momentous thoughts

Today I'm cleaning...listening to music...

I stopped for a snack awhile ago, and picked up the same book I've been slowly working through. Saw some quotes that grabbed me...maybe they'll grab you too...maybe they're worth talking about.

The book? "Seizing Your Divine Moment" by Erwin Raphael McManus. (Isn't there a teenage mutant ninja turtle named Raphael? To my knowledge, there's no relation, but you never know.)

(p. 39) "The greatest danger that success brings, aside from arrogance, is the fear of losing what has been gained."

(p. 43) "What God can do through a person who's willing to act is limitless."

(p. 44) "You cannot put your life on hold. It moves forward with or without your approval. Choosing not to choose does not put off the problem; it only exacerbates it. God designed us to move through time with intentionality."

...great word..."exacerbates"...

(p. 47) "The challenges you are willing to face will rise in proportion to the character you are willing to develop."

(A disclaimer - for those whose immediate reaction is "sometimes you have to wait on God, you know" - he counts that as a proactive activity too.)

Back to cleaning. The kitchen is done...on to the bathroom!

normal weather

Nothing deep today. Just one of my silly question moments.

Yesterday, I was listening to the radio (I was on the road for 4 hours, so talk radio helps sometimes). The host had a weather guy on the line, and he was one of those weather guys who doesn't really care WHAT the weather is - he just greatly enjoys discovering and tracking weather in general, whatever that weather is.

I like people like that!

Anyway, he was all amazed because our weather right now is "normal". He said - "There are always three options - we're either warmer than normal, cooler than normal, or normal. And right now," .... here it comes .... under my What A Weird Thing To Say category...

"Right now," he said, "we're experiencing "normal" weather, which is very rare!"

And he kept on going.

Leaving me with my question.

If "normal" weather is very rare - WHY IS IT CONSIDERED "NORMAL"??!!

LOL.

I await your wise answers.

unions in the world of church

Did you see the headline in the Spec on Thursday?
"Church Ministers Consider A Union". (Go to www.thespec.com and search "union" - you'll see the article there)

My first response was a Charlie Brown style "Oh good grief." A ministers' union? Thank you, no. I am not interested in paying union dues, nor do I care to start referring to complete strangers as "brother" and "sister".

My second response came as I actually read the article. A minister had done his job, reasonably successfully (in his opinion), and then was told he'd be best off to leave. "It just sucked the life right out of me," he said.

I have friends who have been there. Pastors reprimanded for not dressing up while playing basketball with the youth; pastors whose spouses found out they were hired as part of a 2-for-1 deal; pastors who quietly left their jobs after painful, unfair and ungodly treatment by their congregations.

It goes both ways - I remember hearing of a church member who told their pastor that the congregation needed a union! There's always a pastor somewhere who is heavy-handed, controlling, manipulative, unethical, and for some reason, still wildly successful, at least from outward appearances. Many people quietly leave their church families after painful, unfair and ungodly treatment by their pastor.

Maybe we should consider unions after all!

Except...wouldn't that be a sign that we've failed? Aren't we supposed to be recognizable as followers of Christ because we treat each other right? It seems to me that unions are formed when relationships fail. "We need a union," the Spec article says, "because the church has failed to show it can deal equitably with conflict."

And there's the clincher for me. There aren't enough unions in the world to make us act in a Godly manner. If I can't do my job in relationship with people...I think I'd rather not do it at all.

(My musing for this week's bulletin - thought I'd put it in this space too.)

everyone is born right-handed...

...Only the creative overcome it!

That's what the sign on my file cabinet says. Yup, I'm a leftie, and so is Jeff.

There's an article in the Spec today about someone wanting left-handed people for a study. Us lefties are always in demand, people want to study us. We are an oppressed people, aliens in a right-handed world.

Think about it. Stick-shifts, the number pad on keyboards, wind-up watches, mice (the computer kind, not the living eek kind), and the phone at work...it's all made for right-handed people. And left-handed scissors are just a cruel joke.

But we're survivors. The Spec says we think more quickly when playing computer games or sports. And we're 43 milliseconds faster in language tests. We also excel at primitive combat (that's from fighting off the righties).

(Apparently we might also be more susceptible to schizophrenia, alcoholism, dyslexia and other things, but let's not major on that, OK?)

I remember when I learned that the standard computer keyboard was made at a time when the old typewriter couldn't keep up with the finger speed of typists. So it was designed to slow down the standard typist - a RIGHT-HANDED person. Haha, joke's on them, because us lefties LOVE the computer keyboard, and we are speedy, speedy typists. (At least I am. I really don't know about anyone else.)

Yes, I am a proud southpaw. But I have adapted nicely to the right-handed world.

Let's do a poll - are you right or left? Any ambidextrous brilliant types out there? Anyone else want to claim oppression for a really trivial thing?

Have a great day my friends!

i'm impressed

I went to prayer at City Hall last night. I am not a regular attender, but I knew a City Councillor would be there last night, and I wanted to be part of that meeting.

I was impressed! And I am not easily impressed, especially by politicians.

He's not Mr. Personality, that's for sure, but that ups the trust factor as far as I'm concerned. He talked about his experiences in working for others and with others. Never badmouthed anyone, not even a little bit. Talked about his own passion for bringing new business to the city, and how he's walking out that passion. He mentioned other issues that already have "champions" and recognized their importance, but then talked about what he has chosen to focus on. I can respect that.

Straightforward ... respectful ... positive ... hard working. Not words I usually think of in relation to politicians. I am pleasantly surprised.

He also mentioned he has a blog to keep people in his ward up-to-date. I'm not in his ward, but it did motivate me to go to my own councillor's webpage and sign up for email updates this morning.

On another note...I need your input! When I started this blog, I chose to keep location and identifying factors out of it, because I'm new at blog-world and didn't want to do anything dumb. I'm more comfortable with it now...maybe you are too...is there any reason we shouldn't be able to talk about our location and church by name? As far as I can tell, the only person mildly identifiable is me, and since I'm usually broke, I'm not too concerned about identity theft, haha!!

Just seems like we could talk a little more specifically sometimes if we weren't talking in code.

Also...I have this blog set so that you don't get to it by accident - you have to know the address, or get here from our church website.

So there you are - two completely unrelated issues - politicians and privacy.

california pictures

No pictures of places - just people! Enjoy.

#1 Blissed and Joe (our awesome host)

#2 My husband behind bars

#3 Blissed wives and a bass player

#4 well...you know who we are!

Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting is tomorrow night! Church annual meetings cover a wide range of possibilities. Some are incredibly loooong, with people going on and on and on and on and on about the colour of the carpet.

Some are snoringly boring...which often goes with the long kind.

Some are quite hostile...everyone has heard differently from God about what the colour of the carpet should be, and each speech gets more King James in style, trying to add credibility and spirituality to the issue. In the end, someone is a winner, and everyone else has been pounded into the ground.

I think our Annual Meetings are pretty good...we have food, which is a plus. And we laugh, which is also a plus. And when we're done, we stop talking. Definitely a good thing!

What's your impression of an Annual Meeting? Any stories out there?