Confessions of an Administrative Guru

* Sometimes I read blogs in the middle of the work day to regain my sanity.

* Sometimes I drink real Dr. Pepper out of a Styrofoam cup so my co-workers will THINK I'm drinking diet and won't know I'm sipping my body weight in sugar through a straw.

* Sometimes I drink out of Styrofoam because I just want to throw the cup away instead of carrying a glass back to the dishwasher. I then pay penance by imagining Jenna shaking her organically-green, earth-friendly, eco-loving water bottle at me and vow never to do that again.

* Sometimes I forget to water the plants . . . on purpose. And sometimes I over water them . . . on accident.

* Sometimes I eat lunch REALLY, REALLY late because I'm desperately trying to get rid of the piles on my desk FIRST. Staring at a mountain of work while eating is about as appetizing as chewing on glass for my Type-A personality.

* Sometimes I talk about the news as if I read the paper and watched Anderson Cooper daily - when in reality my only connection to what's going on in the world is the one-sentence blip that I read on my elevator ride to the eighth floor.

* And all the time I'm thankful I have a great job to go to.

Enough Jobs to Last a Lifetime

Over the years I have accumulated quite a colorful resume.

Actually, I should say since I got married I have enjoyed more jobs than moves. I know. Is that possible?

If I put it all down on paper it would take up over three pages. Just what an employer wants to see: three plus pages of bullet-points.

But, as of today, February 25, 2009, I have reached a mile stone. I have worked at Bessemer Trust for one full year. I haven't worked any where for one full year, unless you count baby-sitting the Worley kids from the time I was 11 years old until I left Plano to attend Texas A&M. I'll have to work at Bessemer 8 more years to beat that record.

In celebration of my employment anniversary, I give you, my extensive resume, complete and unedited, friends edition.

B&B Custom Homes Assistant & Nanny

• Carpooled four of the cutest kids around town
  

Collin County Community College English Tutor

• Tried to explain English grammar and literature to international students.
  

College Station ISD Bus Driver

• Drove Nantucket kids to and from school every morning and afternoon
• Hosted the daily Bus Olympics and Radio Karaoke
• I cried on the last day of this job
  

Central Baptist Church Administrative Assistant & Director of TruLife Urban Ministries

• My dream job
  
• Loved on kids and youth in Bryan, Texas
• Worked and hung out with college students almost every day
  

Starbucks Barista

• Woke up at 4:30 am in order to serve cranky caffeine-deprived clients overly-priced coffee
• Mastered the "bar" and could have drinks ready before cars could pull around to the drive through window.
• Put 2 1/2 splenda or 15 packets of sugar into crazy people's drinks
  

Urban League of the Upstate Afterschool Tutor

• Chased kids around the gym attempting to help them study for their state exams
• Bribed Jada with candy more than once
• Went home crying more than once
  

First Palmetto Bank Teller

• Shortest job ever held: 3 weeks
• I'll let you in on a little secret: bank tellers sit in a neutral-smelling environment all day, so when you walk in saturated in perfume or after a long day working construction - they can smell you - distinctly.
  

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Proofreader

• Taught myself AP-style/format
• Learned to coupon while waiting for articles to proofread
• Did not learn a thing about insurance while proofreading everything that BCBS published - you'd be surprised how much you can read without comprehending.
  

Richland Two School District Bus Driver

• Kicked one girl off my bus permanently after she vowed that her mother was going to kill me because I made her sit in her seat. Keeping children safe is a dangerous job folks.
  

Voice of Hope Ministries PR/Marketing/Volunteer/Development Coordinator

• Simultaneously planned holiday events, coordinated fundraisers, printed mail outs, wrote newsletters, and organized hundreds volunteers all while listening to Pandora in a little office in West Dallas.
  

Administrative Assistant at Bessemer Trust

• Daily keeps everything from hitting the fan
• Make-shift IT/Help Desk contact
  
• Have hyper-organized my desk
• Make it a game to keep my inbox at ZERO (both physical and email)
  

Last Day at UPS

Just over a month ago Danny walked out of the house wearing these gloves and carrying this water bottle for the last time.

In case you didn't know, those holey gloves and that sad little water bottle with the packaging tape handles was his UPS uniform. "WAS" being the important verb in that sentence.

Danny is no longer a UPS employee, and I have a husband again!

We had about all we could take of the alarm clock going off between 2:00 and 2:30 am.

Now we get to go out after it gets dark. We don't have to rush through dinner and dishes every night. And we get to cuddle in bed in the morning.

Danny is now working a few more hours at his job at DTS in the audio/visual department during normal business hours.

The Day I Didn't Go to Work

Today I am not sitting at this desk:

I'm not staring up at this beautiful board. And, for the record, I've always colored coordinated, but Miriam's friend took it to the next level with her colored pens and I couldn't be left behind.

I'm not answering this phone or carrying around that massive bulk of keys. My steering column is saying "Thank You."
I'm not trying organize files or manage the donor database.

In fact, I'm going to Starbucks and then going grocery shopping - in the middle of the day. What weirdness.

And, on Monday, I'll probably miss watching the sunrise over my right shoulder and having the sunshine stream through the blinds onto my desk as I sip coffee from my Shandon Baptist Church mug. I'll miss my little color-coordinated madness. And I'll miss watching the kids laugh and play on the playground every day at 4 o'clock.

But, on Monday I'll be going to work here:

That is the Crescent Hotel/Offices in downtown Dallas. And, I'll probably be shaken by culture shock. West Dallas to Rich Dallas. It couldn't get any more drastic.

Just when I thought we were getting settled in Dallas and the changes were over . . . for four years at least . . . up pops a big transition.

At our quarterly review in December, Danny and I spent a lot of time analyzing our priorities and making wise choices that would assure we'd get through seminary with our marriage in one piece. We decided that my job at Voice of Hope was not lining up with our priorities and so we prayed and I stressed out. If I've learned one thing over the last two and half years of marriage, it's that I don't handle change well . . . AT ALL!

In a matter of weeks the Lord provided several opportunities and of course I wanted to pick the one farthest away and Danny wanted the one that was closest.

"What would help Danny accomplish his goals, because I am suppose to be his helper?" (Gen. 2:18)

"Am I submitting to Danny in EVERYTHING if I take the far-away job?" (Eph. 5:24)

"Which job would be best for our marriage, because we've decided that our marriage needs to come before jobs/school?"

And so the questions flew and I cried and the Lord chiseled away at my heart, quietly whispering to me, "This is what the role of a wife looks like."

We decided that the administrative job in downtown Dallas at the Crescent would be the best thing.

I won't have to deal with I-30 traffic; I'll be close enough for lunches with Danny and friends; and the work hours will be stable and predictable.

On this day in between jobs I am a little sad, a little excited, a little weirded out by all the emotions going through me, but confident that this is just what the Lord had planned from the day we left South Carolina.

So, on Monday I'll dress up and go to work to assist client reps as they help people invest their millions and I'll probably wonder how I got there. But now you know.

Voice of Hope Celebrates 25 Years

Voice of Hope celebrated 25 years of ministry this last week at the Belo Mansion. So, 25 years ago, while I was learning to walk in Plano, Kathy Dudley was sharing the Gospel with kids in West Dallas.

It was a night on the town that Danny even donned his suit for. I've only seen him wear a coat and tie at weddings . . . so how we got through the night without one single picture of us is beyond me.

The Belo sits in the heart of downtown Dallas right beneath the skyscraper with the hole at the top. When I was little I wanted to see an airplane fly through that hole. That was Dallas through the eyes of a child.

Danny and I worked the registration table while the rich and famous of Dallas sipped wine, ate $3.25 egg rolls and mingled. There were more forks and knives at our place setting than I've ever used at one meal, but a delicous salad, steak, blueberry chicken, squash/zuchinni, cheesecake and coffee quickly took care of all the utensils.

The celebration included a video about Voice of Hope; a testimony from Genetta, who grew up in West Dallas going to Voice of Hope and now works as our Programs Manager; and a speech from the newly elected mayor, Tom Leppert, who didn't mind throwing in a political plug for the Trinity River/Toll Road.

Genetta's success story was the evening's highlight by far.


The evening was capped off with the complimentary valet service. And for just a second, after Danny handed the valet our ticket, I felt like high society. The dream lasted for two seconds until one valet drove up in a Jaguar and our valet drove up in a rattling blue Jeep. We laughed at our trusty, paid-off car and then drove it home to our little apartment.

The Moses Machine

Working at a non-profit ministry we get all kinds of donations. Food, money, craft supplies, school supplies, recently we got a whole new building. The Lord takes care of Voice of Hope in so many ways through some very thoughtful people.

However, being a non-profit, you never know what people are going to ask of you or give to you. We get calls asking for helping paying bills and calls asking for a phone number or directions to a business in West Dallas. People also like to donate tickets to different events around Dallas (see one of the previous posts on the Dallas Symphony Orchestra). But, occasionally you get things that, well, you just don't know what to do with.

One donor graciously told us he had some old computer equipment that he would like to donate. One of our maintenence workers sorts through the donations and puts everything away. Roberto is from Brazil, speaks very little English, and very fluent Portugese.

Where's Fabio when you need him?

I wish I could have understood all of the Portugese that was coming out of Roberto's mouth when he walked into the office with this:

The words that we could make out included:

"I just found a computer that is from Christopher Columbus' day."

I don't know if I was laughing harder at Roberto trying to explain Christopher Columbus to us or at the massive machine he was holding in his hands.

And then he changed his mind and said something to the effect that he'd found "the machine that Moses used."

The whole staff was on the floor with stitches in our sides, and Roberto just stood there in amazement wondering why someone would give us something so old.

This, my friends, is a Toshiba laptop. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the very first lap top ever. It's hard drive is a floppy disk and it's screen pops up in black and green. Here's the specs.

This gem of an antique is rivaling some pretty old equipment that we could probably dig out of my dad's closet. He has an old computer where the keyboard is attached to the monitor - it's one big, glorious computer. I use to sit on his lap, punch the space bar with all the strength in my little three-year-old fingers, and play Space Commanders with him.

My dad is a superior collector of all things computers - not because he likes collecting old, out-of-date parts and pieces, but because he might need something one day. Never know when you could use that extra motherboard. Actually, he could probably put his last child through college selling some of those ancient parts to a museum.

We'll never be able to let a child use this computer - one, because it doesn't have a mouse and they won't know how to work it, and two, because even if they learn to work a computer using this laptop they'd be stuck using this computer for the rest of their life, as they'd never see another computer like this at any school or library.

However, we are enjoying a good laugh at something most of us had never seen before, while Roberto goes through another pile of donations, muttering something in Englishese that resembles, "People think this is the dump."

This Craziness Called Life in Dallas

Friends - we have not given up on our blog - we have just been overwhelmed and busy. This move was not easy for us, and things did not transition smoothly at all. So, for those of you that know me at all know that I about hyperventilated just typing that sentence.

NOT

A

SMOOTH

TRANSITION?

I can't handle transition PERIOD! You'll never imagine the grace the Lord has showered upon us to get ME, a plan-it-all-five-years-in-advance, coordinate-every-detail-so-nothing-goes-wrong, make-lists-until-we've-run-out-of-paper-and-Danny-threatens-to-rip-them-up, type-A personality, through the last four weeks.

We have pictures and stories galore of the move, the apartment, and more to share with you. Let us first pick ourselves up from amongst the boxes stacked shoulder high, and we'll get them online for you to see.

In the mean time, let me leave you with some of the crazy things I've noted about living in Dallas.

Things that make me smile, laugh, and go "HUH?!" about living life in Dallas:

• 15 year girls carry real Louie Vuitton's and think that their dad's go to work simply to buy them Kate Spade shoes.
  
• People walk their dogs and drink wine while walking down Munger Ave. I guess it makes them feel posh and sophisticated.
  
• No matter where I'm coming from, if I head towards the very big buildings I will always make it home.
  
• When I walk out of Target I look up and see lights that are not stars, but skyscrapers.
  
• I drive to work in one of the poorest communities in the NATION.
  
• I get to tell my friends to take Exit #1 off of Central Expressway - as in there are no more exits off of Central Expressway because you are downtown.
  
• Every time I step outside my door that familiar "big city" smell that makes me think of Moscow and Manhattan hits me in the face. It's an assortment of cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and body odor from lots and lots of people and it makes me feel very "urban."
  
• I pass a bum everyday either on my way to work or on my way home. They are always on a different street corner, and I always wonder if they are really homeless or if they are just trying to get a free dollar. Maybe one day I'll learn to love them like Jesus loved the swindling tax collectors.
  
• The speed limit here is 60 mph on the freeway, but you WILL get run over if you're doing anything less than 75 mph. Life in the fast lane.
  
• It's hard to find a good sunset spot in a region so flat and so filled with buildings. But, I discovered last night that I can watch the glass glisten in gold and platinum as I drive through the high rises and it's just as mesmerizing and astounding.
  
• Here I have the option to blow a whole month's food budget at one store, in one stop, thanks to Whole Foods. Just walking into that store makes me feel healthier. I can buy organic avocados for $4.99 each, organic body wash scented with essential oils, and I can buy EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil for those of you who don't watch RR [Rachel Ray]) from Italy, Spain, the Mediterranean, and at least two other countries. And my favorite part - they actually offered me paper or plastic when I left.
  
• You are suppose to hang out in different parts of Dallas based on how you dress. Now, for you South Carolinians who don't know what I mean and thought that the fashion train stopped with pastel seersucker suits, let me break it down for you:

1. If you're of the "scenish" crowd you hang out on Greenville Avenue and buy your vintage clothes at a used shoppe before going to the Granada for a concert.
   
2. If you've got more money in your pocket than you know what to do with you drive your Bentley with the SMU Alumni sticker up to Highland Park and sip cappacinos while pushing your mini-shopping cart around Whole Foods.
   
3. If you're artsy, then you're sporting your leggings, black fingernail polish, and spiked hair at the Door in Deep Elum.
   
4. If you're run-of-the-mill middle class then you bike 14 miles in your spandex underwear around White Rock Lake daily and stop by Starbucks on the way home for your caffeine fix.

And that, my friends, is Dallas, or as much of Dallas as I've discovered in two weeks time.

Happy First Week of Work

This is my first week of work at Voice of Hope Ministries in West Dallas. I will be doing a hodge-podge of things here, including public relations, donor relations, fundraising/development, writing newsletters, and taking pictures.

I went on my first picture-taking field trip with a group going on a college tour of UTD. I am having more fun getting to know my co-workers, and I am so excited to work in an organization that is filled with people who are passionate about Jesus, their community, children, and parents.

Danny also started window washing and throwing boxes at UPS this week - but he doesn't have to wear a fun brown uniform, so there were no fun pictures to take!

City Year Ends

Happy Last Day of Work at City Year Danny!

2006 - 2007 City Year Staff (in white) with Corp Members (in red)

Danny's year of serving the city has come to an end. Another chapter closed, but we are already racing into the next one.

Bus Driver Appreciation Week

This week is bus driver appreciation week. I had no idea there was a whole week set aside to give us snacks! The middle school gave us goodie bags filled with crackers, cookies, and mints on Monday. The high school refreshed us with popcicles on Wedesday, and the district has provided an afternoon drink and snack every day. What fun!

So you can appreciate your local bus driver, here's a sneak peak into our lives behind the wheel.

* I drive smelly, sweaty boys who haven't discovered deoderant yet and girls who can't stop spraying body splash, until the entire bus smells perfectly peachy.

* The boys like to ask for my phone number and the girls like to ask questions about Danny (when they find out I'm married) - mainly, "Is he cute?"

* I drive over 60 miles, cross five railroad tracks, stop at three schools, turn around four times, and carry over 70 kids home - just in one afternoon.

* If I leave the bus yard at 2:03 p.m. I can get to the school in time to read for 10 minutes before the first, non-stop-talking middle school kid gets on the bus.

* I know what time I should get to my first stop, what time I should drop off Amberly, and what time the last middle school kids gets off my bus. One minute late and I'm behind schedule.

* I drive black, white, and Hispanic kids, and one lone Asian girl.

* I've discovered that kids' memories reset every morning when their eyes pop open to greet the day. Every afternoon I yell, "Sit down! Stop yelling! Get your head inside the bus! Stop hitting! Take off your headphones! Put away your cell phones! No foods! Stop throwing that! Pick it up! Stop screaming! Turn around! Get off the floor! Don't touch her!" at least 45 million times.

* I can hit 50 mph going down a VERY LONG hill and pray to maintain 35 mph with the pedal to the metal going up hill.

* I hear about the hottest crushes, the newest fights, the unplanned pregnancies, and how Mom's going to sell the computer because of the failing grades.

* One-third of my kids live in a double-wide on the corner of an overgrown lot that's been there so long the cement blocks have sunk deep into the earth and been overtaken by clingy weeds. One-third of my kids live in mansions on richly landscaped acreage where they keep their numerous cell phones, xboxes, p2s, and ipods. And, one-third of my kids live in modest, vinyl-siding houses where they probably share a room with their youngest sibling.

And, finally, to best describe the kids that ride my bus, let me give you a Cliff Notes lesson in current youth culture.

If you were a fly buzzing around my bus you would realize that World War Craft and VH1 have shaped kids' minds today more than anything else and that they spend more time infront of the computer and tv than with their families or playing outside.

Yesterday the activity on my bus was a messed up version of the tv show, Yo Mama. The student who could throw the most insults without cracking a smile won.

Romans 1:28 - 30:

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Not familiar with "Yo Mama?" Here's a snippet to whet your appetite and make you cry over what is influencing today's youth.

"The no-holds-barred trash talking competition has never been fiercer as the competitors have the pride of their 'hood, their borough, and all of Gotham on their back as they're runnin' the dozens to gut-bustin' glory. The competition breaks down each weekday with freestyle on the streets of one of New Yorks storied boroughs. " (MTV Website, Yo Mama TV Series)

It got so out of hand that I finally offered a stick of gum to the student who could throw out the most compliments before he/she got off the bus. You would be amazed at the things kids will do for a piece of bubble gum. Ever since then I hear, "You look so nice today Miss Laura," as kids get on the bus. All is not lost.

Thank You for Driving My Bus

A present from a kid on my bus. It says, "Thank you for driving my bus," on the tissue paper.

Actual note written by a student to a bus driver in a Christmas card:

"Merry Christmas! Thank you for driving my bus. If it weren't for you my sister and I would freeze our butts off waiting for another bus. Thank you."

Signed -

Warm & Grateful Student

I love working with kids. And, whoever said middle school kids are a pain is missing out.

Under Age Youth Worker

Danny is back from Boston! I don't have to kill any more cockroaches! I am so thrilled. However, now that Danny's home - all the roaches have gone into hiding. They must just get a kick out of making me scream.

Danny is now back to working out of his downtown, CityYear office - pictured on the left. It's quite the posh place to park oneself all day. (Try saying that three times fast!)

On a random tangent, we've started teaching 9th grade Sunday School at Shandon, and will also have a 9th grade, co-ed, discipleship group over to our apartment every Sunday night starting in September.

Just a funny story that I need to record for my own sake, because one day I will read this and remember the "good old days."

I have a history of looking younger than I really am. It's the lookeus like a babeosis syndrome.

Waiters gave me the children's menu until I was 20.

Parents couldn't pick me out as the counselor amongst my cabin of 8th grade campers at Pine Cove.

In 2004, the year I graduated from Texas A&M (WHOOP!), upon telling people that I was a senior, they promptly asked where I was going to high school.

My brother graduated from high school in May - and guess who people thought the graduate was? Yes, me.

I use to walk around WAVING my Aggie ring in people's faces. Now I just hold out my left hand any time I meet someone new.

So, all this to say, that before Danny and I committed to teaching youth Sunday School, we were invited to sit in and observe the 9th & 10th grade class. We walked in together. Danny sat at the guys table and immediately hit it off with the leader and the boys.

I proceed to sit at the girls table - where (uncharacteristically) NO ONE WAS SAYING A WORD. I attempted to make small talk, to no avail. Finally, an adult female leader came over and introduced herself. We talked for a little while and then she handed me a visitors form.

WHAT?!

She thought I was a visiting teeny bopper. Someone please take me shopping and dress me like an adult. Cut my hair. Anything!

One day when I start having babies they aren't going to let me take them home from the hospital - where's the mom, they'll want to know.

So, here it is for all posterity. When, I am old and look my age. When the wrinkles have sagged whatever it is that keeps me looking 12 years old. When I wish I looked younger. I will come back here and read about the day I could have passed as a high school cheerleader for Halloween.

Diversity

This post is from Danny:

I now work for a non profit organization called City Year. They intentionally recruit a diverse group of individuals. I thought I was diverse and that I could handle being around people who are different than me.

I am finding out that I do have buttons that can be pushed to make me angry when confronted with ideas and people that are different than me. I am very excited about this discovery.

At first, when one of my buttons is pushed, the anger consumes me and I feel like I need to defend my position about what I believe. I feel like bursting forth a rebutle or rebuke in rage. I struggle to process this differnce and fit it into my box of how I see the world.

Maybe this button is a pre judgement about people, maybe this is a differing thought on religion, (I use the word religion for lack of a better one) or lifestyle choices. When I can admit my anger and decide to deal with it, I find myself looking to the Bible for answers and the Holy Spirit to live out what I find. This process is helping me become more like Christ.

I am having to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, becasue man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Will I be more effective by yelling my perspective in anger or communicating my perspective gently? This verse must become woven into the fabric of who I am. This verse takes discipline and the Holy Spirit for me to live out.

Being effective? I also find myself searching my heart for my motives. What am I trying to accomplish? Where do I want this relationship with this different person to go? Are my actions Christ-like?

"Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."
(2 Timothy 2:23-26)

Sometimes I get all bent out of shape just to listen, because I think that if they talk more than me, they will root themselves deeper into what is wrong or prove my truth or my point wrong. (There I go with the arguing and being right all the time motive.) I have come to know that it is okay to listen, because the Bible says so and because I do not cause change in a person, God grants repentance. Also, the truth has been established and nothing is going to move it.

I am really growing and being challenged to live out my faith everyday at work. I love the struggle and the opportunity. This is very exciting for me. I just wanted to share some thoughts. It is really hard for me to share in words the work taking place in my life. I guess this post is probably more for me to process.

New BCBS Job

Well, I have a new job, a new badge, and a new gym to work out at. I am the new part-time proofreader for Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina in the Corporate Communications department. From 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. I get to read about more insurance and policies than you could imagine. Aside from the fact that this is just my second day on the job - I LOVE IT! I work with fun writers and artistic designers. Plus I get to wear a badge and feel officially important. Watch out corporate America, Laura Stiller is taking over, one misplaced comma at a time. Here is my building, about five/ten minutes from the apartment.
And, just so Danny doesn't feel left out because we didn't post his picture when he first got his BCBS job, here he is.

And, here's the building he works in. This is also where we go to workout every afternoon before dinner.

P.S. For those of you that knew about the bank job, it was fun, but not that fun. Who am I kidding? I am just not the right person to sit in a bank for eight hours a day waiting, hoping, PRAYING some people come in to deposit a check so I have something to do. I loved the girls I worked with, but the job just about drove me . . . to sleep.

Paint Masters

Oh where have Laura and Danny been, you ask? Busy as little bees! We have been painting Joe & Lynn's new house and it is lookin' FAB. We painted four upstairs bedrooms, the living room downstairs, the kitchen, and tons of woodwork. We are now pros and are available for hire. It's our new side business. We even have pictures for our portfolio. Take a look below!

Living Room being prepped for rolling:

The Living Room almost done - we ended up painting the bottom yellow too.The Kitchen pre-red:
Whalla! Three coats later!

Danny.....Be obedient!!!

I would like to tell another story about Mr. Barney's life. (see March 8, 2006 post entitled "Today, Yesterday, and Forever") This is a story that would make a great novel, but the disturbing thing is it is true. Mr. Barney worked in Minnesota when he was around my age. He worked at a gas station that was attatched to a restaurant. It was a good set up. One night, a man came to get gas who owned a trucking company. He was a wealthy man, and when he dropped his car off for servicing, he told Mr. Barney to come into the restaurant and have some coffee with him after he got done with the car.

So Mr. Barney went and had coffee with the man. We will call him Mr. Smith. While they were drinking coffee, Mr. Smith was complaining about how these ministers would always come by his house at the most inconvenient times and preach to him. Mr. Smith was not a believer, and did not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

A couple days later, Mr. Barney was working at the service station and felt like God was pressing upon his heart to go and talk to Mr. Smith about the Gospel. So Barney decided that he would. He locked up the station that night and drove home. He went into the house, washed his hands, ate dinner and decided to shower up. After he got dressed he paced around his house for about 4 hours milling over whether or not to go and talk to Smith. By this time it was about ten at night. He thought to himself, Smith is a wealthy man and it is late. He already doesn't like ministers talking to him and he likes me. I don't want him to not like me. So he decided that he would go talk to Smith tomorrow.

Barney could not sleep when he went to bed. He was very troubled. He finally got out of bed, very disturbed and went to work at about 5 a.m. Right as he was opening the door to the service station the phone started to ring. He got very nervous and did not want to pick up the phone. He did not know who it could be, the only person up this early would be the lady at the restaurant, getting ready for the morning. He knew something was not right. As he reached for the ringing phone, his hand was trembling fiercly. He answered the phone and it was the lady at the restaurant. She said, "Did you hear,... last night at about 10:30pm, Smith took a shotgun, put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger with his foot.

Mr. Barney struggled in torment for 2 years before accepting the grace of Jesus and being able to be forgiven in his mind. This story is a good reminder for me, that when I feel the Holy Spirit nudging me to open my mouth and having the oppourtunity to say something, to say it.

I am glad I opened my mouth about Jesus with my dad when I did a couple of years back, and did not wait for the next time I saw him. Who knew I would only have a couple more years with my dad at the time. Just to know that he had heard about the Good News and had the opportunity to pray for forgiveness, gives me peace. Was my Dad saved? Is he in heaven? I may not know that until I get there, but I know that God is faithful to the message I spoke and if my Dad put his faith in it, I know without a doubt that God was faithful in rescuing my Dad from the penalty of his Sin because of what Jesus did on the cross.

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of salvation for everyone, first for the Jew then for the Gentile" Romans 1:16

"And of this Gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day."
2 Timothy 1:11--12

"But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it." 2 Timothy 4:17

Today, Yesterday and Forever

I went to this man's house one day, we'll just call him Mr. Barney. When I arrived at his house he told me that two minutes ago, his wife was walking out of a local Christian chicken restaurant and fell. She hurt her knee and bruised up her face. They rushed her to the emergency room right away. What a great segway into talking about health insurance.

Anyway, we sat for about an hour and talked about insurance and life. He was a pastor and was fixing to go on a little tour speaking to some churches in the Northwestern United States. We talked some more two days later when I had to return to collect his wife's application for insurance

A few days ago he came into Walmart. He had taken his wife to physical therapy for her cracked knee cap and was killing time. So, when he saw that I was here, he sat, and we talked. I asked him how he became a Christian. As this almost 73 year old man, who was healthy and had his mind about him, retold the story of how he came to accept the grace and forgiveness, peace and joy of Christ his Savior, at the ripe age of 13, 60 years ago, his eyes filled up with tears. This man was in love with my Jesus.

I can identify with the emotions this man has, because when I tell of my salvation story, I am reminded of the love God has for me, and how He sought me out when I was lost and powerless, and changed the course of my life. He saved me and put me in His hands.

Tonight, Laura and I went to a Bible study like Breakaway, and we sang a song by David Crowder. Here are some of the lyrics:

You are more beautiful

Than anyone ever

Everyday You're the same

You never change, no never
And how could I deny

The love of my Savior

You are to me everything

All I need forever

There is no one like You

There has never been anyone like You

There is no one like You

There has never been anyone like You

.

Where this all comes together is that, while I was singing this song, I thought of Mr. Barney. He loved the same God and Jesus that I did. This 73 year old man was not religious, or a self-righteous, legalistic Baptist, so typical of South Carolina. This man had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that was the only thing that mattered to Him.

He had the same Jesus I have.

With this worship song and my talk with Mr. Barney I understood in a new way, in a way I had trouble articulating in words to Laura at Sonic after our Bible study, that God is the same today, yesterday, and forever. Mr. Barney is coming to the end of his time proclaiming the glory, love and salvation of Jesus. He is 73 years old and still going strong preaching the good news. Maybe one way I could put it is, just because Mr. Barney is a 73 year old man, and I am 25 we both have an intimate relationship with Jesus. Jesus isn't fresh to me simply because I'm young. With some old people Jesus seems small, religious and crusty, but that isn't the case with Mr. Barney.

The TRUE Gospel, meant to save souls, from the lips of Mr. Barney has not tarnished one bit, it is as fresh as a cold cup of Brita water from the fridge, when you are parched in the mouth. No credit to Mr. Barney, do not let me get you side tracked on crusty old people. My point is the freshness throughout the ages of the Gospel. And, the reason we have this freshness is for lost people who do not know God. From generation to generation the pure and simple Gospel message never rots, never ages like old bananas or moldy bread. It is like crystal clear, fresh, cold Brita water....forever.

All this to point to the freshness of the pure and simple Gospel and it's never aging ability to go from generation to generation.

Kids Say the Darnest Things

Another classic quote from the darling kids at Sterling Community Center:

5 year old Christen & 4 year old Treasure: "Ms. Merline, why do your hands look like that?"

Ms. Merline: "Well, when you get older you get wrinkles and sometimes you can see your veins easier, and that's why my hands look like this."

Christen & Treasure: "Oh . . . well, the same thing happenin' to your face too!"

Ms. Merline works with the 4 & 5 year olds faithfully every Wednesday. She is a retired school teacher who just loves it so much she can't stop teaching kids how to read. She is extremely patient with her rambunctious little group, and always has positive encouragement ready for them, no matther how discouraging their behavior or attention span. She adores her grandchildren and could tell stories about them all day long. She passed this incident on to me with a chuckle after her tutoring session today.

Another Quote of the Week

Heard while taking an order through the drive through at Starbucks:

"Yea, I'm on this medicine and I can't have milk or coffee . . .

what can ya'll serve me?"

Reply thought in my head:

"You can't have dairy or coffee?

Hm, well I could serve you a GLASS OF WATER!"

Actual response:

"We have some great teas or you could have a soy steamer with any flavoring."

Who comes to Starbucks when they can't have milk or coffee?

That's like:
- going to Subway and saying you can't have bread or meat
- going to Pizza Hut and telling them you're allergic to cheese and tomotoes
- going to McDonalds and explaining that you can't have any grease in your diet

May I Present: Jada

This, my friends, is Jada.

She is FIVE years old and yes, she thinks she rules the world.

For the record, she posed like this on her own because this what she does all the time.

To see more picture of the Sterling Community Kids.

Follow this link: http://thestillers.shutterfly.com

(Just a note: After you click on "View Pictures" click on "View as Slideshow" in the top left. Pictures are best viewed at that size)