Painting the House

They* say that a house like mine should be painted every four or five years. They* also say that when houses like mine are built, they often do not get the best paint job and should be painted over within three years.

Well, the crazy hurricane season of 2004 prompted me to seal cracks and paint in 2005 before the next season could push more water through the concrete block walls and into the house. The thing is, I wasn't prepared to make the investment in hiring someone to paint my house at that point and so I came up with a plan. I purchased paint that was the same color as what I had on the house and only painted three sides (avoiding the front which would require tall ladders) and even then did not do the part under the screened area. I did all roller work (that means no cutting in around windows). It was something I could do myself. I invested a couple hundred bucks and a couple parts of weekends and got it done.

If you look closely, you can see that it was not the best paint job -- and that reality has become more apparent as the sun has faded the two paints differently over time. We have a lot of sun here in Florida.

Now, five years after the not-so-great paint job and seven years after moving in, it is time to paint the house.

I've done some research into what it would cost to hire this work done knowing that I do not have the experise or the capacity to do this work on my own. I was talking with my friend Russ about this about a month ago and he let me know of a guy in Wycliffe who lives/works here in Orlando who has had a painting business. By this time I was prepared to hire the work done and pay what that would cost -- but the idea of paying someone I know made that seem a lot less painful. I contacted Mike.

Here's the short version: Mike is out of the business, but is going to be my consultant to tell me all the things I need to do to prep the house (a process I'll start in Septmenber) and then will bring all of his equipment on a day in (likely) October and we'll work for 12 hours and get it done. And by "we" I mean myself and Mike and a pile of friends who don't even know yet that they will be bribed into helping.

This is a HUGE load off my mind (just having a plan) and the fact that it will be less costly than the original one is a bonus blessing.

Any of you who might be considering a trip to Disney World in September and who would like to add a day-long "mission trip" to do some pressure washing or other prep work, I could arrange that. And those of you who are in the area...start thinking now about what kind of bribe will best entice you to join us on paint day.

Now, where did that form for the HOA go so I can get committee permission to paint my own house?

----------------------------

*They? You know...people here and there. Unofficial but somehow authoritative sources, confirmed by some Google searches and reading labels of products. Like that.

New Art by Michael Harrar

Michael and his wife have served in the Bible translation movement for many years and in a variety of roles. Through it all, Michael has used his skills as an artist/illustrator to bring glory to God and honor to many peoples whom God loves.

For the past almost two years Michael has served as Wycliffe USA's Artist-in-Residence. This slightly ambiguous role has allowed Michael to produce art, to teach art, to promote art, and to develop curriculum to serve strategies owned by a number of Wycliffe's primary and secondary partners in the States and around the world. 

This is the first in a series of three works that I commissioned for our second floor elevator lobby. Each one will feature one of three areas of the world where there is great need for language development and Bible translation. 

When Michael brought this by my office a few days ago, couldn't take my eyes off of it. It is way more beautiful in person than in this photo. I look forward to having it hanging in the office very soon.

Wycliffe's Spring Scripture Celebration

This morning I had the privilege of serving as host of a Celebration gathering at Wycliffe USA's headquarters in Orlando.

We did a live web stream broadcast of the event -- announced on Twitter and through other social media -- and for a first time I'd say it was a great success. These are the kinds of things you want to do once or twice before you promote them broadly. It's just not good practice to make the promise of an invitation until you are confident that you can follow through.

The web cast is still available if you are interested in watching it (embedded above). The program is around an hour long. I've not watched it myself yet -- but I was there live and can tell you that it was a blessing to celebrate the Word in this way!

Goofing Off

Vanessa arrived Monday evening. She's been traveling for over a week -- visiting family and friends in Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, etc. This was her last stop before heading back to Pittsburgh (today -- she is traveling as I write) and a last semester of classwork that begins Monday.

What did we do?

Goofed off.

Relaxed.

Vegged.

We sat on the patio and read. We sat in the house (often in PJ's) and watched movies. We played Blokus and Sequence. We baked and cooked and ate.

When Vanessa arrived, she introduced me to her travel gnome, Spa Lady Duck (a little rubber duck that is wearing a pink robe and has a pink towel wrapped around her head). As we did all the things we did (or didn't do), we took photos of Miss Duck to keep record of our time.

I'll refrain from listing all the movies we watched -- but they ranged from Roman Holiday to Emma. And then there was a little televission (thanks to a DVD, we did that on our own terms) -- Diners, Drive Ins and Dives for one.

Yesterday we had our most active day -- we did "free" Disney (or what some call Missionary Disney). We parked at Downtown Disney and proceeded to wander through the space (resorts, free shopping areas, etc.) using free transportation. We spent a few hours looking at beautiful things, riding on boats and monirails and even busses, and taking pictures of Spa Lady Duck. The weather was perfect for this kind of goofing off.

Great days. Very relaxing. What a fantastic way to end one year and start the next!

Last Languages Celebration: INVITATION

As Wycliffe prepares to launch the Last Langauges Campaign -- our response to Vision 2025 (a vision to see Bible translaiton programs started in every language where it it is needed by the year 2025) -- I've been focused on planning the "launch" party.

The party is known as the Last Languages Celebration. I would love to see you here if you are in the area.

47th Birthday Cupcake Extravaganza

I'll write about the cupcake fun later, but for now I wanted to post a link (click on the blog title above) to all my non-Facebook-addicted friends so you can see the photos from today. I think that you can see these images even if you do not have a Facebook profile. That is what I was led to believe. Hmmm. Can anyone confirm that?

NOVEMBER 08: Last Languages e.postcard invitation

felis concolor coryi

Did you know that Florida has a "panther"? According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, the Florida panther is ENDANGERED.

(From the USFW website:) The Florida panther is a large, long-tailed cat with a great deal of color variation: pale brown or rusty upper parts, dull white or buffy under parts; tail tip, back of ears, and sides of nose are dark brown or blackish. Mature male panthers examined in the wild in Florida since 1978 have weighed from 1O2 to 154 pounds (Roelke 1990, Roelke and Glass 1992) and measured nearly 7 feet from nose to tip of tail. Females were considerably smaller, with a weight range of 50 to 1O8 pounds (Roelke 1990) and measuring about 6 feet (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1987).

So, you're wondering if I just got up this morning and thought it was time for a lesson on the wildlife in Florida, perhaps? No, though that's not a bad idea -- we have cool wildlife here.

Yesterday our Homeowner's Association sent out a second e.mail bulletin of the summer letting us know that a Florida panther has been seen in my neighborhood. The first time was at 5 am a couple weeks ago and the second time (yesterday) was mid-morning. I'm not afraid for myself -- this cat won't bother humans unless we bother it, and I have no intention of bothering it.

I'm more afraid for the panther. Or maybe it's really just a little sad. There is so much construction around here, I'm sure it's home was destroyed and it's looking for new digs and as nice as my neighborhood is, it isn't really a place for a big cat.

I admit that I do keep my eye out in the morning when I ride my bike or walk -- a little hopeful of getting a glimpse of this magnificent creature before it moves on.

The Witnesses - a musical

Tonight Dad and I went to see the musical The Witnesses at the Plaza Theater in Orlando. We'd seen The Rock and The Rabbi (the first in this musical trilogy) there a few years ago and both really liked it. When we had a chance to get discounted tickets for this preformance, we jumped at it. Really, how often to you get a chance at professional live musical theater for $10 a seat?

I'm not sure if I liked it over all as much as The Rock & The Rabbi, but there were a few songs that were really, really good. I'm absolutely glad we went.

Photos from the "Vacation"

Friday night - waiting in line outside SAK's theater in the Centroplex downtown Orlando.

Sandy with a pair of dolphins. She would like to have been in the water WITH them, but we didn't buy that ticket.

A baby seal having lunch while momma seal napped on the rocks. This little guy made a LOT of noise. 

The displays at Sea World are really quite fascinating. This thing (plant? animal?) was constantly moving. Really beautiful and kind of creepy all at the same time. 

After church and lunch on Sunday, we made a quick stop at the M&M Store. Yeah, they sell M&M's and M&M merchandise. 

The March of the Penguines

Smack dab in the middle of a very busy few weeks, God provided a vacation of sorts. A break. A point of restoration.

If you looked at all that was going on in my life these days -- the meetings and workshops and forums and gatherings and seminars -- and then saw my to do list and my overflowing INBOX -- and then remembered with me the other things that I'm striving to make priority in my living, well, you'd understand why I think it's really crazy that I took 24 hours off. The answer "should have been" that "I don't have time."

My friend Sandy and I planned for her to come over to Orlando for a weekend and we picked this one because it was open for both of us and that's not an easy thing to find. It appeared to be a wise choice. Then I had some calendar mishaps (long story) and a few things beyond my control invaded my space. Suddenly, on paper, it looked like we'd picked a bad weekend for her to be here. In some ways it wasn't idea. I did have to "work" more than I would normally consider doing with company in town.

However, truth is -- the timing was just right.

On Friday night we went (with two others -- Jane and Cindy) to the SAK Comedy Club in Orlando and then on Saturday we went to Sea World. Between those two events (which were just the kinds of things that help me de-stress and refocus and rebalance, I slept like a rock. Ahhhh. And, even with having to work around the edges while Sandy was here, it was fun (and good) to have her around to talk around the edges of the edges.

I love when God does stuff like this.

Shrums in Orlando!!

Today I got to participate in one of my favorite "perk" activities -- connecting with Wycliffe folk on furlough when they attend what we call a Wycliffe Connection event. I love these events. This particular Connection event is being held in Orlando, so I got to attend in person rather than by phone -- and that was a double bonus.

The triple bonus came when I read through the list of those who would be attending and discovered Jeff, Peg, and Maggie Jo's names. Woooo hoooooo!! So, we had lunch together and then the kids headed to the pool while the rest of us had some update and Q&A time.

The Patio

A few times each year, either my dad or I get motivated to CLEAN our patio. Yesterday, when dad announced that he thought he'd do some cleaning out there it seemed like a good idea to join him. That means, of course, that the project escalated into one that involved removing almost everything on the patio - hauling furniture out to the yard and hauling plants and other "stuff" in to the kitchen. It also means that we got out the pressure washer. 

And, as if often true, this motivated me to put a few new plants into pots as well as to try a new arrangement for the furniture. 

So, that's part of what got accomplished at my house on Saturday. Something I'm enjoying today.

The patio is one of the places where I can relax. 

It is also a favorite place to think. 

And catch up with friends. I often go out there when I'm chatting on the phone. Those of you who have heard the wind chimes in the background know it's true. 

Some people think it's odd that I have Christmas lights on my patio. I just tell them that they are not Christmas lights, they are PATIO lights. Those things weathered all three hurricanes in 2004. I only had to replace a few bulbs. 

Earlier that summer -- it was one of the years when the Communications department had a boat load of interns around -- a bunch of people were sticking their heads into a huge bucket of ice water on my patio. That was interesting.

Long Day's Journey into Night

Long Day's Journey into Night is a dramatic play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill, widely considered to be his masterwork. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1957.

This morning, Joel Hunter didn't simply make reference to this dramatic work as an illustration for his sermon, we watched a scene from the play on Northland's stage. Very powerful stuff, live drama.

One of Joel's statement that really struck me (let's see if I get this right) is that "often our past is so horrid that it won't let go of us or so wonderful that we won't let go of it, but we have to in order to move into the future." That's close, anyhow. That was the main message of the morning -- that as we are a part of praying for "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done on Earth..." we are also to be a part of making it so. No, not by our own will or working, but as God works in and through us. And, for that to happen -- for the FUTURE KINDGOM to be realized in the PRESENT, we have to let go our of our PAST.

At one point Joel was talking about letting go of the baggage we carry around with us -- and that we all have it (we do...I do) -- and then he made it very clear that anyone who might be thinking that their spouse is that baggage is not thinking correctly at all. People laughed, but got his message loud and clear.

It was a great message. He'll preach it a couple more times this weekend and you could watch live -- or download the pod cast (audio or video) after Tuesday of this week if you want. All free. I recommend it.

In fact, Dad and I worshipped via the webstream this weekend. The image above is from the live streaming web during the play scene. You can see Sean, the pastor on duty for the web worshippers (over 300 on line for this service) to the right and a listing of those gathered at the bottom of the screen shot.

While I traveled this past couple of months, Dad chose to worship via the webstream rather than making the 25 mile (one way) journey alone.

I've written about this before, so I won't to into all the details again -- but I will give the URL in case this is something you'd like to check out for yourself: http://www.northlandchurch.net/

That link will take you to Northland's homepage (seen in the image to the left). Click on this image if you want to see the link to webstream worship more clearly or to read service times.

Gecko Invasion

Occasionally a gecko wanders (or is inadvertently carried) into the house. If they stay long, they usually dry up and die in a windsill or under some furniture and end up in the vacuum cleaner bag. Sometimes they are discovered and "escorted" out of the house again. I've carried these happy critters out on the ends of brooms and chased them calmly with junk mail.

Yesterday there was a little gecko in the family room. Dad slid the door open to the patio and I guided it out with a magazine. I thought it looked grateful.

This morning I found a gecko in the family room again. Looked like the one I helped out yesterday. Hmm. I opened the door and pursuaded it out again.

Later in the day, I saw the gecko come from the door (which was closed) and head across the floor. I cut it off and urged it back out, opening the door to make it's exit quick.

Then, only an hour after that (I've been sorting mail and receipts and email a good bit of the day today, all in the family room) I saw it scooting across the floor again. This time it got ahead of me and kept going to our fake ficus tree and jumped up onto the basked that holds this tree in our house. I decided it likes it there and was determined enough to come in 4 times, so I just let it be.

When I went out to get a soda from the patio fridge, I saw him out there again. At least I think it's the same one. Strange little critter. 

"I'm holding in my hands no ordinary New Testament..."

It arrived today. The Kagayanen New Testament and Genesis. We'll be using it here as part of a set of displays that tell some of the stories of the translation and use of God's Word for and by the Kagayanen community in the Philippines.

I've written before about the group that will travel from the States to the Philippins to be apart of the celebration as these books are delivered to the Kagayanen.

As I travel, I plan to blog about it as I have internet access -- so you'll be hearing lots more about it. For now, I thought some of you might want to see this book that arrived just an hour ago.

(I love technology sometimes.)

Trading Spaces with Myself

Over the holidays I got motivated to paint my bedroom/office.

I used birthday money to purchase paint and Christmas money to purchase a couple things from IKEA (duvet cover, desk) and Dad made the IKEA curtains my Christmas gift from him.

I emptied, cleaned, sorted, moved, repositioned, cleaned some more, re-filled, painted, hung, and labeled (don't ask) for three weeks. I filled in all the spaces around other more normal holiday behavior. It was wonderful.

I promised a couple people that I'd show some "after" pics, so here they are. (As is true with blogger photos, if you click on them, they open in the browser to their full size. I left these large when I imported them for those who like to look more closely.) The one above is the view from the doorway to my room. The wall color is gray and it's appearance changes as the lights change through out the day.

This is my desktop (obviously). I went with an simple white table top and 4 metal legs. It is...it is going to help me not stash and store so much junk under and in and behind. I chose white because I think it makes the e.mac look smaller and it looks good in the room with dark woods and white trim. And it was cheap. $29 for the top and $5 for each leg. Holes were all pre-drilled. It was a breeze. If I want to add different "legs" to it later (ones, for example, that are actually book cases of sorts). I can do that and will just have spare legs to use elsewhere. (I like IKEA a lot...and not just for their meat balls!)

One of the things you might see on the wall is a magnetic strip (I have one in my kitchen for knives) and it holds things I'm often looking for and using...and a few other odd things that are metal and that I just plain wanted to hang for fun.

And this is the view out my window. Just to the right of that little table is a chair which makes a great place to read or just sit and look out from.

More importantly, those red flowers you see out the right side of the window are from a poinsettia plant I got last Christmas and which spent about six months on my patio in a clay pot...lost all it's red color. So, when it outgrew the pot, I jammed it in the ground and in mid-November, it began to turn red. Further left, beyond what you can see in the photo, is a new poinsettia TREE which I picked up at Target for 75% off. It is gorgeous right now and I hope it will do as most plants seem to do here....GROW and grow and grow.

Good Morning! from Wycliffe's Mobilization Center

Hi

I've worked my way through overnight emails and responded to the most critical ones and a few "easy" ones along the way.

The staff in the Offices of the President has met for prayer together.

I brewed a cup of Chai which I'm enjoying in my 1987 Bethel Alumni mug and I thought I'd say HELLO before I dig in to more work.

The cold temps have produced their needed effects. A few plants were killed off and some of them needed to go anyhow, so that's fine. We officially recorded snow at the Daytona Beach airport, so we've checked that off the list for 2008 as DONE. And this afternoon, when temps return to a high in the low 60's we'll be saying how nice it is to be warm again rather than fussing about how cold it is. Until we dip near freezing for a night or two, we whine in the 60's here. The frosty winds remind us to shut up and enjoy it.

Besides, there are so few days when I crave chili and soup and hot tea...

PL'ing is a good thing...

This past Saturday I traveled with some friends to the Tampa area for a high school cross country meet. When I was in school (you'll notice I did NOT say, "when I ran cross country") our runners used to have dual meets on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. They competed all the time, it seemed. (Good for yearbook photographers like me -- we could wait for a sunny afternoon with little homework to get those riveting shots of people running past. Not so good for runners who competed more that trained once the season began.) There were dozens of schools there -- Varsity and JV, boys and girls. Apparently this is how they do it here in Florida and I think it's brilliant.

My friends' two kids both run for Timber Creek Timber Wolves.

Ellen is a freshman and runs JV -- her team described their race as "we were all just a little off today." They usually compete in the morning and this was a late afternoon meet in the Florida heat and humidity. We were all just a little off when they ran at 4:45pm. Personally I thought they looked pretty strong and competed well. And really, any one who can run over 3 miles and still smile gets my vote.

David, the first born, is captain of the boys' varsity team but he didn't run on Saturday. He was at Yale in a debate tournament. (I'm still trying to get my head around that. I did learn that it's a good thing when your kid is in debate and sends a text message saying "WE BROKE." It means they made it through the first elimination -- in the top half, I think.)

Anyhow, we watched the other races with Timber Creek students competing and at a cross country meet you don't sit on a bench and watch -- you move from place to place on the course and watch then run past. One mile mark. Two mile mark. Finish line.

(Oh, we did sit for a short spell while other races were being run and that ended in a rain storm. I'll not give you those details -- but if you'd have seen us, you would have laughed.)

Both the girls' and boys' varsity teams won their races. It was quite extraordinary to watch. All seven of the runners on the girls' team finished in the first 35 runners. (Yes, I was counting.) And the boys all PL'd (I think that means they got their personal low time -- or I know that's what it means, I just think that's what the letters stand for. "Personal Low.")

So, I have a few things to say about all of this:

1. There may be a lot of crazy people who do stupid, bad stuff and get in the news for it and it can feel like "kids these days" are so bad. There are kids who are pretty cool and who do great things -- like encourage team mates and compete hard and receive praise with a fair mix of satisfaction and humility.
   
2. Yes, sometimes I do miss teaching.
   
3. Go Wolves!
   

Wycliffe's WordSpring

Wycliffe's WordSpring Discovery Center in Orlando, Florida is the place to discover the amazing story of the Bible and to grow in your understanding of Wycliffe's passion: The glory of God through the translation of His Word for all the peoples of the earth in the language and medium they understand best.

Discover how the Bible has been preserved and shared throughout history. Encounter people, languages, and cultures.

WordSpring honors the diverse peoples of the world.

WordSpring showcases the art and science of language development, including Bible translation.

WordSpring celebrates God and His Word.



If you're interested in knowing more, click the title above which will link you to the WordSpring website.

[WordSpring opened just months after I started working with Wycliffe. I arrived in time to provide some "voice" work for a couple of the interactive programs. I've also been involved in the development of new things. If you are planning a central Florida vacation -- Disney, Universal, Sea World, Kennedy Space Center, Cocoa Beach -- you may want to plan a day that includes Wycliffe's WordSpring as well as a tour of the JESUS Film Master Studios just across the pond. Literally. We're neighbors.]