Waiting . . . and Remembering

It's 10:05, and Evelyn's been on the road since 8:30, driving home from her volunteer stint at the Healing Center. Route 747 is a parking lot between Tylersville Road and Hamilton-Mason Road, just a couple of miles from home. I'll be glad when she gets here.

Today I posted my column at ChristianStandard.com, which used much of what I had written here a couple of days ago. I had an inspiring subject!

Celebrating a Hero

This may have been one of the best-planned, most memorable funerals I've ever attended. And possibly that's because the deceased person honored had planned the service herself! Kristen Reeves, Marjorie Reeves Miller's daughter-in-law told me, "We knew this box existed and inside it was the funeral she had planned. But we had never seen it. What an experience to see, in her handwriting, step by step what was to happen at her funeral service."
Dale had told me his mother's funeral would be a celebration of her life and that God would be glorified, and certainly both were true.
I had known her and worked with her and come to love her long after she had made the move to Cincinnati as a young widow with three young children to start a new life in a new place with no car but a great deal of conviction. It was good to hear how she made life work for her and her kids and how she gave herself to rearing them even while working full-time at Standard Publishing. It was good to hear each of her three children offer their testimonies, with Scriptures and theme headings she had set down in that plan inside that box. It was refreshing to see the beautiful program, to read the fun anecdotes from her grandkids, to enjoy the balloons instead of flowers (her directive), and to anticipate a bright day ahead of us "when we all get to Heaven" (the song she had chosen for us to sing).
It was good to spend a moment of silence pondering our own commitment to the Lord she loved so much and to know that her final wish was for everyone in her funeral audience to love Him as much as she did. It was remarkable to hear that her wish for memorial gifts was that they be given somewhere to tell little children about Jesus, preferably children who wouldn't know about him without the gifts.
We're better people for having known Marjorie Reeves. And we're better people for having remembered her at her funeral. I'm so glad I was there.

Pondering the Shadow

I've been pondering that oft-quoted phrase in the 23rd Psalm, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. . . ."
I used to think the phrase described only certain people at certain stages of life. When faced with a terminal illness, you're walking through the valley of the shadow of death. When you've lost your mother or a good friend, you must walk through that lonely valley. When comforting someone in that valley, you're in the presence of the shadow of death.
But I've decided the phrase really applies to everyone alive on this earth. Because, from the moment we're born, we're in the shadow of death.
Nurses in the delivery room scurry to check vital signs to discover if there's any imminent threat to the infant's new life.
Mothers read books about childhood illnesses and pester the pediatrician about symptoms they can't understand.
Fathers worry when they finally hand the car keys to the new teen driver.
Young adults monitor their diets and plan their exercise regimens--all in pursuit of sure ways to delay an early death.
And older adults laugh about their aches and pains and pills and prescriptions, because they don't want to discuss how the shadow is getting darker and larger as the reality it represents grows closer.
This sounds a little morbid, but I don't mean it that way. But I have been thinking about death as I've realized three golden saints have walked through the valley and past the doorway of death in just the last few days.
Last week we attended the visitation for Alice Weiner. Soon after we learned that Sherwood Smith had died. Tomorrow I'll attend Marjorie Miller's funeral. All three led exemplary lives. All three challenge me to be better, to develop a sharper focus, to imitate Christ much better than I have so far.
The shadow is not a bad place. It provides shade and rest, protection from the heat of the day. And from the shadow we have a clear vision of the light.
These are unfinished thoughts, but I'll treat my diary as a sketchbook for the final column I want to write for Christian Standard--probably tomorrow after returning from Marge's memorial service, in time to post at ChristianStandard.com on Thursday.

I attended a simple training session for worship service hosts at church at 6:30 and then returned home to enjoy a bowl of Evelyn's wonderful white chicken chili before doing my errands to get ready for tomorrow. It's been a productive (although not noteworthy) day, and I'm looking forward to fond memories, challenging thoughts, and good fellowship at the funeral and dinner afterwards tomorrow.

A Birthday at Betta's

What's more fun than a new restaurant? Jim Nieman introduced most of us to Betta's Italian Oven close to Xavier University for his birthday lunch today. It's very fine!
The sign in the window proclaims, "The best pizza in Cincinnati," an award bestowed at least once by Cincinnati Magazine. I don't know if I would have labeled it the best, but the margherita pizza I had for lunch was really good. The pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired oven. They have one size and style: 10-inches, thin and crispy crust.
When the waitress brought it to the table, I thought, Well, I'll be taking half of this home. But I managed to eat the whole thing! It's in a part of town I never get to, but sometime I'll make a point of going there just to try something else on their menu!

Sheryl Overstreet, Jim Nieman, Mark Taylor, Shawn McMullen, and Mike Helm
enjoying Betta's for Jim's birthday!

Spent most of the day working on the March issue, which goes to the printer next week: Read proof and talked on the phone to get quotes from Christian college presidents for the editorial I hope to write for that issue. Spent most of my time after supper this evening studying for our men's group's first study in Revelation Thursday morning. I'm so glad I have Matt Proctor's articles, Part One and Part Two, on Revelation as a help to get us started!

Thoughts from a Museum (and Another Fine Sermon)

I was thinking about our outing yesterday as I was reflecting on this morning's sermon. Maybe the connection is a stretch, but, hey, it's MY diary! :-)
Yesterday we went with Shirley and Terry Wuske to the  Cincinnati Museum Center. She had snagged some free admission tickets from a stack that had been given to Ronald McDonald House (they had more than they could give to their guests). We had talked about getting together in the evening, and we decided just to start earlier to take advantage of the tickets.
We only had time to visit the Cincinnati section of the museum, and not really all of that, in the two hours we were there. We definitely want to go back.

This is a depiction of Music Hall as it existed at the turn of the century,
with a look remarkably like today's.

This is a view of downtown Cincinnati, as it appeared in the 1940s. 

We spent the most time at the first exhibit, a scale model of Cincinnati as it looked in the 1940s (I think), and then another section showing parts of the city at the turn of the century. It was great fun to see the buildings we know now that were already part of the Cincinnati scene then. And it was very interesting to see how the streets and neighborhoods have changed.
(We retired to their house after the museum closed for yummy vegetable soup and cornbread made by Shirley and a little chocolate cake brought by the Taylors from Graeter's.)
Then this morning, Trevor preached the fourth sermon in his series on names of God. El Elyon means God Most High or Sovereign God; this is the God who is in control. I've thought a lot about how regularly I seek to keep control of whatever situation I'm in. The familiar story of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego reminded us that God is in control even when the situation seems hopeless. "God will be with you in your furnace," was a new thought to me. It's a blessing and a challenge to think about.
So here's my odd (or maybe it seems terribly apparent) connection: The world around us is changing, more rapidly than most people my age would have imagined 30 or 40 years ago. Certainly the Cincinnati of today is way different from the Cincinnati depicted in the scale models in the museum. It's true we're still using some buildings already built 60 or 100 years ago. But many are used in far different ways than originally intended. Most are in neighborhoods that have changed dramatically over the decades. And the facades of our business districts give no clue to the revolution in technology and demographics that has changed every facet of American life, just in my lifetime.
But God Most High is still in control. And regardless of political changes, social upheaval, or demographic trends, he steadfastly loves us and helps us pursue his unchanging will.
It's a helpful thought to begin the week. I need to be more about seeking him than reacting to change around me, or at least responding to change with him in mind.

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Today was managing editor Jim Nieman's 50th birthday. We knew it was his birthday, but we didn't realize it was the Big One (or, from my vantage point, one of the Big Ones) till yesterday when he casually mentioned he would be 50.
We decided this needed more than the passing birthday wish, and we moved into high gear to make the day special. Sheryl Overstreet brought all kinds of "50" decorations, we resurrected "Happy Birthday" banners from storage, and we brought goodies to put out a spread so the whole office could join the celebration. Sheryl gave him 50 Tootsie Roll Pops (one of his favorites), Diane gave him 5 sleeves of 10 Oreo cookies, and I gave him a bag of 50 mixed chocolate snacks (Reese's cups, Butterfingers, and Hershey miniatures). (I'm investigating acne medicine and weight-loss entrees as possible Christmas gifts.)
He was gone all morning (took his daughter to the doctor) and arrived right at noon, just in time for us to put out the snacks as add-ons to lunches.
Jim is easygoing, low-key, steady, and dependable, but he was full of smiles this afternoon. I think we helped make his birthday happy, and that made us happy too!
Our usual tradition is to go out to celebrate a staff member's birthday, and I pick up the tab for that person as well as myself. Jim's day will be Monday, so the celebration will continue.

Breakfast before Bible Study

All but two of the guys in our Thursday-morning men's Bible study got together for breakfast at Cracker Barrel today. We arrive when the place opens--at 6:00 a.m.! In spite of the early hour, we have lots of laughter and good sharing. We're starting a study of Revelation next week, using a guide written by N.T. Wright. It's 20 sessions long, so that will keep us busy till June!

Using Our Noodles

My best days are a mixture of meetings and desk time, and by that measure today was a fine day.
Three meetings--all of them productive and positive, at least generally so. And Robb Faust and I went out for lunch. (I like going out for lunch; it really does help me be more productive in the afternoon. But I don't like taking the time or spending the money every day.)
Meanwhile, I prepared copy for our weekly e-newsletter and wrote a draft of my column that must be posted tomorrow. I got a big boost on that task from Ben Cachiaras's blog post that he copied and e-mailed to me Monday. I'm going to quote a big batch of it. Thanks, Ben!
We're making some progress, and I'm feeling good about that.
Tomorrow I have one meeting, and a phone conference with Paul Williams. Those will be nice breaks in the long list of editorial tasks, article assigning, and correspondence I need to do as well.

Tonight we had leftover chicken and noodle soup for supper. Evelyn made it fresh to greet me Sunday night when I got home from Orlando. Jennifer had shared the recipe with her, and we agree: it's yummy!
"You're going to take a picture of leftovers?" Evelyn said as I snapped this one just before we sat down to eat.
"Yep."
Enjoy your giggle, Bob Wallace.
If some reader would like to try our discovery, here's the link to the soup recipe:
http://www.creativelydomestic.com/2010/10/guest-post-crockpot-chicken-and-noodle.html.

Cold Temps, Warm Hope

This thermometer lies! Maybe it's just not equipped to register the temperature as cold as it really is outside, which according to weather.com is 17 degrees! I could get up in the middle of the night to see if it shows the low of NINE degrees that is predicted, but I'll be too comfortable under the comforter, resting on our heated mattress pad, to investigate! (We've always suspected this thermometer registers the temperature a bit higher than the reality. The sensor is high on the wall of the front porch, close to the brick--which retains heat--and near the ceiling--where the hot air rises. If you can call 24 degrees "hot," this thermometer is registering "hotter" air than the weather service's gauges outside in the middle of the cold, clear air.)
I'm so grateful to be so comfortable when so many--and some of them probably not more than 15 minutes away--are threatened by this cold snap. Like I told a friend on e-mail tonight, these temps give us an excuse to pull out the wool sweaters and some hope that next summer's bug population will have been reduced.
I wrote e-mails tonight to a bunch of people who had asked for information about our June cruise/tour but had never said, "No, not for us." I'd really like to pick up one or two more couples, but the deadline is February 2, and the info has been out since last fall, so I'm thinking the 10 (plus Evelyn and me) on my list will probably be the total. We'll see!

Brought Together

Yesterday I wrote about the weather, but there's more to say today! The wind was blowing when I was in and out of the car after work this evening, and the temperature was in the teens. The high today was only in the twenties, and I think we'll record single digits overnight. Brrrrr! A quick and intense snow shower late this morning caused some roads to freeze and there were two massive pile-ups, one on I-275 and another on I-75 north of town. I was grateful to be in all day.
Spent most of the day catching up on correspondence, handling errands related to being gone last week, and beginning to work through my to-do lists generated by our contributing editors meeting last week. I think my accomplishments would not seem that impressive, were I to list them, but I'm feeling good about progress made so far.

I met Evelyn about 5:30 at the church to offer condolences to Paul Wiener, whose lovely wife Alice passed away last week. The funeral will be tomorrow morning.
"You certainly should have no regrets," I told Paul, who had cared for her in her increasing frailty through most of these years we've gotten to know them since they moved to Mason Christian Village.
"My daughters wrote a long obituary," he told us. "And I learned things about Alice in that obituary I never knew before!" As usual with Paul, and even at a time like this, there's laughter and a wry outlook on life.
"I hope you're able to rest," I said to him.
"Oh, yes," he answered, "but I don't sleep that well. I'm up several times every night. And I've been reaching across the bed for Alice, and she's not there."
He said it matter-of-factly, but I tried to move the conversation along without showing he had brought tears to my eyes.
We had plenty of laughter in the hallway outside the chapel, though, talking with Jeff and Martha Hill and Terry and Judy Tabor, former White Oak Christian Church friends who go to church in Worthington, Ohio, now.
Verna Weber stayed overnight with us last night, because she came to town to visit her mother yesterday and this morning. She made the trip to tell her mother that her mother's only living brother had passed away. She said Mildred was sad.
We had fun catching up with Verna, though, and watching "Downton Abbey" together.
Life and death--they bring Christian friends together in unexpected ways.

This Is Why People Retire to Florida

DayJan 20

Today's High was 73^°F at 2:45pm when conditions were Mostly Cloudy 



Above is the weather.com summary for Orlando, Florida today.

Below is the weather.com report on current conditions in Liberty Township, Ohio.

NightJan 20

23^°Low

Jennifer and I were both bracing ourselves for the return to winter after several pleasant days in Orlando. It was sunny and beautiful this morning when we left for the airport--not hot, but inside the car was warm and Jennifer ran the air conditioning. I was pleasantly surprised, though, when I stepped outside at the Cincinnati airport after 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. Cool, cold, yes. But the sun was shining in a clear blue sky. It was nice to be gone. But, really, it's nice to be back.

Universally Entertained

Jennifer and I spent most of the day at Universal Studios. It was a beautiful day with warm sunshine all morning and temperatures above 70 in the afternoon. Maybe the best part of Universal is the excellent job they've done with all the storefronts and fake streets to create the several "cities" that make up the sections of the park. I think we enjoyed the scenery as much as the rides we attended, although the inside roller coaster in the Mummy ride was cool, the Minions were lots of fun in the new Minions ride, and it was fun to remember ET in the ET ride (the one we remembered from some earlier visit to the park). For dinner we ate at the Lombard's seafood restaurant and had passes to sit on their deck to watch the Cinemagic Spectacular celebration of Universal Studio's 100th anniversary multimedia closing show. They have these giant rigs that produce a waterfall on which they projected their retrospective film of their 100 years of move making. All this was in their lagoon with dancing, illuminated fountains and fireworks shot from the roofs of two buildings. It was nice.
We were very tired by the time we were heading home around 8:00. We had spent a lot of our time on our feet. But it was a nice day.

Good and Seeking Better

"I feel more energy from this group than ever before," Paul Williams told me after our first session with Christian Standard's contributing editors Wednesday night this week.
They are universally pleased with what we've achieved in the move to monthly editions with Christian Standard, and we feel certain that is what created the positive spirit that permeated our time together, which ended this morning at about 10.
I reminded them--and myself--of a maxim my high school drama teacher often offered: "The closer something gets to perfection, the more there is to criticize about it." And the group was not without suggestions for small and some larger ways we can take the magazine to the next level. And not only the magazine, but the whole brand, the whole ministry that Christian Standard can have.

I grabbed a picture of part of our group as we were breaking up this morning: (standing, left to right)
Paul Williams, Jeff Faull, Arron Chambers, Jennifer Johnson, Becky Ahlberg, (seated) Jim Tune, and
Doug Priest. Also attending this week were Ben Cachiaras, Glen Elliott, Randy Gariss, Matt Proctor, and  Roy Lawson. Our 12th member, Phyllis Fox, had to miss our meeting this year.

Arron got us
started this morning
with thoughts he's
been pondering
lately: building
disciples whose
chief characteristic
is their love
for Jesus.

We realized that this is the 10th time we have convened an annual retreat for the contributing editors. If I had thought about that sooner, perhaps we could have done something "anniversaryish" at the meeting. Nothing special we could have planned, however, would have enhanced or increased the passion these men and women expressed for what we have accomplished--and what we must accomplish as we seek to serve Christian leaders with Christian Standard.
Perhaps it goes without saying that the magazine would not be what it is today without the input of this diverse and talented group. I'm sleepy this evening, because I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep for thinking about all we must yet do (and, as is common in the middle of the night, stewing about how to achieve it, given all the present restraints). But in the morning, I realized that there are ways to do what we must, and I will pursue them. Good people are with me, and God is our strength.
Jennifer is one of our contributing editors, and she and I are going to Universal Studios tomorrow before we both head back home Sunday. It has been chilly and gray today, but they're saying we'll have temperatures in the mid 70s tomorrow.  I hope so!

Meeting in Orlando

Took off this morning for our annual Christian Standard contributing editors retreat in Orlando. We're meeting at the site of the Children's Pastors Conference, the Coronado Resort at Disney. It's a nice setting, and it's good to be here. Picked up Jennifer and Doug Priest at the airport, got here mid afternoon, checked into the room, and found our conference room and set it up before finally resting awhile before getting back to the resort to meet people for dinner.
We had a fine opening session, good discussions and some challenging ideas for the future. We start up at 8:30 tomorrow morning for a full day of evaluating, discussing, and idea sharing.
It's going to be cooler here this weekend, but it was actually almost hot this afternoon outside.

The Day Before a Trip

Samples of our February issue arrived yesterday, and Diane got
contributors copies into the mail today.

Spent much of the day doing last-minute prep for our Contributing Editors Retreat, which happens tomorrow evening through Friday afternoon in Orlando. Eleven of our 12 contributing editors are coming, the best attendance we've had in awhile. I'm looking forward to a good meeting; we always enjoy great fellowship with this diverse group of good people, and we look forward to the input they'll give us for future directions of Christian Standard.
I'll leave tomorrow by 6:45 to make sure I get through rush hour traffic in a timely fashion for a 9:15 flight. Jennifer and I are going to stay through Sunday and play in Orlando after the retreat is finished. Evelyn, ever loyal and duty driven, decided not to join us because she has classes to plan and meetings to attend Friday. Maybe next year!
I'm spending this evening packing and doing some last-minute correspondence before being gone several days.

Happy about My Day!

A friend at church told me he's reading my blog, and I said, "Why?!" Really--what we had for dinner, what I did at work, where we ate out on a Friday night. I'm glad to have a record of this stuff for reminiscing some day hence, but it almost embarrasses me that people I don't know that well want to read this. "About once every two weeks I say something that may be significant," I told my friend at church.
"Mark, you're a humble man," he replied.
Well, regular readers of my diary/blog know I have a lot to be humble about!
Speaking of what we had for dinner, here's a picture of tonight's bill of fare:

Salmon with curry, roasted cherry tomatoes, and brown rice. Fresh fruit salad, and a Bob Evans roll left over from brunch yesterday. Evelyn found the recipe in Real Simple. It was Real Good!
(I told Evelyn that regular blog reader Bob Wallace will kid me about yet another food picture. She said, "He may not be the only one!")

I noticed on the way home that the days are definitely getting longer. There was a beautiful, dark coral-colored sky behind steel gray clouds--the sky still showed light at 5:45! I was just on time for supper (didn't want to miss out on my salmon!), so I didn't stop. But I tried to snap a picture out my window at an intersection on Hamilton-Mason Road before the traffic light turned green. By the time I was able to take the photo, the sky was almost dark. But one of these days before TOO long, I'll be driving home from work in the sunshine!
We looked at Mark 4:35-41as a prelude to our volunteer prayer time at work this morning, and a rich discussion and time of prayer  followed the reading.
Read it yourself, out loud four times.
As you read it the first time, ask yourself, "What new thing do I notice in this story this time?"
Then, "If I were in the boat, what would I want to ask Jesus or the disciples?"
Then, "What makes me feel calm, and what makes me feel afraid as I read this?"
And finally, "How does this story inform the praying I want to do today?"

Thinking about Storms and Change

We were blessed with another wonderful sermon this morning. Trevor spoke about Elohim, our great almighty, strong, preeminent, God of majesty, the God of energy who created the world out of nothing. The part of the sermon most moving and memorable to me, however, was his retelling of the Gospel account of Jesus asleep in the boat with the disciples when the storm almost overwhelmed them. Interesting, and enlightening, to me that the disciples were as afraid by his calming of the storm as they were by the storm itself. I wonder, am I more afraid of the storms in my life or of God's intimate involvement in my life to calm them?
I decided to use the text from Mark as a lectio divina reading for our volunteer prayer time at work tomorrow morning.

Thanks, Ann Horsely and Liz Wellage, for letting me
snap your picture just before we went
to the auditorium to help lead worship.

I sang on worship team this morning and enjoyed the fellowship with the other musicians on the platform.
After church we grabbed breakfast at Bob Evans, bought a mirror for our dining room at Lowe's, and stopped quickly at Kroger's before coming home to cocoon and stay warm and dry while watching the rain pour outside as we sat at the kitchen table.
I made a false start and then started over and finished a draft for my column we'll post at ChristianStandard.com Thursday. I'll read it again tomorrow and see if I think then that it deserves the light of day! I found an interesting quote about change:

Loneliness, insomnia, and change: the fear of these is even worse than the reality.
Mignon McLaughlin

The quote, and the reality and prospect of changes at church under the leadership of our new minister, inspired me to write a whole column about change. We'll see if I think we should publish it!

Around This Table

Today the new dining room furniture that we bought after Christmas was delivered. We're really happy with it, and I'm glad we took the plunge. As I mentioned before, the set we'd been using wasn't new when we got it probably 30 years ago from my parents. The dining table has a distinct sag in the middle when we use both leaves and the legs are terribly wobbly. I was glad we got through Christmas without it causing a crisis.
It's still strong and quite usable without the leaves, and the hutch is still very attractive. But there's not much market for used furniture, so no one has said they want to buy it--even at a bargain price. We'll probably give it to some worthwhile charity that will come pick it up. According to what we've been told, Salvation Army and St.Vincent dePaul both will pick up donations, so we'll see what we decide this week.

The set we're replacing

The empty dining room, awaiting the furniture delivery

The new set--the dark wood looks rich on our almost-white carpet. No water stains on the table!
Evelyn won't need to cover it with a table cloth all the time. We have a sideboard instead of
a hutch. We hope to hang a mirror over it. Went shopping for one this evening, but didn't
find the right one. We'll try again tomorrow.

Bravo for Brava!

Needed to go to the Post Office today at lunchtime, so I asked Robb Faust if he wanted to go with me and grab some lunch. He needed to go to the Post Office, too, and hadn't brought his lunch. So we had a plan. We ate at Fiesta Brava, a Mexican place on Fields Ertel that we had tried once before. I was reading reviews of the place on the web while I was looking for a picture. It's amazing how the same restaurant can be rated "disgusting" by one person while another says he loves it and eats there every week.
I doubt I'll eat there every week, but I WILL eat there again. I like it!
Had a good meeting with Mark Haas today to make art and design decisions about our March Christian College issue. It was productive and encouraging. We're going to finish up tomorrow with him. Had a long list of to-dos and was able to cross most of them off, including writing some letters in return to letters that have been sitting on my desk--dare I say it?--for months!
Evelyn worked at the Healing Center tonight, and I had brought my lunch to work today. So I ate it for supper!
Tomorrow is the last day of the first week I've worked all week in a long time!

Signs and Service

Shawn McMullen has a December  birthday, and we celebrated today at Olive Garden. Good lunch. Big lunch. I was sleepy half the afternoon.

After work I went to visit Marge Miller at her residence at the Lodge, a retirement community/facility not far from work. Her daughter, Angie, posted on Facebook yesterday that they needed to move Marge to a nursing home; after tomorrow she'll be at a place close to where her son Steve serves in Indiana.
I worked with Marge for years before she retired from Standard Publishing. We traveled together on Ideashops, and I worked with her when she was head of the Christian Ministries Department. I dearly love her, and it's been too long since I've seen her.
I had thought I would take her picture; maybe we'd pose together. But she was resting in a hospital bed, connected to oxygen and accompanied by a companion/nurse. We weren't going to take a picture.
But we had a nice visit. "I'm getting weaker and weaker," she said, but her mind is sharp. She smiled and laughed with me, and we reminisced a bit about travels we shared.
"They talked with me about where I wanted to go," she told me, "and I said, 'Wherever it's the cheapest.' But they said, 'We'll go where it's the nicest.'"
We talked about how glad we are to have kids who love the Lord and love their spouses and are involved in good things. (Marge's three kids are remarkable, dynamic Christians. It's quite something to see three kids from the same family who are each so special. Her son Dale worked with us at Standard for 20+ years before the latest layoff there. He's the newest staff member at our church, Trevor DeVage's first new hire.)
"You just have to keep pressing on," she told me. I have a feeling that's a philosophy that has carried her through her 88 years and will until she's too weak to express it any longer.
I'm glad I got to see her. I'm sorry I haven't seen her more in the last few years.

After our visit, I grabbed a snack and went to church for worship team practice. I'm singing with the group at the 9:30 service Sunday.

Productive Days Are Not Always the Most Interesting Days

Had a productive day at my desk today. Finished editing the bulk of our March edition: it's the Christian college issue, with some good accounts of international partnerships and innovative mentorship programs. The paragraphs from all the colleges have yet to be edited, but we'll get to that. Meanwhile, cleaned up a bunch of smaller tasks related to marketing copy, our trip this summer, and the contributing editors retreat. Oh yeah, I read a Lookout proof and had a discussion with editor Shawn McMullen about the Lookout's new website.

I told Evelyn I always
like the way my hair looks
when I come home from
having it cut better than any
other time. I can't figure
out why.

Got my haircut after work. We had leftovers (yummy leftovers) for supper, and I wrote an e-mail to my Bible study guys. Not an exciting day (why is anyone reading this?).  :-)
But a productive day!

Deciding What to Study

I'm trying to decide what to study with my Thursday-morning men's group. We've been watching videos produced by Focus on the Family called "The Truth Project," and I wasn't sure how the guys were feeling about them.
For one thing, they're about 60-minute long lectures, so we've been dividing them into two sections so we'll have time for discussion every week. For another, the smirky self-assurance of the lecturer is a little in-your-face, especially when you have an unbeliever in the group.
I decided to poll the guys and ask them how they felt about the videos. They could vote 1 ("Let's keep watching"), 2 ("Watch or don't watch--either's OK with me"), or 3 ("Let's do something else").
I got three 3's, a bunch of 2's, and only one 1. So I've decided we should move on, but deciding what to move to is a challenge.
There's so much available out there. I spent a little time tonight looking at resources for studying Revelation, Matthew, Acts, or Psalms. It's hard to get a preference out of the fellows. I really wish we had an adult education director to provide some guidance or parameters or a plan.

A Good Sunday

Like so many others in America this evening, I'm watching the first episode of the new season of "Downton Abbey" tonight. I'll see if I can write something coherent while keeping up with the British soap opera clad in castles and aristocracy.
Today was Trevor DeVage's first Sunday as lead minister at Christ's Church at Mason, and it was a good morning. His sermon seemed more powerful and pointed to me, than his trial sermon. I'm looking forward to the next one!

I sat on the front row where I could snap
some pictures of Trevor preaching.

Mark Sullivan recruited me to be one of several filling a new role in the worship services. A "host" will welcome folks, do the communion meditation and offering prayer, make the announcement, and preside over the invitation. I'm pleased to be asked, and I think I'll enjoy this. Today I did the job in the 11:00 contemporary service--the first time I've ever attended it! It was a blessing to help lead.

These three guys were all smiles before church started at 9:30:
Mark Sullivan, Brad Wilson, and Dale Reeves.

We ate lunch at home, tapping some of the goodies we received in our Omaha Steaks package from Ken and Susan. I finished putting away the outside Christmas stuff and read some more in Rohr's book. Evelyn took a walk just a few minutes before the sky opened in a flash snowstorm and I ran out to rescue her. But by the time I found her, the snow had slacked off, and she decided to finish her walk. We had tomato bisque soup from Costco for supper and watched "Sixty Minutes" while we enjoyed it.
I received an e-mail from a friend at church who asked if it's too late to register for our trip in June. I had forgotten that we send him a brochure. I told him it's not too late!

Important Tasks, Former Neighbors

Fred and Kay have been home two days from a
5-day cruise with their whole family, kids and grand-
kids and a niece, to celebrate their 50th wedding
anniversary and Fred's 75th birthday--14 of 'em
in all.

A quiet Saturday was a welcome experience, but it wasn't a do-nothing Saturday. I paid bills and wrote checks and did a little e-mail correspondence for our our June trip. While I was on my standardpub account, I answered a couple of work e-mails too. Read in Falling Upward, by Richard Rohr. It's been on my to-read list for far too long; I may polish it off this weekend. Went outside after it warmed up this afternoon and took down all the outside Christmas decorations: the floodlights, the extension cords, the big wreath, the sled on the front porch, and the "gumdrop" tree on the deck. Some of it was still a little wet or snowy after I brought it in, so I'll put it all away in the bins tomorrow afternoon.

Glenda and Gayle are planning to drive to
Arizona--1900 miles--about January 19.

This evening (5:00) we met our former neighbors, Gayle and Glenda Mulberry and Fred and Kay Freeberg, for dinner at Spinning Fork restaurant in Fairfield. We hadn't visited with both couples for years, probably, and it was good to get together, catch up on their kids and grandkids, and enjoy a really good meal. I'm not sure if we've ever eaten at the Spinning Fork, but it was really good. We want to go back there!

Wild and Crazy

The holidays are over and Evelyn and I are back to our wild and crazy ways. Take tonight, for example. Wild: chicken tacos at Chili's and a shopping spree at Costco's. Crazy: retired to the family room to watch free on demand TV shows. First "Bones" and then I'm hoping "Elementary."
The work day was productive, though: Some catching up and organizing, some assigning, some planning for the contributing editors retreat, good meetings with Shawn McMullen, Nick Pitzer, Sheri Hursh, and Jared Alexander. And farewell to another good worker, 20+-year veteran Paul Wharton who quit as head of Procurement without another job to go to.
I can't say I'm not glad it's the weekend already.

A Short Week, a Long Week

"Will this week ever end?"
"May I remind you that this work week is only three days long?"
"I know," my colleague answered me, as we got coffee in the office lunchroom. "But it seems like this day will never end."
"I think it's the gray skies, the low pressure."
"I think it's trying to get back to the routine after almost two weeks off for Christmas."
I think I agree with her.

Not that we haven't had plenty of work to do. We got the February issue finished today--lots of late copy, last-minute tweaks, little improvements. Jim uploaded it late this afternoon, even though the deadline is tomorrow, because he has to be off to take his college freshman son to the hospital for a small out-patient procedure. 

Tomorrow will be the last day of the work week. Plenty to do. Won't be sorry to end this week and start a "regular" work week next Monday.

Our February issue is about spiritual formation. It includes a special six-page
section previewing this summer's North American Christian Convention.

Back to Work, Back to the Routine

First day back at work after almost two weeks away--it was easier than I thought, but it didn't quite have the cliche feeling of "It's great to get back to the routine."
I (we) did get quite a bit done today, though. Edited an interview with Jack Tanner, Christian church minister in Newtown, Connecticut--Paul Boatman talked with him over the Christmas break and got it to us yesterday. We'll slip it into our February issue, which goes to the printer Friday, and probably post it on our website Friday too. Wrote and sent our weekly e-newsletter. Set up a couple of meetings to deal with some problems and "opportunities" we have with the web. Wrote a draft for the editorial in that issue that's going to the printer Friday. Handled a little correspondence, but there are still a bunch of unread e-mails in my inbox that have gathered there since the start of the Christmas break.

This evening we had leftover chicken parmigiana for supper. After doing a little housework, I spent a few minutes skimming a book by Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne, Red Letter Revolution, What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said?