The week finished well and the weather turned fall-ish instead of winter-ish. It was still a nippy 28 degrees this morning with frost but it was over 70 degrees this afternoon with a clear sky.
Not only that, but gas is currently $2.20 per gallon at Wal-Mart.
Tomorrow we're planning to do some fall projects: move wood from the woodpile to the front porch, move the porch swing from the front porch to the garage, Karen's going to tackle some insulation projects while I paint the walls and woodwork in the basement landing. You might remember the earlier blog about my painting the steps while Karen was away. Now our Saturday schedule has cleared to such a point that it looks like we'll be able to finish the job.
Tanner's allergies are still symptomatic. We're keeping him on Benedryl for the time being. It does seem to help.
I'll be playing the drums for worship as well as teaching Men's Sunday School this week. Thanks for checking in. We're so thankful to have you with us as blog followers.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday Evening
Don't you think Karen does a great job with the blog? I'm thrilled with the way she's adapting and learning and writing and taking pictures. If you haven't read yesterday's post by Karen, go a head and scroll down or click on "older" post.
After having Karen work at the the mission for five years on Fridays, having her come in on Thursdays too makes every Thursday now feel like a Friday even though Friday isn't going to arrive until tomorrow. It's a funny feeling. We did have a great day together at the mission. I so appreciate her being there to help me every week. Among other things she handles the phones (what a wonderful relief not to have to stop whatever I'm doing to answer the phone every time it rings as I've been the primary phone answerer at MMS for the past eleven years). That's one responsibility I'll gladly hand off whenever I can. Dwight helps me with the phone on Mondays and Rena on Tuesday afternoons as able.
Today I trained Karen how to process partnership slips for the folks raising support. It's a critical part of the "partnership" process. It includes sorting the slips received over the past week, sending the correct thank you letters for the specific partnership pledged, organizing and mailing packets for the respective missionaries, updating quota sheets, and distributing related information to me as well as to accounting.
I also facilitated our 4th group meeting related to creating a team vision. We meet for two hours every other Thursday in order to provide a group forum to brainstorm, discuss concerns, share ideas, troubleshoot organizational issues, and encourage open communication between all members of our group. With effective communication being the basis for healthy relationships, we're all learning how to become better communicators. It's not easy, but I'm so proud of everyone at the mission as this whole process is way out of most of our comfort zones and is a lot harder than fixing airplanes.
Here I am getting this morning's meeting started.
I'm sure everyone would appreciate your prayers throughout this process. I know I sure will!
After having Karen work at the the mission for five years on Fridays, having her come in on Thursdays too makes every Thursday now feel like a Friday even though Friday isn't going to arrive until tomorrow. It's a funny feeling. We did have a great day together at the mission. I so appreciate her being there to help me every week. Among other things she handles the phones (what a wonderful relief not to have to stop whatever I'm doing to answer the phone every time it rings as I've been the primary phone answerer at MMS for the past eleven years). That's one responsibility I'll gladly hand off whenever I can. Dwight helps me with the phone on Mondays and Rena on Tuesday afternoons as able.
Today I trained Karen how to process partnership slips for the folks raising support. It's a critical part of the "partnership" process. It includes sorting the slips received over the past week, sending the correct thank you letters for the specific partnership pledged, organizing and mailing packets for the respective missionaries, updating quota sheets, and distributing related information to me as well as to accounting.
I also facilitated our 4th group meeting related to creating a team vision. We meet for two hours every other Thursday in order to provide a group forum to brainstorm, discuss concerns, share ideas, troubleshoot organizational issues, and encourage open communication between all members of our group. With effective communication being the basis for healthy relationships, we're all learning how to become better communicators. It's not easy, but I'm so proud of everyone at the mission as this whole process is way out of most of our comfort zones and is a lot harder than fixing airplanes.
Here I am getting this morning's meeting started.I'm sure everyone would appreciate your prayers throughout this process. I know I sure will!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Meet Kerry and Jackson
Kerry and Jackson came for a visit today. Kerry Croghan is the daughter of our pastor at Fresno Bible Church. She and her husband Ben work with the youth at our church among many other responsibilities.
Kerry and I used to visit often until about a year ago. In fact, our visits often ended with a prayer asking for the blessing of a baby. Jackson is the answer to those prayers. God is so good! We celebrated Jackson's first birthday earlier this month. He's a delightful little guy and Ben and Kerry are such good parents. It was fun to have Kerry and Jackson come for lunch and some play time today.
Kerry and I used to visit often until about a year ago. In fact, our visits often ended with a prayer asking for the blessing of a baby. Jackson is the answer to those prayers. God is so good! We celebrated Jackson's first birthday earlier this month. He's a delightful little guy and Ben and Kerry are such good parents. It was fun to have Kerry and Jackson come for lunch and some play time today.
Being only one year old, it takes a brave little guy to visit our three dog household! As you can see in this picture, Tucker (the smallest of our dogs) is still taller than Jackson when she stands on two paws. Jackson was great with the dogs. He was a little leary of their barking when he arrived but he gave them some space at first and then was brave enough to go right up and let them sniff his hands. Great job Jackson!
Hey! Jackson! Where'd you get that hat? Is that the Phillies Phanatic?
GO PHILLIES!!!!!!
Have a great day in the Lord and take time to appreciate every little blessing that comes from above.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
It Shouldn't be Winter in October
Since I've stated my weather opinion in the title of this post, I don't really need to cover the subject in today's entry. Instead, I'll focus on a couple project updates. But I tell you what, it's dark, gray, cold, and damp out here. When we started having the snow flurries yesterday, the guys in the hangar played a Beach Boys song over the PA in my honor. Jolly.
Honduran 206
The guys continue to push the project ahead as much as they can without additional funds. Josh is tasked with repairing one wing's leading edge. Making the repair will save the mission the $1,000 a new leading edge would cost.
Josh fabricates the repair.
Chad 206
The restoration of the Chad 206 is complete. Now the focus is on completing the mountain of paperwork required by the FAA in order to verify all the parts repaired and/or replaced meet standards and that all repairs have been properly made. This is a monumental task with a project of this nature.
Dale, Gertjan, and Paul coordinate paperwork.
Moody 182
Scott L. is overhauling the retractable landing gear system on Moody Aviation's Cessna 182.
Scott inspects the nose gear fork prior to reassembly.
Admin
The past two days I've focused on preparing immigration paperwork for one of our apprentices already in the hangar and for an approved candidate who's preparing to come over from the United Kingdom. I should have everything wrapped up and in the mail tomorrow. This afternoon was spent preparing for Thursday's group discussion related to defining a vision for MMS. I'll continue my preparation along those lines tomorrow.
Stay warm and stay dry!
Honduran 206
The guys continue to push the project ahead as much as they can without additional funds. Josh is tasked with repairing one wing's leading edge. Making the repair will save the mission the $1,000 a new leading edge would cost.
Josh fabricates the repair.Chad 206
The restoration of the Chad 206 is complete. Now the focus is on completing the mountain of paperwork required by the FAA in order to verify all the parts repaired and/or replaced meet standards and that all repairs have been properly made. This is a monumental task with a project of this nature.
Dale, Gertjan, and Paul coordinate paperwork.Moody 182
Scott L. is overhauling the retractable landing gear system on Moody Aviation's Cessna 182.
Scott inspects the nose gear fork prior to reassembly.Admin
The past two days I've focused on preparing immigration paperwork for one of our apprentices already in the hangar and for an approved candidate who's preparing to come over from the United Kingdom. I should have everything wrapped up and in the mail tomorrow. This afternoon was spent preparing for Thursday's group discussion related to defining a vision for MMS. I'll continue my preparation along those lines tomorrow.
Stay warm and stay dry!
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