So today has been interesting to say the least. After worship this morning they announced that, to keep the budget balanced in these economic times, we are now going to be a self-cleaning office. A list of assignments was emailed out and, of course, yours truly in on the first quarter bathroom team. Just before lunch we had an orientation to learn about exactly what would be expected of us.
After dividing into groups and picking our custodial days we were assigned to watch a horribly 1990's technical video about how to scrub toilets and empty trash cans.
The whole production ended with a shot of our office social committee announcing: "APRIL FOOLS!"
Yah... they got us good.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Boys Will be Boys
Before I get to this weekend I'll recap my Thursday. I was on the road for another town hall meeting. This one in San Antonio. I ended up going to the office in the morning to finish up a couple things and it was a good thing I did because several people had changes to their parts of the presentation. I ended up leaving just after lunch for the four hour drive to San Antonio... or so I thought. The drive ended up taking more than five hours thanks to rush hour traffic in Austin and San Antonio. Apparently there's a bypass for Austin, but I didn't know it at the time.
The presentation went as well as any of them so far. We got most of the wrinkles ironed out and this town hall was the best attended. Folks in San Antonio seemed very concerned about getting more schools in their area. They have two schools that I believe go up to 9th grade, but the conference itself is so spread out that it's not entirely uncommon for the nearest school to be a considerable distance away, even in metro areas. Part of the challenge is that opening more schools requires money. The conference can help to some degree but a school requires a dedicated base of financial support by the local community. This reminded me that it's probably time to start giving back to those who shaped my education.
While all this was going on Matt and Micah were flying into Dallas. So as soon as the meeting was done I jumped in the car for a late night marathon drive to kick of the weekend of bros. I picked them up in Keene just after 1 am and I think we finally got settled in for bed by about 2:30. That made for a late start on Friday. We pretty much just relaxed at my apartment for most of the day and then went to dinner at Babes Chicken in Burleson. Homestyle fried southern food with all you can eat veggies and biscuts. It was a glorious evening, still well into the 70's on the way home from dinner.
Still recovering from finals, the boys ended up sleeping well beyond church time. When we finally did get up and around we decided to go check out the Ft. Worth Stockyards. It was then that we discovered that the temperature had dropped by about 40 degrees overnight. In addition, there was a robust wind, which added to the chill factor. When we pulled into the stockyards a few wispy snowflakes were being added to the mix. But we persevered, because that's what the situation called for. Ducking into every available building we made our way along the historic streets, not really sure what we were supposed to be seeing. It was a lot of tourist stuff, and a lot of bundled up tourists.
Words cannot express how cold we were.
Finally we did find the cattle and they were very impressive:
A couple times a day they do a cattle drive down the street, but we were far too cold to wait for that to happen. It was time to head back to the apartment for warm drinks and some college basketball highlights.
Sunday I had to do an interview for a work project, so we hit the road for Lewisville and I whipped out my reporters notebook to gather information about Fisherman Ministries. It's an evangelism program that centers on one-on-one Bible study, as opposed to large-scale group meetings. Participants work with people who are interested in Bible study and take them through a systematic program of study that culminates in an invitation for baptism. The program has been transplanted to several other churches and is even in use in Africa. One of keys to this program's success is the one-on-one interaction helps people who are interested in spiritual things develop personal connections with people in the church, which makes the far more likely to stay connected for the long term. It should be a good article.
The next event on our schedule was a Dallas Stars hockey game. We had about 4 hours to kill so we decided to opt for another warm option, the Bass Pro Shop in Dallas. It was everything a massive sporting goods store should be. Guns, fishing poles, rubber worms, camouflage hunting suits, stuffed animals and an indoor pond stocked with massive fish. Even after we wandered to our hearts content there was still time to kill. We decided to go find the JFK memorial and maybe see about getting some lunch nearby. This proved to teach us two things. 1) Even when the temperature has risen to the mid 40's if the wind increases to 30-40 mph it is still terrifyingly cold outside. 2)In big cities like Dallas most restaurants in the business districts are closed on weekends. We ended up finding a place finally and just headed to the hockey game 90 minutes early. The game was exciting, even though the Stars lost in a shootout. Next trip we'll have to see about taking in a football game in Dallas...
Since I've been logging some serious hours with work projects over the last week and I had to take the boys to the airport I worked from home today, getting the next month's batch of stories ready for the union magazine and putting some of my notes together for the stories I'm working on for the conference magazine. Then it was off to deposit the boys at DFW and home to clean up and get ready for the next stretch of work. A couple more local town hall meetings are coming up in the next couple weeks and a pathfinder camporee at Lake Whitney Ranch, the new summer camp the conference is developing. Those events are sure to keep me plenty busy in the short term. Hopefully the'll be a nice long weekend somewhere along the way when I can make my way north. I'll be ready.
The presentation went as well as any of them so far. We got most of the wrinkles ironed out and this town hall was the best attended. Folks in San Antonio seemed very concerned about getting more schools in their area. They have two schools that I believe go up to 9th grade, but the conference itself is so spread out that it's not entirely uncommon for the nearest school to be a considerable distance away, even in metro areas. Part of the challenge is that opening more schools requires money. The conference can help to some degree but a school requires a dedicated base of financial support by the local community. This reminded me that it's probably time to start giving back to those who shaped my education.
While all this was going on Matt and Micah were flying into Dallas. So as soon as the meeting was done I jumped in the car for a late night marathon drive to kick of the weekend of bros. I picked them up in Keene just after 1 am and I think we finally got settled in for bed by about 2:30. That made for a late start on Friday. We pretty much just relaxed at my apartment for most of the day and then went to dinner at Babes Chicken in Burleson. Homestyle fried southern food with all you can eat veggies and biscuts. It was a glorious evening, still well into the 70's on the way home from dinner.
Still recovering from finals, the boys ended up sleeping well beyond church time. When we finally did get up and around we decided to go check out the Ft. Worth Stockyards. It was then that we discovered that the temperature had dropped by about 40 degrees overnight. In addition, there was a robust wind, which added to the chill factor. When we pulled into the stockyards a few wispy snowflakes were being added to the mix. But we persevered, because that's what the situation called for. Ducking into every available building we made our way along the historic streets, not really sure what we were supposed to be seeing. It was a lot of tourist stuff, and a lot of bundled up tourists.
Words cannot express how cold we were.
Finally we did find the cattle and they were very impressive:
A couple times a day they do a cattle drive down the street, but we were far too cold to wait for that to happen. It was time to head back to the apartment for warm drinks and some college basketball highlights.
Sunday I had to do an interview for a work project, so we hit the road for Lewisville and I whipped out my reporters notebook to gather information about Fisherman Ministries. It's an evangelism program that centers on one-on-one Bible study, as opposed to large-scale group meetings. Participants work with people who are interested in Bible study and take them through a systematic program of study that culminates in an invitation for baptism. The program has been transplanted to several other churches and is even in use in Africa. One of keys to this program's success is the one-on-one interaction helps people who are interested in spiritual things develop personal connections with people in the church, which makes the far more likely to stay connected for the long term. It should be a good article.
The next event on our schedule was a Dallas Stars hockey game. We had about 4 hours to kill so we decided to opt for another warm option, the Bass Pro Shop in Dallas. It was everything a massive sporting goods store should be. Guns, fishing poles, rubber worms, camouflage hunting suits, stuffed animals and an indoor pond stocked with massive fish. Even after we wandered to our hearts content there was still time to kill. We decided to go find the JFK memorial and maybe see about getting some lunch nearby. This proved to teach us two things. 1) Even when the temperature has risen to the mid 40's if the wind increases to 30-40 mph it is still terrifyingly cold outside. 2)In big cities like Dallas most restaurants in the business districts are closed on weekends. We ended up finding a place finally and just headed to the hockey game 90 minutes early. The game was exciting, even though the Stars lost in a shootout. Next trip we'll have to see about taking in a football game in Dallas...
Since I've been logging some serious hours with work projects over the last week and I had to take the boys to the airport I worked from home today, getting the next month's batch of stories ready for the union magazine and putting some of my notes together for the stories I'm working on for the conference magazine. Then it was off to deposit the boys at DFW and home to clean up and get ready for the next stretch of work. A couple more local town hall meetings are coming up in the next couple weeks and a pathfinder camporee at Lake Whitney Ranch, the new summer camp the conference is developing. Those events are sure to keep me plenty busy in the short term. Hopefully the'll be a nice long weekend somewhere along the way when I can make my way north. I'll be ready.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Zoom
And then another week goes by...
There's less time for reflecting/recording when you are staying busy with work-related activities. It seems like church institutions are always busy in the spring, and down here spring comes early.
I meant to write about last weekend sooner. Friday night Kristina and I shot some footage for a video project about a Brazilian church plant in north(?) Dallas. I assume it was north because it was a long way from where I live, but I'm still getting my bearings. It was a very amazing story though, about these three siblings whose parents are Catholic evangelists in Brazil. The daughter came here to go to school and didn't know a soul. When she finally met another Brazilian the woman happened to be Adventist so she started going to an Adventist church. It didn't really do a lot for her, but then she started attending this church plant. Something about it clicked with her so she stared participating (not changing her beliefs or anything, just being part of the group). Eventually she started doing Bible studies and warming up to the church.
When her family found out they sent her brother up to "get her straightened out." He told her they were going to go to Catholic church. She agreed, but only if he attended Adventist services with her. Eventually he started taking Bible studies so he would have ammunition against her in their theological arguments. By this time she was considering baptism and that drove a wedge between them. The week before her baptism they were riding in the car and her brother finally broke the silence by asking her if she really understood the gravity of her decision. She was going against everything their family stood for. She explained her conviction to him and he replied, "Well, if you are going to get baptized then I will too."
When the older siblings suggested their parents send their younger brother up for school... you can guess where the story goes. The parents made them vow not to convert him. And they didn't. The church did that without their help. So now the three children of those Catholic evangelists are leading out in this Brazilian church plant. Amazing stuff.
On Sabbath I went to the Terrell Church, which is about 75 miles east of Dallas. I was supposed to meet and interview a guy there who was converted by 3ABN programming. He ended up going to a different church that week, but I talked with the pastor and arranged a follow up and got a couple leads on other stories. The church was so tiny. Maybe 20 members tops. But everyone was highly involved. One of the three kids under 20 was their greeter and nearly everyone else was involved in either music, collecting offering or sharing a testimony as part of the service. I managed to get through it without feeling like the only unfamiliar face in the room, though I no doubt was.
On Sunday I boarded a plane for Houston. It was time for the first batch of Town Hall meetings. From what I can gather these events are an opportunity for conference leadership to give reports to members of the conference and take some time to hear questions or concerns. Since this conference is so huge it pretty much requires the conference leaders going to several different regions and giving the same reports. The first two stops were Houston on Sunday and McAllen (for they very southern region of Texas, known as The Valley) on Monday.
Tuesday we flew back to Dallas. I was so glad I was able to fly for the trip. If the churches we were going to didn't have the proper a/v equipment I would have had to drive my car and bring a projector and screen to run the Power Point presentation. That would have added up to nearly 9 hours of driving instead of a 2 hour flight.
Somewhere along the way I also managed to run on the treadmill five days in a row. I've already run nearly 30 miles this month. I wonder if I could sniff 50? That would be pretty amazing. I might have to do more 5ks and fewer 2 mile runs.
There's less time for reflecting/recording when you are staying busy with work-related activities. It seems like church institutions are always busy in the spring, and down here spring comes early.
I meant to write about last weekend sooner. Friday night Kristina and I shot some footage for a video project about a Brazilian church plant in north(?) Dallas. I assume it was north because it was a long way from where I live, but I'm still getting my bearings. It was a very amazing story though, about these three siblings whose parents are Catholic evangelists in Brazil. The daughter came here to go to school and didn't know a soul. When she finally met another Brazilian the woman happened to be Adventist so she started going to an Adventist church. It didn't really do a lot for her, but then she started attending this church plant. Something about it clicked with her so she stared participating (not changing her beliefs or anything, just being part of the group). Eventually she started doing Bible studies and warming up to the church.
When her family found out they sent her brother up to "get her straightened out." He told her they were going to go to Catholic church. She agreed, but only if he attended Adventist services with her. Eventually he started taking Bible studies so he would have ammunition against her in their theological arguments. By this time she was considering baptism and that drove a wedge between them. The week before her baptism they were riding in the car and her brother finally broke the silence by asking her if she really understood the gravity of her decision. She was going against everything their family stood for. She explained her conviction to him and he replied, "Well, if you are going to get baptized then I will too."
When the older siblings suggested their parents send their younger brother up for school... you can guess where the story goes. The parents made them vow not to convert him. And they didn't. The church did that without their help. So now the three children of those Catholic evangelists are leading out in this Brazilian church plant. Amazing stuff.
On Sabbath I went to the Terrell Church, which is about 75 miles east of Dallas. I was supposed to meet and interview a guy there who was converted by 3ABN programming. He ended up going to a different church that week, but I talked with the pastor and arranged a follow up and got a couple leads on other stories. The church was so tiny. Maybe 20 members tops. But everyone was highly involved. One of the three kids under 20 was their greeter and nearly everyone else was involved in either music, collecting offering or sharing a testimony as part of the service. I managed to get through it without feeling like the only unfamiliar face in the room, though I no doubt was.
On Sunday I boarded a plane for Houston. It was time for the first batch of Town Hall meetings. From what I can gather these events are an opportunity for conference leadership to give reports to members of the conference and take some time to hear questions or concerns. Since this conference is so huge it pretty much requires the conference leaders going to several different regions and giving the same reports. The first two stops were Houston on Sunday and McAllen (for they very southern region of Texas, known as The Valley) on Monday.
Tuesday we flew back to Dallas. I was so glad I was able to fly for the trip. If the churches we were going to didn't have the proper a/v equipment I would have had to drive my car and bring a projector and screen to run the Power Point presentation. That would have added up to nearly 9 hours of driving instead of a 2 hour flight.
Somewhere along the way I also managed to run on the treadmill five days in a row. I've already run nearly 30 miles this month. I wonder if I could sniff 50? That would be pretty amazing. I might have to do more 5ks and fewer 2 mile runs.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Drizzle and Sizzle
I continue to battle mightily against this pesky cold/throat bug. Hopefully the end is in sight. It's mostly just when I first wake up in the morning. Thursday I came home from work early because I was also kinda feeling feverish, and for some reason the decongestants I took that day didn't seem to do anything. Friday I laid low in the morning, but it was just too nice of a day to stay inside. So after getting groceries I decided to golf. Apparently everyone else in Texas shared my views on the weather because the course was packed. It took almost four hours to play 9 holes, but since twilight golf is 17 dollars I really didn't mind.
On Sabbath I went to Arlington church again. I went to the late (traditional)service. After church I was feeling a bit better so I decided to hit the treadmill. On some of my better running days two miles hasn't seemed like much of a challenge. I get through it at a pretty good pace and by the time I'm done with my cool down I feel like I could just about go for it again. So I decided to try running a 5k. That transfers to just over 3 miles. It was definitely a mental test to push through, and I still wasn't feeling great, but I made to the end without slowing down or stopping the treadmill. I think I averaged just under 8 minute/miles for the run, so that gives me a baseline to work off of. I think I'm going to start alternating between 2 mile and 5k runs.
After that I headed out to explore Burleson some more. Down in an oder section of town I found this historical marker thing with information about Burleson, including this beauty:
I also like these older farm/industrial structures:
I'm always reminded when I get out of the northwest that much of America is so much older than what I'm used to. It's cool to think about all the history in a given place. I don't really imagine people in other places thinking about the northwest a lot in a historical context. Maybe the Oregon Trail, but that's about it.
I forgot to mention that I had put beans in the crock pot to cook. When I got back I learned two valuable things. No matter how slow it may seem the low setting on the crock pot will probably get things cooked in time, and it is in fact possible to burn something in a slow cooker. Luckily a good portion of the beans were salvageable and I had some pretty decent burritos for dinner.
Today I woke up with minimal throat irritation so I celebrated with a bountiful feast of carbs:
Plenty of rain, and soreness from running, kept golf off the agenda. So after a little house cleaning I decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth. They currently have an exhibit of Andy Warhol's late work. I wasn't supposed to use cell phones or cameras in the gallery but I did manage to sneak this:
Andy was one crazy fellow. They only had a couple of his crazy drip/splatter paintings. I guess those were earlier works. But they did have this massive Last Supper treatment that he did. A huge screen print of the Di Vinci work, and then elements of the scene repurposed in some pop art pieces.
The other exhibits at the museum were pretty interesting as well. For example, a GIANT pile of teal colored hard candies. Somehow that constitutes art I guess. Then there was a collection of silver candlesticks, trays, bowls etc. that had been crushed by an industrial press and were suspended about six inches off the floor by wires. I'm not totally sure what it all means, but it sure was something.
After that I headed to a nearby mall. I was really hoping the rain would let up so I could walk around and take pictures, but it just wasn't happening. So I busied myself in Banana Republic, Pottery Barn and Barnes and Noble.
When I got back to my apartment I felt compelled to run again. I knew I didn't have much gas left in the tank but I decided to go for it. I plodded through and brought my weekend total to seven miles. Two on Friday, Three on Sabbath and Two more today. All solidly under an 8-minute mile. That feels good.
Now it's time for a busy couple of weeks. We are putting together the content for the next issue of our conference magazine. In the midst of that we have conference "Town Hall" meetings in Houston, McAllen and San Antonio. That requires us/me being on site to run power point slideshows for the different conference departments as they present their material. As soon as that's over the next batch of content is due for the union magazine.
Lots of writing, lots of travel, hopefully some photoshoots.
On Sabbath I went to Arlington church again. I went to the late (traditional)service. After church I was feeling a bit better so I decided to hit the treadmill. On some of my better running days two miles hasn't seemed like much of a challenge. I get through it at a pretty good pace and by the time I'm done with my cool down I feel like I could just about go for it again. So I decided to try running a 5k. That transfers to just over 3 miles. It was definitely a mental test to push through, and I still wasn't feeling great, but I made to the end without slowing down or stopping the treadmill. I think I averaged just under 8 minute/miles for the run, so that gives me a baseline to work off of. I think I'm going to start alternating between 2 mile and 5k runs.
After that I headed out to explore Burleson some more. Down in an oder section of town I found this historical marker thing with information about Burleson, including this beauty:
I also like these older farm/industrial structures:
I'm always reminded when I get out of the northwest that much of America is so much older than what I'm used to. It's cool to think about all the history in a given place. I don't really imagine people in other places thinking about the northwest a lot in a historical context. Maybe the Oregon Trail, but that's about it.
I forgot to mention that I had put beans in the crock pot to cook. When I got back I learned two valuable things. No matter how slow it may seem the low setting on the crock pot will probably get things cooked in time, and it is in fact possible to burn something in a slow cooker. Luckily a good portion of the beans were salvageable and I had some pretty decent burritos for dinner.
Today I woke up with minimal throat irritation so I celebrated with a bountiful feast of carbs:
Plenty of rain, and soreness from running, kept golf off the agenda. So after a little house cleaning I decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art in Fort Worth. They currently have an exhibit of Andy Warhol's late work. I wasn't supposed to use cell phones or cameras in the gallery but I did manage to sneak this:
Andy was one crazy fellow. They only had a couple of his crazy drip/splatter paintings. I guess those were earlier works. But they did have this massive Last Supper treatment that he did. A huge screen print of the Di Vinci work, and then elements of the scene repurposed in some pop art pieces.
The other exhibits at the museum were pretty interesting as well. For example, a GIANT pile of teal colored hard candies. Somehow that constitutes art I guess. Then there was a collection of silver candlesticks, trays, bowls etc. that had been crushed by an industrial press and were suspended about six inches off the floor by wires. I'm not totally sure what it all means, but it sure was something.
After that I headed to a nearby mall. I was really hoping the rain would let up so I could walk around and take pictures, but it just wasn't happening. So I busied myself in Banana Republic, Pottery Barn and Barnes and Noble.
When I got back to my apartment I felt compelled to run again. I knew I didn't have much gas left in the tank but I decided to go for it. I plodded through and brought my weekend total to seven miles. Two on Friday, Three on Sabbath and Two more today. All solidly under an 8-minute mile. That feels good.
Now it's time for a busy couple of weeks. We are putting together the content for the next issue of our conference magazine. In the midst of that we have conference "Town Hall" meetings in Houston, McAllen and San Antonio. That requires us/me being on site to run power point slideshows for the different conference departments as they present their material. As soon as that's over the next batch of content is due for the union magazine.
Lots of writing, lots of travel, hopefully some photoshoots.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Checkpoints
From what I gather March is truly a spring month around here. Folks are expecting warmer temperatures and sunshine. Other than the first day we seem to be headed in that direction. It's nice to see high temperatures staying above 45 degrees for the foreseeable future.
Work continues to go well. We are starting to gather materials for the spring/summer issue of the quarterly conference magazine. I've got a couple stories on my plate, the event calendar and possibly a couple other things. Also this month we have Town Hall meetings in several cities. I'll be getting to see a big chunk of the state since I have to drive the projector/screen to these events. Checkpoints on the docket include Houston, McAllen and San Antinio.
Last weekend got sort of blown out when I decided to brave the 40 degree drizzle and golf on Friday. Since then I've been fighting a cold bug as a result. Hopefully I'll be back at full capacity by this weekend. I'd like to check out Fort Worth some more. The Museum of Modern Art interests me, with a Warhol feature... and of course there's the stockyards and just downtown in general.
It's really kind of funny. I'm a pretty shy person... ok, at times I'm a cripplingly shy person... yet I find myself really enjoying intense urban settings. I oscillate between feeling terrifyingly conspicuous and blissfully invisible. I'm starting to define my comfort bubble here. The areas where I frequently go as part of my regular routines. But it's also exciting to know just how unfamiliar and unknown pretty much everything is around me.
Work continues to go well. We are starting to gather materials for the spring/summer issue of the quarterly conference magazine. I've got a couple stories on my plate, the event calendar and possibly a couple other things. Also this month we have Town Hall meetings in several cities. I'll be getting to see a big chunk of the state since I have to drive the projector/screen to these events. Checkpoints on the docket include Houston, McAllen and San Antinio.
Last weekend got sort of blown out when I decided to brave the 40 degree drizzle and golf on Friday. Since then I've been fighting a cold bug as a result. Hopefully I'll be back at full capacity by this weekend. I'd like to check out Fort Worth some more. The Museum of Modern Art interests me, with a Warhol feature... and of course there's the stockyards and just downtown in general.
It's really kind of funny. I'm a pretty shy person... ok, at times I'm a cripplingly shy person... yet I find myself really enjoying intense urban settings. I oscillate between feeling terrifyingly conspicuous and blissfully invisible. I'm starting to define my comfort bubble here. The areas where I frequently go as part of my regular routines. But it's also exciting to know just how unfamiliar and unknown pretty much everything is around me.
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