Box Writing

My daughter starts taking the Benchmark test today in school. For weeks, they've been preparing for these tests. It seems like everything has revolved around them. And part of the prep has been learning how to write their answers to certain questions inside a box so that the tests can be graded properly. I can't believe I send my child to a learning institution where they are teaching here--training her!--to write inside the box. Drives me absolutely up a wall.

I don't claim to know anything about education, but I can't see the benefit of these standardized tests--other than to provide some statistics for the school districts. I would much rather that she was learning how to solve problems and figuring out new ways of making things work. I supposed my education wasn't much different, but after three years of International school exposure, the world of bubble filling, box writing and endless worksheets just doesn't seem very effective.

Hopefully, her time in Argenta will help counteract this training. I'm pretty sure most of the people who live there don't even know that there is a box--much less how to stay inside the lines.

Why Do I Feel Like GM's story will be the PCUSA story...

...but without the bailout?

This American Life ran a story this week about the GM Nummi plant closing. It traces why GM--even with the benefit of Japanese manufacturing "secrets"--was still unable to change and survive.

It parallels much of what is happening in the PCUSA (and I'm sure other mainline) churches today.

Resistance to change
Belief that the company would never fold
Too long to obtain the critical mass of leadership who believed change was the answer
Employees who didn't want to take ownership of projects or be responsible for making things better
Lack of support from corporate for divisions who were trying to do things differently


This American Life

If you're reading more than a week after the post, you may need to go to the Previous Stories link and look for Nummi.

My New Fav Song

Jaron and the Long Road to Love

You know we've all thought this!

Monticello

Went to Thomas Jefferson's home today. For those of you dealing with home construction or renovation, take comfort in the knowledge that Jefferson took 40 years to complete Monticello because he kept changing his mind! Courtesy of friend Adam's Uncle Paul, we got access to the Dome Room (or the observatory) that only about 200 people a year get to see. The stair case is too narrow to accommodate a large volume of visitors each year, so it is restricted to special guests. And we got to be special today!

Another great part of the visit was the kids' area at the visitors center. They had replicas of all the things you couldn't touch, use or sit on in the real Monticello available for hands-on activity. We got to sit in the chairs, use the polygraph writing machine like the one Jefferson used to copy his many letters and even lie on a replica of his bed!



Skip and Maddie with our guide in the Dome Room



All of us in the Dome Room



At the side entrance of Monticello



Maddie hard at work as a blacksmith

Jefferson was a man of many talents, but we were particularly impressed with his "10 Rules" for life.


Thomas Jefferson's Ten Rules

1. Never put off tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have earned it.
4. Never buy what you don't want because it is cheap.
5. Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.
6. We seldom repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. How much pain the evils have cost us that never happened.
9. Take things always by the smooth handle.
10. When angry, count ten before you speak, if very angry, count a hundred.

Life and LOST

I've been really frustrated with the final series of LOST that started in February. This is the season in which the writers are supposed to wrap everything up, to answer all the questions, to finally make it all make sense. But all they've done is created more questions and confusions. I've almost given up on it, but my husband keeps urging me to "keep the faith."

However, the last episode (spoiler alert) was a compelling tale of redemption. All of the characters right now are existing in dual realities. Each episode focuses on one particular character and allows us to see them in life on the island and in life is Oceanic Flight 815. Last week's episode was all about Benjamin Linus. On the island, he has been a leader--a devious one--but a leader nonetheless. In that life, he sacrifices his only daughter in order to save himself. In his parallel life, he is a powerless teacher--still devious. He has a chance to ruin the principal and take his job, but in order to do that he would have to derail the college dreams of his favorite student, Alex (his daughter in the island life dimension). This time, he sacrifices his own dream in order for hers to come true. Now it really didn't answer any of the BIG questions, but it was a nice story. And I almost missed it, because I was looking for answers to the big questions, not a tale of redemption.

It's a good life lesson for me. As I'm trying to make a go of it with this struggling little church, there are still not enough people in the pews or enough money in the bank. I can't seem to delegate out tasks and ministries like I should be doing, and there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day, even though I'm putting in a full-time week on a part-time salary. But instead of looking at the big picture, I should be paying attention to the tales of redemption going on all around this funky little historic church. People are finding a place to call home. People who have had no use for church in the past are starting to think about church differently. People are hearing stories from the Bible they've never heard before. People who have been shut out of churches in the past are finding a place to belong.

The writers of LOST have promised us answers. I'm going to believe them. The people who have kept First Pres going when every other church ditched downtown trust that God has plans for this church in this place. I'm going to believe them, too. I will continue to attempt not to measure success in BIPs (butts in pews), but rather look for DIFs (disciples in formation). It's all about the tales of redemption.

The Lost Has Been Found

Today, my husband found my I-pod. It had been missing for almost two weeks--even though I knew it was somewhere in the house. I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit how miserable the loss of the I-pod made my life.

The house is a bigger wreck than usual because I hate, hate, hate household chores. Only being able to plug in to the Wicked soundtrack or the latest installment of Wait! Wait! Don't Tell Me! makes them even begin to be bearable.

Plus, there is the block-out factor. My daughter doesn't get to watch TV during the week, so on the weekend she becomes a television addict. Glued to cartoons and Nickelodean pre-teen comedies in the playroom off the kitchen whenever she doesn't have something else going on. And my uber-sports fan of a husband keeps the television in the bedroom bouncing around between American football (okay, I know that's over for now), international soccer and cricket. My I-pod is often my only escape from the television noise of our weekend life, barring leaving the premises.

It has been an almost Herculean effort to exercise without music blasting between my ears. I bet my muscle-tone has already diminished and my BMI has increased by at least 2 points in the last 10 days.

I know what you're thinking. It's not a good sign that being left alone with my thoughts has just about driven me crazy, but it's really not as bad as it sounds. There are times when I can be silent and open to how my mind is working and what God may be trying to tell me--but only when I can really be silent. I do that in my car or on those rare occasions when I'm home alone or am up (like tonight) after everyone else is asleep or before they wake up in the morning.

I realize that everyone's lives are chaotic. But some of us deal with that chaos better than others. Trying to juggle being an urban pastor and a suburban mom overwhelms me quite frequently. Very rarely do I get the chance to go on silent retreat. But I can plug in those headphones and block out everything else for a period of time while I fold laundry or mop floors and not answer the phone or check e-mails. Quite often a three-minute Christine Kane song does me a lot more good than a three-minute prayer. I'm hoping God is okay with that. I suspect she is.

Facebook Interaction

Below is a friend's post and my reply to that post and another person's reply to my reply. I guess those 90 graduate seminary hours and almost 10 years in the ministry just haven't done it for me. Cracks me up!

Christy Cox Slyby "A womans heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek him first to find her." Author Unknown
about an hour ago · Comment · Like
Derrick Templeton likes this.

Derrick Templeton Love that! (tear)
about an hour ago

Anne Russ I take issue with this. Why would anyone's heart be "hidden" in Christ? And so many people find Jesus through other people (a recent poll suggests that 75 percent of new Christians came to Christ through a friend or relative) that a man is much more likely to find Him because of a woman than he is to find a woman because of Jesus. It's good for a greeting card, but it's not very good theology. Aren't you glad I'm your friend? My arms hurt.
about an hour ago ·

Christy Cox Slyby Anne, you make me laugh.
42 minutes ago

Robin Lindsey Butler I sooo love this!!!@ Anne..as you grow in your knowledge of Christ..this statement will make more sense to you!!!
11 minutes ago