This is a busy time for us. One might think that with summer vacation ending and the hot days upon us in full force, it would be a rather lazy time. I am somewhat surprised, though, that we are as busy as we are with the girls.
There’s school that starts in a couple of weeks. We’re taking the girls to dental and eye appointments, finding clothes, enrolling girls, and generally trying to get things going so we don’t have all of that to do at the last minute.
Then there are the remnants of summer activities. One of the girls is staying with her folks for a few days. One of the girls just got back from camp. We still have classes and other activities going on here at the campus for the others.
We have much to do on campus. The garden is in full production. The grass has only recently begun to slow down its growth due to a lot of rain this spring. The trees need to have limbs trimmed, trash is ever-present on campus due to a business district next door with a McD---- there, and other repairs and projects beckon as well.
To add to all of that, for us personally, we are looking forward to helping my brother move to new digs soon. We also are working on our rental property, trying to keep up with our granddaughter, arranging our finances, and finding time for ourselves.
Yes, it may be a busy time, but I think it’s really a matter of perspective. You see, school is just a couple of weeks away. Then the vacation is over.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
What's Normal?
The girls who were here and I went with my brother and sister this morning to pick blackberries at a nearby blackberry orchard. I don’t know what the real name should be, so I’ll use the word “orchard”. We got up early, were out of the house by 6:25, and on our way to the restaurant for breakfast and to meet Sis, then on to the berry farm.
The girls did generally well at picking, but mostly had fun with each other and with the “berry bugs” and the “berry snakes”. One of the girls saw a garden snake and called it a berry snake, and there was some kind of insect, like a locust, that one of the others nicknamed a berry bug. Of course, the bugs and snakes were going to eat them, etc and there were appropriate shrieks and laughter about the critters.
My brother said during the picking time that if one didn’t know differently, one would think that these girls were “normal”. I replied that most of the time they were indeed normal, but there were times where triggers of some sort, usually unknown even to the girls, cause them to not think clearly and do something they otherwise would not have done. Or they have not been taught proper interaction techniques or responses to certain environmental stressors. Or there is something else going on of some kind.
We all have times when we’re not normal, I suppose. It’s just that most of us react appropriately to those times and redirect ourselves back to normal or accepted behavior. These girls, for some reason, can’t do that appropriately.
By the way, what’s normal?
The girls did generally well at picking, but mostly had fun with each other and with the “berry bugs” and the “berry snakes”. One of the girls saw a garden snake and called it a berry snake, and there was some kind of insect, like a locust, that one of the others nicknamed a berry bug. Of course, the bugs and snakes were going to eat them, etc and there were appropriate shrieks and laughter about the critters.
My brother said during the picking time that if one didn’t know differently, one would think that these girls were “normal”. I replied that most of the time they were indeed normal, but there were times where triggers of some sort, usually unknown even to the girls, cause them to not think clearly and do something they otherwise would not have done. Or they have not been taught proper interaction techniques or responses to certain environmental stressors. Or there is something else going on of some kind.
We all have times when we’re not normal, I suppose. It’s just that most of us react appropriately to those times and redirect ourselves back to normal or accepted behavior. These girls, for some reason, can’t do that appropriately.
By the way, what’s normal?
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Cultural Ruts
We attended a performance by some Chinese acrobats today. As you may know, these folks are just pretty good, and today’s performance was no exception. They made the very difficult seem very easy, and made the impossible seem just a bit harder than easy. Along with the acrobats, some Chinese yoyo performers showed their skill, and some dancers did a Chinese dance. All in all a very enlightening and entertaining afternoon.
I was struck this afternoon with the idea of the incredible diversity that is built into this world of ours. Venues such as this performance allow one culture to contact another in a non-threatening and educational manner. We are privy to a small piece of China and are blessed and made better by our appreciation of these people and what they do.
All too often, we are stuck in our cultural ruts, rubbing elbows only with those who are like us. We don’t have experiences that get us out of our cultural boxes, and when such experiences are made available to us, we often turn away from them as something that is new and different. We want everything to be the same.
Thanks to all who made this performance possible. It was good for me to get out of my rut and appreciate another people and another culture.
I was struck this afternoon with the idea of the incredible diversity that is built into this world of ours. Venues such as this performance allow one culture to contact another in a non-threatening and educational manner. We are privy to a small piece of China and are blessed and made better by our appreciation of these people and what they do.
All too often, we are stuck in our cultural ruts, rubbing elbows only with those who are like us. We don’t have experiences that get us out of our cultural boxes, and when such experiences are made available to us, we often turn away from them as something that is new and different. We want everything to be the same.
Thanks to all who made this performance possible. It was good for me to get out of my rut and appreciate another people and another culture.
Worth Knowing
A few days ago, I was over at the little shopping center that’s just a block or so from the campus. There’s a drive-up mail box there and I noticed a postal service vehicle there and a mailman at the box. I didn’t think much of it at first, but did a double take when I processed the fact that the mailman was putting mail INTO the box instead of taking it out.
Now, that may not seem like much of a deal to you, but it struck me as kind of different that a mailman would be putting mail into the box. My thought was that this was a route carrier that had picked up mail from his route and instead of taking it back to the post office to put into the system, he was putting it into a box to be later picked up by someone else.
You may look at this and just say, “So??” If you do, so be it. You don’t have to read anything into this if you don’t wish to. But some of you undoubtedly will see the irony here; that someone who is supposed to deliver and process mail instead deposits it into a box to be handled by someone else…he’s just a regular Joe who is mailing some things.
So now you know. If you give a letter to your carrier, the chance may be good that he’ll just pull up to a drive-up box somewhere and mail it for you instead of carrying it all the way back to the post office. And isn’t that really worth knowing?
Now, that may not seem like much of a deal to you, but it struck me as kind of different that a mailman would be putting mail into the box. My thought was that this was a route carrier that had picked up mail from his route and instead of taking it back to the post office to put into the system, he was putting it into a box to be later picked up by someone else.
You may look at this and just say, “So??” If you do, so be it. You don’t have to read anything into this if you don’t wish to. But some of you undoubtedly will see the irony here; that someone who is supposed to deliver and process mail instead deposits it into a box to be handled by someone else…he’s just a regular Joe who is mailing some things.
So now you know. If you give a letter to your carrier, the chance may be good that he’ll just pull up to a drive-up box somewhere and mail it for you instead of carrying it all the way back to the post office. And isn’t that really worth knowing?
Friday, July 20, 2007
Going Soft
Well, it’s Friday. We have our girls back and we’re in the middle of the Friday schedule. Right now, the girls are at tutoring. We have some adults that come on campus twice a week during the summer and help the girls with math, reading, and writing. These volunteers are a godsend and we are indebted to them greatly.
The day promises to be warm and sticky. I’ve some work to do outside, and am not looking forward to it, but it must be done. I don’t know why, but the heat seems to bother me more than it used to.
I can recall younger days when we had a swamper at home. That’s a water cooler; one of those boxy things that went into the window. Water ran down pads of some kind of material (which smelled wonderful the first few days) and cooled air that was sucked through them and blown into the house. On dry days, it worked great. On humid days, it wasn’t so good.
But as a boy, I wasn’t that concerned about humidity, heat, and discomfort. There were too many things to do in the summer and not enough time to do them. There were tree houses to build, field work to do, drain ditches and railroad sidings to explore, summer recreation, and a host of other things to keep a young mind occupied. The swamp cooler was just a brief respite at times from the heat and outdoors.
Now we lament that we are going soft. We have to have air conditioning and plenty of it. We don’t spend much time outside and when we do, we slather lots of sunscreen. We sweat and think it’s somehow unnatural. And to even think of building a tree house with old boards found on the board pile under the elm at the back of the place is not possible, because there are no more board piles laying around.
I don’t know if we’re going soft or not. In some respects, we’re tougher than ever. I’ll leave that up to you. But for right now, I’m donning my hat, my gloves, and a steely will to brave the heat and humidity of Wichita in July. If I make it back alive, I’ll let you know how it went.
The day promises to be warm and sticky. I’ve some work to do outside, and am not looking forward to it, but it must be done. I don’t know why, but the heat seems to bother me more than it used to.
I can recall younger days when we had a swamper at home. That’s a water cooler; one of those boxy things that went into the window. Water ran down pads of some kind of material (which smelled wonderful the first few days) and cooled air that was sucked through them and blown into the house. On dry days, it worked great. On humid days, it wasn’t so good.
But as a boy, I wasn’t that concerned about humidity, heat, and discomfort. There were too many things to do in the summer and not enough time to do them. There were tree houses to build, field work to do, drain ditches and railroad sidings to explore, summer recreation, and a host of other things to keep a young mind occupied. The swamp cooler was just a brief respite at times from the heat and outdoors.
Now we lament that we are going soft. We have to have air conditioning and plenty of it. We don’t spend much time outside and when we do, we slather lots of sunscreen. We sweat and think it’s somehow unnatural. And to even think of building a tree house with old boards found on the board pile under the elm at the back of the place is not possible, because there are no more board piles laying around.
I don’t know if we’re going soft or not. In some respects, we’re tougher than ever. I’ll leave that up to you. But for right now, I’m donning my hat, my gloves, and a steely will to brave the heat and humidity of Wichita in July. If I make it back alive, I’ll let you know how it went.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
A Decent Place
We spent yet another day at the rental house in my hometown…the one I’ve been telling about in previous posts. We didn’t spend a lot of time there. Maybe we were there four or so hours today. We were both tired today and I hurt from yesterday’s work.
We did get some sheetrock (excuse me, DRY WALL…Sheetrock® is a brand name) mudded and got some wet sanding done. We also prepared to do more dry walling tomorrow and maybe some more mudding and taping.
It’s getting a little more dry down there, as it hasn’t rained any great amount for almost a week. The humidity is even going down some. Now, maybe we can get back to some semblance of normal, whatever that is, with the weather.
We’re getting our girls back on Thursday afternoon. We’ll go down there tomorrow and work, but stay here Thursday to prepare to get them back. On Monday, three of the girls will be going to camp, so that will leave us with just three for about a week. Then following that, we need to begin thinking about school. We need to do some shopping, get school supplies, etc.
We’re going to see our sons and their families this evening at Emporia. They’re meeting us there. It’ll be just for a couple of hours or so, then back to Wichita. These weeks off never seem to have enough days in them. We always have more to do at the end of them than we had at the beginning, it seems!
Thanks to all who have encouraged us as we work with our old house. It’s nice to know that there are others who care. We care, too, and will do the best we can with the resources we have to make the place a decent place to live once again. Thanks.
We did get some sheetrock (excuse me, DRY WALL…Sheetrock® is a brand name) mudded and got some wet sanding done. We also prepared to do more dry walling tomorrow and maybe some more mudding and taping.
It’s getting a little more dry down there, as it hasn’t rained any great amount for almost a week. The humidity is even going down some. Now, maybe we can get back to some semblance of normal, whatever that is, with the weather.
We’re getting our girls back on Thursday afternoon. We’ll go down there tomorrow and work, but stay here Thursday to prepare to get them back. On Monday, three of the girls will be going to camp, so that will leave us with just three for about a week. Then following that, we need to begin thinking about school. We need to do some shopping, get school supplies, etc.
We’re going to see our sons and their families this evening at Emporia. They’re meeting us there. It’ll be just for a couple of hours or so, then back to Wichita. These weeks off never seem to have enough days in them. We always have more to do at the end of them than we had at the beginning, it seems!
Thanks to all who have encouraged us as we work with our old house. It’s nice to know that there are others who care. We care, too, and will do the best we can with the resources we have to make the place a decent place to live once again. Thanks.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Listening
The wife and I went down and worked on our rental house today. We’ve been down there several times over the past two or three weeks, and we’re just now beginning some re-building following a lot of tearing up, down, and out. It’s been a discouraging process to go through, because the house is where we raised our family and is where I grew up. It just doesn’t seem right to have to see the old home place look like this.
Every time we go down, we are welcomed by a house wren and his missus. They’ve taken up residence in an old wren house attached to a post that isn’t more than about six feet off the ground and about 15 feet from our back door. Regardless of the weather, the man of the house is singing away either in a nearby sycamore, on top of the post, or on top of the wren house. He helps his wife take in various kinds of bugs…I am assuming there is a family inside.
I think God sent him there to keep me on the right track. This house repair is awfully discouraging. But the wren doesn’t care what the weather is, what shape the house is in, or anything else. He knows what he knows, and he knows that he needs to sing his song. And he does sing…and he cheers me whenever he sings.
We’ve had wrens in that house (one I built as a teenager) for years. Even when we moved and rented the place out, they still came. I’m glad they’re here this year. It’s just one more reminder that God loves me and desires what is best for me. Now, if I’d only listen….
Every time we go down, we are welcomed by a house wren and his missus. They’ve taken up residence in an old wren house attached to a post that isn’t more than about six feet off the ground and about 15 feet from our back door. Regardless of the weather, the man of the house is singing away either in a nearby sycamore, on top of the post, or on top of the wren house. He helps his wife take in various kinds of bugs…I am assuming there is a family inside.
I think God sent him there to keep me on the right track. This house repair is awfully discouraging. But the wren doesn’t care what the weather is, what shape the house is in, or anything else. He knows what he knows, and he knows that he needs to sing his song. And he does sing…and he cheers me whenever he sings.
We’ve had wrens in that house (one I built as a teenager) for years. Even when we moved and rented the place out, they still came. I’m glad they’re here this year. It’s just one more reminder that God loves me and desires what is best for me. Now, if I’d only listen….
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Attitude Adjustments
We have a home in this area that we’ve owned for many years. When we had to move away several years ago, we kept the house and rented it. Recently, we found several things wrong with the house and asked the renters to move so we could work on the house.
When we took a good look at the place, it was obvious that it needed more than we could give it in just a day or two. Several of us spent three days earlier this month at the place, and we uncovered issue after issue that just sank us deeper into discouragement. It turned out the house was a lot more in need of attention…major attention…than we had thought.
We kept thinking that we had found all that we were going to find, then something else would manifest itself, causing us to THEN think we’d found all that we were going to find, etc. We reached a low point, I think, on the night of the third day. Since then, it’s been a struggle to maintain a good attitude while working to correct the problems.
Having a good attitude and a positive frame of mind is so important in any aspect of life and living. I must confess that I don’t have that kind of an attitude nearly as much as I should. I tend to take things personally. I want to make things worse than they are. I think that no one in the world has the problems that I have.
Then all I have to do is look at the girls we serve here and their families. All I need do is look at the people of Greensburg, Kansas or Coffeyville, Kansas (tornado and flood, respectively). Or I can look in any nursing home or hospital, any prison, any mental facility, any of a number of places to find people who would gladly trade places with me.
Why is it that we have such a hard time figuring out that we have a lot going for us and that God is indeed good? Why do we continue with the martyr complex? Why can’t we see life as good? Why do we dwell on the bad, the negative? I don’t know the answers to those questions. I don’t know if anybody does. But I do know that I’d better get an attitude adjustment quickly, or I’ll miss out on what is truly special about living.
When we took a good look at the place, it was obvious that it needed more than we could give it in just a day or two. Several of us spent three days earlier this month at the place, and we uncovered issue after issue that just sank us deeper into discouragement. It turned out the house was a lot more in need of attention…major attention…than we had thought.
We kept thinking that we had found all that we were going to find, then something else would manifest itself, causing us to THEN think we’d found all that we were going to find, etc. We reached a low point, I think, on the night of the third day. Since then, it’s been a struggle to maintain a good attitude while working to correct the problems.
Having a good attitude and a positive frame of mind is so important in any aspect of life and living. I must confess that I don’t have that kind of an attitude nearly as much as I should. I tend to take things personally. I want to make things worse than they are. I think that no one in the world has the problems that I have.
Then all I have to do is look at the girls we serve here and their families. All I need do is look at the people of Greensburg, Kansas or Coffeyville, Kansas (tornado and flood, respectively). Or I can look in any nursing home or hospital, any prison, any mental facility, any of a number of places to find people who would gladly trade places with me.
Why is it that we have such a hard time figuring out that we have a lot going for us and that God is indeed good? Why do we continue with the martyr complex? Why can’t we see life as good? Why do we dwell on the bad, the negative? I don’t know the answers to those questions. I don’t know if anybody does. But I do know that I’d better get an attitude adjustment quickly, or I’ll miss out on what is truly special about living.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Going Beyond
We had an “upset the applecart” day in church yesterday. We were asked to wear nametags (you know, the “Hi, my name is….” tags) and were asked to sit somewhere in the auditorium where we normally would not sit. The idea was that with a congregation of several hundred souls, there were people we don’t know even though we’ve been attending for some time. It really was a fun thing to do.
We moved to another area of the auditorium and happened to be sitting such that we could see the sign language interpreter head-on. Normally, we sit where we see them work from kind of a side view. I’ve always been fascinated by signing and enjoy watching the signer as he or she interprets the words I hear. I try to match the words with the sign.
We sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” and I was able to look head-on as Scott interpreted the words. I don’t know what happened, but I saw in that signing a beauty and an awesomeness that just bowled me over as surely as if I’d fallen to the floor.
The words themselves are wonderful in that song, and the sign interpretation of it by Scott just seemed to bring out a kind of understanding that went beyond the meaning of the words themselves. The whole was greater than the sum of the parts, as some would say.
To say that worship takes place only during such times is, of course, fallacy. However, to say that worship must be devoid of such emotional times is also patently untrue. We are created as emotional spirits that inhabit physical bodies. There must be a blend and balance as we struggle to let the God of heaven and earth know of our love and devotion…not an easy thing since our actions speak louder than our words. And our actions on a daily basis are, if anything, less than stellar.
We say in worship that we love Him, yet we continue to lie, cheat, steal, gossip, and generally disobey in everyday life. How can He possibly believe what we say, knowing that we do what we do? I think it helps sometimes to have moments of worship that go beyond our saying that we love Him. I think this moment was one of those.
We moved to another area of the auditorium and happened to be sitting such that we could see the sign language interpreter head-on. Normally, we sit where we see them work from kind of a side view. I’ve always been fascinated by signing and enjoy watching the signer as he or she interprets the words I hear. I try to match the words with the sign.
We sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” and I was able to look head-on as Scott interpreted the words. I don’t know what happened, but I saw in that signing a beauty and an awesomeness that just bowled me over as surely as if I’d fallen to the floor.
The words themselves are wonderful in that song, and the sign interpretation of it by Scott just seemed to bring out a kind of understanding that went beyond the meaning of the words themselves. The whole was greater than the sum of the parts, as some would say.
To say that worship takes place only during such times is, of course, fallacy. However, to say that worship must be devoid of such emotional times is also patently untrue. We are created as emotional spirits that inhabit physical bodies. There must be a blend and balance as we struggle to let the God of heaven and earth know of our love and devotion…not an easy thing since our actions speak louder than our words. And our actions on a daily basis are, if anything, less than stellar.
We say in worship that we love Him, yet we continue to lie, cheat, steal, gossip, and generally disobey in everyday life. How can He possibly believe what we say, knowing that we do what we do? I think it helps sometimes to have moments of worship that go beyond our saying that we love Him. I think this moment was one of those.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Back Again
We’re back and going again here at the home. It has been an extraordinary vacation to say the least. Yes, we got the older son married off on Saturday and they are wrapping up a week at a Caribbean island. We had all of my siblings at the wedding and we had a good time with them at the motel where we stayed.
We then spent three days at the old home place in southern Kansas and cleaned, painted, tore out, tore down, and in general made a mess of the place…actually prepping it for better things down the road.
We camped out, some in tents, some on air mattresses. Some stayed in a nearby motel. In addition to the work, we had a weiner roast, birthday party, talent show, fireworks, and generally had a good time those days.
The house, however, was not in the best of condition and we found several things wrong that we didn’t know were wrong when we first started. So now we have added things to do that we didn’t know about before now.
But isn’t that always how it is? You know, it seems that when we try to do something…anything…the job never is as simple and easy as one thinks it is or will be. Those thirty minute jobs end up taking all afternoon, and a two or three day job ends up taking a week.
Regardless, the week was great and we accomplished a lot. Thanks to the family for helping out and for being there to celebrate our son’s wedding. I am truly blessed.
We then spent three days at the old home place in southern Kansas and cleaned, painted, tore out, tore down, and in general made a mess of the place…actually prepping it for better things down the road.
We camped out, some in tents, some on air mattresses. Some stayed in a nearby motel. In addition to the work, we had a weiner roast, birthday party, talent show, fireworks, and generally had a good time those days.
The house, however, was not in the best of condition and we found several things wrong that we didn’t know were wrong when we first started. So now we have added things to do that we didn’t know about before now.
But isn’t that always how it is? You know, it seems that when we try to do something…anything…the job never is as simple and easy as one thinks it is or will be. Those thirty minute jobs end up taking all afternoon, and a two or three day job ends up taking a week.
Regardless, the week was great and we accomplished a lot. Thanks to the family for helping out and for being there to celebrate our son’s wedding. I am truly blessed.
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