Random

So, did I tell you it's started?

Yes, we've been invaded by giant jars of pickles! Ok, not really, but the cuke's are starting to come on. Last week we had surprisingly cool weather for July. I think one morning it was 58 degrees, which, by the way, doesn't happen in July in Arkansas! Or at least it didn't use to happen. Just when the plants were kicking into high gear, it get's cold and slows everything down except the mosquitoes. I hope that everything recovers and we start kicking it again real soon.

I got a job,did I tell you? I'm a cashier at a convenient store. I have to admit this is the first job of it's kind for me and I'm excited to add it to the other 986 thousand things I've done to earn money in my life time. Yes, I'm over qualified for this but, what's a girl to do? I'd like to give a shout out to April and Anne..."You taught me everything I know about up selling!"

I ordered a new pair of running shoes on line yesterday. I know right! What am I thinking ordering running shoes on line? Well, it's like this, I can't find anyone to take my feet and go try some on! I was wondering why my feet were hurting me after I ran and then I looked at the bottom of the shoes... They are fixing to turn into work shoes.

Things have truly been calm around here lately! I think it's because my 20 hour a week job is working me close to 38 hours every week and all I can do is fall into bed at night and sleep. Through it all, this is still how I look at most things!

Raw

I have tried to write many times, and nothing encouraging or witty or life giving is coming forth. So I don't.

But there is this welling up in my soul that needs an outlet. It's a pressure that threatens to consume. It takes my breath and yet I find myself holding it out of an old habit I thought broke. So I started walking.

I can't sit still, my nerves are raw as is my tongue. It's hard to be here, in this place of possible transformation. Maybe this is why not everyone chooses to go through this crap. It's hard to dream here. 

Keep moving forward, look up, breath, hang in there... we have all said it, so please, don't. Don't you see?! Can't you feel it?!

Today I dressed in running clothes. Got my phone, said Hello to Nike App and off I went. Running and walking. Action, movement, not being stagnant. 

I ran and I cried. 

Surely, you have not forgotten me. 

Come On Man!!

There is anxiety about winter that I guess I really never looked at before. Not only is this the time of year that we all watch the weather like a bunch of psychos, but we get up early just to leave hours before we need to, in order to get to places that we know are going to be hard to get to. Winter is hard, cold, unyielding, and long!

Preacher man is traveling to Conway for two weeks in order to complete a class. This is about a 45 minute drive into city hell. We had snow, sleet, ice and a butt kickin on Sunday, so classes were delayed till 10. They ended up staying past 5, which means it started freezing up again. So this morning, we were up at 4:45 and Preacher man was out the door, up the hill and in Conway by 6:45. At which time he received a message stating that class wouldn't start until noon. Come On Man! How long have you lived in Arkansas? Don't you know that if your going to cancel something or delay it, you need to do it the day before?

I'm hoping to get four reports done in these two weeks for my Practicum II class. It's day two and it's not looking very good. I'm also hoping to make it to the store one of these day's but I don't know if it will be today. 

Sam & Gracie in KY

It's started. The moisture is falling and freezing, or more like freezing then falling. Folks that live a little norther have it so much better than we do living on the line. The line, is the place where rain turns to sleet or ice, not snow. Snow, you can drive on, ice, well, good luck with that! 

While there is anxiety abounding around here, there is also that call to slow down, to notice, to restore. It's hard for me to do, but that just makes the call louder. So I think I'll start a fire and finish reading the books that I need to write about. 

Sorry I haven't posted lately, it's a dry season for me right now. This ice is doing a number on me and I haven't seen the sun enough to lighten my spirit. So won't you join with me and say Come Holy Spirit and bring new life to this cold soul. Rekindle spring in my heart and in my step. Amen.  

Random Things!

Wilmore KY

I think I have confused a few folks with some pictures so I'm going to take this time to straighten you all out, in case your confused.

This is a picture of our house when we lived in Kentucky. It's over 150 years old, has newspaper as insulation in the walls and is what I would consider to be a money trap. However, this is where I had the best garden ever! The picture of me in front of all the pickles? That's at this house!

Heber Springs AR

I haven't posted a picture of the house we are in here in Heber. I was going to wait until this spring when something was blooming and we had the chance to get mom and dad's power washer and go to town on this thing. This house has sat empty for close to 2 years and that might be how long those leaves have been on the ground. I'm sure as soon as it warms up some, I'll be out there going crazy! Who am I trying to fool? I've already been out there and it's going to be a big job! Here is a shot from the road at the front of the house. It's on a corner lot and has way too may trees, pine and pin oak, and leaves, but it's home and we will improve on it just like we have with every place we've lived.



We burned leaves the other day, right before the burn ban was put into effect. There is something special about burning leaves. I haven't figured it out yet, but when I do, I'll let you know. Unless you happen to know what is so special about it. If you do, by all means let me know!


Gracie has been loven life here! She loves burning leaves. This is how she looks when we are burning, cute huh?

Anyway, another day has dawned here in the Valley and we're going to be doing something today, we just don't know what yet! 

Peace!

Had to Happen!

This time of year is always a challenge for the miser in me! We have had the A/C off for a while now, mainly cuz $400 electric bills are out of our price range. Also because there is something almost magical about the smell of the air this time of year. When I was growing up in the delta of Mississippi county, this time of year had the faint smell of cotton defoliant to it along with the fresh smell of dirt. I love the way dirt smells!

This time that comes before the first freeze, before you close all the windows and crank on the heat, this is a special time of cooking things on the stove so you can have a blast of heat. It's about moving to the front porch to sit because the sun has moved to that side of the house and the wind is blocked a little more than it is out back.

It's about taking really hot showers, with the heater light on and the vent off, so the warmth will get out into the house. 

I have been closing the windows, slowly, one by one as the temperature drops a little more every evening. It hit me last night, that I had better bring in the house plants if I wanted to keep them. This always includes Preacher man, that's because with my green thumb, we have two plants that are bigger than me!

So, the windows are now all closed.

It is 40 degrees this morning and while that is still too warm for a frost, I had to turn the heat on to chase the chill out of here. Don't judge me! 

I'm feeling a little defeated because of this lack of toughness in me.

It's here. There is no way to stop it from happening so don't even try. With the World series right around the corner, fall is in the air!  

Neighborhood Watch!

The neighbors are gone to Branson for the week and while they have someone taking care of the place until Thursday at 10 am, which is when our time starts, I still have to keep an eye on things. 

You have to understand, there are more animals at that house than there are people! Let's see, we have Mattie and Dot, which are the 2 dogs, Loki, Scout and Sally which are cats. Wait, disclaimer, Loki is a cat, the other 2 are kitten's. We can't forget my 15 chicken friends, who have names I'm sure, I just don't know them yet.

Part of my job as a neighbor is to take veggy food scrapes to the chicken friends about twice a day, if I have it. If I get there first, I let the girls out of the hen house and almost get stamped with chicken feet as they scamper to the scrapes. 

The other day, we had over an inch of rain fall in like 30 minutes. Both Sally and Scout were outside and Scout literally doesn't have enough sense to get in out of the rain. Sally was under a car. However, these kittens do come when they are called and if it sounds like fun.

Sunday after service, I was standing in the Narthex talking with some folks and I saw Sally run up to the front doors of the church, and kinda stretch on the windows. I thought, Sally... Do you need you some Jesus?

I didn't take the opportunity to explain the Roman Road to Sally, however, I did pick her up and carry her back to the yard she is suppose to be staying in.

On a sad note, my cuke's have mildew and it looks like the pickling will be coming to an abrupt halt.       

Fearless?

So we start another week. Do we have to? Well, yes, we do, cuz I don't want to  stay around in last week, do you?

I want to say a few more words about fear. It really is an easy topic to talk about because so many of us are eat up with it. We like to think we aren't, we like to think we are brave and courageous. That we have No Fear, (wasn't that a logo a while back?) which would be the absence of fear.

Fearlessness in not the same as the absence of fear. When we are fearless, we are very much aware of the fear we face. I think about it this way. When we lived in Hawaii, I was afraid of two things. Getting burned alive by a volcano eruptions and the high dive at the pool. Now we lived on Oahu, and the active volcano was on the Big Island, but I was still had this fear. One year, we took a family trip to the Big Island and they have a chair called Pele's chair. (Pele is the goddess of the volcano.) You could sit in this chair and make a wish. My sister did just that and wished the volcano would erupt, because it had been thinking about it for years, but hadn't busted through the surface. So what do you think happened? Yes, my fear had come to life, we were going to die from this eruption and it was going to hurt really bad!

So what does my family do? You would think we would get on the first plane out of there and head to Alaska! BUT NO!!! We pack up and drive right down where the hot action is so the kids could see this once in a life time flowing of melted earth! You know what happened when we got there? It was hot, hotter than anything I had ever experienced, but it was also beautiful. In fact it took my breath away at life in the making.

Now the high dive, it was a horse of a different color. It couldn't come after me, I had to go to it. I had to look at this long and hard. I did, one day, climb those bazillion steps up to the top and I jumped off without killing myself. I became aware of my fear and saw it as a compass more than a barrier. (I did not know all this wisdom at the time, I was in the 3rd grade)

Fear can become a way to know what to do next, not an evil demon to be extinguished!  

When we deny our fear, we make it stronger.

When we reassure the voice in our head, that everything is going to be ok, we actually reinforce it.

Pushing back on fear doesn't make us brave and it doesn't make us fearless. Acknowledging fear and moving on is a very different approach, one that allows it to exist without strengthening it.

Life without fear doesn't last very long, you'll be run over by a bus (or someone one in the church) before you know it. The fearless person, on the other hand, sees the world as it is (fear included) and then makes smart (and brave) decisions.

Walk like a Penguin!

The last word you heard from me, I had worked out with Jillian. I would like to report that I am able to move more like a person today instead of a penguin. Yes, that's right, I have been so beyond sore since Monday that I really thought about using the wheel chair from the church to get around in. The problem being it won't fit in the Mini and we live in a tri-level house! 

I went out and got a massage yesterday and that helped so much that I soaked in a hot tub of Epson Salt when I got home. Low and behold, I am moving much better. I'm not kidding, I was walking like a penguin. Dang Jillian! I might try it again tomorrow!

I'm thinking about changing my web site up. I'm not getting any comments and Preacher man says it's cuz it's hard to do on this site. Is that true? I know one or two are reading this thing and surely I'm saying something that you can comment on! You know, if you find this commenting thing to be true, would you drop me an email and let me know? kimer.workman@gmail.com is my address.
Also I'm thinking about changing the title, take a look and let me know the one or two you like the best?! Here's the list:

• Little Wheels
• Preacher's Wife
• Pickles & Sauce
• Kimba's Calling
• The Call
• Healing Heart
• PW Wisdom (Preacher's Wife)
• Broken
• Oasis Mystic (Oasis is the name of our non-profit)
• Woman at the Water Pump
• Not Prefect
• Enough

Do you have an idea? Let me know your thoughts!
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Peace Out!

Different Place!

I'm in a really different place than I've ever been in before and I can tell I'll be here until I learn the lesson. What's the lesson you may ask, well if I knew, I'd be moving on now wouldn't I? 

Haven't you ever been someplace like this before? Where you know your way around, yet nothing is happening like it use to? You look in the mirror and know that person, but the things that are going on inside your head are a little on the right side of center. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if I really was out here on the edge, alone!

I found myself sitting in a room with some people who are trying to learn more about the Bible, or at least 3 of us are. Some words were spoken that really have given me cause to think long and hard about what I stand for, or won't stand for. 

I will not stand with the world on it's views! I am called to be in the world not of the world! I want to be different than the world. When you look at me and line me up with the world, I want to stick out like a sore thumb! While I am human that doesn't give me the excuse to be like everybody else! 

I get that you don't want to judge! I have a news flash for you though...every time you get into your car, you judge. Or maybe you don't and that's why you don't have a car! 

I have written about the whole God is love, Jesus loves you thing before but I feel compelled to say once again... This is a great place to start, but they are so much more than just love! You can't just stop there and hope we will all love each other and get along. I mean, how's that working for you? Jesus didn't come so we would all get along, in fact, he said he came to cause a ruckus, paraphrasing by me!

Here's the deal, for me and maybe you. If you can't stand up for Jesus now, do you think when it's get's bad and we're persecuted, it's going to be easier? If you don't take the opportunity to study and grow deeper and wider now, do you think when stuff starts hitting the fan, your going to have lots of time to do that?

We need to love each other and call each other into account for our actions. We need to stand up for Jesus, spend time with Jesus and walk in the shadow of His cross. It's not the easy way of going about doing things but for me, it's the only way!   

Wake Up

Do you ever get tired of wake up calls? Not the ones in the morning that get you out of bed, but the ones that smack you up side the head and bring you into the here and now! I've had a weekend of wake up calls and I'm thinking, thats just what the doctor ordered.

I fell way behind on my reading and was somewhat floored when I went to Fort Smith to hang out with the sisters this past weekend! So I'm hitting the books hard and it's only Monday, but I figure the way my luck is going, I'll be behind before too long.

I called last week and got a dentist appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Can I tell you how much I hate finding new doctors and such. On Friday, I received my reminder about the yearly Mammo I need to get done this month. I saw the piece of paper Anne had written this doctors name on, she had gotten the name from her daughter and it just stared at me. In fact, it's been staring at me since Anne was here last, when ever that was. So I got on Google and found a phone number and low and behold, the doctor is no longer with them. I thought maybe this was my break. Not there?, must be a sign from God, I don't need to go to the doctor. Ha! Candy, who answered the phone, was not going to let me off the hook! Needless to say, I will be seeing my new doctor on Thursday morning, who will be able to refer me to Mammo, colon, thyroid and with my luck, heart. We'll see.

Do you realize that Turkey day is in 10 days! Good grief! Now that's a wake up call!!

Oops!

I have to say a big I'm Sorry! My posting has been a little on the not so much side lately, however, I'm sure no one is missing it as I haven't gotten any comments about it!?!? In fact, I'm in the process of rethinking this thing some. Preacher man says you can't comment very easily on Blogspot so I might be moving and maybe even changing the name... I'm not getting to crazy about it, cuz there seems to be a few other fires that need to be put out first.

So Isaac came through yesterday and seems to be on his way out sometime today. Unsure about how much rain we got, cuz we still haven't found the dang rain gauge! Guess I'm going to have to break down and get another one.

Have I told you I want an 80 foot privacy fence? Have I told you why? OK, let me 'splane. Our back porch faces the neighbors driveway, which they don't use. To the right of the porch is the over flow parking lot for the church, which said neighbors use as their own parking lot for over 6 cars and a play ground area for their 4 kids and their toys. Said neighbor's park right next to our fence because we have 2 very large pine trees that provide shade...for the time being. Said neighbors also have 2 dogs that they let run loose even though Sherwood has a leash law. They also have 4 large Bradford Pear trees that are so close to our fence that over half the tree is in our yard.

Sitting on your back porch should be relaxing! You should be able to carry on a conversation with your spouse and/or guests without having to listen to battery powered jeeps and Barbie cars, dogs barking and yelling and screaming! Surely that's written somewhere! 

Enter Isaac! Come find out, there is electric lines that run from the street to the said neighbors house through said Branford Pear trees... Have I told you how much I dislike Bradford Pear trees? Guess what happened? The electric company showed up yesterday afternoon and stopped at the road and walked the electric line to the area in the Bradford Pears, where they found the problem. Tree broke and fall on wire, wire come loose from house and pole, said neighbor has no electric, AND it's the electric company's fault!!!

So have I told you I want a 80 foot privacy fence?

Doing!

Does God ever sneak up behind you and scare the beegebee's out of you? Okay, wait, maybe scare is too harsh of a word for what I'm looking for. How about, pokes you in the eye? Yeah, now that I think about it, poke me in the eye is what he does to me a lot. Let me splane.


See, I've been busier than a one arm paper hanger lately. All this moving and unpacking, setting up a home for the Preacher man and all, it can wear a girl out. I am also trying to make some friends, just some, not a whole lot, so I want to be available when someone says You wanna go... I asked last week if they had everything they needed for VBS this coming week. Well, as a matter of fact, they needed someone to help the music person with the hand motions to the songs and with corralling kids. This seemed like an easy enough thing for me to help with, so I said sure. 


To make a long story just a little shorter, I am now helping the music person with the hand motions to the songs for VBS this week, I'm going to help make and serve sandwiches at Brother Paul's soup kitchen tomorrow, I'm going to my first ever circle meeting on Thursday, having the chair of the trustees and his wife over for dinner on Friday, going to the youth and parent meeting on Saturday and getting Preacher man out of town for his BOM meeting on Sunday. THEN, I get a call from Sister Rachel, who I had talked to yesterday, telling me that she has changed her mind and she wants me joining her group this fall. To top it all off, I'm reading this book called Wayfaring and I come across the part about Being to Doing, that's when God poked me straight in the eye! Listen to this;

It almost seems as though we don't know how to deal with the possibility that we are unconditionally loved, just as we are, and that our many efforts to please others and even to "do God's work" make not a scrap of difference to his love for us.


Argghhh! I know this, I've known this, well, for a while anyway! Am I the only person on this big blue planet that forget's this stuff?!!!? I go from nothing to too much in 5.6 seconds! So, I just want you to know that I do it too, okay?


Now the issue is, how to stop it before it becomes this crazy every week!      


  

Grateful!

Have you ever really been grateful for friends? I have different friends and I'm grateful for different reasons for each of them. I love the fact that I still have friends that have hung with me after 30 plus years! I mean, we just have to do a time of catch up and we pick up right where we left off. I have newer friends that have seen me through  healing's and growth that make them "old soul" friends. Then I have friends like Anne, who are sister's born from a different mother that has been disowned and then re-found in a different part of the world. Anne came to see me today and to help me get it together and put away in the right spot. See, Anne was born with the gene's that I really don't have, the decorating gene. 


I mean this is crazy, Preacher man and I moved in here on June 26th, it's been less than a month and I have the main floor of the house ready to receive visitor's! If mom hadn't come and helped me unpack and if Anne hadn't shown up and put things where they really look like they belong, I would have been happy just to blog everyday and look at stuff hoping it would get the hint to put itself where it belongs. But the beauty of this moment is knowing that I am not defined by my stuff! 

Over the years, I have gotten rid of tons of stuff, literally! I still have a ton, but I am getting freer at letting more and more of it go. I think a good example for me was when Preacher man said we needed to get rid of the couch and chair we had since we first got married. I loved that furniture! It was out of date, and needed to go, but I thought it held some special force that kept the world spinning in the right direction. It did not. The reason I know this, is I no longer have the furniture and the world has not fallen apart!


If you have never failed, you have never lived! CLICK and see what brought it home for me today. I have failed, and I bet a dime to a dollar, I'm not through failing. You know what's cool about that now? I'm getting ok with it. See, I think that when I fail, I open up some how to what God wants to do in my life. I get a humble spirit, which is really getting hard to find now a days, and I'm more apt to say things like, Sure, why don't we move that couch in a strange, never seen before positions. Then I get blown away when it looks good there!


It takes friends to show you sometimes that you really don't have it all together, but that maybe they could help! It takes seeing a video about others who have been told they are never going to amount to anything, before you see that maybe you could do something with your life. I beginning to see, that living in this moment really is all that is important! To be present, to be available.                  

Day 1

Well, today is the day that Preacher man becomes Senior Pastor at Sylvan Hills UMC. I guess it happened last night at midnight. I can tell you I did not hear anything "going off" as I didn't sleep worth a pooh. Preacher man, likewise did not sleep much, but who can blame us, we have never been this way before. We had everything in the world to worry about and at this minute I can't seem to think of any of them. One of the cool things for me was a gentleman came up to me after the service and said Your the first Pastor's spouse we have had in...well a long time! I love the fact that I'm not following a beloved Pastor's Wife! Thank you Lord!


Preacher man and I served communion together this morning. Now, this wasn't our first time serving together, but it was the first time we severed this church. We had our little name tags on so everyone would know what to call us. Preacher man had asked that everyone wear their name tags, however we found out this isn't a name tag wearing church! BUT, they all had stick-on name tags and we were able to call each one by name as they came up for communion. 


That's when it started for me, I was overcome with pure joy. It has been a long 6 years getting to this point. Not all of it was easy, but not all of it was hard either. But 6 years is a long time to be working towards something. To keep pushing on. Muscling by. Praying your heart out. To look into the eyes of every single person that came through that line and to love them without even knowing them. I started tearing up. It was an awesome moment, that's for sure.


I'm not saying that everything is going to be rainbows and sunshine from here on out. In fact, I bet you a dime to a dollar that the battle lines are being drawn right now. I do know that the Gospel offends. I'm ok with that! The way I see it, if your doing something right, it will be tuff. When it's easy, that's when you should be worrying. I mean God open's the doors but He doesn't force us to walk through them. We still have to show up and do our part, and that ends up being work. I think a lot of churches have forgotten that. They are looking for easy, they have gotten soft. I think that's one of the reason's the UM church is in the mess it's in right now. We haven't done the hard work that is required of Kingdom work. Have you ever been on a easy mission trip? If it's easy, they call that a vacation! OMP, that's a hard working mission group of people right there. Our youth just got back and they are wiped out. Jesus work isn't for the wimpy at heart. Just listen to the news, we are under attack! So you might as well get ready people. It's time to get real, or stay home. Me, I'm rolling up my sleeves, putting on a ball cap and leaning in big time! Anybody with me?        

iMac!

The iMac is set up! The iMac is set up! Let the world rejoice! Well, I'm rejoicing. Preacher man set it up for me yesterday, but I was so busy putting up corn, finding outlets, stove fans and pilot lights not working, that there wasn't enough time in the day to post anything. The morning is young, Preacher man is sleeping in, cuz Lord know's he needs it, so I thought I'd show you some cool pictures!

This was taken last Sunday after we found out we needed another truck. The UHaul is on the left and across the street is the Budget. Note to self: No more Budget! What happened last Sunday was we picked up the truck, and loaded it by noonish, drove to Sherwood, unloaded and headed back to Rogers about 7ish and got home in bed about midnight, by ourselves...just the two of us, oh and we took Gracie cuz she was acting like a freak and we thought she might eat the house if we left her there.


We spent all day Monday cleaning the house in Rogers. Moving things into the Budget that hadn't gotten in there yet and mainly prepared to head out on Tuesday morning before it got to hot. By the way, when we moved on Sunday, it was 102! 


Tuesday at about 3 in the morning, I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so around 5, I woke Preacher man and asked him what he was doing. I wanted to be on the road by 8 and he thought I had been smoking crack! There's no way that's going to happen! Why do you set goals that can't be attained? We pulled out of the driveway at 8:11! BAM!

This is what it looked like right before we loaded the dogs into the Ford. We are thinking about buying a big ole' trailer for our moves. On the side of the trailer I think it should say WORKMAN'S ON THE MOVE...again. The Budget's AC broke and it got up to 104 that day.

   This is the sign in front of the church! Isn't that the coolest! We got our our welcome sign!

This is what was waiting for us inside the parsonage! Yeah!! Grub!!! We also had some help unloading and by about 6 on Tuesday evening, we were home. By no means are we unpacked and ready to go! But we are here!

We are excited to see what God is going to do in this place. I think one of the reason's that the UM church moves it's Pastor's around is to bring in new life and change. Most churches don't want change, they like it just the way it is. But I think God wants something else. He wants more. He wants us to want more! The word Change scares us! We flat out don't like it! I'm starting to see that it's not so much about change as it is about growth. It's about stepping out into what God is calling you to be. It does include change, but it's more about growing into Christlikeness. I look forward to this new time. I'm ready to grow! 

Change

We picked up the feeders today and mowed the grass for the last time. The Robin's were all over the place eating flying and crawling bugs. Now as I look out the window for almost the last time while blogging, I see that we have upset the apple cart in more than one way. There are squirrels wondering around the yard trying to find the feeders! I can almost hear them saying, I know it was here yesterday! What the heck? Am I in the wrong yard? 


I'm sorry guy's but it's time to put that stuff in a box! Do you think change is hard? I think more than anything it just makes us stop and say things like, Who moved the yard on me? But truly, change isn't that hard for me. Good change anyway! Change causes us to grow, and Lord knows we get stuck so easily in our everyday ruts. That's what ends up being hard; getting out of ruts! We are such creatures of habit that we would rather stay in a rut than try to drag ourselves out, any ole day. Want to see folks stuck in a rut, watch The Big Bang Theory, those boys eat certain foods on certain days and you just can't mess with that!


Things are changing for us that's for sure. We came here with 2 dogs and a cat, we are leaving with 2 dogs. We came here with a washer and dryer set, a couch and chair with ottoman, and a jeep that have all, already left the building. I was in my forties when I got here...now I'm older than that! Life is about change. 


So, we pick up the truck before noon tomorrow and some dudes will be coming by to help load the big furniture. I suck at moving big heavy stuff! Lots of little to medium sized stuff, I can do all day long. But cause me to break a nail, and I just go into a tail spin!


I'm not sure when Preacher man will be unplugging the internet and packing up the iMac, so I don't know how much time I have to ramble on about stuff that has no real meaning. I guess I should say Chow for now. I will be posting when I get set back up in my new location, sometime next week. Pray for our transition if you don't mind! Preacher man and I work well together, so we should be fine, just need to transition well!


Peace out Rogers!      

Different Place

I am in such a different place! I mean I'm still physically here, in Rogers, but I feel like I've been moved to a high plane or something. It's good, sad, life giving, exciting and strange all wrapped up into one. The only thing I know to call it is different. 


I remember when the end of the spiritual exercise class came, I was in a place like this. It's big and spacious with a nice breeze blowing through your hair. It's like when you go on a two week vacation and about day 6 you get that your on vacation and you start to really enjoy your time instead of running from place to place. I imagine that retired people might feel this way when they get that they are retired.


So yesterday, Preacher man preached his last sermon at Central UMC to first service and he did an awesome job. One of the ladies from that service said she loves the way he preaches cuz he makes being a Christ follower, doable! 


I had a conversation with God while I was running a few weeks ago about Preacher man's last day as Preacher man at CUMC and I wanted something special for him. The SPR (Staff, Pastor, Relation) was getting him a cake and having people bring cards if they wanted to, but something special is about non-material stuff to me. So this is what God told me to do. Pray over him, lay hands on him and pray over him! Ingenious! God is so smart!


We love us some folks at first service, not to say that we don't love folks in the other services, but there something about that group. I knew that if I started this praying thing up, that they would join in. So after the last song, right before the benediction, I walked up beside Preacher man and said to the congregation, He doesn't have any idea what I'm doing. Silly man asked me if I wanted to give the benediction! I told everybody, that where I come from, when someone leaves to go on a mission, or is appointed to another place, we all gathered around them and lay hands on them and pray over them. I invited them to come and do just that and I would pray. It was the most awesome thing that I have been apart of at the church! People were crying and hugging after wards, it was just awesome! 


So it's done now, our time at CUMC. It was real, and it was fun... and now it's time to go have fun somewhere else. The one thing I leave this place is something I leave everywhere I go and that's my laughter. See, I'm real, all the time! You hurt me, I bleed. You hug me, I hug back. You cry, I cry with you. You take the time to reach out to me, to know me and my heart and I reach out to know you. Life is short people and we need to slow down and spend time with each other. To the lovely people at CUMC that did take the time, I loved laughing with you and getting to know you! I will carry you in my heart, always. You will be the people that we started with, that we talk about when we say things like "Remember that first appointment and those people?" We grew here! Now it's time to go grow somewhere else. This will always be our first church. Thanks!          

Busy?

Preacher man got home yesterday. I'm pretty happy that I didn't go to Annual Conference, cuz I would be sitting there thinking about what I could be getting done here. This is an example of what I've been getting done. I am starting to wonder, maybe I should have put this off a week? Naw! 


Went and got more boxes at The Creek and delivered some pesto to Nancy, who was pretty excited about it. I hate to get rid of all of it, but I don't think it's going to stay frozen after we unplug the freezer.


I'm washing everything I can get my hands on. The washer and dryer will be leaving tomorrow. I'm coming to a point where I feel like everything we have collected during our marriage has been sold off. You don't think you have attachment issues, get rid of some of your stuff and then talk to me!


The vet called yesterday to let us know that Yazi's remains were ready to be picked up. Some of you might think we're strange, but when you don't have kids, your animals mean the world to you. Sam and Gracie are still in every room I'm in. I walk out of the shower and Sam is laying outside the door. Gracie even wants to go out in the garage with me. 


The excitement of a new place is getting bigger in my sights, and the sadness that comes at leaving a place you've called home is also getting real. I find that I have an awesome peace about all of this every so often. Yet, at the same time, my heart is heavy with missed opportunities and friendships. God calls us to live in the moment, to be here and now. We are so good at running ahead, or falling behind, that we can forget to just be. It's hard to stand here and be ok with being right here, right now. We came here with such high hopes, so much excitement to be out of seminary and in ministry. It was all about what we were going to do. In the end, we didn't do a thing. God did to us a number though that won't soon be forgotten! Isaiah 66:2 says, But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit who trembles at my word. It's been a long two years, but I think I get it now. It's about what we allow God to do in us, even if we aren't in a great and wonderful place, what we are willing to die to so that we can live fuller in Christ. Dying can be a messing thing, it has been for me, but the fullness of Christ living in my now, well, you can't beat that with a stick!  

What?

Had a great time sitting by the ole' Roaring River with Pat yesterday. If you ever get the chance to go, you really should! People use poles to catch trout there, but I swear, I could jump in and grab one with each hand! It's an amazing place!


Had a lovely dinner with Janice and Bob last night. What cool people. That has been the best part of all our travels, meeting cool people. 


Leaving for Fort Smith tomorrow to visit with Sister Rachel. I'm really looking forward to that. I get good perspective when I talk to her, unlike other people I've been forced to deal with lately, but that's a different story.


 Click this to check out a new movie for the summer. It's called 2016. I'm going to watch it and vote in November!


Ok, that's been a lot of different information. Think I'll get some work done and try to post something that makes sense tomorrow!

Ranting!

The alarm went off way too early this morning! 4 am! Preacher man has a meeting with the Bishop about the first 100 day's in your new church! He's not the only one, everyone going to a new church as the Sr. Pastor has to go. So we got up at 4, I fixed him Bulls eye's, and off he went. Yesterday, we filled the truck with our second load of belongings to be deposited at the parsonage in Sherwood. Squatted that baby down, which is hard to do on a 4x4.


So you may be asking, What are you going to do today with Preacher man gone, and the whole day ahead of you? Well, I'll tell ya. I know for sure that I'm going to lunch with Anne and Vickie and having dinner at Tammy's, watching American Idol to see who wins. Other than that, shower, pack, read, blog maybe.


I do want to comment on GC2012 (General Conference 2012), you knew it was coming, you just didn't know when huh? Well, I said a while back, that the only thing that was going to save the Methodist church was the African church. I need to correct that by adding the Filipino church to it! I want to thank them for voting the way they did! I also would like for Adam Hamilton and Bishop Minerva Carcano to stop speaking for me!  


There very well may not be a middle ground here. What has to happen is that the church, that's you and me, has to make up it's mind which side of the fence we're going to stand on. There is no fence standing, aka luke warm church. I do foresee a split in the UM church. When that happens, what are you going to do? How are you going to get people into your church? Don't tell me that's the Preacher job either, WE are the Body of Christ, the church! 


See, part of the problem is we have tried to become everything to everybody and it's just not working. Your contemporary service may be growing, but they aren't giving cuz the Pastor doesn't want to scare them off by preaching about tithing. The lights in your church may be great at showing off your "stage" but how come the people aren't singing? You may take pride in the amount of food you give to the pantry, but when that 28 year old comes into your church on Sunday morning and tells you that her 3 month old baby just died last night at Children's hospital, and she needs to get down there, what do you do? Give her a box of noodles? Tell her you don't have any money available until Thursday? Push her off on someone who isn't as busy as you are?


It is not about entertaining people! It is about teaching the truth, no matter how it hurts, calling for repentances, a turning away from and going the other direction. It's about calling sin, sin and teaching people about grace. We, as the church, have got to get our act together and remember that Jesus was the same yesterday, as he is today, as he will be tomorrow! When I hear big name preacher say things about the Bible being written in a time that doesn't understand the time we live in, I want to scream. Just look at Rome. Super power, everybody having sex with everybody and everything they could. Moral decay at it's best, right there! 


Time is drawing short. You better know what you believe or they'll tell you. Then they will give you that stamp.