So I've been tagged by Laura for this meme: 5 Things About Jesus.
1. Jesus is the most well-known person who has every lived but none of us alive have even a clue about what He looks like. I was reminded of this when I was looking for a particular picture of Jesus to use as a sermon background. Some people depict Him as lily white with blond hair and blue eyes, but I've also seen Black Jesus, Asian Jesus -few of them look like Middle Eastern Jew Jesus.
2. Jesus is incredibly patient and restrained. You know I wouldn't be happy if people called me a devil or treated me with disrespect. I certainly wouldn't have stood for people beating me, mocking me or crucifying me if I had the power to strike them all dead. People still ridicule Him today and yet He holds back His righteous anger.
3. Jesus is not impressed by wealth, good-looks, status or fame. Instead, He has a special fondness for the humble, the meek, the lowly, the brokenhearted, the downcast, what we would call the dregs of society. Those that need and seek Him, will surely find Him.
4. Jesus is the most courageous person ever to have lived. To know, from eternity past, that He would have to live on earth as a human and then die a horrible death in order to save His rebellious creatures would take far more bravery than any warrior, statesman or martyr ever exhibited.
5. Jesus loves me. The most profound line in all of Christian hymnody: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." This truth changes the course of my life for all eternity and yet He does so for reasons completely unknown to me other than His very nature being love. It is profound, yet personal and intimate.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
Find Another Dating Pool, Part 2
A year ago, I posted on the tasteless phenomena of teachers dating their students (see post here). I don't know if it's because schools are letting out for the summer, but another one of these icky relationships has been reported in the news this week. Seems this 16 year old track star married her 40 year old coach on Monday. ABC News reported that her parents had gone to school authorities and to the man's pastor to get them to intervene to no avail (there doesn't seem to be law against this behavior in North Carolina where this took place.) What is even more bizarre is that after they were unsuccessful in their bid to stop this, the parents went ahead and gave her written consent to marry the weirdo.
Most everyone connected with the story agreed that the relationship was not right (77% of those in ABC's on-line poll thought it was wrong, too), but they all seemed powerless to do anything. Really? Nothing they could've done? Oh I don't know, the school could've fired the guy for having a romantic relationship with a student, the man's pastor could've thrown him out of the church and refused to perform the wedding, but most of all, the parents could've refused to sign and made her wait until she was 18. The guy did resign from his job, but only after he got the girl to marry him.
The expert quoted in the ABC News story was asked if the girl was old enough to decided: "With most teenagers, they're not sure yet who's who and what's what and what should be done," said Henry Paul, author of the book "Is My Teenager OK?" "It's obviously up to the adult figure to set the boundaries." And that was my point from a year ago: adults in a position of authority should be prohibited from having romantic relationships with their students/counselees/clients/patients/parishioners -period. The adults who allow these relationships to continue share somewhat in the blame for the inevitable marital failure when the young person finally wakes up and wonders how they were sucked in by their Svengali.
Most everyone connected with the story agreed that the relationship was not right (77% of those in ABC's on-line poll thought it was wrong, too), but they all seemed powerless to do anything. Really? Nothing they could've done? Oh I don't know, the school could've fired the guy for having a romantic relationship with a student, the man's pastor could've thrown him out of the church and refused to perform the wedding, but most of all, the parents could've refused to sign and made her wait until she was 18. The guy did resign from his job, but only after he got the girl to marry him.
The expert quoted in the ABC News story was asked if the girl was old enough to decided: "With most teenagers, they're not sure yet who's who and what's what and what should be done," said Henry Paul, author of the book "Is My Teenager OK?" "It's obviously up to the adult figure to set the boundaries." And that was my point from a year ago: adults in a position of authority should be prohibited from having romantic relationships with their students/counselees/clients/patients/parishioners -period. The adults who allow these relationships to continue share somewhat in the blame for the inevitable marital failure when the young person finally wakes up and wonders how they were sucked in by their Svengali.
Monday, June 18, 2007
And You Know Me How?
In the previous post, I talked about trying to remain incognito. Speaking of being recognized by strangers, my father and his buddy recently went to Hume Lake Christian Camp Fishermen's Retreat. Now this shocked me on so many levels, one, that he'd drive all the way there for a Christian Men's conference -see my reason below as referring to the distance. Second, that he'd go on a fishing weekend (since when does he like to fish?). Third, that he would go away from his wife and business for relaxation. The one that surprised me the most was the following story he told me.
As the guys were checking themselves in at the Registrar, my dad gives his last name (BTW, our last name is very unique) and the young lady waiting on them says, "Are you related to Ann?" "Yes," he tells her, "I'm her father." Of course, he doesn't bother to ask her name or how she knows me (For those who don't know California, Hume Lake is a seven hour drive away from me. Consequently, we haven't gone there as a church for over a decade, so how this girl knows me or who she is, is anyone's guess.) I hope she knows me not for some infamous action on my part, but because I possibly influenced/taught her in youth ministry. The only "unsettling" issue is that I tend to know whereabouts of most of the people I feel I've positively influenced and I've been wracking my brains to try to figure out who it might be.
On an encouraging note, for years I've been known as Roy So-and so's daughter; now he got to be known as Ann's father. Amusing.
As the guys were checking themselves in at the Registrar, my dad gives his last name (BTW, our last name is very unique) and the young lady waiting on them says, "Are you related to Ann?" "Yes," he tells her, "I'm her father." Of course, he doesn't bother to ask her name or how she knows me (For those who don't know California, Hume Lake is a seven hour drive away from me. Consequently, we haven't gone there as a church for over a decade, so how this girl knows me or who she is, is anyone's guess.) I hope she knows me not for some infamous action on my part, but because I possibly influenced/taught her in youth ministry. The only "unsettling" issue is that I tend to know whereabouts of most of the people I feel I've positively influenced and I've been wracking my brains to try to figure out who it might be.
On an encouraging note, for years I've been known as Roy So-and so's daughter; now he got to be known as Ann's father. Amusing.
Bowling For Father's Day
Okay, so rather than just going out to eat for Father's Day, my new brother-in-law suggested to my sister that we all go bowling to celebrate. Hey, I like bowling, I used to bowl in lunchtime work league and so I own my own ball and shoes, let's go as long as this is fine with Daddy.
She called my dad and his wife and they agreed. We go to this new upscale bowling alley called the Lucky Strike Lanes. But this place is not your greasy spoon diner type food, it's like a nightclub after 9pm with DJ's and plasma screen TVs. Pretty good food, but I did terrible at bowling, even my sister with her long, manicured nails did better than I did in the second game. Daddy did okay for a guy of 82, but tweaked a hamstring (his wife Sara said that he had already tweaked it walking around the farm yesterday) and sat out the second game.
You can see some pics from this on my Flickr down on the right side or read Laura's blog for her view of it. There's even a picture there of me! [Something you will rarely see here so I can remain somewhat incognito ; -) ]
She called my dad and his wife and they agreed. We go to this new upscale bowling alley called the Lucky Strike Lanes. But this place is not your greasy spoon diner type food, it's like a nightclub after 9pm with DJ's and plasma screen TVs. Pretty good food, but I did terrible at bowling, even my sister with her long, manicured nails did better than I did in the second game. Daddy did okay for a guy of 82, but tweaked a hamstring (his wife Sara said that he had already tweaked it walking around the farm yesterday) and sat out the second game.
You can see some pics from this on my Flickr down on the right side or read Laura's blog for her view of it. There's even a picture there of me! [Something you will rarely see here so I can remain somewhat incognito ; -) ]
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Splat Happens
In my long career working in the Aerospace industry, I have noticed a phenomenon that I have titled "Splat Syndrome". Splat is what happens when a deer or some other animal caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, refuses (or is unable by some mental paralysis) to move out of the way before it is too late. The deer goes splat against the vehicle.
In Splat Syndrome, a person knows that bad news is coming their way potentially and yet, for whatever reason, they are unable to make the necessary corrective steps to avoid being devastated by such news. (note: there are some catastrophes that are unavoidable, but I'm referring to those over which we do have a measure of control.)
I first observed Splat Syndrome over 20 years ago when I was a young engineer. I saw some fellows get layoff notices and watched them complain for the next two months about having to find a new job while they did nothing towards finding one.
One guy I observed a few years later, had been warned for months that layoffs were coming for his position and that he was particularly in danger due to his low seniority. When the layoff notice finally came, he was given an additional three months (with pay!) to find a new position. One of the supervisiors lined him up with an interview at another nearby company. That company offered him a better job with more pay that he turned down because he thought maybe he could find something even better. Another co-worker turned him on to a civil service job with even more pay, less work and excellent job security. He had successfully interviewed for that position and only needed to take an easy written exam to secure the job. Instead, he was over an hour late for the test, which he could have walked to from his house - so no excuses about about transportation, and decided to blow it off. After he finally lost his job, he still remained in denial about needing to actually send out resumes, go on interviews and show up on time. Unemployment eventually ran out and he was forced to move in with his family. SPLATTTTTTT.
Every once in a while, I see the same patterns of behavior repeated over and over by different people - not just when they received layoff notices, but sometimes when they were forced to move to a new apartment, or even when they'd had been warned that their job behavior needed to change. They instead were gripped with this paralysis and rather than doing what any sensible person would do, they were run over by circumstances and left wondering as to how this happened.
I've recently observed a person I know, fortunately not at my company, about to become splatted. Those around them have warned that things need to change -the boss, their co-workers, even the person's friends have tried, all to no avail. The individual acts as though they are daring the boss to fire them and perhaps they are -the soon-to-be splattee shows everyone around them that they no longer desire to work there and they are looking for a career change.
Too bad that they don't have the fortitude and integrity to do it themselves, but again, maybe Splat Syndrome really is some sort of mental glitch that keeps them locked into a terrible fate. Who knows?
In Splat Syndrome, a person knows that bad news is coming their way potentially and yet, for whatever reason, they are unable to make the necessary corrective steps to avoid being devastated by such news. (note: there are some catastrophes that are unavoidable, but I'm referring to those over which we do have a measure of control.)
I first observed Splat Syndrome over 20 years ago when I was a young engineer. I saw some fellows get layoff notices and watched them complain for the next two months about having to find a new job while they did nothing towards finding one.
One guy I observed a few years later, had been warned for months that layoffs were coming for his position and that he was particularly in danger due to his low seniority. When the layoff notice finally came, he was given an additional three months (with pay!) to find a new position. One of the supervisiors lined him up with an interview at another nearby company. That company offered him a better job with more pay that he turned down because he thought maybe he could find something even better. Another co-worker turned him on to a civil service job with even more pay, less work and excellent job security. He had successfully interviewed for that position and only needed to take an easy written exam to secure the job. Instead, he was over an hour late for the test, which he could have walked to from his house - so no excuses about about transportation, and decided to blow it off. After he finally lost his job, he still remained in denial about needing to actually send out resumes, go on interviews and show up on time. Unemployment eventually ran out and he was forced to move in with his family. SPLATTTTTTT.
Every once in a while, I see the same patterns of behavior repeated over and over by different people - not just when they received layoff notices, but sometimes when they were forced to move to a new apartment, or even when they'd had been warned that their job behavior needed to change. They instead were gripped with this paralysis and rather than doing what any sensible person would do, they were run over by circumstances and left wondering as to how this happened.
I've recently observed a person I know, fortunately not at my company, about to become splatted. Those around them have warned that things need to change -the boss, their co-workers, even the person's friends have tried, all to no avail. The individual acts as though they are daring the boss to fire them and perhaps they are -the soon-to-be splattee shows everyone around them that they no longer desire to work there and they are looking for a career change.
Too bad that they don't have the fortitude and integrity to do it themselves, but again, maybe Splat Syndrome really is some sort of mental glitch that keeps them locked into a terrible fate. Who knows?
Sunday, May 27, 2007
I Wonder???
Recently, I was reading a young (approximately 30ish), single, Christian woman's post where she was writing about her desire to get married and have children ASAP. I won't link to it here, mainly because her identity and actual post are not relevant to this particular discussion. For one thing, I know many young women who are in the exactly same situation that she's in -the old "biological clock" is ticking away and no decent prospects for a Christian husband are in sight. Each of them could've written the exact same words with the same lament and sense of urgency.
As I've ministered to high school, college age, and young singles for over 25 years, I have heard these words over and over again. I've seen some find good guys and get married, just the way they envisioned life for themselves, but I've also seen those for whom the "right man" never came; so they are left with either settling for someone far less than their ideal or suffering in their singleness. Since singleness is called "the gift that nobody wants", I know far more of these ladies who settled for Mr. Wrong and now are either single again after divorce or are miserable in their marriage.
As I approach the point of being nearly 20 years beyond that life stage, I reflect on my own life and whether or not it has turned out as I expected. Of course 20 years ago I didn't think that I would still be single either. But as life, and I believe God, soon showed me, not everyone is meant to be married or have kids. That truth in and of itself is more than okay although I didn't come by it in an instant. For me, not having a mother around when I entered my twenties, probably took some of the pressure off. It also helped to have a strong grandmother who spent most of her adult life without a man. Even my maternal grandmother, although married for more than 50 years, saw the advantage of only marrying for an outstanding godly man over settling with any old guy that showed an interest. That fact helped me to focus on building my career and ministries instead.
I think our society, particularly our Christian community still puts a premium on becoming a wife and mother as necessary to one's being and calling. From the time we are little girls, we are programmed to aspire to be a wife and mother. Even career women are told that they can "have it all " by juggling these roles as necessary. In reality, we seem to gloss over Paul's recommendation in 1 Corinthians 7 that singles stay that way to better serve the Lord. It is not helpful when singles' and young adult's ministries are designed around helping them find mates rather than becoming a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. (For more on this subject, I found Kristin Aune's book Single Women to be a great resource.)
Has my life turned out the way I'd dreamt it 10, 20 or even 30 years ago? In some ways, yes, in others, no. Thirty years ago, while I was in high school, I only thought about being a rich engineer (an oxymoron I know now); I got the engineer part right and compared to a lot of my peers from high school I'm doing pretty well. However, that was a life planned that had no room for God in it. A few years later, much of that thinking had turned a different direction with a new focus on Christ. I think that girl would be surprised at the present one that I was not further along in Christ-like behavior and godliness. Somehow that envisioned one would be highly regarded as a Christian speaker, wife and mother (who just happened to have an engineering degree, too). The me of 10-20 years ago by then would not have been disappointed to be single still, but would be sorry to hear that I was out of youth ministry again (perhaps, she'd wonder why her church would still be choosing people in leadership that would initiate such things). Oh, and I'd have travelled more and done more interesting things too.
Well, what does the future ten years from now hold? Should the Lord tarry, I will be retired and free to minister full-time on my retirement money and investments. But, the thing is we don't know, we are not guaranteed of tomorrow and you know what they say about the best laid plans... The point is, we don't (or aren't supposed to) live life in an holding pattern, treading water in place until the right man, the right job, the right ministry or the right opportunity comes along. God, like the master in the parable of the talents, has given us the wherewithall to serve Him and live life to its fullest in the now. I am responsible for what I do or don't do with it. That applies equally to my 30 something gal pals who are desperate for Mr. Right to come along and change their life. If he comes, great, if not, you will have helped to build God's kingdom or reflected Christ's love. There are no regrets for that life.
As I've ministered to high school, college age, and young singles for over 25 years, I have heard these words over and over again. I've seen some find good guys and get married, just the way they envisioned life for themselves, but I've also seen those for whom the "right man" never came; so they are left with either settling for someone far less than their ideal or suffering in their singleness. Since singleness is called "the gift that nobody wants", I know far more of these ladies who settled for Mr. Wrong and now are either single again after divorce or are miserable in their marriage.
As I approach the point of being nearly 20 years beyond that life stage, I reflect on my own life and whether or not it has turned out as I expected. Of course 20 years ago I didn't think that I would still be single either. But as life, and I believe God, soon showed me, not everyone is meant to be married or have kids. That truth in and of itself is more than okay although I didn't come by it in an instant. For me, not having a mother around when I entered my twenties, probably took some of the pressure off. It also helped to have a strong grandmother who spent most of her adult life without a man. Even my maternal grandmother, although married for more than 50 years, saw the advantage of only marrying for an outstanding godly man over settling with any old guy that showed an interest. That fact helped me to focus on building my career and ministries instead.
I think our society, particularly our Christian community still puts a premium on becoming a wife and mother as necessary to one's being and calling. From the time we are little girls, we are programmed to aspire to be a wife and mother. Even career women are told that they can "have it all " by juggling these roles as necessary. In reality, we seem to gloss over Paul's recommendation in 1 Corinthians 7 that singles stay that way to better serve the Lord. It is not helpful when singles' and young adult's ministries are designed around helping them find mates rather than becoming a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. (For more on this subject, I found Kristin Aune's book Single Women to be a great resource.)
Has my life turned out the way I'd dreamt it 10, 20 or even 30 years ago? In some ways, yes, in others, no. Thirty years ago, while I was in high school, I only thought about being a rich engineer (an oxymoron I know now); I got the engineer part right and compared to a lot of my peers from high school I'm doing pretty well. However, that was a life planned that had no room for God in it. A few years later, much of that thinking had turned a different direction with a new focus on Christ. I think that girl would be surprised at the present one that I was not further along in Christ-like behavior and godliness. Somehow that envisioned one would be highly regarded as a Christian speaker, wife and mother (who just happened to have an engineering degree, too). The me of 10-20 years ago by then would not have been disappointed to be single still, but would be sorry to hear that I was out of youth ministry again (perhaps, she'd wonder why her church would still be choosing people in leadership that would initiate such things). Oh, and I'd have travelled more and done more interesting things too.
Well, what does the future ten years from now hold? Should the Lord tarry, I will be retired and free to minister full-time on my retirement money and investments. But, the thing is we don't know, we are not guaranteed of tomorrow and you know what they say about the best laid plans... The point is, we don't (or aren't supposed to) live life in an holding pattern, treading water in place until the right man, the right job, the right ministry or the right opportunity comes along. God, like the master in the parable of the talents, has given us the wherewithall to serve Him and live life to its fullest in the now. I am responsible for what I do or don't do with it. That applies equally to my 30 something gal pals who are desperate for Mr. Right to come along and change their life. If he comes, great, if not, you will have helped to build God's kingdom or reflected Christ's love. There are no regrets for that life.
Monday, May 07, 2007
The Ends Do Not Justify The Means?
I came across this article while on the Yahoo! site. Someone asked if one's personal beliefs make it okay to commit a crime. While there may be circumstances when civil disobedience may be in order such as a refusal to obey unjust law - the lunch counter demonstrations and Rosa Parks during the civil rights movement, conscientious objectors refusing to go war, Christians refusing to obey totalitarian laws prohibiting prayer, owning Bibles or meeting together are examples of this, there is a difference between refusing to obey a law and actively planning action to subvert the justice system or government.
The woman in the article chose the path of subverting the justice system by committing perjury and fraud in order to try to get this man on death row. She chose to commit a crime that undermined the integrity of the criminal justice system out of her belief that the Death Penalty is wrong. I don't share her views on the Death Penalty but I also disagree with anti-abortionist that bomb clinics or assassinate clinic workers. Where these tactics differ from the civil disobedience described earlier is that the civil disobedient refuse to DO something such as sit at the back of the bus or they prefer to disobey man to obey God's command while the others do something considered immoral because they do not trust working within the system to change the law they disagree with. The ones committing crimes to gain their ends are also trying to avoid detection/prosecution of their unlawful actions while those who are committing acts of civil disobedience disobey openly and are willing to accept the consequences of their actions.
Paul writes in Romans 13:
The woman in the article chose the path of subverting the justice system by committing perjury and fraud in order to try to get this man on death row. She chose to commit a crime that undermined the integrity of the criminal justice system out of her belief that the Death Penalty is wrong. I don't share her views on the Death Penalty but I also disagree with anti-abortionist that bomb clinics or assassinate clinic workers. Where these tactics differ from the civil disobedience described earlier is that the civil disobedient refuse to DO something such as sit at the back of the bus or they prefer to disobey man to obey God's command while the others do something considered immoral because they do not trust working within the system to change the law they disagree with. The ones committing crimes to gain their ends are also trying to avoid detection/prosecution of their unlawful actions while those who are committing acts of civil disobedience disobey openly and are willing to accept the consequences of their actions.
Paul writes in Romans 13:
"Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.
Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority."
The idea here is that Christians need obey government authorities and will suffer the consequences when they don't. Some people point the American Revolution as an example of Christians not obeying Paul's admonition, but these revolutionaries did attempt to redress their issues through normal political means -they resorted to rebellion when those peaceful means resulted in more repression from an occupying government. The Colonists formed their own government and the Revolutionary War was fought under the direction of the Continental Congress. Even then, as we read in the Declaration of Independence, they were prepared to sacrifice their "Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor". This not the same as bombing abortion clinics, committing fraud or committing acts of terror.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Answering The Call
No, faithful blog readers, I am not joining the army nor am I going into ministry full-time, I going to explain where I've been this past month instead of here blogging about my most exciting life. Actually, I haven't been gone anywhere location-wise, it's just that I have been putting my punditry to use elsewhere on the Internet.
About a month ago, I started exploring Yahoo! Answers Religion and Spirituality Forum (now before you think I went off and joined some cult, read more). I noticed that people on there were asking some pretty serious questions about God, Jesus, faith, the Bible, Christianity -you name it. I saw a question someone asked "Do you think if there weren't any Atheists, there would be more peace?" and noticed that there were a lot of atheists, agnostics and unbelievers giving answers, but the "Christians" either gave lame answers or were out-numbered. That got me going and I've been answering questions since then. Now in truth, there are some pretty outrageous inflammatory q&a there that I mostly avoid, but there are some sincere inquiries from people of all faiths (or none). What is scary is that there are also Mormons, JW's, pagans, and Muslims trying very hard to convert people to their belief systems. Although it is a challenge, I see it as an opportunity to share what I believe, giving an answer for the hope that is within me. Since I am no longer teaching youth, I have taken it as a means to instruct and counsel those who are genuine seekers. I don't kid myself into thinking that I've been reaching a lot of people with my answers, but it is thought provoking and you know, if I can touch at least one life with the Gospel, great.
I answered a Muslim woman's question last week where she wanted to understand if God was sacrificing Himself, to appease Himself to right the wrongs done against Him. I told her the story of the young person caught speeding and forced to appear before the judge. The speeder couldn't pay the fine, but the judge took off his robe, pulled out his wallet and paid the fine, because the speeder was his kid. I explained how Jesus did that very thing by His death, paying the price of our wrong doing. She said that it was the first time in 25 years that she understood Jesus' sacrifice. Wow!
Now, I can't hang there all the time - I have a job to do and ministries to serve in, but it is good to know that this one small thing can used to move a person along in their journey.
Ooh, time for bed; it's way too late and I have much to do tomorrow. I have a whole bunch of things to blog about too. One is about a lady who committed fraud and perjury to get a Death Row Inmate off because she's opposed to the Death Penalty. Another is about some people who have written to me complaining that I'm a poor example of Christ in my blog. Plus there's things to share about some of my other ministries.
About a month ago, I started exploring Yahoo! Answers Religion and Spirituality Forum (now before you think I went off and joined some cult, read more). I noticed that people on there were asking some pretty serious questions about God, Jesus, faith, the Bible, Christianity -you name it. I saw a question someone asked "Do you think if there weren't any Atheists, there would be more peace?" and noticed that there were a lot of atheists, agnostics and unbelievers giving answers, but the "Christians" either gave lame answers or were out-numbered. That got me going and I've been answering questions since then. Now in truth, there are some pretty outrageous inflammatory q&a there that I mostly avoid, but there are some sincere inquiries from people of all faiths (or none). What is scary is that there are also Mormons, JW's, pagans, and Muslims trying very hard to convert people to their belief systems. Although it is a challenge, I see it as an opportunity to share what I believe, giving an answer for the hope that is within me. Since I am no longer teaching youth, I have taken it as a means to instruct and counsel those who are genuine seekers. I don't kid myself into thinking that I've been reaching a lot of people with my answers, but it is thought provoking and you know, if I can touch at least one life with the Gospel, great.
I answered a Muslim woman's question last week where she wanted to understand if God was sacrificing Himself, to appease Himself to right the wrongs done against Him. I told her the story of the young person caught speeding and forced to appear before the judge. The speeder couldn't pay the fine, but the judge took off his robe, pulled out his wallet and paid the fine, because the speeder was his kid. I explained how Jesus did that very thing by His death, paying the price of our wrong doing. She said that it was the first time in 25 years that she understood Jesus' sacrifice. Wow!
Now, I can't hang there all the time - I have a job to do and ministries to serve in, but it is good to know that this one small thing can used to move a person along in their journey.
Ooh, time for bed; it's way too late and I have much to do tomorrow. I have a whole bunch of things to blog about too. One is about a lady who committed fraud and perjury to get a Death Row Inmate off because she's opposed to the Death Penalty. Another is about some people who have written to me complaining that I'm a poor example of Christ in my blog. Plus there's things to share about some of my other ministries.
Monday, March 26, 2007
March Madness
No, I'm not going to post about men's college hoops (although I am pleased that UCLA is in the Final Four) but just about what's been going on this past month.
March is that incredibly long month halfway between my first paid holiday of the year (New Year's Day) and the next one (Memorial Day). For those of you who think that's totally uncool, remember I do get 13 or 14 paid holidays a year -just none of them are in the first quarter of the year. It is hard though, to hear about your friends getting MLK day, President's Day off while you have to go off to work. March is also the month that my regular sick leave gets zeroed out so the notion of taking a "mental health day" is not so attractive either. Taking a day or two of vacation is possible, but it seems dumb to use it "just because" and not go anywhere.
Anyway, in the midst of all this my life has had enough craziness and things to get me down that it's time to blog about them. Consider:
1. Actually it happened last month, but I'm now only recovering from the laughability of it. You see, just about a year ago my work group moved out of our building (and our lovely hardwalled offices) into what's called "the factory", in an area with a cubicle farm that holds several hundred people. The area we were moving into had been largely vacant for several months prior and the cubicles themselves (carpeting, paint) were in need of repair. We were told that there was no money for upgrades and that we had to vacate our old building as quickly as possible so that the leased people could be turned back to save money. So we moved and made the best of our surroundings.
Within three months after we settled in, word came that we would have to move out "temporarily" while they did the carpet and paint. They would do a sort of musical chairs -one group would move out and double up with others in an unaffected area while the cubicles were taken down, new carpet laid and then everything put back together. So six months after we had originally moved in the first group did that very thing and two months later moved back to their new digs, this time with the second group bunking in with them just before Christmas. Two months later (and almost a year exactly from when we first moved here) we were back where we started. Go figure.
2. Sometimes I think my church is inhabited by lunatics. The things we do for the short run seem to make little sense over the long run. There is always the tension between demanding excellence versus giving grace (I'm applying this to quality of effort). It makes me wonder why/how the same people who would not allow a plumber to come out and leave a faucet still leaking after they paid for a repair are folks who allow ministry decisions/leaders that are just barely okay or make excuses for failures like, "well, they did their best", "it's all we can do for now". (I don't have as much a problem when a person really tries and fails- what I do have a big problem is when they don't really give it their best effort and it fails, that there are some who make excuses for the other's lack of diligence, laziness or downright sinfulness.) I do not believe that's giving grace, something that we as Christians need to do with one another constantly, but rather it is an enabling of co-dependent behavior. It frustrates me to no end. (BTW, if you think I'm talking about you right now, I probably am!!!! See yourself and knock it off. Jesus deserves your best, not your excuses.)
Ok, that's it. I think I had more when I started out but I forgot what they were. When I remember, I'll post some more.
March is that incredibly long month halfway between my first paid holiday of the year (New Year's Day) and the next one (Memorial Day). For those of you who think that's totally uncool, remember I do get 13 or 14 paid holidays a year -just none of them are in the first quarter of the year. It is hard though, to hear about your friends getting MLK day, President's Day off while you have to go off to work. March is also the month that my regular sick leave gets zeroed out so the notion of taking a "mental health day" is not so attractive either. Taking a day or two of vacation is possible, but it seems dumb to use it "just because" and not go anywhere.
Anyway, in the midst of all this my life has had enough craziness and things to get me down that it's time to blog about them. Consider:
1. Actually it happened last month, but I'm now only recovering from the laughability of it. You see, just about a year ago my work group moved out of our building (and our lovely hardwalled offices) into what's called "the factory", in an area with a cubicle farm that holds several hundred people. The area we were moving into had been largely vacant for several months prior and the cubicles themselves (carpeting, paint) were in need of repair. We were told that there was no money for upgrades and that we had to vacate our old building as quickly as possible so that the leased people could be turned back to save money. So we moved and made the best of our surroundings.
Within three months after we settled in, word came that we would have to move out "temporarily" while they did the carpet and paint. They would do a sort of musical chairs -one group would move out and double up with others in an unaffected area while the cubicles were taken down, new carpet laid and then everything put back together. So six months after we had originally moved in the first group did that very thing and two months later moved back to their new digs, this time with the second group bunking in with them just before Christmas. Two months later (and almost a year exactly from when we first moved here) we were back where we started. Go figure.
2. Sometimes I think my church is inhabited by lunatics. The things we do for the short run seem to make little sense over the long run. There is always the tension between demanding excellence versus giving grace (I'm applying this to quality of effort). It makes me wonder why/how the same people who would not allow a plumber to come out and leave a faucet still leaking after they paid for a repair are folks who allow ministry decisions/leaders that are just barely okay or make excuses for failures like, "well, they did their best", "it's all we can do for now". (I don't have as much a problem when a person really tries and fails- what I do have a big problem is when they don't really give it their best effort and it fails, that there are some who make excuses for the other's lack of diligence, laziness or downright sinfulness.) I do not believe that's giving grace, something that we as Christians need to do with one another constantly, but rather it is an enabling of co-dependent behavior. It frustrates me to no end. (BTW, if you think I'm talking about you right now, I probably am!!!! See yourself and knock it off. Jesus deserves your best, not your excuses.)
Ok, that's it. I think I had more when I started out but I forgot what they were. When I remember, I'll post some more.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Our Women's Retreat - The Chocolate Boutique
I just noticed that I forgot to post on the TFB Women's Retreat we had last week at Pinecrest(probably because there was too much insanity at work this week). I mentioned last fall that we were doing Group's Chocolate Boutique: Where Women Taste and See That the Lord Is Good. This retreat-in-a-box format was new for us -normally, we have a speaker at a program camp like Forest Home or every other year we plan our own hotel retreat. This year we were unable to go to Forest Home and so we had to scramble to come up with our own in less than 5 months.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was the Director of the retreat which meant recruiting the various leaders of the breakout sessions -the boutiques, crafts, worship, Big Group sessions and small groups. That turned out to be easy since we had an incredible team that volunteered for everything without me asking them. The facility was great, especially the food and I know that the ladies had a wonderful time. Our Worship Team of Karla, Casie and Laura did an excellent job all weekend. I liked how it spread the tasks out among so many different women -we had 14 total on the Design Team and it allowed for a variety of women to exercise their talents and spiritual gifts. Most of the women in attendance preferred the small group format to a lecture-style speaker although some thought it was a bit too light on Bible teaching. A couple of them thought I should've assigned a mandatory one hour quiet time before free-time (I guess 20 minutes of prayer and meditation by yourself in the prayer boutique was not enough.) Some complained it was too much like a Children's VBS (probably because we do Group's curriculum for our VBS too). Of course, they all liked eating chocolate. Whether or not this will have lasting spiritual impact, it is to early to see.
I posted a picture of the ladies here. You can see more down on my flickr banner at the right margin.
The Tawdry Life of Anna Nicole Smith
Normally, I do not comment on the sleazy world of celebreality. There is far too much hype and staged drama that it is often difficult to envision these people as anything other than caricatures of themselves. No person could have such an outlandish lifestyle in real life - real people need sleep, food, shelter and companionship; celebs seem to stay out all night, shoot movies all day while living on 500 calories a day and ignoring their family/friends. As all of them discover sooner or later, reality bites them back -their endless partying eventually lands them in a hospital or in rehab, and the wake up friendless and alone when the money runs out.
Miss Smith seems to have been the epitome of this. Here was a woman raised far from the spotlight in Texas but with one star quality, her appearance. She married and had a child as a teenager, eventually trading her waitressing/fast food jobs in for the life of a stripper. From there she became a Playboy centerfold, continued stripping and married an elderly billionaire. When he died she became embroiled in a legal battle over his estate, all the while trying to develop her acting/Hollywood career. Eventually, she had her own reality TV show in which no behavior on her part was too outrageous for the camera. She was public with her drinking and apparent drug use along with her numerous relationships. In this past year, she had won her US Supreme Court case, her stepson, with whom she was fighting over her husband's estate had died of cancer, she gave birth to a daughter out of wedlock, three days later her 19yearold son died of an overdose in front of her and two men were fighting over her daughter's paternity. Is it surprising that this woman is now dead? Now after her death, in addition to the first two men claiming paternity, Zsa Zsa's husband says he might be the father and ANS's sister believes that the father is Smith's long dead billionaire husband whose frozen sperm was used to imprenate her. Even on the radio tonight, someone was speculating that perhaps the father was ANS's own dead son. (Eeeeeew, if true!)
If she did not die by trying medicate herself into oblivion, I wouldn't know who would. This is where I will deviate from the typical commentary about her life -this is a person who definitely needed Jesus to intervene in her life. Now I cannot say for certainty either way about ANS's eternal destination, but looking at the evidence in the totality of her adult life, it did not appear that she was living for anything beyond her immediate earthly gratification. She may have been a good and kind person, perhaps even a devoted mother but when you see all the things she did that seemed to be so devoid of what God would've desired for her, I really must conclude that she was on the wrong path. You see, life is not about being the most glamorous, having the most money or enjoying household name recognition -all of which she certainly had at one point or another. It is living a life that pleases the One that made you. It's trusting in the One that loved you so much, He sacrificed Himself for you. Instead, she believed a lie that she needed implants so that men would love her, she needed money to satisfy every material, that alcohol (or drugs) was the way to alleviate her pain.
Too bad she did not heed the wise words of Solomon,"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised." Proverbs 31:30 (NLT) or of Jesus in Mark 8:36-37, "And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?" (NLT)
Miss Smith seems to have been the epitome of this. Here was a woman raised far from the spotlight in Texas but with one star quality, her appearance. She married and had a child as a teenager, eventually trading her waitressing/fast food jobs in for the life of a stripper. From there she became a Playboy centerfold, continued stripping and married an elderly billionaire. When he died she became embroiled in a legal battle over his estate, all the while trying to develop her acting/Hollywood career. Eventually, she had her own reality TV show in which no behavior on her part was too outrageous for the camera. She was public with her drinking and apparent drug use along with her numerous relationships. In this past year, she had won her US Supreme Court case, her stepson, with whom she was fighting over her husband's estate had died of cancer, she gave birth to a daughter out of wedlock, three days later her 19yearold son died of an overdose in front of her and two men were fighting over her daughter's paternity. Is it surprising that this woman is now dead? Now after her death, in addition to the first two men claiming paternity, Zsa Zsa's husband says he might be the father and ANS's sister believes that the father is Smith's long dead billionaire husband whose frozen sperm was used to imprenate her. Even on the radio tonight, someone was speculating that perhaps the father was ANS's own dead son. (Eeeeeew, if true!)
If she did not die by trying medicate herself into oblivion, I wouldn't know who would. This is where I will deviate from the typical commentary about her life -this is a person who definitely needed Jesus to intervene in her life. Now I cannot say for certainty either way about ANS's eternal destination, but looking at the evidence in the totality of her adult life, it did not appear that she was living for anything beyond her immediate earthly gratification. She may have been a good and kind person, perhaps even a devoted mother but when you see all the things she did that seemed to be so devoid of what God would've desired for her, I really must conclude that she was on the wrong path. You see, life is not about being the most glamorous, having the most money or enjoying household name recognition -all of which she certainly had at one point or another. It is living a life that pleases the One that made you. It's trusting in the One that loved you so much, He sacrificed Himself for you. Instead, she believed a lie that she needed implants so that men would love her, she needed money to satisfy every material, that alcohol (or drugs) was the way to alleviate her pain.
Too bad she did not heed the wise words of Solomon,"Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised." Proverbs 31:30 (NLT) or of Jesus in Mark 8:36-37, "And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?" (NLT)
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
What Happened The Year You Were Born?
I got this quiz from Paul of Paul's Ponderings. Good to know that Jeffrey Dahmer and I have our birth year in common. Does anyone else think that including a dead serial killer on list of famous people born in 1960 to be a little macabre?
| In 1960 (the year you were born) |
 Dwight Eisenhower is president of the US Sit-ins being after 4 black college students in North Carolina refuse to move from a deli counter when denied service A U-2 reconnaissance plane belonging to the US is shot down in the Soviet Union Hurricane "Donna" strikes the East Coast causing over 100 deaths in the US and the Antilles John F. Kennedy defeats Vice President Richard Nixon in the presidential race Cassius Clay (who later took the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight Michael Stipe, Tony Robbins, Bono, John F. Kennedy, Jr., and Jeffrey Dahmer are born Pittsburgh Pirates win the World Series Philadelphia Eagles win the NFL championship Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is the top grossing film To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is published The Beatles make their debut in Hamburg, Germany The Flintstones debut |
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
So Very Cold
Well, this past weekend I was up at house in Lake Arrowhead hosting the TFB College group - you can read more of the details on Laura's blog. As I had jury duty on Friday, I could not leave until I had been dismissed for the day. This made me a bit nervous because it had snowed above the 900 foot level and temperatures were predicted to be in the teens (degrees Fahrenheit) making the roads both snowy and icy. I had snow chains just in case they hadn't snowplowed the roads. I made without having to put them on, but I did have a little snow berm in front of the house that my friends had to shovel away before I could park.
Fortunately, Laura and some of the students and arrived earlier -they turned on the water and the furnace and were in the process of lighting a fire in the fireplace.
I was soon nice and toasty warm in the house despite the 8 inches of snow on the ground outside. Even when I went outside to get some more firewood, I was okay due to my snow boots, gloves, hat, scarf and coat. I marvelled at the students who had neglected to bring such accessories despite the storm warnings plastered all over the news. I am a cold-natured person and do not like to be colder than is necessary so I own all the appropriate cold weather gear. Laura, on the other hand, likes cold weather and slept outside in her new 20 degree rated sleeping bag. I wisely slept next to the fireplace making sure that there was a log burning the whole night.
The next day was beautiful but the temps remained low; the three water bottles I had left overnight in the car were frozen solid the next morning. I picked up a few items in Cedar Glen and came back. For lunch, we all drove into the Village for Thai food. While the rest of the gang shopped or drank coffee, I walked to the lake edge to snap some photos. With the wind blowing off the lake, the wind chill must have been below zero because as I took my glove off to work the camera, my hand was nearly instantly frozen. I could not bear to take more than one or two pictures before putting my glove back on. (you can see my snow pics in the Flickr box on the right).
The point of my snow story? While I really like the beauty of a white winter, I am a SoCal girl through and through. I don't mind occasionally visiting the white stuff, but to struggle with driving in ice, wearing heavy clothes,having my hair frizz out and feeling cold for months on end is not my idea of fun. So for you people who have lived in the cold climates and like it, please keep it. I'll stick to the boringness of SoCal weather.
Fortunately, Laura and some of the students and arrived earlier -they turned on the water and the furnace and were in the process of lighting a fire in the fireplace.
I was soon nice and toasty warm in the house despite the 8 inches of snow on the ground outside. Even when I went outside to get some more firewood, I was okay due to my snow boots, gloves, hat, scarf and coat. I marvelled at the students who had neglected to bring such accessories despite the storm warnings plastered all over the news. I am a cold-natured person and do not like to be colder than is necessary so I own all the appropriate cold weather gear. Laura, on the other hand, likes cold weather and slept outside in her new 20 degree rated sleeping bag. I wisely slept next to the fireplace making sure that there was a log burning the whole night.
The next day was beautiful but the temps remained low; the three water bottles I had left overnight in the car were frozen solid the next morning. I picked up a few items in Cedar Glen and came back. For lunch, we all drove into the Village for Thai food. While the rest of the gang shopped or drank coffee, I walked to the lake edge to snap some photos. With the wind blowing off the lake, the wind chill must have been below zero because as I took my glove off to work the camera, my hand was nearly instantly frozen. I could not bear to take more than one or two pictures before putting my glove back on. (you can see my snow pics in the Flickr box on the right).
The point of my snow story? While I really like the beauty of a white winter, I am a SoCal girl through and through. I don't mind occasionally visiting the white stuff, but to struggle with driving in ice, wearing heavy clothes,having my hair frizz out and feeling cold for months on end is not my idea of fun. So for you people who have lived in the cold climates and like it, please keep it. I'll stick to the boringness of SoCal weather.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Praying The {Fill in the Blank} Way
Monday, Jan in her blog, The View From Her posted on prayer. I told her how that brought back so many memories of all the goofy things I've heard people say over the years while talking to God.
There were the odd dinner time prayer phrases like, "we pray for the nourishing and strengthening of our bodies and us to Thy service," or "grant journey mercies." (Yet some of these same people thought "Now I lay me down to sleep" or "God is great, God is good..." were prayers of meaningless repetition.
In high school, I heard the daughter of a pastor pray, "Hey God it's me, [her nickname for herself]. How's it goin'?" The only problem with her informal prayer was that she didn't have much in the way of a relationship with Christ and was probably trying to tweak her listeners, including the One it was addressed to.
Last year, I blogged on the subject of prayer and included in the post a prayer that an Associate Pastor of ours prayed during a televised Thanksgiving service- "'Thy throne, Oh God is so great and powerful that should all the armies of the world should assail against Thee , Oh God, it should have as much effect as the faint mist on the distant Rock of Gilbraltar.' While the prayer was true, it did not reflect the way the man normally spoke or lived."
But I never really began analyzing prayers until I was involved in a nationally known student Christian campus group while I was in college. In our group, we had both brand new Christians and those who grew up in the church; there were liturigicals as well as charismatics. Each brought their own culturally-shaped style of conversing with God to the group. Favorites were the "just prayers" -"we just want to thank You", we just ask...". Sometimes these were modified by "really" - "we just really want to thank You." My pet peeve was the people who used Jesus' name as a punctuation mark - "we thank You Jesus for being here,Jesus and we ask You, Jesus that You'd be with Sally, Jesus." Yikes!
Unfortunately, there was also a great deal of unspoken pressure to tailor one's public prayers to style of the majority -those that didn't pray like the rest of us weren't asked to pray out loud again until their prayer style conformed. Some of it was far more subtle -you'd hear all the girls in a particular discipleship chain using the same tone and phrases.
For example, I was in an introductory Bible Study led by a young lady who had gone on a Summer Short Term Mission to South Carolina. She came back with a Southern drawl that surfaced when she prayed out loud (she was a SoCal native, not someone with any accent normally). Soon, all the women in her advanced Bible Study also developed drawls when they prayed as well as her phrases she had picked up in the Carolinas. (I won't even go into the strange mannerisms they began to adopt.) Lord knows what they would've adopted if she had gone to Africa or Asia.
My take on all this was that people have a tendency to be more concerned with what others think and pray for their approval, rather than actually praying to and conversing with God. I'm so glad that He is not impressed (or even repulsed) by our words or lack of words.
There were the odd dinner time prayer phrases like, "we pray for the nourishing and strengthening of our bodies and us to Thy service," or "grant journey mercies." (Yet some of these same people thought "Now I lay me down to sleep" or "God is great, God is good..." were prayers of meaningless repetition.
In high school, I heard the daughter of a pastor pray, "Hey God it's me, [her nickname for herself]. How's it goin'?" The only problem with her informal prayer was that she didn't have much in the way of a relationship with Christ and was probably trying to tweak her listeners, including the One it was addressed to.
Last year, I blogged on the subject of prayer and included in the post a prayer that an Associate Pastor of ours prayed during a televised Thanksgiving service- "'Thy throne, Oh God is so great and powerful that should all the armies of the world should assail against Thee , Oh God, it should have as much effect as the faint mist on the distant Rock of Gilbraltar.' While the prayer was true, it did not reflect the way the man normally spoke or lived."
But I never really began analyzing prayers until I was involved in a nationally known student Christian campus group while I was in college. In our group, we had both brand new Christians and those who grew up in the church; there were liturigicals as well as charismatics. Each brought their own culturally-shaped style of conversing with God to the group. Favorites were the "just prayers" -"we just want to thank You", we just ask...". Sometimes these were modified by "really" - "we just really want to thank You." My pet peeve was the people who used Jesus' name as a punctuation mark - "we thank You Jesus for being here,Jesus and we ask You, Jesus that You'd be with Sally, Jesus." Yikes!
Unfortunately, there was also a great deal of unspoken pressure to tailor one's public prayers to style of the majority -those that didn't pray like the rest of us weren't asked to pray out loud again until their prayer style conformed. Some of it was far more subtle -you'd hear all the girls in a particular discipleship chain using the same tone and phrases.
For example, I was in an introductory Bible Study led by a young lady who had gone on a Summer Short Term Mission to South Carolina. She came back with a Southern drawl that surfaced when she prayed out loud (she was a SoCal native, not someone with any accent normally). Soon, all the women in her advanced Bible Study also developed drawls when they prayed as well as her phrases she had picked up in the Carolinas. (I won't even go into the strange mannerisms they began to adopt.) Lord knows what they would've adopted if she had gone to Africa or Asia.
My take on all this was that people have a tendency to be more concerned with what others think and pray for their approval, rather than actually praying to and conversing with God. I'm so glad that He is not impressed (or even repulsed) by our words or lack of words.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Dating Jesus????
This was the title of an article posted on Christianity Today Online. Agnieszka Tennant, the author of this article, writes of the trend to take the "Jesus as the Bridegroom" too far. She tells of a popular book that speaks of women cooking dinner and setting the table for two - for the woman and her "date" Jesus. The rest of the article describes women who have taken their relationship with Christ to places that, at best, sound creepy.
I think it's great that someone would have an intense love for our Savior, but it is weird to turn that into a quasi-romantic "dating" relationship with Him.
I'd love to hear comments.
I think it's great that someone would have an intense love for our Savior, but it is weird to turn that into a quasi-romantic "dating" relationship with Him.
I'd love to hear comments.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Round and Round
Ok, here's my rant. Sometimes I really hate my life. This last month has been one of those times and also the reason I have not had much time to blog. I feel like I live in a Dilbert cartoon. My most recent mental torment has to do with a project that I'm working on.
Without going into any great detail on what the project is, suffice it to say that my job generally has little to do with what I learned in college and more to do with project management. Of course with any project, one must plan and track both cost and schedule. Anyone with familiarity with accounting will tell you that you use a spreadsheet (like Excel) to track costs and a schedule program (like Microsoft Project) to show schedule. A month ago, a Program Manager asked us to plan some activities over the next few months showing schedule and costs; I created a task list with hours in a spreadsheet (I followed the template he sent me) and used it to also create a schedule in Project.
"No, that's not it. You have too many hours worked in one month and not enough in the next. Spread out your tasks over the 4 months. Otherwise, just make it look like Mr. X's file, " said the Manager.
"That's all wrong," I was told by a Finance person, "you need to put the schedule into the spreadsheet" (where each column represents one week). "Forget the Project version, that's not what we wanted." So I spent the next few days transferring all the info into a different spreadsheet.
Yesterday, at a weekly status meeting, the Program Manager complained that the tasks were now not in chronological order and each task had durations longer than two weeks. Also why was I working on tasks not due to be started until January and hadn't finished anything else? My answers: you approved the format two weeks ago, you asked me to spread things out in order to bring the burn rate down and the supervisor told me he wanted me to do the January tasks now, not then (when do I have time to do anything but schedules and sheets?).So last night I was working on it until 9pm solving the first two problems and then e-mailed my response to the Finance and Program Leads.
This morning I received a call from a Scheduler, "where's your Project schedule for these tasks?"
"On the Excel spreadsheet where it is supposed to be, " I said.
"No, that's wrong -it needs to be in the Master Project Schedule, completely linked, task-to-task. I don't care about the spreadsheet."
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! (You can see where this is going...)
Without going into any great detail on what the project is, suffice it to say that my job generally has little to do with what I learned in college and more to do with project management. Of course with any project, one must plan and track both cost and schedule. Anyone with familiarity with accounting will tell you that you use a spreadsheet (like Excel) to track costs and a schedule program (like Microsoft Project) to show schedule. A month ago, a Program Manager asked us to plan some activities over the next few months showing schedule and costs; I created a task list with hours in a spreadsheet (I followed the template he sent me) and used it to also create a schedule in Project.
"No, that's not it. You have too many hours worked in one month and not enough in the next. Spread out your tasks over the 4 months. Otherwise, just make it look like Mr. X's file, " said the Manager.
"That's all wrong," I was told by a Finance person, "you need to put the schedule into the spreadsheet" (where each column represents one week). "Forget the Project version, that's not what we wanted." So I spent the next few days transferring all the info into a different spreadsheet.
Yesterday, at a weekly status meeting, the Program Manager complained that the tasks were now not in chronological order and each task had durations longer than two weeks. Also why was I working on tasks not due to be started until January and hadn't finished anything else? My answers: you approved the format two weeks ago, you asked me to spread things out in order to bring the burn rate down and the supervisor told me he wanted me to do the January tasks now, not then (when do I have time to do anything but schedules and sheets?).So last night I was working on it until 9pm solving the first two problems and then e-mailed my response to the Finance and Program Leads.
This morning I received a call from a Scheduler, "where's your Project schedule for these tasks?"
"On the Excel spreadsheet where it is supposed to be, " I said.
"No, that's wrong -it needs to be in the Master Project Schedule, completely linked, task-to-task. I don't care about the spreadsheet."
ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! (You can see where this is going...)
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
I'm Still Here
No, I haven't abandoned my blog, I 've just been indescribably busy -mostly with work. In my free time, I have been working on, as of last count, a 26 page history of my church as part of some info I'm sending to my pastor. Then there is our TFB February Women's Retreat -Group's Chocolate Boutique and I'm the Director of this. This retreat is a retreat in a box -a speaker is not required, but it does involve a lot of different women to staff it. Right now we are still in the recruiting/assigning roles phase, after which I will be less involved until the month of the event.
Anyway, I should be blogging more in the next few weeks. I have one blog post saved in draft form, I just need to finish it.
Anyway, I should be blogging more in the next few weeks. I have one blog post saved in draft form, I just need to finish it.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Perky and Alive
Yesterday, I was working away from my office in another building a few blocks away. I knew that I would be gone before I left work on Friday so I left a note asking my officemate Dave if he would feed my Betta fish when he got in to work on Monday. I was a little concerned about my fish since he seemed a little sluggish on Friday after I changed his water. As he had always been a healthy fish with a vigorous appetite, I attributed his sluggishness to the fact he had not slept well since workmen had changed the lighting in our cubicle earlier in the week, thereby increasing the brightness in his bowl threefold (Bettas need darkness to sleep since they have no eyelids). To help him sleep better, I shaded his bowl with some file folders before I left Friday night.
When I got a free moment yesterday, I called Dave to ask if he had completed a work task and also if he had fed the fish as I asked.
"Sure", Dave said, "I gave him his food first thing. He came right up to the top of the bowl -he was very 'perky', seemed real active."
"Great, because he was not so active on Friday, in fact I was a little worried that he wasn't doing so well," I responded hopefully.
"No, he's fine, he's swimming all around," he reassured me.
Several hours later, I returned to my office to find the "perky one" nose down and dead. As I fished him out of the bowl to send him to the porcelain fish mortuary for his "burial at sea", I noticed that, not only was he dead, but that he was in full rigor. After I came back from the restroom, I ran into another of my co-workers and told told him about Dave's pronouncement of the fish's vigor versus the reality of the dead fish that I had just flushed.
"You'll have to tell Dave how 'perky' and 'alive' he is; let's see if he takes that as a good sign based on how his definition of those terms turns out," he offered.
So this morning, I had to razz Dave about it -"feeling perky yet, Dave?"
We laughed all morning.
When I got a free moment yesterday, I called Dave to ask if he had completed a work task and also if he had fed the fish as I asked.
"Sure", Dave said, "I gave him his food first thing. He came right up to the top of the bowl -he was very 'perky', seemed real active."
"Great, because he was not so active on Friday, in fact I was a little worried that he wasn't doing so well," I responded hopefully.
"No, he's fine, he's swimming all around," he reassured me.
Several hours later, I returned to my office to find the "perky one" nose down and dead. As I fished him out of the bowl to send him to the porcelain fish mortuary for his "burial at sea", I noticed that, not only was he dead, but that he was in full rigor. After I came back from the restroom, I ran into another of my co-workers and told told him about Dave's pronouncement of the fish's vigor versus the reality of the dead fish that I had just flushed.
"You'll have to tell Dave how 'perky' and 'alive' he is; let's see if he takes that as a good sign based on how his definition of those terms turns out," he offered.
So this morning, I had to razz Dave about it -"feeling perky yet, Dave?"
We laughed all morning.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Gods And Generals
I have been discouraged lately, pondering the age-old dilemma of why God allows suffering when He has the power to intervene and halt said suffering. I've also been troubled why He seems to allow evildoers to prosper while I'm allowed to languish, sometimes at their doings. Where, I've wondered, is the justice in all this? This has been especially troubling to me when the evildoer claims to be acting at the direction of God Himself but reflects an attitude or a characteristic that is far from the heart of God. Of course, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm the "Fairness Czar" -in my mind everything has to be completely fair down to the slice of cake I'm splitting with someone else.
This past Labor Day weekend, I had the opportunity to stay mostly by myself at our Lake Arrowhead home, although my brother and his dog popped by Saturday night and left Sunday afternoon. My roommate Laura had gone with her college students on a retreat and so there I was watching DVDs, resting, cleaning, and praying/complaining to God. As I mentioned, my brother came up Saturday night and so we decided to watch the DVD, "Gods and Generals". This is a four hour long Civil War drama, largely focusing on the life and death of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a devout Christian man. It recreates the bloody battle of Fredricksburgh in which the Union troops marched up a hill in an open field only to be massacred by Confederate rifleman and artillery shooting from behind the stonewall at the top of the hill.
One of the things that struck about this story was that on one side you have Stonewall Jackson praying fervently for God's blessing and protection in battle -he saw the war as the "Second War for Independence" and that he was defending his state from the tyranny and oppression of the Northerners. He attributed battle victories to God's divine providence and direct answers to prayer, even comparing his situation to Joshua fighting the Amalekites. He felt it was God's will to "kill every last one of the invaders." In contrast, Colonel Chamberlain of the Union Army, another devout believer, is shown writing to his wife about the "justness" of his Maine battalion's battle to preserve the Union. In one scene, Chamberlain explains to his younger brother that "while I don't doubt the integrity of the Southerners" who view this war as the means of protecting their homeland and freedom, "I take issue with those that would fight for their own freedom while denying the same to a whole race of men."
I had this epiphany - here were two men, both sincerely believed that God was directing them in their endeavors, both felt that he would bless and give victory, both prayed and sought God's guidance. One saw the slaughter of hundreds of his comrades, mostly due to the stubbornness of the commanding Union general, Ambrose Burnside while the other is later killed by friendly fire while riding to safety after a victorious battle. Whose prayer did God answer? Whose petition did He favor? This helped me immensely in my struggle because I often have opponents who believe that they are just as right, they are just as godly in what they are attempting to do (sometimes they think that they are even more right or more godly in their actions and thoughts.)
The problem is that we can be fully convinced of the "rightness" of our beliefs but that doesn't mean that they are necessarily in line with God's plan. One hundred forty-five years later, we can judge that Jackson's assessment of God's will for the North and the South was wrong, but how do we know in the moment? A person might be fully convinced in his own mind that what he is doing "is good, acceptable and perfect", but how can he really know for sure? Self-deception is an easy trap to fall into -this is what I want, what makes me happy and of course, God wants all that for me too. You can follow all the "right steps" in trying to determine God's will -reading the Bible, praying, asking the godly advice of others and still come to a wrong conclusion.
I would bring some additional caveats to this process:
1. Does what I'm about to do help or harm the message of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God? What will my Christian witness be like among the lost if I were to get "my way"?
2. God's says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So does what we are comtemplating sound like mere human reasoning? Is it about feeding the appetites of our flesh and/or stroking our own ego? Don't try to twist Scripture to justify these things.
3. How does what I am planning affect my fellow believers? Are they edified by my actions? Brought closer in relationship to God and others?
4. How do I now feel about those with a contrary view? Can I disagree agreeably or must I persuade them to adopt my side or else?
5. God is sovereign and He sees all. He sees what I and my opponents do not. Life has taught me much over the years. God has used life to school me and give me wisdom I did not have years ago. Younger ones (not necessarily chronological age, but young in spiritual experience) still need to endure that process themselves in order to gain it as well.
6. Sometimes people are just plain evil -their hearts are devising wicked schemes. They only care about themselves. Avoid these people. Know that one day, they will get theirs.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)
This past Labor Day weekend, I had the opportunity to stay mostly by myself at our Lake Arrowhead home, although my brother and his dog popped by Saturday night and left Sunday afternoon. My roommate Laura had gone with her college students on a retreat and so there I was watching DVDs, resting, cleaning, and praying/complaining to God. As I mentioned, my brother came up Saturday night and so we decided to watch the DVD, "Gods and Generals". This is a four hour long Civil War drama, largely focusing on the life and death of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a devout Christian man. It recreates the bloody battle of Fredricksburgh in which the Union troops marched up a hill in an open field only to be massacred by Confederate rifleman and artillery shooting from behind the stonewall at the top of the hill.
One of the things that struck about this story was that on one side you have Stonewall Jackson praying fervently for God's blessing and protection in battle -he saw the war as the "Second War for Independence" and that he was defending his state from the tyranny and oppression of the Northerners. He attributed battle victories to God's divine providence and direct answers to prayer, even comparing his situation to Joshua fighting the Amalekites. He felt it was God's will to "kill every last one of the invaders." In contrast, Colonel Chamberlain of the Union Army, another devout believer, is shown writing to his wife about the "justness" of his Maine battalion's battle to preserve the Union. In one scene, Chamberlain explains to his younger brother that "while I don't doubt the integrity of the Southerners" who view this war as the means of protecting their homeland and freedom, "I take issue with those that would fight for their own freedom while denying the same to a whole race of men."
I had this epiphany - here were two men, both sincerely believed that God was directing them in their endeavors, both felt that he would bless and give victory, both prayed and sought God's guidance. One saw the slaughter of hundreds of his comrades, mostly due to the stubbornness of the commanding Union general, Ambrose Burnside while the other is later killed by friendly fire while riding to safety after a victorious battle. Whose prayer did God answer? Whose petition did He favor? This helped me immensely in my struggle because I often have opponents who believe that they are just as right, they are just as godly in what they are attempting to do (sometimes they think that they are even more right or more godly in their actions and thoughts.)
The problem is that we can be fully convinced of the "rightness" of our beliefs but that doesn't mean that they are necessarily in line with God's plan. One hundred forty-five years later, we can judge that Jackson's assessment of God's will for the North and the South was wrong, but how do we know in the moment? A person might be fully convinced in his own mind that what he is doing "is good, acceptable and perfect", but how can he really know for sure? Self-deception is an easy trap to fall into -this is what I want, what makes me happy and of course, God wants all that for me too. You can follow all the "right steps" in trying to determine God's will -reading the Bible, praying, asking the godly advice of others and still come to a wrong conclusion.
I would bring some additional caveats to this process:
1. Does what I'm about to do help or harm the message of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God? What will my Christian witness be like among the lost if I were to get "my way"?
2. God's says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So does what we are comtemplating sound like mere human reasoning? Is it about feeding the appetites of our flesh and/or stroking our own ego? Don't try to twist Scripture to justify these things.
3. How does what I am planning affect my fellow believers? Are they edified by my actions? Brought closer in relationship to God and others?
4. How do I now feel about those with a contrary view? Can I disagree agreeably or must I persuade them to adopt my side or else?
5. God is sovereign and He sees all. He sees what I and my opponents do not. Life has taught me much over the years. God has used life to school me and give me wisdom I did not have years ago. Younger ones (not necessarily chronological age, but young in spiritual experience) still need to endure that process themselves in order to gain it as well.
6. Sometimes people are just plain evil -their hearts are devising wicked schemes. They only care about themselves. Avoid these people. Know that one day, they will get theirs.
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)
Friday, August 25, 2006
August
I can be so well-intentioned about blogging regularly and then before I know it, a month has gone by without a single posting. It's not that this has been an uneventful month - I spent a week at Junior Camp and work has had its own challenges as well. There's been some interesting current events that were worthy of commentary and other issues that needed some blog-ranting.
I think that this is a reflection of information overload in my brain thwarting my ability to get it typed out into the blog - I hesitate to blog if I don't have the exact words to express the moment or feeling I've experienced. Sometimes the sheer volume of information interferes with my blogging skills; I want to be concise, but have no clue how to do so.
So here's my short and sweet summary of the last few weeks:
Jr.Camp - awesome speaker in Arol McFadden; Karla-great job of worship leading; my tech stuff -glitch-free for once; weather -fabulous; children- generous in supporting their mission projects, funny, spiritually challenged; pictures can be seen at the Lightseekers website.
Work-another round of customer presentations done, yet another set next month.
Church -same stuff, but with some new opportunities coming soon.
Miscellaneous - some bad news that I rather not discuss right now. The bad people in my life and out in the world are still bad -they have yet to repent or be visited with divine retribution (darn). I would characterize my life as pretty good. No, I'm not suddenly rich, famous, popular or drop -dead gorgeous (all that's okay) nor have become Mother Theresa or Billy Graham either (that's all right too, but I do desire to reflect more Christ-like character).
Anyway, there you have my month. Maybe now I won't wait so long to post something because I waiting to craft "the special blog post."
I think that this is a reflection of information overload in my brain thwarting my ability to get it typed out into the blog - I hesitate to blog if I don't have the exact words to express the moment or feeling I've experienced. Sometimes the sheer volume of information interferes with my blogging skills; I want to be concise, but have no clue how to do so.
So here's my short and sweet summary of the last few weeks:
Jr.Camp - awesome speaker in Arol McFadden; Karla-great job of worship leading; my tech stuff -glitch-free for once; weather -fabulous; children- generous in supporting their mission projects, funny, spiritually challenged; pictures can be seen at the Lightseekers website.
Work-another round of customer presentations done, yet another set next month.
Church -same stuff, but with some new opportunities coming soon.
Miscellaneous - some bad news that I rather not discuss right now. The bad people in my life and out in the world are still bad -they have yet to repent or be visited with divine retribution (darn). I would characterize my life as pretty good. No, I'm not suddenly rich, famous, popular or drop -dead gorgeous (all that's okay) nor have become Mother Theresa or Billy Graham either (that's all right too, but I do desire to reflect more Christ-like character).
Anyway, there you have my month. Maybe now I won't wait so long to post something because I waiting to craft "the special blog post."
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