Kirk, Work and Thank You

OEG let me have the demo of Kirk Franklin's new CD that will be in stores December 18. I am listening to it while I read blogs and post on my own. It is really good and love the message of the CD. Once again Kirk ROCKS!!!!

It has been extremely busy at work. I think I got MidLink off my desk and off to the printers this afternoon. The next wave of relief heard will be when Milestones has been proofed and ready to roll. After that I have few odds and ends to take care of and then I will be free to go on vacation without anything hanging over my head. I have my books lined up and ready to read. Been making a couple of lunch dates while I am off, but I don't want to get too booked and not take the time to relax and rest.

I began using my travel journal last week. Put my verses for the year in it and added some meaningful words to some of the pages. Last night I ordered a book from Amazon, OK, it was more than one, but I digress. It is a journal of travels and I am hoping that I get some helpful hints for my ordinary life journey journal.

Roy realized he has not taken much of his vacation this year. He has been so busy and every time he planned to take some time, an emergency of some kind came up. He is still in the process of hiring. There are not too many well versed in all the areas that Roy's dept. covers. I am waiting for him to get home. We are going to see if China Love is open yet.

During our Ministries Staff meeting this morning, Gregg came in and joined us for a while. I loved listening to his heart for minisitry. It is a joy to serve with a Pastor who is transparent. It was a fun staff meeting this morning. Jason had a list of questions about Christmas and he called on us to answer. My question was, have you ever been in a Christmas Pageant and what part did you have? That was so easy to answer...Big angel, Santa, Miriam dancer, part of a crowd in old English scenes, a robot dancer from the future, and a shopper. Shopper was probably my best part I ever played. It is also where I played Mildred for the first time. I was never a good biblical actor. I didn't have it in me to over act with extreme gestures etc...

This year Roy is a wiseman in the Christmas program. He is fretting that he doesn't have time for this, but it is good for him to have a cushion and some change of pace right now.

Give some props to your Sunday School teacher for Christmas this year. A lot of personal time is sacrificed to pray and prepare a lesson. I have been a Sunday School teacher here and there throughout the years and the encouraging word of thank you is a wonderful gift to receive.

I have to admit I have been hard on some teachers in my years. In my early years I always read my lesson and Bible...for several reasons and none of them spiritual. I liked checking the boxes on the offering envelope that said Bible read and lesson studied. I studied the lesson mostly to create chaos in Sunday School. You cannot wreck havoc if you are not well versed and prepared. It is imperative to know the material. I am also quick witted, so that helped with the weekly endeavor called going to church. My poor mom had so many Sunday School teachers call and want to come visit...without me being around. It got to the point at promotion time, my mom would call the teacher and tell her they could save a lot of time and heartache if they had the "meeting" at the beginning of the year, rather than waiting until it was too late. It wasn't that I was trying to be mean. In my mind, if I was going to give up sleep time the lesson better be good and the teacher should know her stuff. Every once in a while I had really good solid Bible teachers who were also fun, but mostly the teachers were kind hearted, probably begged to teach ladies. In the first years of being a Christian, I actually tried to contact some of them and apologize. I really needed to go over to their homes and do penitence.

I have repented from my early days and have made a vow to my teacher now I will not do anything to interupt or cause problems. I hate to admit it but it was just until several years ago that I stopped making my comments out loud. I had a Sunday School teacher that I did not like, at all. Had no use for her or her lame props she brought every week. In fact, I didn't like her lessons but only went so I could tell Roy at lunch what was wrong with her and what she said. She was kind of prissy and a know it all and I thought it was my calling to take her down a peg or two. Like I said, I have repented of my ways.

Well, Roy just called China Love and they are open, so we are off to dinner.