Second day of Summer

Well, I am off to bed very soon. I have to be at work at 6am. I am hoping we can be done around noon but we may have to work until 2pm.

Anyway, I took the boys to the beach. We all had a good time, and it would have been a terriffic time if I hadn't lost Nathan. He was separated from his brothers when returning from the pier.

My arms and shoulders are pealing.

Getting Ready to Write

Every writer goes through painful steps to write. When the writer can't think of anything new to write he can easily slide into a depression that makes him think that he isn't worth much at all. But, now I feel inspired again to write. My Church's web page is getting close to being reconstructed and I want to make something new for it. I am going to type my notes from Pastor Mark's recent sermons and create a link to them.

Over Father's Day Weekend I got a really good sunburn. I know I should have used sunscreen. In fact, I put some on, but it was too late. I am beginning to peel now nothing like skin pain combined with itch to make me want to have one or two of those in the above image. Also, I have an itchy rash from poison ivy. And, for two weeks I have been struggling with migraines, they have been mild attacks but just enough to slow me down and make me a little crabby.

Today is the first day of SUMMER! I love summer. I met with two newer members of our congregation to find out their story and to develop my own skills for working with people who are joining our congregation. Did I mention that it is the first day of summer?

I didn't do anything really summery this year, like to go the beach or walk outside. I did however pray with the younger married couple who joined our congregation about two years ago. I am reading Koren Zailckas's book Smashed and loving it. I just e-mailed her and told her so.

I wonder if I will hear back from her.

Anyway, I am off to another blog.

How I feel right now

The best way to say how I feel is to say that I feel that I am one penny short of a nickle.

I have something to offer, but it is very little and not even worth a nickle, which is to say I a feel that I am less than half a dime. Have you ever heard, "not worth a dime?" That is how I feel.

It's happening again

I work for a place that spent over, from what I heard, a million dollars on a machine to make a unique product. The problem is that this machine is down a lot and we have to work weekends to make up for the loss of production. How many Sundays will we have to work until this problem is solved? I wonder if it will be solved.

My co-workers are feeling the despair I have felt for a very long time--the feeling that this project will fail. There are problems all around. Approximately 20 per cent of everything we make is out of specifications. We have to air freight parts to our customers so they can have them before we shut them down.

All around this a bleak situation. Part of me thinks that it has to come together, because it is supposed to.

I think back to something I learned about three years ago; "chaos is normal." We think we can create order but we can't. Everything around falls apart or is falling apart. Happiness is found we accept the normalcy of chaos and move from there.

I accept the chaos that is happening at work, but I don't want it to control all aspects of my life either. I don't want to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I want my weekends and time at home. This is not too much to expect.

Easter

The funny thing about Easter Sunday is that I did not go to church. I was there at Palm Sunday and assisted because no one else was there to do it. Maundy Thursday was a Fellowship Dinner. It was really good! There is just something about making Holy Communion a real supper. I think it brings a deeper understanding of the Last Supper and what Jesus was doing to the community of believers that was there. Good Friday I wasn't going to assist, but no one else was there and Pastor Mark didn't assign anyone to do it. I wore black jeans and burgundy shirt and tennis shoes. What does one wear to a crucifixion anyway? So, I attended all the services of Holy Week, but Easter Sunday when everyone shows up, I wasn't there.

Spring 4

The temperature here got up to 78 Fahrenheit Degrees. I was really excited and happy about that. We had a cookout, and ate hot dogs and brats outside on the deck. I raked along the fence line and under the Rhododendrons, and picked up the yard as well. I set out the hammock and we flew the flags, the Stars and Stripes in the front yard and the Grand Union/Union Jack in the backyard.

It was a great way to celebrate the warm Spring weather in early Spring.

Spring Two

I am working on a Press Release for the Step It Up campaign that is happening here in Holland. My Pastor has an unique sense of humor, and wants to create a slogan based on TULIP, the 5 points of Calvinism. I like Calvinists; I do not care for Calvinism. The five points are:

Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance/Preservation of the Saints

We are working on our own version of this. He has seen a writing gift in me and is encouraging me to write news articles and press releases for our congregation.

If you believe in an election of the damned, the reprobate, then you see no problems in TULIP. If you believe that God wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth then you might have a problem with TULIP.

The Step It Up campaign is a nationwide rally to stop Global Warming. Al Gore started it. You know the former Vice President. He served with Bill Clinton, Hillary's husband. You have to remember him. I know, most of you have short attention spans, but you can remember more than eight years ago, can't you? The film is called An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore was doing his Power Point slide presentations around the world when a documentary director thought it would make a great film. An Inconvenient Truth won The Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Well maybe all you homophobes didn't watch it because Ellen DeGeneres hosted it. That is just sad if you did. So what is she is a lesbian? There have been lesbians since before Sappho wrote her poetry. How did I get on this subject?

Oh yeah, Al Gore at the Academy Awards. There is a seriousness about Global Warming and we should do something about it. So here in the Tulip City we are, and a group of Lutherans are making it happen, and we aren't homophobes either.