Chips and Dings

My brother has been remodeling his house. They bought it a few months ago. It’s nice, but dated so they have been making some changes. One of the first things they did was re-do the kitchen.
A couple of days ago, the men were here to install the new counter top in the kitchen. The top is made of genuine granite, and is a very nice addition to the home. The men spent some time with the installation, to be certain that everything was as it should be.
Yesterday, it was time to hook up the faucet and drains for the kitchen sink. I went ahead and started that job yesterday afternoon. Things weren’t going well, and I had to make several trips to the local hardware store for parts. You know how that goes…it seems that a job that should take an hour or so ends up taking three or four hours and a lot more trouble than it should.
While working with the faucet, a wrench accidently hit against the edge of the top where the sink hole was cut. The resulting chip in the granite was the first mar in an otherwise great looking counter top.
I don’t have to tell you that I was devastated by the slip. I know this wasn’t an inexpensive top, and less than 24 hours after installation, it has an imperfection due to something I had done. I went ahead and worked on the project, and after my brother came home, we finished it up.
I thought later in the evening about that chip. Here was a slab of granite rock…the stuff that mountains are made of, heavy, strong, and stout…beautifully cut and worked into a functional piece for a home, that was chipped because of a small hand wrench hitting it. The strike wasn’t hard, but apparently was at just the right angle and such that a chip ensued. I had inadvertently, it seems, found the Achilles heel of the top.
Although I’m sure they were disappointed, my brother and his wife took the news well. We’re still staying with them, and they’re still talking to us. And we think that the men may well be able to repair the chip when they come out to drill a couple of holes in the top in the next few days. They probably won’t be able to make it disappear, but can make it look much better.
Try as we might, the impressive facades we put up in our own lives sometimes melt away, and the Achilles heel of our lives is exposed and exploited by something seemingly small and insignificant. We all have our weak spots, and we all struggle daily with those small wrenches that seem to eternally chip away at our facades. The great thing about being a Christian, though, is that even though the wrench may create the chips, the Lord of the universe can not only repair me, but can make me “justified”…just-as-if-I’d never been chipped.
Who ever heard of a God like that!!

Water

Water is such an amazing thing. Besides the usual things about water being a universal solvent, appearing naturally in all three forms (solid, liquid, gas) on earth, having a high heat transfer coefficient, and other relatively amazing properties given it by the Creator, water is also, of course, necessary for life as we know it (for the most part).
We don’t usually drink enough water. Our modern lifestyle, which includes forced air heating and cooling, little exercise, and other things, tends to wring water out of our systems. We don’t feel thirsty, however, and don’t replenish ourselves as we should.
I am amazed at how much better I feel physically just a few minutes after downing a large glass of water (12 oz or better). I’ve learned that if I begin to feel lethargic or just not feel very well, many times if I drink a large glass of water, perhaps followed an hour later or so by another, that I feel better just a few minutes after the first, and continue feeling good and refreshed.
I also learned a couple years ago from an Audiologist that water is important to mitigate the dizzy spells I’d been having. My conventional thought was that I was harboring too much water in my system, causing my balance sense to become out of whack. The Audiologist said that just the opposite was true. He said that a lot of water is needed by those of us who have these spells to maintain the proper ratio of sodium to water in our bodies. He said it was sodium, not water, that causes the dizziness in many people, and a lot of water will not only dilute the sodium, but flush it out of our bodies.
Since I’ve been drinking water, I’ve not had another dizzy spell. And if I feel one coming on, a couple large glasses of water usually do the trick. The Audiologist’s fee was well worth the value of the advice he gave, since those spells would debilitate me for upwards of a day or more. Besides that, those spells were worse than any flu bug that has ever bitten. You think you wanna die when you have the flu….
So drink lots of water. Take in three or four glasses a day (12 oz or more each) even when you don’t feel thirsty. You may just feel a lot better for doing it.

Today has been a slow day for us. We had church this morning, of course, but we didn’t have Sunday School today since it is a holiday weekend. (We call it “Bible class” for some reason in our fellowship.) We won’t have small group meeting tonight, either. Other than those things, it is kind of a day of rest (which it should be, anyhow).
I never liked the idea of doing a lot of heavy work on Sunday. I don’t think there’s something inherently sinful in doing a lot of work, but always thought that the old Jewish idea of resting one day out of seven had some merit. To that end, I generally won’t do things like running the lawn mower, heavy lifting, hard construction, or the like. Nor do I expect my family to do it, either.
If I have to work on Sunday in my job, so be it. If I have to run the mower for some reason that just won’t wait, I’ll do it. But normally, I like to take things a little slower on Sunday. It just seems like an appropriate thing to do.
My wife has a second interview tomorrow for a job she’d really like to have. I have a first interview for a job I’d really like to have. Hopefully, one of us will be able to land a job this week.
I am really thankful for unemployment benefits. I know that they are abused by some, but the benefits certainly are lifesavers for us. I’m not sure why those benefits are taxed (income taxes), because they amount to only a percentage of wages and there are usually extra bills that have to be paid during times of unemployment. If I could change something about the system, I think I’d change that. Otherwise, Kansas unemployment seems to be relatively efficient and non-bureaucratic.
Staying with my brother is another lifesaver. I don’t know what we would have done had we had to find a place to stay on short notice. I can’t say enough what a blessing it is to be able to be here for awhile until we are able to be out on our own again.
We sang a song this morning in church that I really appreciate. The lyrics are below. I never can sing this song without thinking of our family singing it at the funerals of my parents, and at get-togethers since then. I didn’t even try to sing it this morning and just listened to the words. I commend it to you.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain

- Thomas O. Chisolm

Thanksgiving

It’s the day before Thanksgiving. This would normally be the time when I might wax eloquent (wax???) on being thankful for the blessings of life, but I don’t think I’ll do that today. Not because I’m not grateful or thankful. Not because I have no blessings. Not because I’m selfish. Rather, I’d like to think that I have an attitude of thanksgiving, more or less, throughout the year. I would hope that I’m not limiting my praise and thanks to family, friends, and God to this one day or time of year.
Instead of my doing something on Thanksgiving, I’d like to borrow a few lines from a lady by the name of Gail Musolf, who is the director of the Friendly Center, a senior citizens organization, and a deaconess in the Lutheran Church. I haven’t asked her if I can use these, but hope she doesn’t mind.
She uses the passage from I Thessalonians 5:16-18 as a text. In it, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Ms. Musolf then writes, “I do not think that God intends for us to be thankful for pain and suffering, for sin and evil, or for our inhumanity to each other. But I do believe that this passage is the blueprint for an attitude. Note the emphasis on constancy - 'Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances.' "
She continues, “We can nurture the attitude of thanksgiving precisely because 'it is the will of God in Christ Jesus.' Jesus' suffering and death have brought us back into a right relationship with God, and it is in and for that relationship that we are able to foster thankfulness as an attitude, a way of being, a part of who we are.” (http://www.valpo.edu/lda/devotions/november.html)
Think on those words this week as you down the turkey and ham, and watch the KU/Missouri shootout on Saturday. Then go away from this week (regardless of the outcome of the game) with a renewed sense of joy and and thanksgiving.

Reminder

I was looking at the comments on the new blog started by my uncle. One of the comments was mine, one was from one of his sons, and one was from a granddaughter. I know the son, somewhat. We’ve not had interaction in quite some time…many years, in fact, but I think about him and his brothers and sisters more often than one might think.
I don’t know the granddaughter at all. But I followed the link and found her blog. She doesn’t blog often, but has been consistent for the past couple of years with entries every so often. She has evidently had a busy life this past couple of years, having been in Europe and South America as well as in school, and doing all the other things a young adult would be doing.
Even though I don’t know her, I feel a kind of connection with her. Even if she may not feel the same kind of connection toward me, that’s OK. I have always had an interest in family, and like to catch up or keep up with what’s happening. Blogs are a great way to do that. I wish I had more blog addresses for more of my family.
When someone writes in a blog, and does so as I think blogs were meant to be written in, he or she opens up a part of themselves and lays it out for others to see. That can be unsettling to some, dangerous to others, and just uninviting to many more. However, it can also be cathartic, freeing, revealing, and something that prompts the writer to think, reason, question, and appreciate and enjoy life more.
And those who read it may find, if they choose to see, a window to a soul not their own. That window has within it the power to reveal truth, counsel acceptance, beg questions, create longing for meaning, develop empathy and compassion, and instill a wonder and marvel in the complexity and beauty of life.
I don’t know Joanna. But I’ve already begun to see some of these things in the window she opens in her blog. And maybe that’s where the idea of “connection” comes through…a kind of meeting of the minds through the miracle of the written word. (I’m reminded of John chapter 1…are you?)

Uniqueness

I was laying awake last night listening to a train go through town. Valley Center is on a major rail line of the BNSF Railroad. It’s not the busiest line, but there are 25 to 30 trains a day that go through, they tell me. We are about a mile from the tracks. It’s usually easy to hear the horns as they blow for the main crossings in town. They start out a higher pitch and gradually go down in pitch as they travel through (the physics of sound…look it up).
Some years ago, locomotives had an automatic horn that, when triggered, would blow two longs, a short, and a long. The automatic horns really detracted, I thought, from the uniqueness and the “experience” of a passing train. I’ve not heard that monotonous sound for a long time (automatic horns were easy to spot), and am thankful for that. Why?
Each engineer has his or her own method of sounding the horn, it seems. No two are exactly alike. Some stick pretty close to the two longs, a short, and a long. Some just blow long blasts. A few will hold the horn on continuously all the way through the intersections. Others will blow several shorter blasts. Some at night will blow the horn seemingly in order to not wake anyone, but remain legal. Some don’t care and will blast everyone awake. Some will turn on the bell (Most locomotives have a bell that when turned on will clang regularly. Look for it when observing a passing loco under the cab hanging below the main carriage over and just to the back of the front wheel trucks.). Others won’t.
When we lived by the tracks some years ago, I could tell that the same engineer was coming through on a train as before by the way he or she blew the horn. I never knew for sure as I couldn’t see in the cab, but I’d bet the farm it was the same one.
We’ve not lived here long enough for me to pick out certain engineers yet. I don’t know if we will be here that long or not, but I certainly enjoy listening as the trains go by. I only wish we lived a little closer….

Poetry in Action

We go into week four with no jobs lined up for either of us. Now, I know that isn’t a great way to start a blog, but that’s what I’ve been thinking about most of the day. My wife has had a couple of interviews with one scheduled on Monday of next week. However, I’ve not had any interviews or even contacts back from numerous letters and contacts made with employers. Maybe one of these days….
There are some things I have interest in that I’d like to pursue more, and will be more aggressive shortly with a couple of these. It’s always tough to know when or even whether one should make a second contact after the initial one. I don’t like job searches.
However, life doesn’t always give us what we like. Sometimes, we have to do what we don’t like, or even detest. That doesn’t mean that we’re bad or that something is very wrong. It only means that, as the saying goes, “Into each life some rain must fall.”


The Rainy Day
Written at the old home in Portland

THE day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains,and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Discombobulation

We spent the day yesterday, my brother and I, doing some plumbing on the water system of his home. He lives in an area where water wells are needed, and has a well, pump, tank, etc. His water system was not the best, with low pressure and flow rates pretty much everywhere in the house. So we took a shot at the plumbing coming into the house that hooks up to the tanks, thinking that might be the place that was causing the trouble.
He had a double tank system. There was a larger tank and a smaller one hooked in parallel. The pipes were large size, but older. When we took them apart, we readily found the source of the problem. Those large pipes were corroded so badly that there was no more than a pencil-width of clear space through them for water to pass. One of the tanks was apparently completely blocked and the plumbing had been installed with far too many elbows and turns.
The problem with the corrosion was far greater than we had expected, so he was disheartened that he may well have to replace the plumbing in the entire house. But we continued with just the part that we were working on in the hopes that it would at least make the water system tolerable.
Of course, a two hour job turned into all day. One trip to the hardware store turned into three trips to that store and one trip to each of two others. And when we finally finished late in the evening, we did have a drip or two.
However, we also have better water service to the rest of the house, and we know that the water well will produce 18 gallons of water a minute, something we didn’t know before because we didn’t have any way to test it before. Even with the drip or two that is in the new system, and the prospect of having to replace even more pipes, what we did was clearly an improvement.
How many times do we look at a problem and, instead of tackling it head on, push it to the background, hoping it will just go away? How often do we ignore something and just put up with it because we don’t want to have the temporary disruption that the cure would cause? I think that’s true not only with things like plumbing, but also with things in life…bad habits, dysfunctional relationships, crummy jobs, and others. Yes, the cure may cause some discombobulation, but the outcome is so much more pleasant, it’s really worth the trouble.

Mutual Trust

I drove into Wichita today to get a haircut. Yeah, yeah, I know that I could get one at the local Valley Center barbershop (actually, I think there are two or three of ‘em), but I enjoy going to the one across from Minisa Park on West 13th Street. Going to a new barber is a little like going to a new doctor. It takes awhile to get comfortable.
The drive in was uneventful, and the barber wasn’t busy so I got in the chair right away. We talked mostly about the oncoming closing of the 13th Street bridge over the Little Arkansas River, which was just a few feet from the front door of the shop. The powers that be plan to close the bridge entirely, causing traffic to have to re-route either to 19th or 21st Streets or up to 11th Street. In any event, the fact that North High School is on the other bank of the river will cause traffic tie-ups the likes of which haven’t been seen in awhile.
There was even a petition circulating in the community asking for reconsideration of the total closing of the bridge and the extended time needed to create a new one. There will be a meeting today at 3pm at the Riverside Café with city officials to discuss the issue.
My guess is that the petition will be ignored and the city officials will come to the meeting more to say what will happen rather than listen to concerns. I’m not personally involved in this, but have some experience with traffic flow to and from North High and along 13th Street. I think that they may have to close the street entirely in order to do the project, but I also think they can do some things to help alleviate the problems.
What about a temporary walking bridge across the river? What about traffic control signals at some of the intersections in residential areas that will suddenly be called upon to handle 10 times or more the normal amount of traffic? What about working 16 or 24 hours a day on the bridge in order to finish sooner? What about starting in March instead of the dead of winter so there would not be so many down days due to snow and cold? What about NOT re-doing the 13th and Broadway intersection, just a few blocks to the East, at the same time?
I don’t know if these are even feasible ideas, but they need to be thrown out there. And it could be that city planners have already thought of these things and for one reason or another have discarded them. That’s OK. We just need to know that we’ve thought of everything to try to make things as good as they can be during this time.
All too often, the government folks come to a meeting like this with a condescending attitude and the citizens come with a belligerent attitude. Both of those are inappropriate. Let’s see what happens here, and trust that things will work out the very best way possible.

The Promise

In our Sunday School class today, something was said about Jesus knowing that he was the promise of God. We have been talking about the well-known book by Lee Strobel called “The Case for Christ”. The topic today was whether or not Jesus knew that he was the Son of God.
Think about that for just a moment. Think what it must have been like for Jesus the man to also know that he was the only begotten Son of God. That he was the One upon whom the salvation of the creation (Romans 8) was hanging. That he was the One that was spoken of by the prophets of old and was the One that they and others looked forward to as they lived their lives in those old days. That he was the One to whom had been given “All Authority” and by Whom “all things hold together.” That he was the One of whom it was said, “He was despised and rejected by men.”
During the discussion, I was reminded of the lyrics to a song called “The Promise.” I’m not sure who wrote it, or I’d give proper credit here. I believe it was first performed by DC Talk, but am not even sure of that. I heard it performed by Allison Durham Speer on a Gaither video.


There’s A Promise Comin’ Down

Verse
A hand of fear gripped the crowd that day at Jiarius’ home
When the doctor shook his head and said “She’s gone”.
You could feel that mother’s heartbreak;
You could hear them cry and mourn;
Their little girl was only twelve years old.
Somewhere in the distance outlined against the sun,
There came a man with a mission from the throne.
They said “look somebody’s comin!’”
But what they did not know it was their promise comin’ down that dusty road.
Chorus
There’s a promise comin’ down that dusty road;
From his holy hands healin’ virtue flows;
He’s got the keys to what you need;
Death and hell He will defeat.
There’s a promise comin’ down that dusty road.
Verse
The wonder turned to mockin’ when Jesus did speak;
He said “Your daughter’s not dead she’s just asleep”.
Then he turned to the unbelievers and he told them all “go home”.
They heard him say “leave me and death alone”.
Then he laid his hand upon the child he looked death right in the eye;
He said “all power in heaven and earth belong to me”,
And with a voice that sounds like thunder he hurled death asunder,
And then he said “little girl rise and be healed”.
Chorus
There’s a promise comin’ down your dusty road,
And from his holy hands healin’ virtue flows.
He’s got the key to what you need;
Death and hell he will defeat;
There’s a promise comin’ down that dusty road.

Today is a knockout gorgeous morning in Valley Center. The air is crisp and cool, the leaves and other flora are every color of the rainbow, and the sun and wind are just the right proportions to make one feel the experience that is autumn in Kansas.
My nieces are coming home today, and will stay through tomorrow. They are away at college, and don’t make it home a lot. It will be a time of visiting and catching up for my brother and his family as they reconnect. We were able to do that with our boys last weekend as they came to Wichita for a visit and to support us in our transition.
It’s also the time to think about the holiday season. Thanksgiving is closer than we may think, and the Christmas holidays are not far off. Then comes the time of the year that I dislike the most…that time from about January 3 to the beginning of spring sometime in the first part of April. It seems that the days drag interminably, and the cold, wind, and winter weather just hangs on for an eternity.
It doesn’t, of course. Eventually, the ground thaws, things begin to bloom and grow, and the signs of yet another cycle of life are evident wherever one looks. I’m reminded of the Bette Midler song “The Rose” where the lyrics talk of the winter snows turning to the springtime.

The Rose
Written by Bette Midler

Some say love it is a river that drowns the tender reed;
Some say love it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed;
Some say love it is a hunger an endless aching need;
I say love it is a flower and you it's only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong;
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed that with the sun's love in the spring becomes the rose.

Customer Service

I had to call the Kansas Unemployment center today. It seems that I incorrectly answered a question on my first weekly claim for unemployment and had to call to straighten it out. I got my information together and set about to make the call.
After going through several menus, I was told that due to the high volume of calls, I should call back. It then hung up on me. I wasn’t very happy, but decided to call back later in the day.
A couple hours later, I wasn’t doing much and decided to call again. Going through the menus again, this time I hit a good time and someone was ready to take my call. Michelle was courteous, helpful, understandable, and fixed the problem for me.
I don’t like the menu system. I’d much rather tell someone what I need and have them route me to the correct person. However, I must say that at times I’ve found myself talking to someone who didn’t have a clue how to help me because the telephone person (could be male or female) either dialed the wrong extension or didn’t know that the person they were connecting me to was the incorrect person for the job. At least this way my call gets to the correct place, assuming I push the correct buttons.
A lot is said about government bureaucrats and their reluctance to do a good job. I don’t know much about Michelle at the Kansas Unemployment Call Center, but I am impressed with her. Her personality seemed to come out in the conversation, and she seemed to be a “real” human being, besides being able to take care of the problem.
I’ve also had good experience with the folks at KPERS, the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. They do good customer service and treat their clients like they should. A live person always answers the phone there, and can usually answer any questions one might have. If not, you are quickly routed to another live person who can help.
Many private businesses could learn a thing or two about customer service from Michelle at the unemployment place, and the folks at KPERS.