September 27, 2012

• Another Page - in Pictures

  

  I am now a productive member of the Operations Training staff. This photo is me watching a crew in the simulator. I'm operating the controls that run the simulation. Although I don't have a photo, I've also finished presenting my first course to the 5 crews who run the control rooms. I was well received, and am thankful for that. 

   

  I had my birthday on Aug 24. The weather vane is what I bought with an Amazon gift certificate from my mom. It's very cool. The cups spin and the hummingbird arrow turns in a fairly light breeze. The other photo is one of my butterfly garden earlier this month. If you squint, you can see the giant pumpkin in the back. The asters are now in full bloom.

  

  This is an odd one. I've had this Hoya Carnosa plant for a few years. It's vinelike, but never produced more than a few waxy leaves. I finally got it into some more direct sunlight and the vine grew quite a bit. One day, I noticed color around the leaves. I honestly thought I was seeing some artificial flower that was hiding behind the real plant, but no - it actually bloomed!  The blooms have almost no fragrance and are very waxy (fake) looking in appearance. Interesting.

  

  Ministry world continues to go well. Our Saturday services continue to be well attended and deeply appreciated. We are frequently getting supportive comments about how some residents ONLY come to our Lilac Ministry services because we lack a particular critical air that others seem to have when they preach in those facilities. Our desire is to present a service that "creates dwelling place" for the "alien, orphan, and widow." 

  On Wednesday evenings, we hold a Bible Study at one of the residences. It's a small room that should only hold about 8, but we routinely have 12 plus or minus a couple any given week. The interesting thing - at least 3 - 4, not counting Donna and me, are people who are NOT residents, but make a point to attend. It's been a real spiritual blessing.

  The photo above is our new location for a monthly silent meeting we hold. We moved, since this location is closer to where those who have an interest in our Quaker-styled silent prayer meeting. We tried it out in September, and expect more to come in October.

  

  @SaintVI and I went geocaching with @murisopsis and @olddogsparky not too long ago. I saw these few unharvested stalks of corn in the middle of the field. Don't know why - but it seems an interesting picture, kind of like there's a parable in it somewhere.

  

  Yesterday, Vi and I went geocaching on my last vacation day. I found my "official" 300th cache here!  Except for @SaintVi and @Joyouswind ... none of it would be logged, as they are the ones who keep up with the geocache website.

  

  A beautiful sight. I blogged not too long ago that I had finished painting/sealing the basement. This is the storage shed we had about half filled. After some diligent sorting and disposing, the shed is now cleaned and returned to the owners. And we are now free of that $70/mo bill. Amen!

  

  Took a trip to Arkansas to see Melinda's nephew, Nathan marry his beloved Maggie. Along the way, we stopped at the George Washington Carver National Park. That man was one of the most humble and talented and brilliant men ever born into our nation. In addition to his scientific expertise, he could knit, paint, write, and speak inspirationally. He was also an incredible man of faith, making a point to rise at 4 AM every day to talk a prayer walk in the forest with his Lord.

  

  I think @SaintVi may have already shared this story. Behind her is the "Funk Rest Area Cache" where she did the Funky Roach dance singing "Get it off me! Get it off me!" while @joyouswind kept a safe distance and I attempted to brush the wretched creature off her butt, and then off her pant leg, and then off her shoe while not getting stepped on in the middle of her dance.

  

  The bug was about this size ...   Well, maybe not, but from the song and dance, one would've thought so.  Best laugh I've had in a while.  Oh, and Val ...there really were spiders in that cache.

  

  Stealth shot of my best buddy, and in-law bro, Danny. We were at the pre-wedding, post-rehearsal dinner. The photo is funny, because neither of us are anywhere near that serious most of the time.

  

  The wedding. Everything seemed to go very well.

  

  HAH!  I have the ONLY photos of the bride and groom LEAVING the wedding reception. So there.

  

  And speaking of weddings, we did a trip down memory lane after leaving Fayetteville. This is a sign at the place where Vi and I tied the knot. I really liked seeing what was written on it:

  Dedicated to teaching Christians to share Jesus Christ and to inspire persons to wholeness.

  I think that captures a great deal of my own spiritual heart.

  

  We also went by the apartment complex where I rented my first apartment back in 1979. By golly if it wasn't only there - it was in pretty good shape!

  

  And finally - a photo of me on Dickson Street in Fayetteville after the wedding. The few remaining family members at the time didn't know where I was. When Maggie spotted me, she said: "It's just like looking for 'Where's Waldo!'"

  If  she only knew ...

   

   

  • 10:25 pm
  • 11 Comments