Volunteer Thoughts

My breath hung in the frosty air as I stood at the edge of the creek and looked with amazement at the task at hand. I was part of a goup of volunteers from the church who had come to Aldersgate Retreat Center to help with flood clean up. Our job was to pick up equipment that the flood had carried off. Unfortunately one of the things that had been carried off was the outdoor stage. A massive structure of wood, cinder blocks and composite boards ... and there it sat in the creek. The icy water swirled around it in eddys as I knelt in the frost to see if I could see where the bottom rested. It looked ... well it looked cold and wet to me.

We first tried dragging it out with chains and the trucks, but it soon became clear that it was not moving. So we slowly began the task of dismantling it board by board. Balancing on 2 x4s in the middle of an icy creek on a frosty morning keeps you on your toes. We only lost one of our crew into the creek during this dismantling phase. We finally got to the point that it was just the stage frame in the creek and we began to slowly haul it out. We finally carried the frame back where it belonged and began the process of putting everything back together again.

By mid afternoon the stage was back in place, we had corralled the picnic tables other things that had been carried off and were on our way back home with a feeling of satisfaction. I think that these service trips do an incredible amount of good. There is the tasks that need to be done and that is good, but it also does something for everyone of us who volunteer. For me, it breaks me out of the routine and offers me a chance to do something very different.It stretches little used muscles and helps me learn skills that I do not normally have the chance to utilize.  It also breaks me away of the tasks for church and helps me see a bigger picture of my brothers and sisters in Christ. It also allows me to work side by side and to get to know my team mates in new and deeper ways.

All in all it is a reminder that I cannot out give God. The time and effort I give ... are given back and multiplied over and over again. I am thankful for these opportunities to serve and I am thankful for what they teach me.

And I have plenty left to learn .....

Just Connie

House Guest

Over the past couple of months I have had a house guest, My son has been staying with me and it has been an interesting experience. I have lived alone for over 3 years and it has been rather strange to have someone living alongside me.

There have been times when I have lamented the change in my daily habits and I have missed the peace and serenity of my single life. But I have to say that overall it has been wonderful to have company, to talk about the day and to share my evenings with.

It looks like shortly I will be going back to single life. My son is in Salem this week trying to make living arrangements for a brand new full time job. I am glad for him, glad for the freedom and fulfillment it will bring him. But I have to admit I am a little sad around the edges. Though I will be glad to get back to a more normal schedule,I will miss our evenings and all the laughter we have shared.

So for tonight I am enjoying some peace and quiet, tomorrow will come soon enough. I will let my joy for for my son's new job carry me thourgh the coming transition.

Transitions are seldom fun ....

Just Connie

A Squirrel Story

Today is National Squirrel Day so in honor of this I am sharing my squirrel story.

It began with a case of pneumonia which kept me out of the office for 2 weeks. Finally the doctor cleared me to go in for a couple of hours to open my mail and check phone messages. feeling a bit weak and shaky I unlocked and opened the door. As the door swung open a squirrel launched himself off the desk right at my face. I would love to say that I stood there like a rock, but the reality is that I screamed like a little girl and slammed the door shut. I searched out the church janitor and together we herded the squirrel out the door.

As the squirrel scampered away the janitor turned to me and said, "What is the horrible smell?" Stepping into the door of my office I gazed with disbelief at my office while I help my hand over my nose trying to keep the stench at bay. Everywhere I looked there were shredded papers, books and over everything brown stuff. As I walked through the total destruction I began to make sense of what had happened. It seems that someone had put a box of chocolates on my desk as a special gift. Soon after the squirrel had chewed through the ceiling tiles and fallen into the office. It seems that the squirrel had spent the two weeks I was gone eating chocolates and drinking the water I had at my desk. The chocolate upset his little squirrel digestion and there was .... uhmmm squirrel stuff everywhere. Down the walls, the book cases, the couch, my desk and of course the carpet was indescribable.

The result of my squirrel visit was that my office got gutted. The carpet had to be replaced, the paint on the walls, I lost a good portion of my books in my library and all of the upholstered furniture. It took over two months until my office was usable again. All for one little squirrel.

The final insult was that the insurance company did not cover "vermin discharge". And that is a phrase I still do not want to think about.

Just Connie

Winter

 

The last couple of days have been a winter wonderland. Lots of snow and bracingly cold. I have to admit that I love snow. I love the way that the mud and brownness of winter is not just covered up but transformed into a pristine, glittering landscape.

Here are a few photos that show some of the beauty of winter.

Work in Progress

I came to a sudden stop as I looked up at the angry drunk man in front of me. As I listened, I found myself trying to unobtrusively edge around him. At first I thought he was just a random angry drunk and then I realized that some of the tirade was actually directed at me.

With shaking hands I tried to get the key in the car door as he began to move away from me. For a block and a half he yelled at me as he walked off. I sat in the car and tried to gather my thoughts and make some sense of what had just happened.

I have to admit that I still cannot quite wrap my mind around it. This was a man I knew casually in the community. I have never had any type of altercation or disagreement with him. We often stop to chat as he walks around the community.But this .... this was disturbing and it was downright scary.

As I have thought about it I have come to realize that some of my fright stems from my past experiences with angry drunk men. That reminds me that I still have some healing to do at that point. It is times like this that I am reminded that I still carry the scars of being in an abusive relationship. But scars can be healed.

I am a work in progress and that is not a bad thing.

Just Connie

Blessedly Quiet

A blessedly quiet day. I have not had many of those recently. I am still adjusting to having my son staying with me. It has really changed my daily routine. Tonight he is spending the night with friends in Salem. And I just have one things to say ..... Yippee!

I love my son, but I have missed my quiet evenings and routine. I know that we will eventually fall into our own schedule, but we are not there yet.

So tonight I am taking a deep breath, watching TV and curling up with Hope Puppy. In a few minutes I am going to curl up in bed with a good book and read myself to sleep.

Now this sounds like a great way to end a peaceful day.

Just Connie

New Year

It was just three years ago this week that I entered one of the most difficult years of my life. In the space of a couple of months I lost my husband, my grandmother, my best friend and my mother's best friend. Within a few more months I had closed the church I was pastoring, lost my job at the Mission I had worked at 10 years and faced my fathers life changing head injury.

During that year I often felt like I was standing on quicksand. I struggled to find footing in a world that was shifting underneath my feet. But over the course of that year of loss, I learned incredible things about myself, about the people around me and about a God who loved me in my hurt and despair.

This year as I look at the new year stretching ahead of me, I think back to my year of loss. I am so amazed and blessed at everything that God has restored to me since then. He has put me back in the pastorate in a church and community that I love. He has given me friends to stand beside me.  He has given me a few more years with my father. He has filled my life with love, ministry and meaning.

That is a pretty exciting way to begin a New Year.

Just Connie

Adjustment

I am having trouble getting back into a writing routine. With my son staying with me it seems my whole schedule has been turned upside down. The last few days have been particularly challenging. he has been struggling with an abscessed tooth. Today I packed him up at 6:30 in the morning and headed into Mac to have him looked at at the Clinic. They ended up pulling his tooth and now he is really miserable. In fact he is like  bear with a sore head.

I decided it was a good time to beat a retreat to my bedroom and get back to my neglected blog. So here I am, contemplating the changes that have unexpectedly come to my life. I have a grown son that I now have the opportunity to get to know. I also have an extra dog that is not doing too well with my dog and who seems to want to eat my bunny. I also have additional expenses.

I know that over the next few weeks I will slowly adjust and get back into a rhythm again. It will begin to all work out. Though I have to admit that the jury is still out on the dog. I hope the dogs adjusts soon because am not planning on adjusting to that.

Just Connie