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Project 365

Prayer Conference

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We are enjoying the Prayer Conference (I think now they call it the Impact Prayer Seminar) at Jefferson Baptist Church. Today we had three sessions and then a dinner afterwards — delicious steak and potatoes and rolls and green beans. The church here really rolls out the red carpet for the 200-odd (in some cases very odd) pastors and lay-leaders in attendance.

We have attended this conference at least three times before (maybe four) — but there is so much information to absorb, and it is great to get a refresher course every two years or so.

Pastor Duke taught on goals for one of the sessions today -- always good to be encouraged in that area.

Pastor Duke taught on goals for one of the sessions today — always good to be encouraged in that area.

The conference includes about 16 hours of teaching from Pastor Duke, but he mixes it up with lots of fun illustrations, and is very easy to listen to. Usually by Tuesday night our brains are bursting, and we just want to go back to the hotel and veg-out.

We usually don't bring our kids to this seminar until they are 15, but David and Sarah are both very mature.

We usually don’t bring our kids to this seminar until they are 15, but David and Sarah are both very mature.

This year Daniel stayed home (he has school on Tuesday and Wednesday) so hopefully he is taking good care of the cats, and vice-versa. I’m sure we’ll come back all fired-up with new passion and enthusiasm for bearing much fruit for God’s Kingdom!

Project 365, Day 19
Tim

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Tim the Handy Man

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Although I have several skills and abilities, home maintenance and wood-working are not among them. I have a certain anti-genius when it comes to projects around the house.

I'm hoping that David is not like me in this regard.

I’m hoping that David is not like me in this regard.

Whenever I forget who I am, and attempt a household project, it usually follows a certain pattern:

1) I identify the problem and purchase the necessary supplies.
2) Several months go by. (Although some might credit my natural laziness, there is another explanation.)
3) Kathy makes occasional remarks about how nice it is that I have the supplies for the project.
4) I spend a half-hour rounding up the tools I will need. Kathy helpfully points me to the supplies that have been cluttering up her living room for the past 8 weeks.
5) Cautiously, I begin the project.
6) Something goes wrong. Something always goes wrong.
7) In an attempt to fix whatever goes wrong, I damage the thing I’m trying to fix, and I usually waste about 1/3 of the supplies I purchased.
8) I begin to casually speculate about whether I could burn the house down, and make it look like an accident.
9) I spend several hours trying to get back to where we were, before I started this ill-fated project.
10) I go out and purchase more supplies.
11) I eventually cobble together a solution that mostly addresses whatever went badly wrong.
12) I finish the project, which usually looks like a demented four-year-old has savaged it with a reciprocating saw.
13) I vow to never again get sucked into a home maintenance project.

You can see why (2) above usually lasts several months. It takes me a good while to forget how inept I am.

As it turns out, when you force a caster-sleeve into a hole that is too small, things start to go badly wrong.

As it turns out, when you force a caster-sleeve into a hole that is too small, things start to go badly wrong.

Today, I must’ve had a fever, because I attempted three projects, and finished two of them. Although the first project didn’t really accomplish anything, we got off pretty lightly ($16 in supplies, and no permanent damage). The second project was a smashing success, if you don’t mind that the blinds I installed aren’t the same color as the ones to the left or right of it. And so far, there have been no serious losses in the third project.

I was trying to put new casters on Kathy's computer chair, to make it higher (and so it would roll more easily). Neither objective was achieved.

I was trying to put new casters on Kathy’s computer chair, to make it higher (and so it would roll more easily). Neither objective was achieved.

Never mind that we’ve been without a window blind for 18 months.

Just don't look too closely at the color of this blind.

Just don’t look too closely at the color of this blind.

I’m telling you, I am a brilliant anti-genius among handymen. Want me to come over and work on your place?

Project 365, Day 18
Tim

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Holidays, Project 365

Holding on to Christmas

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When January comes, and everyone goes back to work or school, there is a tendency to move on from Christmas. Trees and wreaths dry up and begin to lose their needles; you need to clear them out if you don’t want pine needles to be still turning up in your carpet when your grandchildren have grandchildren.

Some people feel like they can’t really get started with the new year (with its new resolutions, diets, and fresh starts) if they leave all the Christmas decorations hanging around until Valentines’ Day. So pretty much every house on our street has taken down (or at least turned off) their Christmas lights.

Every house except ours.

You can see Daniel and David on the porch, if you squint, and use your imagination.

You can see Daniel and David on the porch, if you squint, and use your imagination.

Well, actually, there are two other houses on our street that still have lights. One is right next door, which makes me smile. Maybe houses are like people, and they prefer not to stand alone against social pressure.

Even the garage is festooned with lights and bows.

Even the garage is festooned with lights and bows.

This year, Kathy went all-out in lighting the porch and the bushes. She picked up a few of those pretty star-lights at a garage sale this past summer, and I think the house looked very festive. So I am feeling a bit stubborn about allowing the lights to be taken down — after all, who says you have to stop celebrating Christmas in January?

I really like the red bows and the star lights.

I really like the red bows and the star lights.

We have a fake tree (which makes Joshua sad), so we don’t even have to worry about the needles. There is something about coming down the stairs in the dark of the morning, and seeing the lights shining on the tree, with all our red, blue and gold decorations gleaming happily — it warms a deep, quiet place in my heart that remembers all those Christmas trees of past Christmases.

I think many of us wish we could recapture the special way we felt about Christmas when we were young children, and we’re always disappointed that we cannot ever really experience the full range of that innocent wonder. I suppose we can’t feel that way anymore because we are jaded by disappointments and the slow attrition of the years on our souls. Having a Christmas tree shine a few extra days (or weeks) is my way of resisting that hardening of the heart. And yes, I’m still listening to Christmas carols on Pandora as I write this blog post.

Sooner or later, Kathy’s love for variety will kick in, and she’ll insist we take down the tree and the outside lights. But until then, Christmas still reigns.

It may be a fake tree, but I still love it.

It may be a fake tree, but I still love it.

One of my favorite Christmas movies is A Christmas Carol (I prefer the version with Patrick Stewart, but I don’t mind watching any of the other six renditions that we have). I have always aspired to be like Ebenezer Scrooge in his redeemed form, and this quote about him is what I would like people to think or say about me:

His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge.

Project 365, Day 17
Tim

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Project 365

A Cat of All Chairs

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Although we pretend that we have our own lives and purposes, the truth of the matter is that we exist to open doors and metal cans for our cats, and to serve them in any other little way that amuses them.

Marco, our Maine Coon cat, particularly enjoys demonstrating his mastery over all the two-legged creatures. His favorite way of asserting dominance is to steal his victim’s chair when they get up, and then he acts surprised and offended when they come back to sit down.

Who, me? No, I've been sitting in this chair all evening.

Who, me? No, I’ve been sitting in this chair all evening.

For many years, we lived without cats, and it was not good for us. We used to think that we were in charge of the house, and that we were entitled to pursuing our own respective agendas.

You may bow to me. I occupy the seat of POWER!

You may bow to me. I occupy the seat of POWER!

No more. I think God created cats to ensure that people learned humility. The contemptuous disdain of their bored glance, their treatment of everyone as furniture, and their belief that the world is one large litter box all communicates clearly that we are here to serve them.

Yes, you may sit on the floor, lowly human.

Yes, you may sit on the floor, lowly human.

Oh, excuse me, I need to go. His highness wants a snack.

Project 365, Day 15.

Tim

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Project 365, Rachel

Staying Connected

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One of the main reasons for the resurrection of Project 365, has been that our blog writing last year was not very impressive. It earned us a fairly high level of collective scorn from the kids who were away at college.

Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be much of a problem, because college students are renowned for being poor communicators. Most of them head off to school blithely, and the next time you hear from them, it is time to come home for the summer.

But not our kids. They are very intentional about calling us, and Skype-ing us nearly every weekend. Joshua set the pattern when he went off to school, and Rachel must have assumed it was normal behavior. It is all very nice, but it makes it hard to be a slacker parent.

Rachel is pretty, even when she's a digital picture of a Skype screen.

Rachel is pretty, even when she’s a digital picture of a Skype screen.

Today Rachel wanted to connect with us all, so we fired up Skype on Kathy’s computer, but soon ran into technical problems. So Joshua whipped out his laptop, and we all gathered around to talk with her about the class she is taking for January Term, and how she is doing in general.

We are especially thankful for Joshua and Rachel's close relationship.

We are especially thankful for Joshua and Rachel’s close relationship.

It was delightful to hear from her. We are very thankful that our college kids remember to connect with us, notwithstanding my resentful tone.

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