Sunday, July 29, 2018

A Different Way Of Looking At Things

I think I might have told you that our Facility Manager is moving to Texas. He and his wife have three daughters and the youngest just graduated from high school. And wouldn't you know it, she's going to go to the same college that both her sisters go to... in Texas. 

We attend a large church, about 1200 on a Sunday and we have a Facility Manager, a maintenance guy and I'm the admin for the facilities department. When the FM gave his notice, the Board decided not to hire anyone to replace him. 

Instead, they asked the maintenance guy if he'd want to head up that department and they asked... me if I'd head up the custodial department.

At first I said I wanted to pray about it but inside I felt I was supposed to take it. A couple days later the Lord give me confirmation about it and so I said yes! And man has it been a whirlwind of activity since then!

I've been meeting with our Operations Pastor, talking about my increase in pay, hours, responsibilities. Yesterday the FM said he was going to bring up a few files and he came into my office area... PUSHING A CART!

We sorted through files, he got rid of some, we split some with maintenance and the rest ended up on my desk.



Oh my poor desk.

I spent a couple hours today going through them. Of course, I had to purge old files that were already in my desk to make room for all of these. A lot of my old files are going to the Hospitality Department but we haven't had a chance to get together yet. I trained the admin who runs the database on a few things earlier this week but there's still a lot to do. 

We've attended our church going on 30 years and I've always approached it with an attitude of helping. "Let me put the tablecloths on the tables while you go to your office and make phone calls." "I can sit here and take the money while you address everyone's questions and put out fires." I've always looked for ways to volunteer, to just help. 

But now. Now I have to make sure my crew has the tools and equipment they need to set up for the event; I have to keep in touch with them to assist them where needed; I have to be available to 'put out fires' where the building is concerned: Do we have enough chairs for this event? Is the platform cleaned and ready for Sunday's service? Are there tables in the foyer that shouldn't be there, maybe left over from a previous event? Did anyone on my crew call in sick and will I need to set up this event or that one in their place?

And the cleaning! Oh, the amount of work it takes to clean a building this size! And I'm now in charge of it all.

It's a completely different mindset. And, I'm the head of a department. Looking back, I can see where the Lord has been preparing me for this. Little by little increasing my circle of influence and putting me in places of authority over more and more people. When I think about everything that's involved in this I get a little nervous, but deep down I'm so excited about how the Lord is going to use me in this position. You can bet I'll be praying for direction and guidance every step of the way!

Thursday, July 26, 2018

July

Diana sent me a text today, "It's been 13 days." That was it! I was at work and I'm thinking, 'Thirteen days? What's been 13 days?'

"Your last blog post."

Oh! Hahaha! Yeah it's been a while, sorry!

Our church had it's VBA a couple weeks ago and I took Allie every day. Sharaya would drop her off at our house early in the morning and we'd head to church. I also volunteered to help with registration so we were there early to help. They raised money to buy a bus for an orphanage we sponsor in India and the girls brought in the most money so the girl leaders got to pour red powder (like you'd see at a 'color run' marathon) on the guy leaders. It was a very successful and fun week!

Allie


 


Everyone was covered!!! 
(Thanks Ryan for taking this picture!)


Early in the morning this last Friday (oh my gosh, it was a week ago!) I flew to San Diego to see my dad and sister. My dad is 93, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's and is really slowing down. 
At this point, every visit could be my last.  
My sister is his sole caregiver and I tried to give her some time away. She went out for a couple hours on Friday and I got up with my dad during the night on Saturday. I was so sleep deprived by the time I left, I don't know how she does it. My sister is a saint.


 



While I was gone, Sharaya took Beth to a play of Shrek The Musical at a local theater. A year or so ago, Beth watched it on TV every day for months and she was SO excited about seeing it live! Both her and Sharaya said they loved it!


There's more that's been happening but I'll write about that another day. I hope you all are doing well.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Showing Signs Of Depression

Beth writes a lot of prayer requests each week at church. Usually she writes things like, "Help keep my arm straight at bowling", or "help me not text my boyfriend when he at work." They're simple and consistent. She writes the same things week after week.

But last weekend she wrote something that made me stop for a minute. 

"What are you doing in my life Jesus and I don't know what wrong with me and heal my heart right now Jesus." 

I brought it home and showed it to Chuck, we had no idea what she might be talking about. 

Then the other day I was going to Target and I asked her if she wanted to come and she said, "No." I was shocked. "Why Beth?" She just shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know." Target is one of her all-time favorite stores and she doesn't want to go? Then I began to put the pieces together and realized she may be depressed.

She's been unemployed for 9 months now.
Her boyfriend recently got a job.
He doesn't go to All Aboard on Wednesdays anymore.
She sits at home 5 days a week.

No wonder she's feeling depressed.

So yesterday I told her we were going out. We went to Revelations Yogurt and sat outside. The weather was gorgeous! Then I asked her if she wanted to go to the beach. "Okay." We went and sat on a bench for almost an hour and when I asked her if she was ready to go or should we sit for a few more minutes, she said, "A few more minutes." 

I was more than happy to sit there with her. We watched the Washington State Ferry come and go, we watched the people play in the water and we watched the tide come in.






I know taking her out for yogurt isn't going to magically make the depression go away but I'm hoping I can start getting her out more and adding some new things to her life. I talked to her job coach and she's still trying to get Beth an interview at McDonalds. 

Her prayer request proves she's aware of the changes happening in her. I haven't talked to her about it yet but I plan to in the next few days. Not quite sure what to say actually.

I am hoping though that it's just in the beginning stages and with prayer and a new job and some changes in her life, it won't take hold and become worse.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Job Possibility

Beth's job coach called the other day with a possible job for Beth! Woohoo!

She was at McDonalds right around the corner from our house and the manager told C that they are looking for a Dining Room Attendant. Someone who would sweep floors, wipe tables, assist guests, "Excuse me, could I get more napkins?" 

It would be right up Beth's alley and it's just minutes from our house! That's the best part! No more 2 1/2 hour bus rides to and from work. And it would be 10 hours a week to start. Even more than she was working at Little Caesars.

Please pray with us that Beth finds favor with the District Manager and that she gets this job!

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Empty Nesters

I checked the birds nest again the other day and they were all piled inside! Mama Bird was sitting on a wire waiting for me to get into my car and drive away.



Then yesterday we headed out to the parade and I peeked into the nest...


Gone! I'm so sad! But hopefully Mama Bird will be back next year.

Sharaya and Allie spent the 4th with friends on Treasure Island just north east of Tacoma yesterday. Diana is, of course, in Pennsylvania so it was just Chuck, Beth and I at the parade. Edmonds is a city of about 42,000 people but downtown, in the heart of the city they put on a small-town parade and we love it! 

We went down the night before and set out our chairs and each year it fills up earlier and earlier. But we found a good spot and staked our claim!


Beth and I happened to be at the porta potties when it started but we were able to cross the street and get back to our seats in just a few minutes. Whew!

There were the cutest little cheerleaders!



Of course, when it's a small town parade, you tend to know a lot of people in it. We have friends who are very involved in theater and they drove the truck and their kids handed out candy.


Our church has a men's residential aftercare program and they march every year.


The lady walking toward us is Cheryl, Beth's BFF.



When it got too warm, Beth would pull out her fan!


The Seahawks fan bus played some awesome music that everyone was singing along to. Even Beth!


 See her hand?
Yeah baby, she was jammin'! :)
Actually she really did begin to swing her shoulders and bob her head, she really got into it!

 


But I think her favorite part was the Star Wars characters! 





One of them even came over to talk to her but was too close for me to get a picture. She was pretty excited!

Then we came home, fixed burgers and had our usual jello and whipped cream for dessert. Red, white and blue of course!

I hope you had a great day celebrating our nations birthday!

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Life Lately

The baby birds have hatched!

June 24 


June 29


July 1
They're already outgrowing the nest! 


 We have a cherry tree in the backyard and it's definitely harvest time! I've tried for years to keep the birds and squirrels out of it by using foil strips and CDs but nothing worked. This year we put a large net over it and that did the trick! Now there are SO many cherries, we're out there every day crawling under the net and plucking them off the branches. That little tree is a lot of work but the cherries are SO good!




 Beth and I made cookies the other day. We had every intention of sending some to Diana but we only made one batch and then gave some to Sharaya and Allie and we ate the rest! Sorry Diana! We bought more chocolate chips today and we'll try again! 😋
 

Seattle has had weeks of gray skies and drizzle. We are so ready for warm temps and sunshine and as anyone who lives in Seattle knows, summer officially starts on July 5!

Happy Independence Day!