Happy Boss's Day!

 

"I read your blog, and I think you had a good idea."
"A good idea?"
"Yeah, we should have a dinner for all of us who are STAYING at Standard Publishing."
Well, we didn't have a dinner at work today, but we did have fun! It's Boss's Day, and the good people in the editorial department got together to assemble a whole platform of goodies to celebrate.
People were talking all day about the sugar shot they got from the spread. There WERE a lot of donuts, cookies, and brownies. And they were WONderful!
But I did save the pie in my lunch to eat another day!

Matt Lockhart, Jon Underwood, and Carla Crane led the line for the goodies (top) after five of the bosses (including me, Shawn McMullen, and Lindsay Black) posed in front of the spread.

Another Good-bye

The buffet line of goodies filled tables on three sides of the room, and the big cake was on the fourth side. As I waited my turn to fill my plate from the Crock Pot creations, salads, snacks, and desserts, I said to a co-worker, "We need to plan a pitch-in for all of us who are STAYing!"
"That's a good idea," she agreed.
It seems we've had several goodie-laden send-offs for colleagues leaving for greener pastures. And more than one has left without a celebration.
Today we said good-bye to Bob Wallace who has worked in a variety of sales and marketing positions at Standard Publishing for, I think he said, 12 years. He's excited about his new position at Lifeway's headquarters in Nashville.
"Everyone there treated me so nice, even the HR department."
"They're big on their history. They have a whole section of one floor reproducing the founder's office."
"My boss has been so flexible with me. 'If you need to take a three-day weekend to get back home to  Cincinnati for your kids and do some work at home, that's no problem. If you need to come in late some Monday, that's no problem; just call me.'"
"They're very committed to family. My boss said you need special permission to work in the office after 5:30. The garage is locked and you need to go through channels to be allowed to stay. He said it's not worth it."
"They're all about the business, but there's a sense of mission you can feel in the meetings and conversations."
"They explained to me their two-year and five-year plans for the department where I'll be working."
I'm happy for him.
And for us who remain behind? I'm glad we have such good cooks and generous buffet contributors!

Meeting with the Stone-Campbell Dialogue

Drove home today from Indianapolis after attending the Stone-Campbell Dialogue meeting in Indianapolis starting Sunday afternoon. I always enjoy this opportunity to fellowship, worship, and learn with leaders from the Disciples of Christ, the a cappella churches of Christ, and friends from the Christian churches and churches of Christ.
This year we met at Allisonville Christian Church on the north side of Indy. Sunday afternoon's session consisted of three messages about the healing power of the Lord's Supper, followed by a fellowship meal hosted by the Allisonville congregation, and then a brief Communion service.
I suppose about 100-150 folks attended, with representatives from each of the three groups attending.
The local committee members that had planned the event were the speakers for the 4:30 session:

Kent Ellett, Speedway Church of Christ

Diane Spleth, Allisonville Christian Church

Mike Bowling, Englewood Christian Church

This is the beautiful Communion setting at the Allisonville church

Monday morning featured a challenging, convicting, and informing session on the theme of "Soul Repair" led by Rita Nakashima Brock, founding co-director of the Soul Repair Center, Brite Divinity School, Ft. Worth, Texas.

"Soul repair" refers to the task of helping soldiers (and others) who must do acts in war (or in some other line of duty) that contradict their moral or ethical values. Such men and women suffer from a condition called moral injury, which is a condition distinct from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr. Brock has written a book (Soul Repair), and I want to read it.

In the afternoon we reviewed the history of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue and considered options for its future. 

This morning we visited the Disciples Center in downtown Indianapolis, took a brief tour, enjoyed a Communion service together, and then were adjourned. 

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

We've been celebrating Evelyn's birthday since Wednesday night when the Coopers came for dinner and brought a gift for Evelyn and a candle for the chocolate chip cookies!

This morning we met Terry and Shirley at Half Day Cafe in Wyoming for a wonderful brunch.

Bill and Verna Weber are here tonight. Verna's been attending a conference in Cincinnati, and needs to go to Louisville for the NACC meeting Monday, so she's staying the weekend. We said, "Well, Bill should come over Saturday night, too, and we'll celebrate Evelyn's birthday." We've had a wonderful evening. They took us to dinner at Raja India in West Chester, and then we came home to have birthday cheesecake (from J. Annette's in Mason) and lots of laughs as well as serious talk about faith, the past, and the future. It's been great!