Schedules!

Husband's direct supervisor/boss got fired about a week and a half ago. This was very unexpected (but a possibly a blessing because the boss liked to micro-manage a lot). Yesterday husband had a meeting with his new supervisor (probably temporary...but may be a while before a true replacement) and straightened out vacation, professional leave (for his on-site master classes....2 weeks fall and spring) and his general schedule lay out. The new boss basically said that he has confidence that husband can set his own schedule and that vacation means just that....VACATION! So, starting yesterday afternoon he started vacation for a week. YEAH!!! This has helped my schedule tremendously now that I'm in the crunch time before our big annual sessions (I do all planning and registration work). He will basically be "Mr. Mom" for the next week. I will be asking my boss about reducing my number of hours per week by about 10 hours so that I have more time to keep on top of the home life. Hopefully all will smooth out this coming year.

Blueberries

A member from our church is away on a trip to visit family. She has 4 lovely blueberry bushes. Knowing that we love them (we picked some last year from her bushes) she asked if we would stop by 2 times a week to pick them. Of course, we humbly said YES!!! Last night I rode husband's bike over there (he has a geeky basket on the front of his bike) and picked a 1/2 gallon of them. They were BEAUTIFUL!

This morning the family was greeted with fresh blueberry muffins that were (in my opinion) delicious! It is a good recipe that I got from a Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in while traveling through Washington.

God is so very good!!!

Garden

I feel that I have been on the negative note of late. Sorry about that! Today I am relishing in the work of God. It started at the beginning of summer when we built 3 raised beds for a garden spot. I planted seeds...etc. and left the work in God's hand. Last night while working on taming the overgrown grass surrounding the boxes I spotted 3 ripe and ready to pick squashes and 1 cucumber!! These are huge plants and will produce plenty for us. There are also many tomatoes (of several varieties) that are green but will be an abundant harvest as well. Can't wait to can some of them so we can enjoy them this winter.

Some other plants didn't fair so well...namely the peas and the carrots (and the green bean bush doesn't seem to be going anywhere either). Next year I will plant those items in their own beds and keep them away from the tomatoes and squashes (which like to take over the territory!!)

The raised beds are so much easier to tend to then having a large plot tilled in and planting in rows. So far it has been a pleasant experience.

Staying above Stagnant Water

Yesterday was our church's business meeting (which are usually pretty dry). One of the subjects was the proposal to install a motorized window covering over the middle stain glass window (that faces west). One of the main reason for this is that any evening event has to deal with the problem of blinding light that comes in that window. You simple cannot sit in the middle section and not be uncomfortable with the amount of light. this has been a problem for years and sometime in the past they use to have shades for those windows that had been removed but the old brackets are there.

Well, the older generation (those 70 and older) just had a fit! They are concerned that the sanctuary will become like a public auditorium or will be less "worshipful". Or that the stain glass is what inspires worship. Our pastor had originally started the conversation several months ago about installing a projector system that would also have the screen placed over that window (there are two other windows that flank the center one....but those will be left alone) with the dual purpose of projection and covering in the evening. this concept was trashed because of the expense. However, the trustees want a covering system that will be minimally obtrusive. Those older generation folks just keep talking about that the curtain/shade will lead to the projection system. Something they don't want. There were comments made that if the youth like the media systems then maybe those items could be installed in the youth room or the in the fellowship but that we should not change the sanctuary because it is a place of connecting with God.

Then, there was also some statements made that there are a number of families that have stopped attending church and that offerings are low and the budget tight.

I think that there is connection between the two. The older generation likes to see the youth there but they don't want to embrace them. The person that did the presentation and his wife are very spirit filled individuals and are in the 70's. They both were very sad that this body doesn't want to change to reach out to youth. They are both very active in the church and are willing to help anywhere needed. The wife sat beside me and said that the issue is pretty much dead in the water. She was sad about it.

I was glad that Spencer wasn't there....he would have had a fit (although it might have been good for them to hear his passion). When I told him of the conversation his comment is that this church is going to end up a museum....a statement of the past but with no real impact on the future. I think that we are going to do some visiting of other churches that are in our denomination that are vibrant and see how they handle their generation connectedness. Of the 35 churches in our state....there are only about 6 that are truly growing. The rest are stagenant and dying. Another alarming point was that our summer youth camp attendance was noticably lower this year....because there is really not a lot of youth in the denomination. Those churches with growing youth numbers are deciding that missions trips are a better use of their summer youth emphasis. Interesting!