We're All in Transition!

My friend Alan Ahlgrim sends an e-newsletter each week to members of his congregation and anyone else who would like to get it. Alan is an excellent writer; I always enjoy seeing what he sends. But today's encouragement reflects on the death of Don Jeanes as I did yesterday, with more substance and thoughts worth sharing. So let me share here what he wrote . . . .

It was stunning news. Early Monday morning an old college friend suddenly died. Don Jeanes was a classmate of Linda and mine at Milligan College. After graduating Don went on to serve as the minister of two different congregations and then as President of our college for 14 years. He had just transitioned to a Chancellor role when he collapsed

 I’ve been bragging about Don lately as one who finished well when he retired as President.The college was in terrific shape. He and his beautiful wife Clarinda were a devoted couple, and their on-going kingdom investments were fulfilling to them and making a difference for many. Now with no warning Don is gone, gone but not forgotten.

How long do you think it will be before you are gone? I just finished Bob Buford’s book, Beyond Half-time, in which he tells of a friend who almost died. His friend had been hospitalized in serious condition where he was nuked with every antibiotic known to man. As he lay flat on his back in bed for endless hours he had plenty of time to think.

Do you know what ran through his mind? “Am I leaving the way I want to?” Bob said, “It was 90% relational. It was not about getting financial affairs in order, but about getting relationships in order!”  His friend wondered, “How do I die so well that it blesses and encourages people? How do I die in an other-centered way? I made an inventory of my calling. What have I left undone?”

 I’m working on a fresh list of things to do and people to touch. How about you? Our life is defined not just by our activities but also by our accomplishments; not just by the roles we fill but by the relationships we enjoy before we “transition.”

News flash: we’re all in transition! Life is a series of endings and beginnings and one day we will all face the ultimate one.  Actor James Dean once said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever; live as if you’ll die today.” Soon after that Dean died in a car crash at the age of 24.

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered – how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” Psalm 39:4-5.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” Jesus (John 11:25)

What do you yet need to do to leave well?

Sad Good-byes, Fruitful Labor

Last week we heard the sad news that a member of our church, a dynamic, active physician, died. Remarkably, he had survived a brain aneurysm two weeks earlier, but ultimately his system broke down, along with his family’s hope for his recovery. His funeral was Sunday; he would have turned 63 tomorrow.

We were sharing this story with a couple who told us a mutual friend’s husband, age 57, had just been diagnosed with Stage Four esophageal cancer. Their kids were coming to visit while they waited to hear treatment options from an oncologist.

Then first thing Monday Gene Wigginton called to report that Don Jeanes had collapsed with a fatal heart attack early that morning. I had just been in a meeting with Don a few days previous. He was speaking about how busy he was in retirement with his service in the community and our fellowship of churches. He had no apparent health problems. He was 66.

At our church Sunday, several hundred gathered for an emotional service in memory of our physician friend. Our minister, Tom Moll, quoted from Isaiah 57:

“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death” (vv. 1, 2).

In a world filled with war, in a culture riddled with stress, in a country characterized by sleeplessness and frustration and conflict, “entering into peace” sounds good, doesn’t it?

But most of us cling to life, no matter how many pressures and problems it brings us. We don’t want peace enough to die for it.

We all remember what Paul said: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” But not so many have memorized the rest of Paul’s conclusion: “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me” (Philippians1: 20, 21).

“Fruitful labor.” Is that why I want to go on living? If God confronted me with the choice of life or death, would I think first of family I don’t want to leave, experiences I don’t want to miss, good-byes I don’t want to say? Or would I have the character of Paul and think first of the work for God I haven’t yet accomplished?

This much is certain: when good and Godly men are snatched from us before they’re old, we look at their work not yet finished. And then we consider our future plans and realize they could go undone at any time. And we wonder, what fruitful labor should be our highest priority today?

Congratulatons, Jan!

Today we had a surprise retirement lunch for our payroll clerk, Jan Anneken. She's worked at Standard Publishing (now she's part of the CFM shared services) for almost 35 years. And she worked at Standard as a Manpower employee three years before that! She's one of just a few "lifers" still at Standard, a group that I belong to, with 36 years of service.
For some reason, we had a catered lunch (instead of the usual potluck affair), and it was nice: salads and meat and cheese and bread and two beautiful cakes from Servatii's.
Jan has been a steady, quiet, efficient, helpful worker, and we will miss her.

Jan (right) posed with another CFM retiree, Sue Albright. Those retirees do look happy, don't they?

Treasures from Home, Treasures at Home

Every year I have some plants that dwindle and die or at best just sit there. And then there are others that surprise me with how beautiful and bountiful they are. Our yellow cherry tomato plant is in the latter category this year. I've been wanting to get a picture of it growing out of the top of its cage and bent over with dozens and dozens of little tomatoes. I haven't gotten that picture, but I snapped this shot of a sandwich bag full of the sweet little fruits that I picked tonight. We gave some to Bill and Verna Weber when we ate dinner with them Saturday, and we promised them some more this week.

Evelyn's lending them a duvet/mattress topper thing and two pillows to use when their daughter and son-in-law and THREE grandsons come to stay with them for TWO WEEKS, starting Thursday night. They're taking a furlough from their missionary service in New Zealand and planning to serve for several months at Nebraska Christian College. But first this visit in Cincinnati. Two of the boys will sleep on the floor more comfortably because of our loan, and Bill, especially, will enjoy these homegrown treasures--probably all of them tomorrow!

Shocking News

Today began with the shocking news that Don Jeanes, retired president of Milligan College, died suddenly very early this morning.  I was with him in a meeting just last week and I am one of literally hundreds, probably thousands, who received the news with something close to disbelief.
As Paul Blowers said on Facebook, we are saddened by his death, but his vibrant legacy will live on long beyond him.
I've been thinking about death this weekend, but it's late and I'm tired after a church meeting that didn't end till 9:00. I'm going to process my thoughts and try to write something coherent a little later.

A Night at the Ballgame

The weather was delightful. The food was fine. The company was wonderful. The seats were perfect. The occasion was historic. The game was . . . disappointing.
We went to Great American Ballpark Friday night, the kickoff to Barry Larkin weekend and the last of this summer's Friday Night Fireworks. John and Mary Jane Burgess got great seats for us from the fellow they know in the Reds organization. We were about 25-30 rows off the ground on the first base line. It had been hot all day, but a nice breeze off the river made for comfort after the sun set. We walked through the crowds spilling out of the bars and restaurants in the developing Banks project and snagged wonderful hamburgers at the new Johnny Rockets that's part of the complex.
The game started well, but the Cardinals' combination of better hitting and pitching overpowered the Reds in a game that didn't end till well after 10:30. (Lots of walks and lots of hits by the Cardinals against the Reds.)
The after-game festivities featured several of Barry Larkin's former teammates being interviewed about their years with him and then a long speech of thank-yous from Barry himself.
The fireworks finally started around 11:00. We had met Burgesses at Christ's Church at Mason at 5:30 (Evelyn drove from home, and I drove from work). We were back there about midnight, home about 12:30 and not in bed much before 1 a.m.
It was a great night. But it would have better if the Reds had won!

The Perfect Day to Share a Perfect Sand Castle

I knew I wanted to share this picture sometime, and today (when I don't have a picture of anything interesting that happened today--so far!) is the perfect day.
This is a sand castle like none other I've ever seen! Sculpted from sand on the Copacabana beach not far from the hotel where we stayed in Rio de Janeiro last month. On our last morning there, Evelyn and I walked for quite awhile down the beach and then back up, toward our hotel on the sidewalk across the street from the beach, where we could find some shade. Just before we left the beach, we came across this remarkable sculpture. The man who made it was sitting beside it, asking for donations from those who wanted to take a picture. He tried to explain in halting English how he had built it and how he coated it with something to help preserve it.
I thought about posting this with something "inspirational" about building your house upon the sand vs. building it on the rock or something like that. But, dear readers, you've heard all that before. So I'll just say I wanted to post this remarkable handiwork for you to enjoy too, just for what it is.
Spent today catching up on correspondence, cleaning up my e-mail account (deleted HUNDREDS of unread e-mails--oh, what a mess I am!), and helping Diane Jones stuff mailings with a sample issue of the new monthly Christian Standard. I need to plan my work for next week before leaving at 5:00 to meet Evelyn and John and Mary Jane Burgess to go see the Reds play tonight. (THOSE pictures can be in TOMORROW'S post.)

Learning a New Rhythm

"What's it like to edit a monthly instead of a weekly?"
More than one person has asked me that, now that our first monthly issue of Christian Standard is in the mail and arriving in people's hands.
The most complete answer to the question is, "I'm still figuring it out."
One thing I know for sure, and I guess I should have anticipated it more than I have: Each step in the process takes longer than it did before! This should be obvious, I guess, since the new monthly contains at least four times more material to get ready at one time than before. And each step takes longer than I anticipated it would.
We had our fourth art meeting for the October issue today, and it took 10 or 15 minutes longer than the hour we had allotted for it. Part of that was looking over decisions that had already been made, critiquing layouts in progress, reminding ourselves of art decisions we had made and changing one or two of them.
This kind of scrutiny, tweaking, redoing, and rethinking is a luxury we didn't have when we were cranking out another issue every week. It's part of the plus of going monthly.
But it IS an adjustment. We're still finding our rhythm. And because I was gone so much in July, it feels like we're a bit behind. So I'm working to remedy that.
We're going to the ball game tomorrow night with John and Mary Jane Burgess, and the plan is to stay and enjoy the Friday night fireworks. So I may try to sneak in a blog post tomorrow during the day, because I'll probably be too tired at 11:30 or later when we get home to  make my fingers type something coherent.

Evelyn had to stay at school this evening to attend the LEAD banquet (a leadership development program at the school; a select group of students is paired one-on-one with faculty and staff for mentoring etc.) So I satisfied a hankering I'd been having and treated myself to Skyline for supper.

More Than a Game

Drove to CCU after work to watch the Lady Eagles volleyball team do their best against what seemed like a better opponent. We watched two sets and then decided to give it up and head for home.

Ate popcorn at the game and crackers and apple slices and peanut butter when we got home.
Evelyn has a chance to teach a call class on 5 Monday nights this fall. She has till Monday to decide, and it's not an easy decision.
Spent some time at work today doing some promotion work for Christian Standard. Wrote today's e-newsletter and read a proof for The Lookout. Had a phone conference with Paul Williams and made a long list of ideas for our January issue, which isn't as far ahead as it sounds, because the deadline for that material is October 15.

Lovely End-of-Summer Days

Evelyn and I walked after supper tonight. It will be the last time this week we'll get to walk together. Tomorrow night we're going to a girls volleyball game at CCU (Evelyn has several students on the team). And Thursday Evelyn's working at the Healing Center. Friday we hope to go to the Reds game. They're honoring Barry Larkin, and it's the last Friday night fireworks of the summer. We're planning to go with John and Mary Jane Burgess. Maybe we'll walk Saturday--or cut the grass!
For supper Evelyn made wonderful chicken noodle soup and lettuce wedges with yellow cherry tomatoes from the garden. She met the rest of her classes for the first time today. She said she'd go back tomorrow.  :-)
Met with Mark Haas today to make more art decisions for the October Christian Standard, with Peter Esposito and several others to talk about the future of The Lookout's and Christian Standard's web sites, and with Jim Fields and Jared Alexander to talk about some digital and other promotions of the new Christian Standard monthly.
We're having beautiful late summer weather: chilly overnights, cool mornings, warm and dry afternoons. It's supposed to be hotter for the weekend, but not as unbearable as it has been earlier this summer.

These are plants originally purchased for our wedding center pieces
and potted up in July to see what would happen. They've done so well
I'm tempted to plant new pots in July every year!
Decided to snap this picture before we began our walk this evening.

Sunset on the First Day of the First Semester

Usually when we walk this path through the park in the evening, the sun is in our eyes. But the remarkable clouds scattered as far as we could see not only were beautiful, but they also hid the sun so we didn't need to squint on the first half of our walk through the park.
I've sort of been out of the walking habit, mainly because Evelyn walks first thing in the morning during the summer when she's not working. (And I don't have enough self-discipline to go walking on my own. Plus, it was so unbearably hot so many evenings this summer.) But now that Evelyn's back in her school year schedule, I'll be walking with her more.
Today was her first day of classes in the new semester. "Will you go back tomorrow?" I asked her when I got home for dinner.
She agreed that she would.
I did a little watering outside after our walk before taking out the trash. I came in and cleaned our bathroom before hopping in the shower. Then we did getting-ready-for-tomorrow duties (mainly lunch packing) before retreating to the family room to watch what we think will become our new Monday-night habit, "Major Crimes," the spin-off from "The Closer."
Highlight of today at work was the art meeting with creative director Mark Haas. Looked at the September issue critically and planned the cover and opening spread of the main section in October. It's nice to have so much time to spend on one issue.

Evelyn walked ahead of me on the path through
our park as I snapped a picture of the beautiful
clouds just before sunset.

Our Sunday

Another beautiful day. Evelyn and I got up and walked about 7:15 before we got ready for church. It was almost chilly, but we were warm by the time we had finished. After church we ran an errand at Target and then ate lunch at McAllister's. I went to Kroger's after coming home and changing clothes. We discovered yesterday that a fraudulent company had sent me a "bill" for my Wall Street Journal subscription, and I paid it and the check has been cashed. We decided to close out the old checking account and open a new one, and I stopped by the Fifth-Third branch at Kroger's to drop off the signature card I had picked up yesterday and brought home to Evelyn. Now we have the hassle of changing the few automatic withdrawls and deposits we have each month.
After bringing home groceries, I spent much of the afternoon looking for art (stock photo) possibilities for the October Christian Standard. We'll have our second art meeting with Standard's creative services director tomorrow, and today's work helped me prepare for that meeting.
I gave up and took a nap in the middle of my photo searching and later went outside to enjoy the warm afternoon while I watered plants for a short while.

Evelyn got a call from our sister-in-law, Susan Aulen, late in the afternoon, and she talked with her and her brother for almost an hour. Before that she had spent an hour or two ironing after baking bread. Evelyn has her special recipe for bread, which she slices and toasts two slices every morning for breakfast.
We made our version of a margherita pizza with fresh tomatoes from our neighbor's garden and green onions (Evelyn's favorite) for supper. We had recorded the opening ceremony of the Olympics that happened while we were in Brazil. So we've been watching it in pieces this week, and we saw a batch of it tonight while we ate our pizza.

Congratulations, Carla and Harry!

This evening we witnessed the joyful celebration that was the wedding of our colleagues Carla Crane to Harry Johns. The ceremony and reception were at a wonderful venue we'd never seen or visited before, Lake Lyndsay, north of us off of Liberty-Fairfield Road.
It was a beautiful evening, whose heat gave 'way to a pleasant cool as the sun set. Not only were there many Standard, RCL Benziger, and CFM Publishing employees there, but also some former Standard employees, and it was fun to catch up with several of them. We had a wonderful meal and fun conversation with the people at our table as well as several others.
Congratulations, Carla and Harry!

What a Wonderful Way to Spend an Evening

Evelyn and I grabbed some dinner and made a run through Lowe's after work Friday evening. (Exciting stuff: a new toilet seat and a kick plate for our newly refinished front door.) Then we drove to Price Hill, picked up Verna Weber, and headed for Newport on the Levee.
(Bill's out of town attending a big family gathering in Wisconsin. Verna stayed behind, because her mom has just moved into her new room in the nursing wing of Mason Christian Village, and she didn't feel good about leaving town. Plus, she and Donovan are moving her mom's stuff out of her assisted living apartment today. Verna's telling her mom and herself that they'll store it all in case she can move back to assisted living. But Verna doesn't really believe that will happen.)

 At the Levee we walked around a little, enjoying the "vibe" of happy people filling the restaurants and enjoying the river view. We met an interesting foursome visiting Cincinnati for work: from Israel, Romania, and Russia. One of them volunteered to take our picture if I would take theirs.
Then we retreated to Barnes and Noble and snagged a table and chairs on the balcony outside their Starbucks. That was our landing place for catching-up conversation in full view of the beautiful Cincinnati skyline, with motorboats slowly slipping up and down the river.

After awhile we bought cookies and lattes and kept the conversation going till the Cincinnati Reds ballgame ended and the Reds' Friday Night Fireworks began. 

It's a wonderful show from inside the stadium. But even though you can't hear the recorded soundtrack from across the river, the fireworks light up the sky above the river for anyone nearby to enjoy. We enjoyed them! By the time the 25-minute show was finished, we were satisfied, and we ambled slowly out of the bookstore and to our car. It had become almost cool outside, and Evelyn was glad she brought something with sleeves to wear.

We didn't get home till well after 11:30, and I decided just to go to bed instead of trying to post last night. But maybe I'll make up for it by posting twice today!

Strategies for Healing

The rain had just started when I left the Healing Center at Vineyard Church tonight. Quarter-sized wet circles on the sidewalk were still distinct from each other. By the time I got to the Beckett Ridge Kroger's, the shower was steady, and by the time I left Kroger's, the rain was coming even harder. A couple of flashbulb lightning bursts accompanied me on the way home, and a clap of thunder surprised me after I got in the house.
The shower is giving the potted plants a nice drink. This morning they said we might have severe storms overnight. I hope the wind doesn't blow those pots over!
Evelyn was at the Healing Center tonight, too. She has begun doing literacy tutoring with a 21-year-old fellow born in Mexico who is studying for his GED test. I met him before I left (I was working in another part of the building, meeting a Benefit Bank client), and he seems personable, pleasant, and intelligent.

I picked up some strawberries for us to put in our yogurt. (Sue Willson told us this weekend a remedy for leg and knee pain she's been trying: plain yogurt mixed with honey and cinnamon; she eats it every morning for breakfast. I like it better than I thought I would, although I'm afraid I'm going to get tired of the apple pie aura of the snack. I put some blueberries in mine a couple times this week--tasted like apple pie with blueberries! Maybe some fresh strawberries will give a different flavor.)
Went to the doctor today so he could look at me, take my blood pressure, listen to my heart, and be satisfied that he could renew my blood pressure medicine prescription. I could have told him over the phone that I'm doing just fine, but, hey, for $25 I can help assure that he still remembers my name.
Worked along on editing for our October issue today. Tomorrow will be cut up with some meetings, and I think I have more on my list than I'm going to get accomplished.

The Child Has Been Delivered

Our baby was delivered today! That is, the first boxes of samples of the September issue of Christian Standard came this morning, and we're pretty pleased with this first monthly edition. I went over to Kroger's and spent almost $50 on goodies, and we had a "coming out" party this afternoon and invited the whole office to come see our creation. People said nice things, and I suppose those who didn't have anything positive to say just said nothing, but that's OK. I hope to come up with a plan to get objective feedback, and there'll be time for that later. But nobody passes out grade cards to people viewing a new baby in the nursery. They just expect them to smile and say how beautiful the new child is. That was the agenda today, but we'll be thinking about what we could have done better when we put together the October issue, which goes to the printer in about three weeks!
Meanwhile, this issue is in the mail now, and we'll be waiting to see how our readers react!

Tonight's Groupon Deal

The news is full of Groupon's problems. I don't know all the details, but their stock is tanking on a sag in profits. I really hope they don't go out of business, because I enjoy buying a Groupon now and then and getting a deal on dinner.
That's what we had tonight. Evelyn and I ate at a happenin' place on Mason-Montgomery Road tonight, Fox and Hound Pub and Grille. Actually, it has more of a "pub" than a "grille" feel--lots of TVs with sports channels playing and, according to our buxom waitress, $2 drafts. There was a big happy-hour, after-work crowd there taking advantage of the drink specials. We had decent salads, but I'm not sure the place has taken a spot on our top-ten restaurants list. (We did get a $24 meal for only $14, though!)
This morning I made assignments for future issues. This afternoon I began editing on our October issue. We're having our first art meeting for that issue tomorrow.
Robb Faust and I caught up today at lunchtime; we hadn't really visited for several weeks. He and I went to Abuelo's, which is on Evelyn's and my top-ten restaurant list, and I really think I had a better lunch than dinner.

Bloomin' Memories

Nobody but I may care about this, but for myself I decided to compare pictures of our wedding center pieces with some of the flowers as they're growing in pots in our yard now.
This pretty pink zinnia, and the cream  one in the background of this picture are growing in front of the house in a pot with one of those asparagus ferns. I have a couple of these beautiful coleus plants in pots around the yard too, but I didn't get pictures of them snapped for this post.

The salmon vinca (and another asparagus fern) in this pot on our patio were photographed with a coral colored rex begonia, which, unfortunately, didn't survive when I tried to transplant it this summer. But the one vinca is a bright addition to our deck.

This picture doesn't do this beautiful pink begonia justice. It's in a hanging basket on a shepherd's crook between the pine trees straight out our back door, at the back of the yard beyond the deck. It is one of the most beautiful "survivors" of our wedding, in a pot with a couple of variegated ivy plants, which were a part of our wedding center pieces too.

Tasks Completed

Darrell from DADSTASKS finished sanding, restaining, and polyurethaning our front door today. We had hoped to get it done before the wedding, but the fella who said he'd do it quit returning phone calls. So a few weeks ago Evelyn found a new guy who indeed followed through and did a great job.

 I didn't get a picture of the door, but the picture probably wouldn't show how good it looks or what an improvement it is. We should have done this or had it done years ago.

Darrell gets the name of his company by combining the first initial of his NINE kids' first names into the name of his company, Dadstasks. 

He drove in all the way from Lynchburg to do the work. Any of you Cincinnati readers, I'd recommend him. All his numbers are on his truck, which I photographed from several different angles.

 

We stopped at Kroger's on the way home to get a few odds and ends, and then I jumped into the lawn mowing; wanted to get the front lawn done before Darrell showed up to put the polyurethane on the door--didn't want any dust or whatever blowing up on it.
Evelyn and I had a nice Sunday, although a little different than many. We left first service and went to Costco to stock up on toilet paper and other necessities. We chose to do that today, because we were meeting a couple at Chili's on Kemper Road for lunch. Edwinna works with us at Benefit Bank at the Healing Center, and we enjoyed meeting her husband and sharing a good mea.
Watered plants before coming in and taking a shower. Then did some work for the church on the computer before slipping into a nap that may have lasted an hour.

Evelyn and I ate bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for dinner and watched the NBC Olympics retrospective. Picked the first real tomato from the garden for our sandwiches (there are at least a few more coming), and it was very, very good.

Home All Day

Did something today I haven't done in a long time: didn't leave the house all day. That is, I didn't get in the car and go anywhere. Evelyn had gone to the store last night for what we needed today, and I got the bills out before the mail came. It's nice once in awhile. Wrote checks and did some e-mail correspondence this morning. Evelyn went to a meeting at the Vineyard (she's going to start doing literacy tutoring at the Healing Center on Thursday nights), and we Skyped with Wendy Wagoner for almost two hours after lunch. After that I went outside and pulled weeds and watered flowers, picked tomatoes and flowers for the house.

Got my shower and then started helping with dinner.

Bob and Sue Willson and Anna are stopping in Cincinnati tonight on their way to a Fireworks show in northern Indiana, and they had asked if we were free for dinner. We invited them to just come here, and I cooked chicken and vegetables on the grill. Evelyn made biscuits and potato wedges and brownies, and we had a good meal as well as a fine visit. 

Now Evelyn and I are watching the Olympics while we check Facebook and relax into the end of a good day.

Enjoyed good things from our garden today . . . flowers for the tables and tomatoes for the grill.

Pleasant Temperatures and Good Meals

Did something today I haven't done since I don't know when. Drove home from work with the car windows open and the air conditioning off!  Temp was in the 70s; the car thermometer read 69 on the way to work this morning. And they're saying the overnight low will be in the 50s. We'll take it, and we had about a half an inch of rain all total this week.
It would be nice to believe the oppressive days of our summer are over.

Actually I wasn't coming home after work; I was meeting Evelyn for dinner at the Indian restaurant in West Chester. Oooo, it was so good, a favorite place we haven't been to for quite awhile. After that she headed for the grocery store and I went to a meeting at church.
Did some planning and handling of correspondence today. Had a nice touch-base phone call with Paul Williams.
Ate lunch at the Kroger's cafeteria over on Montgomery Road, so good and only $4.99.
Bob Willson wrote to say he and Sue and Anna would be in town tomorrow, and we invited them for dinner. We'll cook some chicken on the grill and enjoy catching up with them.

Cruising, Punctuating, and Thinking about Education

Mentioned our June 2013 cruise in the Christian Standard e-newsletter and on Facebook today, and received 8 requests for a brochure! Very encouraging. I'll do this again in a couple of days--different days of the week on Facebook, and different times of the day. It will be fun to see how much interest we can generate.
By the way, if you missed those invitations, see my earlier post today. You can ask for a brochure via FB, or write me at JuneCruise2013@gmail.com.
I spent most of the day highlighting names in the Directory of the Ministry for a promotional mailing for the new Christian Standard monthly. We'll send samples to maybe 500 church leaders across the country and encourage them to get subscriptions for themselves and their church. We'll see!
Once in awhile this "diary" morphs into something more than that, and so it will be today. I want to share a couple of links.
The first is from a blogger for Harvard Business Review. I encountered an excerpt of his piece on the op-ed page in today's Wall Street Journal:

"Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies . . . takes a mandatory grammar test. . . . Grammar is relevant for all companies. . . . Grammar signifies more than just a person's ability to remember high school English. I've found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing--like stocking shelves or labeling parts."

See the whole post here.

The second appeared at CNN this morning. Evelyn shared the link on her Facebook page this morning, and I shared it later today. Here's a prominent educator setting the record straight about the quality of US education, teaching to the test, the impact of poverty, and the role of parents in their children's education. If you missed this earlier today, you'll want to check it out now.

Find this post here.

A Baby Is about to Be Born!

Well, it feels like we ought to have a party. We're submitting to the printer this afternoon our first monthly issue--all 64 pages of it plus its 4-page cover.
As I said yesterday, I'm pleased with the improved graphics and substantive content in the issue.

• Jay Link explains how we've misused the term "stewardship."
• Alan Ahlgrim recounts the difficult financial problems of Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Niwot, Colorado.
• Jim Bird and Frances Nash talk about the remarkable missions giving in the small churches they serve.
• Barry Cameron narrates his own family's challenging journey out of debt.
• Darrel Rowland and Kent Fillinger profile six churches whose ministry has grown as they've given money to causes outside themselves. 
• Justin Horey chronicles the unprecedented $50 million campus move happening now at Eastside Christian Church in Fullerton, California.
• Eleanor Daniel shares her testimony about how moving made her reconsider her own pattern as a consumer of "stuff."

All that and more relates to our cover theme:  "Show Me the Money!" And then we have a wonderful piece by Ben Cachiaras that I'm guessing will stimulate lots of responses: "Let Me Tell You How You Should Vote," and I wrote "NACC Diary" based on blog posts I had made from the convention plus lots of Tom Patrick's excellent photos. And the monthly columns are good too: Mike Mack, Robert Hull, LeRoy Lawson, Tim Harlow, Jim Estep.

Well, like I said, I'm very pleased with it. 

Now, if we can just attract some new subscribers, we'll really have accomplished something!

One Day in August

 Spent today putting the finishing touches on our first monthly issue, September. Actually, I'm pretty pleased with the way it's turning out. Finished reading the proof, and Jim Nieman made little changes we agreed on together. We met with our art director, Mark Haas, to evaluate every layout, every color, every type choice, and his suggestions for little improvements will really make a big difference. I wrote the "coming next month" copy and a draft for the editorial. I need to finish it first thing in the morning, because we send it to the printer tomorrow!
We do our weekly e-newsletter tomorrow, and I need to clean up my desk, catch up on some correspondence and phone calls, and get out assignments for our December issue.
Spoke with Geoff for awhile tonight; he and Lisa go on a weeklong vacation to Iceland Friday! Jennifer texted her mom and said she'd call tomorrow night.

Took these pictures of huge flower pots outside our 

office building during my 10-minute walk at lunchtime today.

Back to Reality--Almost

After nine working days out of the office, I jumped back in today. The full 68 pages of proof for our first monthly edition, September, was waiting on my desk, and I must say I'm pleased with it. Managing editor Jim Nieman and I tweaked some of the layouts and a little bit of copy; we're meeting with art director Mark Haas tomorrow to get his advice and input. I still need to read proof on 20+ pages, write the editorial, and decide on cover copy. All that will happen tomorrow, and Jim will upload the final issue Wednesday.

Reality was suspended for two hours this evening, though, as we watched last week's and this week's episodes of The Closer. We took Dan and Cindi Cooper to dinner to thank them for cutting the grass while we were out of town, and then we adjourned to their place for our weekly fix.
Boy, these were two dramatic episodes--full of surprises! Next week is the series finale. Will we plan to gather and watch it then? Of course!

My Top Seven Brazil Memories

It wasn't a perfect trip. In fact, much about it was difficult. But here I want to record seven positive parts of our trip to Brazil that I'll always remember.

We ate lunch one day with David Bayless (center),
 his wife, Carolyn, and James Moreland--
all longtime missionaries in Brazil.

1. I've already written, twice, about the very best part: the people. So many of the Brazilians we met were outgoing, friendly, helpful, smiling--especially the Christians who hosted us at the church where the World Convention met. Likewise, the folks in our tour group couldn't have been better--not a whiner or complainer among them. And at the World Convention, we also met friends from the U.S. and around the world in happy times of fellowship reminiscent of those we always enjoy at the NACC.

The worship team encouraged singing at the
evening main sessions.

2. The worship. The services lasted three hours, too long for our taste, and it was sometimes difficult to listen to preaching via translation. But the singing was wonderful, and it was an inspiring experience to hear the hall full of Brazilians lifting their voices in Portugese with worship songs we sang at the same time in English.

3. The food. We didn't eat one bad meal! Occasionally we had some trouble choosing from a menu written exclusively in Portugese, but the food was universally tasty, and the servings were usually huge. Two meals stand out, our visit to the Brazilian steakhouse, Parcao, where uniformed waiters continuously circle the tables with every kind of roasted meat you can imagine: chicken, sausage, lamb, ostrich, ribs, filet mignon, top sirloin, roast beef, and more. The evening before we had eaten at a pizza buffet. The waiters are constantly on the move there, too, offering thin crust pizzas with every combination of toppings you can imagine, including dessert pizzas topped with ice cream and hot fudge sauce.

On the last day of our trip, we ate our farewell lunch at an Ipanema restaurant on the spot where "The Girl from Ipanema" was written. The restaurant displayed a copy of the song on a poster.
4. Brasilia. We saw the corridor where the nation's government is housed: majestic buildings illuminated beautifully, including the national cathedral.

The Brazilian National Cathedral 

5. Beautiful ocean and beaches. The ocean reminded me of the luminous greens and blues I remember from the Caribbean. The sky was beautiful, as was the weather throughout our stay: sunshine and warm, but not hot, afternoons followed by evenings refreshed by cool breezes.

6. The Christ statue. Actually, the train ride up to the statue was as enjoyable as being at the top, at the base of the statue, because when we got there, the statue was enveloped in foggy clouds that obscured our view of the city below. But the whole experience was still one to remember.

Tourists jostled to enter the train cars that would take them
up the mountain to see The Christ statue.

7. Sugarloaf Mountain. We rode two different cable cars to the top of Sugarloaf and enjoyed late afternoon, sunset, and evening all in the space of about 90 minutes. No clouds obscured our views here, and seeing the city below us was wonderful.