Trouble in Paradise

It's been quite the week. Last week I was to preach in Copper Mountain. I decided to start a series of six sermons that I had done some years before, elsewhere. I was quite confident that it would be of interest to those people. When there, I found out that there was no interpreter for the Spanish speaking people. Finally, a little boy was chosen to be the interpreter. I had to hand it to the boy, he had courage. I suggested that instead of translating from the back to the Hispanics, that he join me at the front. I would speak one sentence, and he could follow sentence by sentence. He didn't want to do that. (It might have been a mess anyway.)

The problem with my speaking from the front and not hearing him interpret is that I have a hard time not speaking fast. There was a microphone in front of his face. He'd lift it up and it would slowly make its way down. He'd lift it again and again gravity would pull it down. So another little boy tried to help him. The problem with that was that they'd get into a conversation when he should have been communicating.

The whole exercise was frustrating, but what can you do? Sometimes the Lord allows your day to be messed up just to see how you handle the situation. It was the worst sermon I've preached in ten years, but, in the end, a good time was had by all.

We are in the middle of a lifestyle session. It's been a rough go. As you know, we deal more and more with cancer patients. But more and more they come to us with one foot in the grave. Among the 15 originals, two are dying. As usual, the Lifestyle guests are very sympathetic toward each other. This, however, proved to be a problem. Not only do they feel obligated to help, but they also feel upset because their time here is disturbed with a lot of drama. Finally, they sat me down and let me have it.

About 95% of our sessions are super appreciated, but occasionally, there is a group that finds fault with everything. I suppose that is a bit of an exaggeration. They did not find fault with everything, but they didn't spend a lot of time telling me about the things they didn't fault. I sat and listened and finally apologized for all our shortcomings. In an instance like this, defending one's actions is futile. The  people, when upset, don't listen to excuses or the defense of self. They deserve to be heard and acknowledged. So that is what I did. The camp has been quiet since and if nothing else go wrong, we might finish our session with some positive reviews.

Things have been so difficult in the Lifestyle center that Leasa decided not to go to the European GYC meetings. That is great for EVI, but it caused some consternation elsewhere. Namely at the Ford residence. Vanessa and Christina were suppose to go with Leasa. In the aftermath of Leasa's decision, Vanessa and Christina would need to navigate Europe (Austria and Austria to Hungary) by themselves.  Leasa felt she couldn't go and leave the Lifestyle Center without a shepherdess. When Memere heard of this plan she offered to take care of the Lifestyle Center for Leasa. In this way she saved the day, both for Leasa and our granddaughters. No doubt, the Ford parents are feeling some degree of relief also.

Memere is he heroin once again. Hey, had the stars lined up differently, I might have married some airhead from Hanmer or something.

Besides all of that, I am stuck to have to prepare 9 sermons in two weeks. Well, I've got one week left before I go to the Oak Haven Convention and then I'll have a couple of extra days. The good news is that I've got two sermons prepared already. Lord help me.

I am scheduled to represent ASI in Poland at an ASI Poland Convention in Dec. I will be speaking there on the Law of God. I got an e-mail today asking for the ideas behind each sermon with the foundational bible texts. Besides that they want an article to be printed in their bulletin. Oh, and guess what? They want it now, like in toute suite. Well anyway, I can't produce that much that quickly. I had to tell them so. They apologized. I must have sounded impatient. I hope not.

Ok, you just wasted another perfectly good five minutes. Better go back to work.

(Oh, I forgot to tell you. I had three teeth fall out this week. Well, not exactly. Three crowns fell out. I went to find a dentist (five actually). They wanted $84 just to look at my face. They don't realize that I charge more than that for anyone to get a peek at this famous mug. We couldn't agree so I'm waiting for the Lord to find someone to help me with the missing grinders.)

That's how you become in self-supporting work. If you've been in it long enough you know there is someone out there that will do it for less. (Is that bad?) Would a pastor do that?

What follows is a picture of my visitors from Africa. Weirdos.