OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR

OK - I HAVE IT FIGURED OUT

I kind of miss this blog (sometimes) and people have told me they've missed reading it for whatever reason.

I especially miss it when I've been somewhere that I'd like to share both experiences and pictures.

From the beginning, I've done my pastor's wife blog Monday - Friday, so I've decided that I'll add the personal where-I've-been-and-what-I've-done stuff on weekends.

Not every weekend, because sometimes I haven't been or done a thing.

I will continue to focus on ministry Monday - Friday.

So make sure you check out  the other blog.

MAYBE THIS IS IT ...

One August afternoon three and a half years ago, I said to Ken, "I think I want to start a blog. Something about church, something about teaching kids, something to give ideas and suggestions to people in ministry."

And Ken said, "Sounds like a good idea. Go for it."

So, go for it I did - for about three weeks and then my world turned upside down when we learned Ken had cancer. The blog which started out as a ministry blog soon morphed into a status update on Ken and then after his death, our life together. The blog was a good way for me to share some of the thoughts I was having and I am thankful I had an outlet to express myself and for you - my loyal readers.

Then one day last July, a young pastor's wife (with whom I've discussed a lot of things) said, "Hey, Linda, if you're going to write a book for pastor's wives, hurry up - I have a lot of questions."

And I thought, "Maybe I could do a pastor's wife blog!"

I started that very day and it's been happening since then.

But the frustration once again set in. Doing both my regular blog and the pastor's wife blog is a lot of writing and because I do both of them, I feel like I don't do what I would like to do with either.

So I've decided to stop this blog - and concentrate on the other one.

For several reasons.

1. I feel the other blog is sort of a ministry and I like providing answers and discussion with pastors' wives.

2. I can include some of the ideas I had when I first started blogging, sharing ideas for kids/youth and the overall congregation.

3. I can focus. (Sometimes with this blog I feel extremely unfocused.) I didn't feel it served a purpose anymore.

4. I am truly trying to stay off the computer some. Since I work at the computer all day, I need to take a break at night.

BUT - I would like ya'all to come with me.

Because not everything is JUST for pastors' wives. For instance, this week we're talking about welcoming a new pastor (and I have good comments from two of my loyal readers with additional great ideas).

And I still include stories from our own ministry (like the lady with the diarrhea one - you'll have to read it in the archives).

Hopefully, it will be valuable for not only pastors' wives, but anyone who attends church.

So, will you come with me (if you haven't already)?

www.thepracticalpw.wordpress.com       

(Meanwhile, this one will sit. I'll see how this works and if I want to come out of retirement - but I don't think so.)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY :)

THE CAT HAS CLAWS AT THE END OF HIS PAUSE

THE COMMA SAYS PAUSE AT THE END OF THE CLAUSE

HUNH?

So, I'm on book #12 for the year and I've read some good ones.

And then I read #12. I won't share the title, but I'll give you the plot.

Mikki, a policewoman is coming home late one night during a rain storm and has to make a bridge inspection, but instead finds no bridge but a smashed car which belonged to an old boyfriend (he's unconscious) and his wife (she's dead). Mikki calls an ambulance and the police. The ambulance comes and takes the husband to the hospital and then Mikki checks out where the bridge is and disappears herself. Literally and literaturally.

The husband(a lawyer) gains consciousness, says he was pushed off the road by a white SUV and then his secretary is arrested for murder, but the lawyer says she couldn't have done it even though she's been blackmailed because someone says that her brother who was killed in the war is really alive and she needed money.  A detective realizes that the same person who killed the lawyer's wife, killed a man named Micah four years ago and his suspected killer is on death row. So the lawyer and another policewoman (not the Mikki lady - she's still disappeared) are out to find out what happened. But then the secretary from jail tells him his dead wife had an anniversary present for him which is actually a deed to property they've always wanted. The lawyer and the policewoman go to the property and are shot at by someone in a while SUV.  Then they discover that the secretary didn't murder the wife and that the guy on death row didn't really murder the Micah guy either. They find that out because they just happen on a DVD in a locker in a bowling alley. But when the chief is going to call and get the guy cleared from death row, he stages an accident so he can't get there in time.

Meanwhile the lawyer finds old railroad tracks buried by the river on his property. No one knew the tracks were there so he visits a railroad hobbyist. Then he and the policewoman start digging around with another lawyer and the railroad guy and then a lady comes floating down the river because she fell out of a canoe and then the lawyer rescues her and they're in the woods and then the bad guys come in their canoe and the rescued lady happens to be blind and finds a cave and they all go into the cave to hide from the bad guys and there's a whole train in there. Then the bad guys blow up the cave and they get stuck. So even though the train is many years old, they start the train and break out of the cave. But the bad guys are there and shoot them.

But they shoot back and one guy gets caught in a tree. And later back at the house the blind girl finds a yearbook under the couch and ... 

Then it says to be continued!   GOOD GRIEF!

I GUESS I GOT MY ANSWER

SCENE: Church hallway - picking up a 6yo and a 9yo from their classrooms after church, each with a huge piece of construction paper decorated with hearts, a notice about next week's verse, a notice about something I didn't read and a collection of heart-shaped lollipops and pins in the shape of crosses, and a stapled-together miscellaneous piece of paper.

SCENE: Walking across the windy church parking lot. Children no longer holding any papers, but me holding all of them.

ME: How come I always end up carryng the papers?

9yo: Because ....  (Quickly she whispers in her sister's ear, attempting to get her sister to say something to me. Her sister refuses.)  Because ... (she repeats).

ME: Because what?

9yo: Because we're too sophisticated.

ME: Hmmm. You're too sophisticated to carry your papers?

9yo/6yo:  Right.

Silence.

9yo: Grandma?

ME:  Yes?

9yo: What does sophisticated mean?

THE MARSHMALLOW TEST

Have you heard about the marshmallow test?

This is how you do it -

1. Put your child (four-year-olds were the group originally studied) at a table with a marshmallow in front of her.

2. Explain the rules.  Tell your child that you have to go do something but will soon return. If she waits until you return, she'll get another marshmallow.  Make sure the child understands the second marshmallow for waiting.

3. Go out of the room and wait between 5 and 20 minutes until you come back.

4. If the child still has his marshmallow, give her another marshmallow.

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Why would you do this?

Well this was originally done 40 years ago by Stanford University Psychology Department. The children were followed throughout life. The ones who waited scored an average of 210 points higher on their SATs and had more confidence, concentration and a sense of responsibility as adults.

In fact, the differences between those who ate and those who waited were HUGE. The ones who waited had more success in marriage, earned more money, enjoyed their careers and lived more contented lives than those who didn't.

Here's some VERY CUTE video of kids doing the marshmallow test. 

It's fun to watch at least part of it

This is what I want to know. If your kid is in the video eating a marshmallow, does that mean you already know he'll blow it as an adult? Do you give up on your child because he ate a marshmallow?

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And here's the marshmallow test at my house. (The dog ate them :) )

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

So, I like to learn stuff. Even tonight I had a lesson in very-important-to-know-Super-Mario-techniques which resulted in the happy explanation from the 9yo. "This is the first time I have ever been allowed to tell an adult what to do."

I actually sort of started getting it, too, except for the kicking. I couldn't get the kicking. The 4yo sat on back of the couch telling me he was still cheering for me and when my kicks didn't kick, he patted me on the back.

Nothing like having someone watching your back for you.

So, I like to learn and I even liked school at least some of the time growing up, but I got to thinking the other day ... there were some things about school I really, truly didn't like.

1. Unfair teachers. I had some good teachers and I had some bad teachers and I had some in-the-middle-teachers that I can hardly remember.  I also had some unfair teachers.  I remember my sixth grade teacher had some evil gene trapped in his brain somewhere. If ANYONE goofed off in his class, ALL of us had to stay after school and copy entire pages out of our science books. Sitting in a warm classroom, listening to the sounds of the free-from-captivity kids screaming outside ... did not make me like molecules or magnetic poles all that much. I wasn't the one talking in class, why did I have to sit there doing the inane copying when I could be out playing kickball or riding my bike? Didn't get it. Still don't get it. But I doubt he'd be doing it today - whiney parents would sue him or something.

2. Creepy kids. I'm sorry. I do love everyone in the Lord. Truly I do. I just didn't like sitting next to some of them. Like the kid in first grade that ate his pencils. (Gives me the chills just thinking about it.) Or the kid in sixth grade who stuck his finger in someone else's throw-up. (Just consider the fact that I remember these things all these years later and I also can remember the exact words the finger-in-the-throw-up guy said, "Oh, you must've had orange juice for breakfast.")  EWWWWWWWW   ...

3. Mean kids. Kids that cruelly teased other kids. I usually stayed away from being the focus of the teasing, but I could see the hurt in the eyes of the kids who were. Like the girl with the funny name or the boy who smelled. Unfortunately, I think some times as kids we're immune to the hurt others are experiencing. We probably all could've been a little nicer.

I have others, too, but I'm tired right now.

Besides, I have to go over my Super Mario rules.

to be continued ...

SO COOL

Sometimes when people have a question, you just know you have the answer.

So when I heard they were doing a Journey photo shoot and needed some high school kids, I knew I could find some.

And they came - 

And they listened -

And they smiled.

And then they stood around and made a bunch more Facebook friends.

And then the people in charge said to me, "Linda, thanks for getting those kids. They're really nice and work so well with each other."

And I said, "no problem."

THE WILD SUPER BOWL PARTY AT OUR HOUSE

BOOK #10 -Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams

Yes, THAT Hershey!

This is the story of the man who started the chocolate business. The author (Michael D'Antonio) details his early life and his beginning struggles to find a candy product and then a chocolate product that worked.

He married Catherine, a lady that was ill with a disease that was later classified as syphilis (a disease she had before her marriage.) Because of Catherine's illnesses, the Hershey's had no children.

As the Hershey Company grew, Milton began a utopian town called Hershey where all was well - always. When he died, people quickly noticed that weeds suddenly weren't pulled from gardens and litter wasn't quite as quickly cleared from the streets.

Because Hershey's main product, the Hershey Bar, was only 5 cents, the company continued to do well during the depression and the war. People were willing to spend a nickel. 

As the company began making lots of money, Hershey decided to start a school for orphans. Ten boys moved in, under the care of a couple handpicked by Hershey himself. Much of the profits from the chocolate business went to the school. Hershey spent a lot of time there - again, wanting an utopian atmosphere for children who otherwise were alone or poverty-stricken. He set up a trust to guarantee that the school would continue.

Interestingly, the school is still going today with 1700 under-privileged students. Because it runs on Hershey's trust - it has more operating funds than any school in America.

Hershey was an interesting man. He didn't acknowledge God, but trusted himself to build an empire, always trying new things to make more money and expand his business even further. In fact, at the end of his life, his employees indulged him as he attempted to figure out how to combine vegetables with chocolate - as in Hershey Bars with celery.

This is a library book and if you like biographies and American history, I would recommend it.

Hmmm ... INTERESTING

Check out the Awana website to see the story of our family - well, part of the story.

www.awana.org  (Just click on Kelli - she's right under Kurt Warner :) )

THE PLACE TO BE

So how are you all doing tonight?

I've had an interesting, busy, up and down, roller coaster week. But today ended on a good note. I got a lot done and have been offered a great opportunity via e-mail. So tonight, the girl munchkins and I decided to go up to the local Chinese restaurant and have some best-eaten-in-cold-weather Chinese food.

The girls had been sick, so we were all glad to get out and about. We were laughing and rhyming words and having fun. The 9yo and 6yo went on a total giggling spree where their little girl laughter harmonized for about three minutes straight.

A 40something man, who was clearly having a business dinner, walked over to us and smiled.

"This seems like the table to be tonight," he said. "You seem to be having a great time."

He truly looked like he would like to join us, but we didn't invite him to our "party."

But I thought. How cool. To be exuding so much joy that people notice and mention it.

Isn't that what the Christian life is all about?

Anyhow ...

If you're bored tonight - here's a website to entertain you.

http://www.drawminos.com