Fame

I had a unique opportunity today which was very exciting. Lincoln Christian Seminary presented Diane Langberg as their Lectureship Speaker. I know most people have never heard of her but she is a fairly well known author and speaker in the Christian Counseling world. It was an honor just to get to hear her speak but I happen to have a connection that enabled me to eat lunch with her before her noon Q&A session. Just me, my friend Cindy and Diane. It was very cool.

It's strange when you have read so much of someone's material that when you meet them you feel like you know them and know their heart but they haven't a clue who you are! She's probably the most "famous" person I've ever met and I found myself stumbling over words and feeling like a big idiot. Thank goodness she's a very patient and gracious person. Interesting isn't it, how worked up we can get over just a normal person. Anyway, it was a really neat experience and one that taught me that God can use ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

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Blizzard!

It might be the most snow I've ever seen around here! This pic is of our 130 lb. labrador in our back yard. Keep in mind, he's about as big as a horse, so this really was a ton of snow. The drifts were at least 4 ft. tall in some places and I heard reports of drifts as tall as 8 ft. Such a fierce display of God's majesty made me very thankful I have a warm home to hide in.

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Exercise rut

I have found myself in the exercise rut I get in every winter. When it's warm out I like to walk and jog outside. I did that a lot this past summer mostly because it was something to do with W and he loves riding in his stroller. So when we were bored with our inside toys we'd walk, and walk and walk some more. Come October/November it starts getting a little breezy and colder so we don't get out as much. But I still make a conscious effort to do something whether it's lifting free weights, doing some yoga stretches, or forcing myself to take a brisk walk around the block with my dog. I do pretty good with that until either the first snowfall or the first sickness. Since this winter has actually been pretty well characterized by both, I don't even remember the last time I exercised. Which lands me in a vicious cycle I like to call the exercise rut. I have energy and feel good when I exercise regularly and when I don't exercise regularly I have little energy and no motivation. So when I'm not exercising regularly I'm very unmotivated to begin exercising again after having not for a while. See my dilemma?
So I was excited this year when our church announced they were starting this walk to Jerusalem program. They are hoping as a church body we can walk some 6,000 miles (the distance from here to Jerusalem) before Easter. I thought this would be my chance to get back on track. I thought having my name posted on our fellowship center wall with my progress would motivate me and be good accountability. But it's not making a bit of difference. My goal was to get up at 5:30 three days a week to lift freeweights or take a walk even if it's cold. But my bed is oh so warm at 5:30 in the morning and it's way too easy to reach over and turn the alarm off. I tried lifting freeweights later in the day but W was way too interested in what I was doing and I accidentally bonked him in the head with one of my weights. I'm sick again too which rules out the possibility of walking outside in this frigid weather. Apparently I'm not nearly as disciplined as I once thought I was! Any suggestions?

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Church Prison

I am so frazzled right now that I just have to write about this experience I just had. As a counselor, the State requires several things of me in order for me to be able to keep my license. One of those things is that I receive supervision by a more experienced, higher licensed counselor. I meet with a counselor who uses an office in a local church here. She has warned me several times about the custodian at the church who tends to treat people poorly and that I need to be sure to check in at the office downstairs so as to avoid his wrath.
Well, guess who I ran into today on my way to check in at the office...Cut-Throat Custodian. I was aghast at how rudely I was questioned and interrogated. Now tell me honestly, do I really give the first impression that I'm someone who would rape and pillage a church during broad daylight while there are several staff members working throughout the building?
There are two things that make me very sad about this situation.
First, if I was a nervous and hesitant client coming for my first counseling session I would have bolted at the first sign of conflict from Cut-Throat Custodian. It takes some people months to work up the courage just to schedule an appointment with a counselor so encountering this on a first visit wouldn't exactly lend itself itself to being the first healing step on a long road to recovery.
Second, and possibly most important, is this what our world has come to? Don't we want churches to be a safe place for people to explore their journey to God? What if I had been an unchurched person experiencing this as my first church experience? What kind of impression would that have left on me? I understand the need to guard against vandalism, abuse of property, etc...but do we really have to treat our churches like they are prisons in order to accomplish God's will?
After my supervisor had vouched for my good intentions and I was released, I gathered up what ego strength I had left after being treated like some kind of criminal. She informed me that our Cut-Throat Custodian friend has only been at the church for a few months. Guess where his previous career was. The Prison.

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