Serenity, Change, Courage, Wisdom

A mixed day, ultimately good, but not without its concerns. A variety of tasks and duties, several of them handled well. Frustrations that probably won't change: "God, give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." It's the last two parts that are the biggest challenge to me.
A beautiful sunrise on the way to work, 80-plus degrees for a lunchtime walk to a restaurant, and even warmer on the way home. I ran the air conditioning in the car!

Today was open enrollment day for health insurance, vision insurance, dental insurance, long- and short-term disability, etc. etc. We're changing carriers (we're hoping United Health Care serves its

customers better this year than the last go-'round), and the prices are going up about $10 or $11 per pay period. I'll pay $10 higher copay (from $40 to $50) to see my specialists. But UHC has a plan that earns you gift cards for completing health profiles and receiving online or personal counseling for health and nutrition issues. The carrot approach is much more palatable than the stick approach we had a year or two ago. So, all in all, it's not a bad deal.
In spite of frustrations, I feel very grateful for all the material blessings I have, my special family, my church, and the chance to do work that seems meaningful and is fulfilling. So many—so very many—people in the world would trade their situation for mine in a heartbeat. It's true for folks in the Two-Thirds World, but true also for men my age within 10 or 15 minutes of me.
So I'll end the day with a prayer of thanks, along with that prayer for courage and wisdom.

Little Blessings for a Good Day

I diligently packed my lunch last night and then ran off without it this morning. But it was a good day to run out for lunch: sunny and warm. When I walked to my car, I noticed a food truck parked at a sidewalk path nearby. Bones' Burgers. I decided to investigate and discovered the guy was selling more than hamburgers. He offered a salmon burger and a choose-your-own-fillings gourmet grilled cheese option. I chose the special of the day: smoked bacon, munster cheese, and thin-sliced Granny Smith apples--all on fresh made, thick-sliced rosemary bread. Very tasty! I decided to try the sweet potato fries to go with it. I ate 'em all, but it was a big helping. Not only were they seasoned with sea salt but also with pepper or some other spice. They had a kick to 'em. But I ate 'em! It was wonderful standing in the sun waiting for the sandwich, and I ran back down after I ate to snap a picture of the food truck.

Soon afterwards, Scott Ryan came over to help us with design and art in our June issue. He was very pleased with the cover that had been designed by Plain Joe Studios (we are too!), and he gave us some tips for several ways we can make the issue work. He noticed my new camera on the desk and wanted to see it and learn all about it. I showed him the 180-degree flip-up LCD screen that lets you take your own picture, and we decided to give it a try.

This evening Evelyn and I mowed grass: she did half before supper and I finished afterwards. That's the 2nd mowing of the season so far. My car thermometer said 82 degrees on the way home. The grass is green and beautiful in response.

The Details are Devils

Details . . . details . . . details! Handling details is not my strongest suit. But unless you're wealthy enough to have a personal assistant following you around and picking up the pieces, you must deal with most of life's--and your job's--details yourself.
If we were fully staffed at Standard Publishing, I wouldn't have had as many details to deal with today as I had. But, alas, our marketing manager is swamped with tasks—many of them including details threatening to drown him, too. So I'm trying to pick up a little of his slack with one project we're tackling together. The combination of little decisions, random loose ends, and nitty needs to deal with left me feeling very tired by the end of the day.
It was a good day to come home and take a perspiration-producing walk after supper, which is what Evelyn and I did.
But the good thing is . . . it's spring all around. Forsythia are blooming along every street, and daffodils were blowing in the wind today. Temps are supposed to be in the high 70s this week; in fact, maybe to 80. So much better than chilling winds that were biting at my neck and legs not very long ago!

The daffodils outside our office building were blowing in the breezes when I took a walk at lunchtime.

Sunday, Sunday

Today was the first Sunday for our new service schedule. Dave Lautzenheiser had asked me to be

worship host in the 8:30 a.m. chapel service, and it was a blessing to be there. The choir sang two beautiful anthems, and Kim Rodarmel stunned with her clear, high soprano rendition of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."

Trevor began a new sermon series, "Greater Than," and today's topic was "Greater Than My Anger." Five points I jotted down on my outline:

1. Allow God to search your heart for hidden anger (Psalm 4:4).

2. Do not harbor anger (Ephesians 4:26, 27). "In you anger do not sin."

3. Find your security in God (Psalm 4:8). Anger is almost always a byproduct of fear.

4. Repent from destructive speech and actions (Ephesians 4:29-31). Anger is usually expressed in destructive ways. Anger must always be expressed in love.

5. Forgiveness is the antidote for anger (Ephesians 4:32).

Frankly, I was concerned about attendance at this new, earlier time, but the room was comfortably full. (A few who used to attend the Blended service chose this service today.)

Evelyn attended the 9:00 service, and I snuck into the balcony to try out my new camera and listen to the end of the sermon. Then we hung out in the lobby and visited with friends before departing by 10:30.

The earlier start to the morning meant we were to breakfast and back home earlier than ever before, which made for a nice, long afternoon. I wrote a draft of my column for this week. We took our walk. I grabbed a shower and then went to Kroger's. We were able to get our lunches packed before supper, and then we enjoyed Costco's tomato basil soup and watched "Sixty Minutes," followed by a rerun of "Duck Dynasty" we had never seen. (We've become fans only recently, so there are a LOT of those episodes we've never seen!)

Dave rehearsed with the choir at 8:01 a.m. 

Wednesday Through Saturday

Let me catch up on highlights of the last few days.
Wednesday we went to the Aronoff to see the touring company of War Horse. We had decided to see Trip to Bountiful instead of War Horse because War Horse, like most productions at the Aronoff, was so expensive. But then, after we had committed to the Playhouse play, I got an e-mail offering a "family pack" of tickets to select performances of War Horse—four tickets for only $100. I couldn't resist. I emailed Evelyn and Dave Ray and asked if we and the Rays would be free on one of the available times, and we picked Wednesday, April 3.
The play was remarkable. They did so many creative things on stage, with several life-size puppets, not just the horse of the title. We enjoyed it.
But as we were driving home at 11:30 on the night before my 6 a.m. Bible study the next day, I realized I was paying a price beyond dollars to have this experience.
The highlight Thursday was taking a break to go to a small recording booth at the Fox Broadcasting

Plaza, not far from downtown. A Christian radio station operates on one floor on one side of the building, and I had been asked to go there to record a 60-second promo for two Standard books by Beth Guckenberger. I enjoyed it, and it was really nice to have the break after the short night before.
"You've got a nice set of pipes," the guy pushing the buttons said to me. "Seems to me you've wasted a good voice on a career in print!" It's nice to think about the possibility of a back-up plan.
Friday night Evelyn and I had a nice evening: dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (used a gift certificate from Christmas) and then went to Pearle Vision to spend our Flex money on a couple of pairs of glasses for Evelyn.
Today I woke up early (by 7:00). We had some breakfast. I prepared for hosting at the 8:30 Chapel service and checked the checkbook. We Skyped with Wendy and then I spent some time thinking about hymns to sing during our gathering times on our cruise this summer. (I promised to have song sheets ready by April 15.)
We ate Easter leftovers for lunch and then took our walk. (Almost 60 degrees by the time we were outside.) Then I cut down the dead pine tree in the backyard and went to Lowe's to buy 8 bags of soil to cover up the stump (and maybe do some landscaping later this spring). I hauled the 8 40-pound bags to the back and spread 'em around on the bed and did some other clean-up in one of the perennial beds. I also took some time to plant some lettuce seeds in a window box on the deck. Then I took my shower and settled into the recliner in the living room to skim Time and take a nap.
Evelyn fixed our favorite salmon recipe for dinner, and I spent time afterwards getting acquainted with my birthday present. I bought myself a new camera. Found a deal on Amazon this week that I couldn't resist. When it was all over I got this for slightly over half price. Now I have to learn how to use it.
Here are a few pictures I took this evening while I was experimenting. Probably more tomorrow.

Eye Don't Know!

Evelyn and I had our eye appointments tonight. We really like our eye doctor, but he's usually behind schedule, and tonight was no exception. So while I waited to see him, I decided to try on some of the frames in the waiting room. The doctor said my prescription has changed only a little, so I'm deciding if I should get new glasses. I wonder if any of these looks would be right for me?

On the Evening after Easter

After our company left yesterday, we looked around the kitchen and said, "We have a lot of food left

These tulips, growing in a pot
from Kroger's, brightened our
Easter weekend and look like
they'll stay with us for several
more days.

over!" So we invited Cindi and Dan Cooper to come over and help us eat it. They arrived tonight a little after six, and we had a nice time finishing off most of the ham, asparagus, Yummy Potatoes, applesauce Jello, pickled eggs, and rolls. The coup de grace, of course, was homemade strawberry pie (and there's still a little of that left over for one more treat!).
I felt as though today was productive at work--putting finishing touches on the May issue, reading the Mother's Day issue proof for The Lookout, approving the cover for the June issue, and starting the June editing. In between was correspondence related to NACC Networking Breakfasts, an NACC video project that may or may not happen, and a couple of other unrelated matters.
The day was sunny, but chilly, and by nighttime when I was taking out the trash (two cans full of rose bush branches!), I was shivering as I scurried up and down the driveway.