Filled Up

I woke up this morning and quietly went to the dining room table to begin my day.  I love it because I open the blinds on our sliding glass door and get to look out at Pikes Peak – a 14,000 foot summit mountain that overlooks all of Colorado Springs.  It always looks different, and today I was blown away by the hot air balloon that was floating right in front of it.  I ran and got the camera, not so quietly, and snapped a couple photos.  I hope you enjoy the scene. 

 

This weekend was full of great times… We hung out with my in-laws Thursday night, it is good to be with family.  Friday we sold all our old furniture that was cluttering up the garage, flew the stunt kite, and took the kids to ice cream.  (My favorite is Peanut-Butter-Chocolate what is yours?)  We sat out front while they rode their bikes around the neighborhood, it was nice and relaxing.  Saturday night my dad through my mom a surprise 65^th birthday party… 28 of her closest friends surprised her at a restaurant!  It was really fun to see her speechless.  She is still recovering – you probably shouldn’t surprise someone that age (just kidding mom!). 

 

Sunday was great.  The music was awesome, although Kevin our new worship guy was sick as a dog, so his friend Jeff stood in for him.  It was great to see how willing these guys are to step in and help out on short notice.  The message went really well too, I love it when it all comes together – and I take no credit for it…  After church we went over to Henry’s house and ate steak and hung out.  It was good to be with friends.  Then last night we went to my folks house and caught up with them after the big surprise – mom was still talking about it. 

 

I think that is exactly what weekends are supposed to be – full of friends and family.  It was very fulfilling and enjoyable.  It makes it easier to go into the week when we are filled with great relationship.  That is what I hope you all experience on a regular basis, friends that are like family, and family that is close.  There is nothing like it.  That is also my hope for the small groups we are developing at our church.  So many people don’t have this kind of community… sometimes because they have relocated, sometimes because they are too busy with stuff that pushes this kind of relationship out.  Some even choose to isolate themselves; that I just don’t understand.  But if you can find a group that can become life giving, I would move heaven and earth to become a part of it!  There is nothing better!

 

Guest Blogger Friday Pt III: Emily Anne Doughty Crouse

I am a nursing student at the Decker School of Nursing in Binghamton, NY. My life is full to the brim with lectures, clinical rotations, projects, papers, demonstrations, reading and lots and lots of studying. Before I entered nursing school I worked as a nurse’s assistant and as a secretary in a local hospital in Binghamton, NY. Being a nursing assistant, entailed much more then I originally thought.

 

The time I spent working in the hospital was priceless. Not only did I gain information and experience that helps me in nursing school but I meet some very fantastic people. What I enjoyed most was caring for people when they were at their weakest. On the floor where I worked, patients were mostly very ill, in pain, miserable, vomiting, bleeding, terminally ill and definitely uncomfortable- to say the least. As an aide, I was charged with keeping our patients safe, dry, warm, well nourished, well hydrated and anything else that might make their stay more comfortable (within reason of coarse!)

 

My job was very simple at times. When someone was thirsty, I brought them water. When someone was hungry, I brought them food. It was a blessing to be able to serve in such ways. If someone was dirty I helped them clean-up. If someone had to use the bathroom I helped them get there safely. When someone was crying I brought them tissues. The one aspect that I felt I could not bring someone anything physical was when someone was dying.

 

If someone was dying I made sure they were comfortable, bringing them as many pillows or blankets as possible –anything they wanted. The family of the person who was about to pass on got the same treatment. I would have a complimentary food cart brought up for the family with drinks and snacks. But, no matter what I tried to bring them they really didn’t want or need anything physical.

 

I learned working at the hospital, that as a nurse there will be times when I cannot fix a patient; there will be times when I cannot make someone better; there will be times where it seems like I cannot do anything at all. And it is those times, when I will be able to do the most.

 

AWESOME POST Emily!  I loved it.  Thank you so much for participating!  

New Pics of Building Up!

I just got back from the property, check out the new pics and update under Page “New Building Project.”

We Can’t Do That

I have heard the phrase “we can’t do that” over and over throughout my life.  Someone that has been a part of an organization for a long time usually says it.  They have seen it all, tried it all, and seem to know it all.  It is one of my pet peeves. 

 

The biggest problem I have with that kind of statement is it takes no account of change.  New leaders, new technology, new ways of doing things… it is all discarded because somewhere along the line when something new was attempted it didn’t work, and now and forever it is believed that it cannot ever work.  We have a small dog-named Sampson, he is a Shih Tzu and he is not the brightest bulb in the socket.  When he was younger and smaller he could not jump up on our bed.  So he learned that if he stood on his hind legs and scratched at the bed I would lean over and pick him up.  Now he is bigger, and could easily jump up – in fact he jumps on other things in the house at the same height level as the bed – but he still wont jump up on the bed.  He still stands on his hind legs and scratches at the side until someone picks him up.  His head is even with the bed so he can see the top, but he doesn’t even attempt to jump up.  In his little head he has decided he can’t, and once that is decided, he is absolutely right – he doesn’t even try.

 

My point – stop thinking that you cannot do something just because it didn’t work in the past.  Things change, and you may have learned something new that makes all the difference in the world.  You may have grown a couple inches and become stronger, the markets may have changed, or the environmental conditions (not weather) may be different enough that this time it may work.  It may be a relationship, it may be a business venture, it may be that new career you are looking for, and the window of opportunity was closed last time you tried, BUT it may be open now.  It may be there are different people involved in it, whatever it is… don’t stop trying.  Failing at something does not mean it cannot be done, it means that this time, or the time you tried it last, it didn’t work… 

 

Don’t give up… keep trying.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t work, give it a shot and remove the word “can’t” from your vocabulary entirely!

Steel Is Going Up!

Finally, there is nothing like things starting to take shape.  We have been watching the dirt for a long long time… Everything that has been involved in the building project up until yesterday morning has been in the ground.  The grading, the big hole they had to dig, the foundation walls that go underground, it has all been in the dirt.  Now, finally, we have stuff going into the air.  It is becoming a building instead of a big hole in the ground filled with concrete.  I cannot tell you how good that feels. 

 

On the other hand, my iphoto has been acting strangely ever since Taylor got her new camera.  It shuts down every time I import photos.  It is really frustrating because I think I just lost a bunch of pictures I don’t have backups for.  That makes me angry… I usually do a good job backing up stuff, but I think I lost some important photos.  Somehow when she makes movies on her camera it messes with the iphoto and I wind up with a ton of backup folders.  Hers is the only camera we have, and let me tell you how funny I feel at a construction site taking pictures with my daughter’s pink camera!  Yes pink. 

 

Enjoy these pictures… see ya on twitter!  (I saw some of you signed up to follow, now for the rest of you!!!)

Twitter: Developing OUR Community

Okay, all of you with that desire to remain continuously connected – You, yes you, need to get on the Twitter bandwagon. It is a blast. I love getting messages from friends and people I admire all over the country. They put silly things in like what they are doing or thinking and we all get to see it. You don’t have to have the messages sent to your phone, you can have them pop up on your desktop while you work. It is like IM but a whole lot more mobile. Get on the Twitter website, (click here) set up an account, (follow the instructions and you will be fine) and get tweeting!

I have downloaded Twhirl as a desktop widget to download the tweets I get and send the ones I type. It runs in the background alerting me when I get a new message from someone I follow, so I don’t have to leave my browser open to twitter the whole time. Here is the catch though, there are only one or two people doing this that I have a close connection to… I would love you to get on so we can build our community together and enjoy seeing what everyone is doing at any given time! (you shy people control how much info you send out by the way…)

It is simple – throughout the day just enter in less than 150 characters (yes that includes spaces) the answer to this question, “what are you doing?” COME ON join in I am dying to know! When you sign up tweet me, or put your twitter address in the comments section so we all know you are on!

Force Vs. Finesse

I hate that word… Finesse. It sounds feminine. Maybe because there are beauty products with that word as their name. the meaning is important though;

finesse |fəˈnes|
noun
1 intricate and refined delicacy : orchestral playing of great finesse.
• artful subtlety, typically that needed for tactful handling of a difficulty : clients want advice and action that calls for considerable finesse.

I have a hard time with finesse. I am much more likely to force. I see the way things need to be and instead of waiting for them to happen naturally, or through a delicate handling of the people and circumstances around me, I make a straight line and push through. The outcome is achieved, but there is much more difficulty along the way. I am guilty of putting the wrong people in positions because the positions need to be filled, or hurting someone’s feelings because I step on their toes. Sometimes I get impatient with the process someone is going through and I want to cut right to the chase. I realize that it takes some people much Most often I see this come out in building or fixing things – usually plastic, and I break them. I once used a hammer to install a doorknob. Well, tried to, it ruined the doorknob. I shouldn’t do home repair.

I met with my mentor last week, an incredible man leading a large ministry, and his words reminded me that I need to slow down and let things unfold, finessing the situation not forcing the situation. I can feel overwhelmed at times and it is easy to try to “fix” everything by forcing it. What I have learned though, is by forcing things I don’t allow God to show up and work the way He does. If I always force it I miss the artfulness of it unfolding before me the way it should. I miss the beauty in it, I miss the intricacy that makes it all work.

By becoming more and more aware of this, I can watch others doing the same things! We all can be guilty of trying to make something work, instead of watching to see an alternative option or finessing instead of forcing! I would love to hear about a time you forced instead of finessed – or even your thoughts on this…

Don’t use hammers to install doorknobs!

Made It!

Well we made it through the week!  It ended well, with all the kids having a great time, and they learned a lot too.  Unfortunately things at home did not go as smoothly.  Trish has been battling health issues for a while now, and this week she had a tough time of it.  So I have been Mr. Mom not only to our kids, but in the mornings this week to 7 others as well!

 

There was no post ready from our remaining guest bloggers, but I am sure we will have one soon This week I will start linking to posts that have impacted my thinking throughout the week, and even though I missed a day of writing I have tried to keep up with my blog reading, so here are this weeks great reads…

 

Pete Wilson has his hands full here, but can you blame the little guy?

Vince quotes a beautiful poem here, and I hope you got a spoke a word like this today.

Phil Cooke had a great word for leaders about valuing relationships when making decisions.

Michael put up a post about crabs that I thought was so appropriate as the theme for the week of VBS we just finished was “beach”

If you have ever questioned your work, check this out, you should ask questions!

And finally, my good friend Cecil put up a fantastic post about churches… I would love to hear your comments about this one!

 

Thanks for a great week, and I’ll see ya Monday!

Coming Soon!

I have a lot to catch up on, I know!  Sorry I missed yesterday – long story, but I will share this afternoon when I get today’s post up.  Thanks for being patient, see ya later!

Pearlstink

 

The director of the VBS at the church my family has been volunteering at and attending this week said some great things this morning… She said that this day – Wednesday – being the mid point of the week can sometimes be one of the hardest days for the kids and the workers.  The kids have begun to get tired, and the workers have figured out which kids are “stinkers” by now.  I have a couple “stinkers” in my group, a couple rambunctious boys that keep me on my toes at all times.  She went on to say that like a clam, when those stinkers get irritating, we need to coat them with extra grace and patience today.  Boy was she right…

 

She went on to say that she not only loves the “stinkers,” but prefers them!  I thought that was interesting, usually the “stinkers” are the very ones that make finding people like me to do jobs like this the hardest.  But as she explained it all started to make sense… The stinker kids in these kinds of things usually grow up to be used in ways we all admire.  They become doctors, ministers, missionaries, youth workers, or teachers.  They become pearls: beautiful people that know deep inside they stink, but that also know that they are incredibly valuable and matter to God.

 

Next time you are prone to look for the “stink” in a co-worker, parent, child, or boss, remember you probably have some “stink” in you too… and we all need to work better at becoming pearls, and spend less time focused on the “stink.”