...okay, so last Friday evening we finally took down the Christmas tree and decorations. That is not the reason I switched to a green font today; I think you'll catch the connection to the green as I make my way through this.
Beth made this awesome "pizza dip" for us to devour while we got the living room back to "normal" on Friday evening. Sunday evening is traditionally "leftover" night in the Kinzel home, so with Friday's work behind us, this Sunday I happily chowed down on what I thought was the last of the pizza dip.
I went on to spend the night and all day Monday dealing with my stomach (and at least one other unmentionable body part) letting me know that there was something foreign and extremely unwanted in my body. I automatically linked it to either where we had lunch on Sunday or brunch on Saturday.
This morning I happened to notice the untouched container of "pizza dip leftovers" in the fridge. It was still very early in the morning and my body was still rebounding from the "internal conflict" of the previous 36 hours but my brain was still able to make the unpleasant connection: I had not eaten the pizza dip on Sunday night. I don't know about your fridge, but there are times when ours becomes host to long-forgotten Tupperware containers and their contents. Disgusting conclusion: I had rediscovered one of those on Sunday evening.
This morning, I watched Beth and the girls eat breakfast as we tried to recall what "could have been" in that container. The "eewwwwwww!" factor grew as we remembered meals from days and then weeks ago...and still couldn't come up with anything that sounded like it could have resembled that pizza dip.
As I click this, the unpleasant reality is that I have no idea whatsoever what I ate or how long it had been lurking in the back of our fridge.
Note to self: buy a grease pencil so you can put dates and contents on all Tupperware containers
that make their way to the fridge.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Dry but expectant, so...
...it must be Monday. That has been the rhythm of my weeks for as long as I can remember. It is late Monday night and I feel about as creative as a flannel graph from the seventies. Still, the weekly pressure looms. Sunday's message needs to be in the hands of the translator by Wednesday morning.
It still staggers me how positive the response has been since we began offering written copies of my messages on Sundays. Being an old radio dog apparently has some benefits. I teach pretty much straight from a manuscript; I have all along (despite the efforts of some to break me of it!). About two years ago, as God began to drastically transform the make-up of the church (with a staggering in-flux of "exploring Ecuadorians") we began making written copies of the day's message available for ESL folks as they came in on Sunday. They were more thrilled than we could have imagined; saying that being able to listen while following with their eyes was a major boost to their comprehension. Many mentioned how they would take the script home (or to the office) to keep going over it during the week -- and even share it with people around them. About three months ago we got the idea to tap the brilliance of our extremely bilingual secretary and began putting out the script in parallel, bilingual form -- side-by-side in English and Spanish. Response has stunned us; not only the gratitude of the people but the way many are spreading the messages around long after they leave here -- some even by leading their own Bible studies! Plus, many of the "gringos" are grateful to have the opportunity to continue to polish their Spanish.
We never could have guessed that God would use something like this as such a uniquely powerful tool. Between 100 and 150 scripts leave here every Sunday morning. Encouraging yet humbling and occasionally intimidating, especially when it involves getting a lesson written so early in the week. Still, literally every week I am stunned as God leads me from dryness to inspiration to insight to polishing to presentation. Ironically, even this blog feels as dry as dust. I suspect I will be back to it in the coming days, for a little more refinement...of me and of it!
It still staggers me how positive the response has been since we began offering written copies of my messages on Sundays. Being an old radio dog apparently has some benefits. I teach pretty much straight from a manuscript; I have all along (despite the efforts of some to break me of it!). About two years ago, as God began to drastically transform the make-up of the church (with a staggering in-flux of "exploring Ecuadorians") we began making written copies of the day's message available for ESL folks as they came in on Sunday. They were more thrilled than we could have imagined; saying that being able to listen while following with their eyes was a major boost to their comprehension. Many mentioned how they would take the script home (or to the office) to keep going over it during the week -- and even share it with people around them. About three months ago we got the idea to tap the brilliance of our extremely bilingual secretary and began putting out the script in parallel, bilingual form -- side-by-side in English and Spanish. Response has stunned us; not only the gratitude of the people but the way many are spreading the messages around long after they leave here -- some even by leading their own Bible studies! Plus, many of the "gringos" are grateful to have the opportunity to continue to polish their Spanish.
We never could have guessed that God would use something like this as such a uniquely powerful tool. Between 100 and 150 scripts leave here every Sunday morning. Encouraging yet humbling and occasionally intimidating, especially when it involves getting a lesson written so early in the week. Still, literally every week I am stunned as God leads me from dryness to inspiration to insight to polishing to presentation. Ironically, even this blog feels as dry as dust. I suspect I will be back to it in the coming days, for a little more refinement...of me and of it!
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