worst in people, including leaders. Forest Home and Thousand Pines were not much different back in the day. The points scoring always seem subjective and arbitrary -for example, my students complained that it seemed they won most of their team games yesterday, but somehow they slipped from 10th to 14th place. The girls' attitude was why even try, why bother to memorize verses if they may or may not improves their standing (No, Bible memorization does not have value for them by its own right, although it should.) And although, it hasn't happened yet here, I remember the "creative scoring" that was used to boost teams that have fallen behind so they could come from behind and win on the last day (not because they said all their verses either.)
I'm not saying to do away with rec, but there has to be some way of rewarding achievement without rewarding bad behavior (the cheating that is perpetuated in the games -one boy today through a ball from the sidelines, hitting one of our girls who assumed that meant she and her partner were out. Since they were in a race, they stopped playing and our team lost. There was no deduction for the boy's team that played foul.) Then there is the "spirit points" that seem to help those teams that have HS cheerleaders on their teams. Pity the squad that lacks cheerleaders and jocks while instead populated by the asthmatic, awkward and "geeky". (The memory verse requirements are there to "even things out, unfortunately, there are no spirit points for cheering on the memorization wiz.) I know that camp recreation is a big part of the summer camp experience, but it really should look less like one of those teen summer camp movies where the teams play dirty tricks on the other side. We aren't there, but the temptation seems to be great.
But even with these concerns, I feel overall, it's been a wonderful week. I'll blog more later, especially on what we've been learning.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Adventures of Me
Well, it has been a really long time (six weeks) since my last post and this time my lack of posting has been due to busyness. I've posted pics of some of my adventures/activities on Flickr (see bottom right). We celebrated Laura's ThM baccalaureate (at Knott's Berry Farm) and graduation at Biola, both outdoor events in the rain;I've been camping down near San Diego. Celebrated Father's Day with the family, including my new niece. Now I'm getting ready for High School Camp, my vacation, Vacation Bible School at TFB, Lightseekers' Childrens Camp- all events happening in the next two months. Of course work is as busy as ever for me so time off from work may be necessary even if not convenient to others. Other things have been happening as well which should provide lots of posting material. Just wait.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Congratulations Laura
I just got off the phone with my roommate Laura; this, after I read her blog relating how she won TWO awards for her ThM work at Talbot School of Theology (Biola University). One was the Zondervan Award for Outstanding Master's Thesis and the other was for best work of the year in Systematic Theology. In addition to her recognition at the awards chapel today, it also marked her last class before she receives her degree next Friday.
Seeing first hand all the hardwork she has demonstrated over the years, I'm glad that she is being rewarded for it by this recognition. I'll even cut her some slack for NOT CALLING ME to tell me before I had to read it online.
Congrats!
Seeing first hand all the hardwork she has demonstrated over the years, I'm glad that she is being rewarded for it by this recognition. I'll even cut her some slack for NOT CALLING ME to tell me before I had to read it online.
Congrats!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Mighty Musk Ox Warrior Princess
Ok, I'm just back from Women's Retreat at Thousand Pines. Our theme was Revive: Body, Soul and Spirit and our speaker was a lady named Donna Partow. I had thought that this was going to be one of those "Kumbahya, let's focus on Jesus for a weekend" sort of retreats and I must say though that I was totally unprepared for what ensued. While I won't go in to all she spoke about, her focus was to call women to action and revival, to be like musk oxen (see here for a description of their defensive behavior towards the weak and young). She really challenged us to be a participant in what God is doing, not to be distracted by life's events and to realize that we are responsible for our responses to them. For free-time, some of the ladies did the confidence course and zip line as you can see in the flickr photos below. The comments I heard from my fellow TFB women concerning this weekend were overwhelmingly positive.
After the retreat, Laura and I drove over to my house at Lake Arrowhead and took some pictures of the beautiful spring flowers also posted on flickr.
After the retreat, Laura and I drove over to my house at Lake Arrowhead and took some pictures of the beautiful spring flowers also posted on flickr.
Friday, March 28, 2008
The Best Laid Plans...
When I finished my last stint in the "cave" (as I refer to working on proposals at my job), I thought that certainly I would have the chance to catch up on my blogging. take my car into the shop, catch up on some personal errands. However, another proposal (actually more than one) came along and sent me right back inside. (remember what I posted about feeling like a groundhog who popped his head out of his hibernation, saw the shadow and went back in for 6 more weeks of winter? Well, this groundhog saw the shadow and had six more weeks in the "cave".)
Now having emerged just this day, I see that there won't be such a thing as being outside once and for all. This is the pattern of my life for a while and all those things that I have laid aside until I have time will just have to be squeezed in to what time I do have to do them. It will mean just taking my car into the shop or blogging when I plan to, I won't wait until my calendar is clear to make them happen. I may not be able to do long blog posts like my series on Marriage or Biblical Equality, but there have been enough interesting things in the news to comment on plus my own personal observations of life to provide plenty of blog fodder. We'll see...
Now having emerged just this day, I see that there won't be such a thing as being outside once and for all. This is the pattern of my life for a while and all those things that I have laid aside until I have time will just have to be squeezed in to what time I do have to do them. It will mean just taking my car into the shop or blogging when I plan to, I won't wait until my calendar is clear to make them happen. I may not be able to do long blog posts like my series on Marriage or Biblical Equality, but there have been enough interesting things in the news to comment on plus my own personal observations of life to provide plenty of blog fodder. We'll see...
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