God Moments

Our oldest son, Jason, was born in January of 1976. We were living in Las Vegas and the high desert can get bitterly cold. One Saturday our heat stopped working. We were poor youth pastors at the time and I knew we couldn't afford a weekend service call. I climbed up on the roof to see if I could figure out why our combination heat/AC unit had stopped working. I'm fairly handy and checked everything I knew how to check. I tried everything, took off covers, flipped the breaker off and on, wiggled the wiring, nothing. Our house had already started getting cold and Kathy and I had a new baby that we knew could not get cold. I remember sitting on that roof, shivering so badly I could hardly work and finally crying, literally, out to God for help. I told Him about our cold house, new baby and new mother, as if He didn't know. I know the Holy Spirit put the next thought into my mind. "Run your hand along the bottom of the back cover." As I did that I felt a circuit breaker. I got down on my belly and shined my flashlight to look. It was Off. I pressed the On side and the heater fired up. I will never forget that God moment.

Saturday morning I had another one. Our dishwasher had stopped working and draining properly. Since this unit is probably original to our house, 30 years old, we had talked before about replacing it. But now was not the time. Things have been tight and we're trying to save some money to fly out our Oregon kids and grandkids for Christmas. I was telling the Lord all that on Saturday. No one else was up yet and I was having a little personal "pity party." In fact I was covering a number of feel-sorry-for-myself topics with Him as I started bailing out all the water in the bottom of the dishwasher. As I was trying to figure out how to get the last of the water out, a thought came into my mind that I know the Holy Spirit put there. "Take the back screen cover off, take out the plastic screen and put your hand down in the opening." I got my tools, took out the screws and removed the 2 screens. As I reached down in the well still filled with water, I felt pieces of plastic and other yucky stuff. By the time I had cleaned it all out, I had quite a collection. I put it all back together and shut the door, ran the control around to rinse and listened for the rinse cycle to stop. Just as it stopped, I opened the door to hear this great sucking sound and all the water was disappearing just like it is supposed to. A God moment.

Grrrrrrrr

Ever felt like this little girl? What a mismatch! But sometimes you don't have a choice. The fight you are in is the one you have to fight. Even if the enemy, (poor health, financial setbacks, relationship that have deteriorated, rebellious children, etc), appears to be overwhelming, God knows what it will take to defeat your enemy. Right now my reading-through-the-Bible-in-a-year reading is the book of Job and the book of Isaiah. What a combination. Even the best mornings spiral downward in a hurry reading those two books together. I wonder if the editor of The Daily Message thought that at the 3/4 mark in the year, the readers might be too happy and contented with reading each day and he decided to combine these books to bring us all down to earth. :) A couple of days ago while reading Isiah 9, I came to this wonderful passage; For a child has been born-for us! The gift of a son-for us! He'll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there'll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. Wow...bring that Sumo on.

Extra Spice

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your life? You can't put your finger on it, but something is not quite right. How about a meal you are having. It looks okay, and tastes all right, but something is missing. There isn't any "zing" to it. One thing I have done for several years is buy Embasa Querito Peppers. These are fairly hot peppers that add zing to any kind of meal. For all the years we have lived in the St. Louis area, I have purchased the peppers at a Mexican market near our home. I was quite surprised several months ago to find out that the store had changed hands, and, they no longer carried the peppers I loved. So, for several months I have not had a guerito pepper. I have tried other peppers from other stores, but they are woefully lacking. My meals have been good, nutritious, satisfying, but something has been missing. In the busyness of life, sometimes the routines we establish get everything done that we need to, but there is no "spice", no "zing". Life is too precious to just make a routine of living. So, I'm adding some zing, (I have a couple of good ideas) and I'm looking for another source for guerito peppers. When I accomplish both, I'll let you know.

Bittersweet

Today is a bittersweet day. Josh and Kelly have been working for over a year to raise funding for a two year missions opportunity with OneHope, in South Africa. Over the past 18 months we prayed for them, advised them, helped them and now the time has come for them to leave. Today, in fact, is their final day in St. Louis. Friday and Saturday, Kathy and I helped Josh and Kelly pack up and move out of their apartment. There was a very emotional finality about vacuuming the last bit of carpet, carrying out the last box and closing the door.

We are so excited about this opportunity for them. We wouldn't want them to stay home for anything. I think they were both created by God to be missionaries, and He put them together. I know they will miss home, and their families, but Kathy and I also know the call of God on our hearts, and Josh and Kelly are following that call. We are so proud of them and know that God has great plans for them as they train and facilitate teams of young people in this strategic African country. I think, deep down, we also know that they will probably do this for a career.

Later today they'll drive away, on the first leg of their trip to Florida for some final training and then on to South Africa. My tears have already started to flow as I write this blog. Sometimes it's hard follow God's leading, but from our experience, we wouldn't have it any other way.

What's Hot and What's To Come

I mentioned in a Facebook status update yesterday that I attended a very enlightening workshop regarding the current state of technology and what developments are just around the corner. First, the presenter confirmed a suspicion I have had for months, email is a dying technology. For months, my junior in high school daughter has been telling me that she doesn't use her email accounts anymore. The only thing she uses them for is for a phone application that requires an email address to register. Her primary method of communication is Facebook and her phone. The presenter for this workshop said that in today's digital world, email gets opened 42% of the time and phone texts get opened 98% of the time. In other words, if you want you communication to be received, send a text, not an email. The sale of laptops/notebooks is flat in the USA. Net books or mini-computers are now in. However, the sales of smart phones is going through the roof. Apple is selling iPhones at a phenomenal rate. This is the hot communication method today.

Here's one of the most interesting technologies on the horizon. Texas Instruments has developed a chip for your phone that will allow you to show pictures, files, documents, etc. as a projected image that will be approximately 6 by 8 inches. Instead of showing your pictures and other media on your tiny phone screen, you could put a piece of white paper on a table and project a rather large image.

For someone my age, it's getting hard to keep up...but it sure is fun trying. More later.

Reminiscing

This is a picture of one of the first houses that Kathy and I owned. It's in San Jose, California. On our vacation we stopped in San Jose to show our younger three children our childhood homes and to show them this house. We were so pleased to see how well its been taken care of. This house was built about eighty years ago and had so many wonderful little features that you would never find in a newer house. It had high ceilings with tin inserts and wood carved moldings. The entry way had carved pillars and beautiful wood paneling. The dining room chandelier was an antique brass and crystal piece that was quite valuable. It was interesting reminiscing about living here. I think sometimes we tend to block out the negative experiences and only remember the positive ones. We had a good time living here.

I hope when we have been gone from our present home for awhile, we primarily remember the positive experiences here. There have been some of both. The interesting thing is that you can have high moments and low moments at the same time. I thank God that He blesses us with mountain top experiences and walks with us through the valleys.

18 Days, 5300 Miles, 10 States

The Salazar 2009 vacation odyssey has come to an end. We traveled on Highway 70 through Kansas, Colorado, into Utah. Then we travelled Highway 80 through Utah, Nevada and California. Highway 5 north through California to southern Oregon. East on several 2 lane highways through Idaho and Wyoming. Back to Highway 80 through Wyoming, Nebraska, a little bit of Iowa, Highway 29 south back to Missouri. We visited Kathy's parents, sister and niece in Colorado Springs, we also visited with her brother Kent and his family and my sister Lori and husband Dave in the Sacramento area. We spent several days in Medford, Oregon, with our daughter Aimee, husband Jason and our granddaughters and grandson. We body surfed waves in Santa Cruz, California, watched Chinook salmon run the Rogue River in the mountains above Medford and white water rafted the Snake River just outside of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I had never seen a moose in the wild before, until last week. Wow...

We live in a beautiful country. The desert was in bloom, mountains still had fresh snow on them, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming has got to be one of the most spectacular parts of the West. I'm not so sure that our 3 teenagers totally appreciated the wonderful geographic sights. Overall, they did great with all the miles we traveled. We had occasional melt downs, but it all worked out okay. We really gave the DVD player in our van a workout.

We are so blessed to live in this country. We can travel in complete freedom, never having to show identification, or tell anyone where we are going, or why. More than once I found myself thanking God for His bountiful blessings on us. We have so much to be thankful for.

Father's Day 2009

I talked with my dad today, wished him a happy Father's Day and then spent most of the time talking with mother. My dad is 89 and can't hear very well. He was never able to adjust to hearing aids, so talking with him for the past few years has been very difficult. There is so much I would like to talk with him about, but it is almost impossible.

He gave us a scare last week. His lungs filled with fluid and he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and congestive heart failure. He is home today, weak, but recovering. The doctor told my mom he will not recover fully because his body is tired, and he cannot handle any procedures that will strain his heart. Even though she didn't say the exact words, I could hear her telling me that this is probably the "beginning of the end."

A couple of weeks ago we were in San Jose, my birthplace, on vacation. We stopped there specifically to show my children where I grew up. When I was one year old, my parents purchased a brand new home in a new part of town. They were small homes, but to a young child, I remembered a huge yard and a big house. I had a wonderful upbringing there. My dad worked hard, but had plenty of time for his children. I always had a tremendous sense of stability, calm and peace because of him. He taught me by example, letting me work with tools to accomplish tasks, showing me how to care for our year, observing him do things that I needed to learn. He has the unique skill to figure out how to fix things, or make things, with materials that are easy to get and inexpensive. Learning this from him has been invaluable for me. As we pulled up to our old house, I didn't recognize it at first. It was so small, the yard was small, and it was so run down. When we lived there, it was always in perfect shape. In spite of the condition of the house, so many memories welled up in me. I hope that some day my children will pull up in front of their childhood homes and have the same great memories.

I have been blessed with a wonderful father. I love him so much. He may not be with us much longer, but he is ready to see his Father. Happy Father's Day, dad.

Is This A Little Glimpse of Heaven?

We spent Sunday afternoon in the mountains above Medford, OR. It was beautiful, at times awesome, and I thought how fortunate the people are who live in this area. I could live here very easily, perhaps too easily.

Today and tomorrow we are in Jackson Hole, WY. As we turned the last corner on Teton Pass, the Jackson Hole valley came into view. It was an incredible sight. The Tetons behind the valley, dark green mountain hillsides come right down to the town. The Snake River, very visible in the valley. Green is everywhere, the sky filled with clouds ringed a perfect picture. We pulled over, took some pictures and enjoyed the view. I could really live here. People who live here, live in a wonderful part of the earth. I can't imagine ever getting tired of the view.

I wonder if this might be a little glimpse of heaven? Obviously the town has been commercialized, but it seems like they've done a very good job of trying to keep the landscape as pristine as possible. If God's creation here on earth could be this beautiful, what must Heaven be like? And yet the Bible seems to indicate that Heaven will far surpass anything we can imagine. Looking at the scenery here, and being "wowed" by it, Heaven will be unbelievable. For now, we'll enjoy this place, and dream about living here.

God Is So Creative

Yesterday, after attending Aimee & Jason's church, we drove out of the valley into the mountains that surround Medford. We followed the Rogue River for quite a while and took a short hike to some beautiful water falls. Then we stopped by a fish hatchery on the Rogue River where salmon are collected and their eggs harvested. We didn't realize until we got there that the Chinook salmon run has just started. Chinook can be 50 pounds or larger and are spectacular fish. We watched several fish jump in the river and watched them run up the fish ladder in the hatchery.

At the hatchery there is the story of salmon that run this river. At different times of the year, Chinook, Coho and Steelhead salmon return to their birthplace. The amazing thing is that after these fish hatch, they go down the river to the ocean. They live in the ocean for several years and then find the exact river and start their spawning run. Not only do they find the exact river, they return to the exact spot in the river. When you consider this detail, you must acknowledge Gods creativity. Even though I am a fisherman, and have fished for salmon in one of Oregon's rivers outside of Corvallis, I was glad to see that none of the salmon fisherman that were fishing near the hatchery caught any of these magnificent fish. For the moment, all of us were mesmerized by the idea of what they do and why they were back to the hatchery. God is so creative.

The Call

It's Saturday morning and I'm writing from the Rogue Valley in southern Oregon. Our oldest daughter, Aimee, is the children's pastor at Bethel Church in Medford, OR. We are enjoying our visit with Aimee, her husband Jason, Madelyn, Elise and JJ. Geographically, this is a beautiful part of the state. Yesterday we toured their church building. It is on one of the hills that surround the valley and the view is quite spectacular. Bethel is a wonderful, growing church and Aimee and her family plan on putting down deep roots here. They moved here from a very difficult church situation in northern California and I am so happy that they are happy and filled with such optimism for the future.

The hard thing about ministry is that inevitably, a lot of distance separates families. Later this summer, Josh and Kelly (our second son), will leave for two years in South Africa. Aimee and her family live in Oregon and our oldest son, lives in Springfield, MO. With us in St. Louis, visiting our children and grandchildren means travel. Our parents live in Colorado Springs, CO, and Columbus, OH. For our three oldest children who are involved in full time ministry, they are the 4th generation of ministers. My grandfather and Kathy's grandfather were pastors. Kathy's dad is a pastor, Kathy, her brother Kent, and I are pastors, and now our three oldest are all full time ministers. On this vacation, we have been able to visit Kathy's parents and sister in Colorado Springs, her brother Kent and his family in Sacramento, CA and now Aimee and her family in Medford, OR.

I know that all of us wish we could live closer together. But would any of us trade what we're doing for less distance? I doubt it. There is a "call" to ministry that will not let you do anything else. I don't know how many times I have decided it was time to do something else, only to realize that I could never set aside the "call." So for now, we relish each moment that we have together, we take advantage of technology to exchange pictures, web cam images, telephone calls and emails, and know that all of us are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

58 Degrees

I think this vacation is partly a Homecoming Tour for me. Today we spent the day on the boardwalk and beach in Santa Cruz, CA. The summers between my last two years of high school were largely spent at Santa Cruz, Capitola and other places where 3 friends and I surfed and fished. We were true beach bums for those two summers. Today the water temperature was 58 degrees and the air temperature was about 70. Sam, Shawn and I had a great time body surfing 3-5 foot waves. At one point Sam got caught in a rip tide and started to get farther out than he and the lifeguards were comfortable with. Just about the time the lifeguard took off his tee shirt and started to put on his fins, Sam was able to touch bottom and come in. Whew, scary for a moment.

The ocean has a steady rhythm. In, out, in, out. Much like our heart beats, steady. Another aspect of the ocean is that you never get tired of seeing it. It is so much larger and awesome than our everyday lives that it is constantly overwhelming. I have talked with people who live at the coast and have views from their homes of the ocean. They all say the same thing. They are constantly awed by it. Why else would people build on land that is unstable, and take the chance of their homes falling into the ocean. On our honeymoon, we stayed at an inn right next to one of the Santa Cruz beaches. We left our windows open at night so we could hear the ocean waves as they beat their steady rhythm. I think the ocean reminds me of the awesomeness of God. So big, so overwhelming, and yet approachable. I think sometimes we only get our feet wet or wade up to our waists in God, much like we do with the ocean. We get afraid of being swept away, or of the unknown in God. Oh God, let me fearlessly submerge myself in you. Overwhelm me with Your glory.

Remembering Home

Today we drove through San Jose, CA, on our way to spend a couple of days at the ocean at Santa Cruz. I wanted our adopted children to see the 2 houses where I grew up. I was one year old when my parents bought a brand new tract home in the middle of a bunch of prune orchards. People told them that they were crazy for buying so "far out of town". They were told they would never get their value out of their house. Today the city goes out for miles well beyond where this house sits. I remember our huge front lawn where we played football and baseball. The backyard went on forever, and backed up to a creek that provided loads of fun in the summer when it had pools of water in it. Today was a real reality check. The house was small, run-down and the yard front and back, was tiny. I remember the care that my dad took with the house and yard. None of that care showed today. It was still an emotional encounter, however, because a ton of wonderful memories flooded my mind. I didn't really see a run-down house, but a warm, safe and comfortable home where love and care were shared on a daily basis. We drove by a second house where I lived a short time before I moved out on my own and then we drove by Kathy's former house. It was amazing how many warm memories came out as we told several stories to our children.

Everything about these neighborhoods has changed. Almost everyone we knew have moved away. The saying "you can never move back home" is probably very true. There is not a good reason to consider it. But, driving through the neighborhoods was a wonderful experience. Tonight we are in Santa Cruz, on the coast. We had dinner in a restaurant on the Santa Cruz pier where we ate a few times as a family during my growing up years. Tomorrow we'll spend some time in the waves and on the boardwalk. I know more pleasant memories will get stirred up. I am so thankful for my parents, my homes, this area of California. All of this shaped me and prepared me for who I have become. I hope that when my children do the same kind of thing, they feel the same way. It is good to be home.

Beauty And the Beast

Another stop on our vacation was San Francisco. When Kathy and I started dating, many of our dates were in SF. We loved the Fisherman's Wharf area, Ghirardelli Square, Union Square, riding the cable cars, and a coffee shop that doesn't exist anymore, Portofino's. Downtown San Francisco at Christmas was a magical place. We loved the views around the Golden Gate bridge and a favorite date was to take the ferry across the bay to Sausalito. We dated at a time when the political climate in the city was more moderate and the extremists had not taken over yet.

Today the views were spectacular, the sailboats were out in force, we watched a couple of giant container ships come in to port and tried to explain to our sons what Alcatraz Island was all about. Two things were sad to observe. One was the landscaping in the parks and open areas around Fisherman's Wharf and the Cannery. It is obvious that no one is paying much attention. What used to be immaculate flower beds and trimmed bushes, are now overgrown plots of ground that have not had any attention in quite a while. I suppose that this is a casualty of serious financial mismanagement in this state that has brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. The second sadness was to see what has happened to all the shops and stores that line the streets that lead from the wharf area to Ghirardelli Square. There used to be art galleries, clothing shops, upscale gift stores, luggage stores and other interesting places to window shop. Today it is "junk row." Tee shirts, imported trinkets and knock off purses... We didn't even slow down as we walked down the street.

Still, this is a beautiful city that has lost it's way. People struggling to include everyone, and missing everybody. The contrast is of the bay and the city, with all of it's contour and substance, and a political climate that level headed people have trouble understanding and living with. I think if I lived in San Francisco, I would never get tired of the views. But I know I would be drawn into the fight for righteousness. There are some wonderful spiritual battles being won here, but so much more needs to be done. This jewel of the Pacific has lost its lustre, for now. But it doesn't need to be that way forever. Lord, as we think about this stop on our vacation, help us to pray for this wonderful city and its people.

What if?

We're on vacation and yesterday we spent a lot of the day in the giant hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs, CO. Glenwood Springs is a wonderful mountain city at the base of the canyon that leads to Aspen. In 2000 we spent several weeks helping the local Assembly of God church through a period without a pastor. Kathy and drove from Grand Junction, 100 miles, on several Wednesdays and conducted a Bible study and worship time. We interviewed with their board members and eventually candidated for their open pastor position.

During the time that we spent going back and forth, I feel like the Lord gave me some very specific insight into what needed to happen in Glenwood Springs to see ministry take place outside the walls of the church. People who live in the mountains work hard, and play hard, and from a distance, it appears like spiritual ministry in towns like this is very difficult. However, I felt like there were some keys to breaking through some of the barriers. On the morning of our candidacy, I preached a sermon on "What if?" I laid out some of the insights that I felt God was sharing with me and tried to help the congregation see the possibilities.

In the evening service, I shared a short Bible study and then a district official chaired a meeting to vote on us. On Saturday we had a great question and answer session and I felt like over the weeks we had been involved, we had done everything possible to help this congregation know us. After an hour or so, one of the board members came into the room where we were meeting and told us that we had not been elected. I think I might of scared some of the people. I think that maybe they wanted a pastor that would maintain the status quo and not change much.

Yesterday we drove by the church, through the town and then back around the church property. What if?

Mountains

I'm sitting at a computer at the base of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs. Mountains have a special allure about them. As we were driving towards the mountains yesterday, all of us in our van tried to be the first one to spot the mountains. There is a grandeur, and majesty about them. Because of the snow runoff and spring rain, Pike's Peak and the surrounding mountains are lush with greenery.

When God set up special meetings with Moses, He always held those meetings on a mountain. Jesus met his Father in mountain top meetings. And when a privileged few were allowed to come along, it was with the caution that they not see God himself, because His glory was too powerful for a human to see or experience. Even though mountains are not spiritual in themselves, there is a spiritual drawing to them, perhaps because they are some of God's special creations.

Later this week we're going to drive through the Rockies. When we lived in Colorado, I drove that drive many times, and never got tired of it. I'm looking forward to the drive again, because of the mountains, and because I always know God's presence during that drive.

Institutions Really Do Fade Away

I went to a Gaither Homecoming concert last night. The last time I went to one, the stage was filled with all the "greats" in gospel music. From young to old, everyone made great contributions to a wonderful evening.

I cut my musical teeth on Bill and Gloria Gaither songs. He Touched Me, Let's Just Praise the Lord, and many, many others. Now these are "classic" songs. New writers have come to the front, Chris Tomlin, Paul Balouche, the Hillsong writers, to name a few. We appreciate and value the older writers, but their time has come and gone.

Last night's concert had a strange mix of artists. Besides the newly minted Gaither Vocal Band, there was another great quartet, Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. The only "old timer" was Ben Speer. They did a cool effect, playing an audio and video track from some of the older concerts featuring Vestal Goodman, Jake Hess, George Younce and others, and having the on stage artists sing along. During some of these songs they switched the large screen image from the old video to the live stage. Gloria Gaither was a no show and Guy Penrod isn't singing with the Gaither Vocal Band anymore. While I enjoyed much of the concert, I realized, as we were leaving, that even this great institution, is fading away and is only a shadow of what it once was. All of these thoughts prompt me to say; "Enjoy life in the moment, without looking too far ahead and missing it, and looking too far behind and never catching up." Someday, we will all be classics. Maybe I already am...

What Do You Guys Do All Day, Anyway? Part 2

Yesterday I described a typical Administrative Pastor day. Today, Wednesday, is the day that I have my Minister of Music hat on. On Wednesdays I am preparing for the coming weekend services, plus preparing for a Choir rehearsal. Later in the week I prepare for our Sunday Orchestra rehearsal. Today's to-do list consisted of:

1. Develop the AM services worship song list. This is a little like preparing for a sermon, selecting a theme, making sure songs are in compatible keys, working through transitions, etc.

2. I copy and collate music for the core worship team; vocalists, rhythm section. I also copy the song list for the orchestra and choir.

3. I prepare the weekend PowerPoint slides with all of the song words on them, including worship songs, choir song, and any extra features.

4. I email our tech crews with all the details for the weekend including who-is-doing-what, special features, video, etc.

5. I email the core worship team with a complete song list and remind them about our Wednesday rehearsal. 

6. I compose a one page Choir News newsletter and copy it for each Choir member.

7. I post the Choir News on the WCAG website so anyone who cannot make the rehearsal can find out what's going on. 

8. I update the main page of the website and any other updates that other department leaders have given me.

9. I prepare music for the Choir rehearsal. Today included copying a new Praise & Worship song that we are going to start working on and putting out a Choir song we'll start rehearsing for a June Sunday.

10. I prepare our rehearsal room with our sound cart, keyboard, attendance forms, sharpened pencils, water for coffee. Everything to make sure that we can start on time and have everything completely ready to go. (I hate wasting any volunteer's time)

11. I worked on booking a guest for our June 28th Star Spangled Spectacular.

12. I selected a Memorial Day video, and made sure it worked in our projection computer.

13. I read a Christmas script that goes with a brand new Christmas musical. I also, inventoried the new Christmas music I have received and got it ready to listen to. June 1 is the start of the Christmas season for most Minister's of Music.

14. I rehearsed some of Sunday's Praise & Worship music.

At 5:30 this evening I'll have supper here at the church with my family and then start the evening off with a 6:15 worship team rehearsal, a 6:45-8:15 choir rehearsal and then an 8:15 meeting with our middle and high school students and their parents to help our senior pastor talk about the search process for our next youth pastor. I'll be there because we're hoping to include our students in more of our Sunday morning worship planning. A youth pastor with worship leading skills will help us do this.

Well, that's it. A 12 hour Wednesday. I love it...   

What Do You Guys Do All Day, Anyway?

Since most parishioners only "see us in action" (pastors) on Sundays, a logical question is "what do you do during the week". I wear 2 hats, I am the Minister of Music and the Administrative Pastor. In order to manage both jobs, I break up the week according to the priorities of each job. Today, Tuesday, I primarily work on Administrative items. My to do list for today:

1. Format items for the church web site, up-date the website. (www.wcag.org) 

2. Review an Audit proposal, yay-we could save $3,000. a year with this new company.

3. Work on a warranty issue with the lift we use to change lights in the gym and Sanctuary.

4. Meet with a couple of guys to begin to develop emergency plans; people with weapons, tornadoes, fire, estranged spouses trying to pick children up from our kid's areas, etc.

5. Meet with a contractor to review roof repair bids.

6. Find a vendor for restroom handicap grab bars. (Someone donated money for this, so it needs to get done right away)

7. Talk with a vendor about automatic opening doors. (Someone is going to start donating money for this)

8. Order larger TV carts to accommodate larger TVs that have been donated.

9. Work on issues that our landscape maintenance company informed me about.

10. Work on updates to our Leadership Manuals for distribution later this month.

11. Review invoices and approve them for payment.

12. Telephone call backs.

13. Email replies.

14. Try to find a good answer the tax liability for the possibility of a donated car for missionary use.

15. Work on insurance issues for our annual 4th of July commercial fireworks display.

16. Try to determine the best way to fund a missions trip to Viet Nam that will make donations tax deductible, and yet paid for by the participants with their own credit cards. (this is a tough one)

I really enjoy the Administrative Pastor job. While many of these tasks are fairly bland, I enjoy the detail it takes to stay on track. This is truly "behind the scene" stuff, but it is very necessary to the operation of our church. Next time I'll detail the other side of my job.

Poison Ivy 2 - Me 2

I decided that this was the year that I am going to eradicate poison ivy from my yard. The previous owner let our back yard develop very naturally with a lot of plants that she found "out in the wild" and brought into the yard. Growing up in California, I knew what poison oak looked like and had terrible cases of it many times. But I did not have any experience with poison ivy. The first year I did a lot of spring clean up in the yard, I trimmed, pulled, cut and raked for two straight days. Since it was warm, I used my tee shirt to wipe my face several times and used my hands to wipe sweat off my face as well. You guessed it... two days later I had a near medical emergency. A steroid shot helped, but my face and arms looked like balloons. It took a couple more seasons of observation to finally figure out what poison ivy looks like.

Fast forward to this year. I started in the front yard and pulled out a couple of plants that had started growing. I also pulled out what I hope was the entire root system. 1 for me. On my next workday I put on my gloves from last year and pulled out plants and roots from the backyard. While I was very careful, I later found out that poison ivy oil can stay active for over a year. So while I was careful to put on my gloves, I got the PI oil on my hands before I put the gloves on. 1 for Poison Ivy. On my next attempt at eradication, I didn't use gloves, pulled a lot of roots out and washed like crazy afterwards. 1 for me. Last Tuesday, I was careful again, pulled what I think is the last of the PI and washed my hands carefully. Later, I remembered that I had opened the back door of our house and the garage door with my bare hands before washing. I used a paper towel to wipe of both door handles. Here is where my memory gets fuzzy, but I think I may have wadded up the paper towel before throwing it away and did not wash my hands again. Today is Friday and I have poison ivy on my eyelids, ear, chin, both wrists and a place where the "sun doesn't shine". 1 big one for Poison Ivy.

I think there are some spiritual life correlations here: first, if it looks, smells and acts like sin, and you touch it, you are going to get dirty. Second, even if you are as careful as you can be, the moment you overlook one detail, your best plan is shot. We aren't clever enough not to get caught. Third, the recovery and consequences always take far longer and are much more painful than you ever imagined. Certainly not worth the pleasure - or in this case the satisfaction - of the original encounter. While you can spray for poison ivy, there is collateral damage to surrounding plants. Maybe that's what Christ meant when He said it's better not to have an eye or a hand if it causes you to lose your life. Maybe a little damage to other plants in my yard is worth more than the discomfort I'm experiencing right now. We'll see...