Okay so i haven't gone to bed yet. Instead i've been reading RELEVANT magazine, which Sarah, Paul and Tara got me a subscription of. In it i happened to read a quote which i feel states what i was trying to say in a better and more concise manner. Here it is:
"The apostle Paul constantly reminds us of our sinfulness and our salvation as sinners, not because he wanted us to feel bad about ourselves, but because recognition of our own sinfulness creates in us a capacity to see beyond the sins of others."
Man that's deep. Okay so that's my desire, to get past myself and my feelings of 'sinlessness' and to see myself as sinful as others and thereby be able to excuse them for their flesh.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Fishbowl Christianity
Hi,
I've just gone through and looked at the two photo CDs that my family had sent me about a month ago. This is the second time that i've looked at the photos straight through. Altogether there are 1050 pictures on 2 CDs. It's a bit of an overload. Seeing all the photos of the things i've missed out on makes me sad. The last set i went through were about 650 pictures of the making of my dad's shop. It was pretty intense by the looks of it. But it makes me want to take the CD home with me, whenever i get the chance, and ask my dad all sorts of questions about the making of his shop. It would've been something enjoyable for me to be a part of. I'm interested in construction, wiring and plumbing. I'm interested in knowing if he used cement anchors to secure the frame to the concrete pad, and i'd have all sorts of wiring questions for him too. In the meantime, i just have the pictures and my imagination to wonder just what all went on.
Then the other CD is about 400 pictures from June '05 to February '06. I missed out on Nathan being born, camping with the fam, Hallowe'en, Christmas and Thanksgiving. I've missed different hair styles on my mom and sisters, piercings, tatoos and clothes. It just about makes me sick. Wait, it does make me sick, HOMESICK. These are just the feelings that were brought up this evening as i looked at the pictures.
What i've been thinking about lately though is life in community. Or more specifically "fishbowl christianity". Living on the ship can make you learn lots of stuff about yourself and others. It's really like we're living in a fishbowl where we all want our tanks to look clean and pretty. I find myself easily judging how other peoples fishbowl looks. If there's someone who's got issues that are revealed on the outside, i'm prone to criticize and talk about those problems. In a subconscious level it makes me feel like i'm "not so bad". But the truth of it is that i am bad. My insides are worse then their outsides. (At this point i'm hoping this makes sense to you who can't read my mind.) The thought comes to mind that maybe they love Jesus more because they have been forgiven more. But the reality is that if i truly bring all my sins to God, that i'll have just as many or more issues than anyone else.
I think Jesus' fishbowl analogy was the whole white washed tomb thing. He said that the pharisee's outside was clean but the inside was full of bones and uncleanness. The thought that comes to my mind is "skeletons in the closet". We've all got our issues that we've tried to hide from everyone. Or we've got our problems like gossip or condemnation that we just won't acknowledge. Even though we try to make the outside look good, our insides may be all messed up.
The only way to get past the external is to develop truly meaningful relationships. To go deeper than the surface. To look beyond the face value of a person and see their heart. Is this difficult and dangerous? Of course. I don't know if i can count on more than 1 finger all the people i would be this revealing to. But without depth, we run the risk of becoming white washed tombs.
I don't know if that came out the way i had expected.
I've just gone through and looked at the two photo CDs that my family had sent me about a month ago. This is the second time that i've looked at the photos straight through. Altogether there are 1050 pictures on 2 CDs. It's a bit of an overload. Seeing all the photos of the things i've missed out on makes me sad. The last set i went through were about 650 pictures of the making of my dad's shop. It was pretty intense by the looks of it. But it makes me want to take the CD home with me, whenever i get the chance, and ask my dad all sorts of questions about the making of his shop. It would've been something enjoyable for me to be a part of. I'm interested in construction, wiring and plumbing. I'm interested in knowing if he used cement anchors to secure the frame to the concrete pad, and i'd have all sorts of wiring questions for him too. In the meantime, i just have the pictures and my imagination to wonder just what all went on.
Then the other CD is about 400 pictures from June '05 to February '06. I missed out on Nathan being born, camping with the fam, Hallowe'en, Christmas and Thanksgiving. I've missed different hair styles on my mom and sisters, piercings, tatoos and clothes. It just about makes me sick. Wait, it does make me sick, HOMESICK. These are just the feelings that were brought up this evening as i looked at the pictures.
What i've been thinking about lately though is life in community. Or more specifically "fishbowl christianity". Living on the ship can make you learn lots of stuff about yourself and others. It's really like we're living in a fishbowl where we all want our tanks to look clean and pretty. I find myself easily judging how other peoples fishbowl looks. If there's someone who's got issues that are revealed on the outside, i'm prone to criticize and talk about those problems. In a subconscious level it makes me feel like i'm "not so bad". But the truth of it is that i am bad. My insides are worse then their outsides. (At this point i'm hoping this makes sense to you who can't read my mind.) The thought comes to mind that maybe they love Jesus more because they have been forgiven more. But the reality is that if i truly bring all my sins to God, that i'll have just as many or more issues than anyone else.
I think Jesus' fishbowl analogy was the whole white washed tomb thing. He said that the pharisee's outside was clean but the inside was full of bones and uncleanness. The thought that comes to my mind is "skeletons in the closet". We've all got our issues that we've tried to hide from everyone. Or we've got our problems like gossip or condemnation that we just won't acknowledge. Even though we try to make the outside look good, our insides may be all messed up.
The only way to get past the external is to develop truly meaningful relationships. To go deeper than the surface. To look beyond the face value of a person and see their heart. Is this difficult and dangerous? Of course. I don't know if i can count on more than 1 finger all the people i would be this revealing to. But without depth, we run the risk of becoming white washed tombs.
I don't know if that came out the way i had expected.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
One Week Down!!!
PHEWWW!!!
Man, i'm feeling wasted. I've had a tough week. It's about as bad as i thought it would be. This week has been stressful and not the best. The beginning was worse and by the end it was much better. We got one boxcar unloaded and most of the second is done. A semi truck came in which was loaded with some sketchy pallets and then more stuff was hand loaded on top. What a mess. All this cargo is taking up tons of room in our warehouses and yard. I wish i had a digital camera so i could show you what it looks like. The warehouse guys have taken about a month to make room and get things looking nice. In this week, i've been able to set them back to where things are worse than before. It is awesome that God is bringing in tons of good stuff, but it makes it a little hectic when trying to find a place for it all.
It was Tuesday evening, just at the close of the work day that i sorta took some stuff out on Dess. Well, i guess i didn't really do anything, i more just closed off altogether. I turned in on myself. It was after 5pm when Dess came by. She was happy to see me and wanted to be near me. I was in a purposeful frame of mind. I still more stuff to do and wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Being so focused on my work, i wasn't giving Dess the attention she deserved. So she bailed and went and got cleaned up with me. We were going out for dinner that night. On the drive we had a few 'words' with one another. Then it got real silent. Dess finally started laughing to break the ice. That got me looking out again and we were able to have a pleasant evening.
The dinner we had was at the house of an older couple from church. We had planned on having a big dinner on Thursday which was to be held at their house, but which Dess and i were going to be cooking. 16 people were supposed to show up. So we were invited to dinner a few days early to check out their house and where we'd be cooking. We were sorta getting an idea of what to expect. This couple is great. The husband, Lohren, is 87 years old. His wife Nancy (who's age i won't disclose because i'm not sure exactly what her age is) has been widowed twice after 20 years of marriage both times. Lohren is her 3rd husband. They are an amazing couple who are pretty good opposites to each other. Nancy is loud and boisterous. She speaks her mind (without thinking first) and is funny. She teases me about the necklace that my sister Allison gave me. She's a real fireball. Lohren is quiet and meek. He's pensive and very serious. He's got a good sense of humor but it's way more dry than Nancy's. He was a physician for all his life and is a meticulous man. The two of them together make quite a pair. Nancy's personality has a tendancy to dwarf Lohren's. So the four of us got together to plan our meal.
Dess had decided to make manicotti as the main dish. Salad was to be the side with bread. Ice tea was to be the drink of the meal, while Martinelli's Sparkling Cider was be served beforehand while we were conversing. A 'dump' cake was Dess' choice for dessert. Right after work on Thursday evening Dess and i got cleaned up and raced to Nancy and Lohren's house. Nancy had already boiled the noodles, so I began preparing the stuffing for the noodles. Cottage cheese and mozzerella cheese were mixed together. Dess forgot the Miracle Whip, so we added mayonaise instead. Dess worked on the dessert. A #10 can of pineapple was upended and then 2 cake mixes were sprinkled on top. Dump cake is ready in no time flat. Nancy prepared the salad while we were doing all this. From there the stuffing commenced. It is a hands on affair with Dess. She gets her hands in the white cheesy stuffing and crams it into those shells like there's no tomorrow. I started browning some ground beef for the tomato sauce. After the noodles were crammed they were covered with Ragu's chunky spaghetti sauce. The two huge pans of manicotti were placed in the oven, then we waited.
It was an interesting evening because for some reason, as the guests appeared they split up by gender. Males in one room, females in the other. So while we waited for the manicotti to bake we sat in our gender exclusive groups and talked about whatever came to mind. The men spoke of such things as socialized health care, possums as pets, deer that run into the sides of cars, computers and technology and other manly topics. Who knows what the women talked about. It seemed like they mostly cackled. Their laughing came in torrents.
The meal itself was a huge success. Dess had outdone herself again. We only ate one pan of manicotti and we still had enough ingredients left over to make another one. But it was great because people were able to take home leftovers. It made for a late night, but it was good to be able to see these people in a setting outside of church. We are interested in deepening relationships and getting closer to people. It's just hard to do at times when everyone has busy schedules and we're pretty busy too. It just helped make the end of the week that much better.
Saturday afternoon we enjoyed some tennis and saw some friends who used to volunteer with us. What a pleasant day!
Life is going well. We're still tired, but i hope that next week won't be so bad on me. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.
Man, i'm feeling wasted. I've had a tough week. It's about as bad as i thought it would be. This week has been stressful and not the best. The beginning was worse and by the end it was much better. We got one boxcar unloaded and most of the second is done. A semi truck came in which was loaded with some sketchy pallets and then more stuff was hand loaded on top. What a mess. All this cargo is taking up tons of room in our warehouses and yard. I wish i had a digital camera so i could show you what it looks like. The warehouse guys have taken about a month to make room and get things looking nice. In this week, i've been able to set them back to where things are worse than before. It is awesome that God is bringing in tons of good stuff, but it makes it a little hectic when trying to find a place for it all.
It was Tuesday evening, just at the close of the work day that i sorta took some stuff out on Dess. Well, i guess i didn't really do anything, i more just closed off altogether. I turned in on myself. It was after 5pm when Dess came by. She was happy to see me and wanted to be near me. I was in a purposeful frame of mind. I still more stuff to do and wanted to get it done as soon as possible. Being so focused on my work, i wasn't giving Dess the attention she deserved. So she bailed and went and got cleaned up with me. We were going out for dinner that night. On the drive we had a few 'words' with one another. Then it got real silent. Dess finally started laughing to break the ice. That got me looking out again and we were able to have a pleasant evening.
The dinner we had was at the house of an older couple from church. We had planned on having a big dinner on Thursday which was to be held at their house, but which Dess and i were going to be cooking. 16 people were supposed to show up. So we were invited to dinner a few days early to check out their house and where we'd be cooking. We were sorta getting an idea of what to expect. This couple is great. The husband, Lohren, is 87 years old. His wife Nancy (who's age i won't disclose because i'm not sure exactly what her age is) has been widowed twice after 20 years of marriage both times. Lohren is her 3rd husband. They are an amazing couple who are pretty good opposites to each other. Nancy is loud and boisterous. She speaks her mind (without thinking first) and is funny. She teases me about the necklace that my sister Allison gave me. She's a real fireball. Lohren is quiet and meek. He's pensive and very serious. He's got a good sense of humor but it's way more dry than Nancy's. He was a physician for all his life and is a meticulous man. The two of them together make quite a pair. Nancy's personality has a tendancy to dwarf Lohren's. So the four of us got together to plan our meal.
Dess had decided to make manicotti as the main dish. Salad was to be the side with bread. Ice tea was to be the drink of the meal, while Martinelli's Sparkling Cider was be served beforehand while we were conversing. A 'dump' cake was Dess' choice for dessert. Right after work on Thursday evening Dess and i got cleaned up and raced to Nancy and Lohren's house. Nancy had already boiled the noodles, so I began preparing the stuffing for the noodles. Cottage cheese and mozzerella cheese were mixed together. Dess forgot the Miracle Whip, so we added mayonaise instead. Dess worked on the dessert. A #10 can of pineapple was upended and then 2 cake mixes were sprinkled on top. Dump cake is ready in no time flat. Nancy prepared the salad while we were doing all this. From there the stuffing commenced. It is a hands on affair with Dess. She gets her hands in the white cheesy stuffing and crams it into those shells like there's no tomorrow. I started browning some ground beef for the tomato sauce. After the noodles were crammed they were covered with Ragu's chunky spaghetti sauce. The two huge pans of manicotti were placed in the oven, then we waited.
It was an interesting evening because for some reason, as the guests appeared they split up by gender. Males in one room, females in the other. So while we waited for the manicotti to bake we sat in our gender exclusive groups and talked about whatever came to mind. The men spoke of such things as socialized health care, possums as pets, deer that run into the sides of cars, computers and technology and other manly topics. Who knows what the women talked about. It seemed like they mostly cackled. Their laughing came in torrents.
The meal itself was a huge success. Dess had outdone herself again. We only ate one pan of manicotti and we still had enough ingredients left over to make another one. But it was great because people were able to take home leftovers. It made for a late night, but it was good to be able to see these people in a setting outside of church. We are interested in deepening relationships and getting closer to people. It's just hard to do at times when everyone has busy schedules and we're pretty busy too. It just helped make the end of the week that much better.
Saturday afternoon we enjoyed some tennis and saw some friends who used to volunteer with us. What a pleasant day!
Life is going well. We're still tired, but i hope that next week won't be so bad on me. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Overwhelming
Hi,
Well, i have decided to write tonight, while it's still at the beginning of the week because i fear that this week isn't going to be a fun one for me. Richard, the warehouse supervisor, is gone on vacation for two weeks. Since i'm his supervisor, i'm responsible for the stuff he'd normally do. This leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's going to be a busy two weeks.
The fun began today. On the weekend two boxcars arrived from L.A. We've been expecting these boxcars for a while now and it only makes sense that they would be here for the first work day after Richard left. I'll try to give you an idea of what a boxcar is like. They usually have anywhere from 3 to 5 semi-truck loads of stuff crammed into them. Because it's infrequent to get this service donated, the crew in L.A. takes advantage of it by making sure that every little nook and cranny of the boxcar is filled with cargo. Usually they start by putting down many sheets of plate steel of varying thicknesses. Then they stuff in all sorts of stuff, like welding machines, pipe, air conditioning units, fittings, culverts, and on and on. As they are putting in the big stuff, they will take pallets of boxed items and fill in any open spaces.
Just getting all these goodies off the boxcars is usually an ordeal in itself, but added to that chaos is the fact that we are just about out of warehouse space, we're not allowed to load any of the present cargo on the ships and there are about 5 other pressing things which need to be done this week with only 3 guys to do it all. It just doesn't add up. Being the "Grounds Manager", it's all sort of falling on me.
I am up to the task. I like a bit of stress and pressure every once in a while. All i ask of you is that you pray for me and the weather. It's supposed to be a wet and rainy week here. Today we had many assorted downpours throughout the day without much warning. This makes it especially hard to handle cargo.
Besides that, life is going well. I'm reading a novel called "Byzantium" by Stephen Lawhead. This is my second time reading it and i still love it. Dess calls me addicted. We're enjoying the church we've been attending since our 1 year anniversary. Dess happened to come across the church while she was researching food banks as part of the food ministry that she's involved in here at Friend Ships. We decided to go last year on July 31st (or was it August 1st?) the weekend that we celebrated our anniversary. The people stole our hearts and Dess is thinking of ways for us to get more involved and to get others more involved too. She's got an awesome heart for the poor.
Until next time,
joel
Well, i have decided to write tonight, while it's still at the beginning of the week because i fear that this week isn't going to be a fun one for me. Richard, the warehouse supervisor, is gone on vacation for two weeks. Since i'm his supervisor, i'm responsible for the stuff he'd normally do. This leaves me feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's going to be a busy two weeks.
The fun began today. On the weekend two boxcars arrived from L.A. We've been expecting these boxcars for a while now and it only makes sense that they would be here for the first work day after Richard left. I'll try to give you an idea of what a boxcar is like. They usually have anywhere from 3 to 5 semi-truck loads of stuff crammed into them. Because it's infrequent to get this service donated, the crew in L.A. takes advantage of it by making sure that every little nook and cranny of the boxcar is filled with cargo. Usually they start by putting down many sheets of plate steel of varying thicknesses. Then they stuff in all sorts of stuff, like welding machines, pipe, air conditioning units, fittings, culverts, and on and on. As they are putting in the big stuff, they will take pallets of boxed items and fill in any open spaces.
Just getting all these goodies off the boxcars is usually an ordeal in itself, but added to that chaos is the fact that we are just about out of warehouse space, we're not allowed to load any of the present cargo on the ships and there are about 5 other pressing things which need to be done this week with only 3 guys to do it all. It just doesn't add up. Being the "Grounds Manager", it's all sort of falling on me.
I am up to the task. I like a bit of stress and pressure every once in a while. All i ask of you is that you pray for me and the weather. It's supposed to be a wet and rainy week here. Today we had many assorted downpours throughout the day without much warning. This makes it especially hard to handle cargo.
Besides that, life is going well. I'm reading a novel called "Byzantium" by Stephen Lawhead. This is my second time reading it and i still love it. Dess calls me addicted. We're enjoying the church we've been attending since our 1 year anniversary. Dess happened to come across the church while she was researching food banks as part of the food ministry that she's involved in here at Friend Ships. We decided to go last year on July 31st (or was it August 1st?) the weekend that we celebrated our anniversary. The people stole our hearts and Dess is thinking of ways for us to get more involved and to get others more involved too. She's got an awesome heart for the poor.
Until next time,
joel
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Purging
Hi.
Well our duty weekend is over. It's been a nice and restful weekend. We've still got tomorrow off which makes it that much sweeter. Today was a day of purging for Dess and i. I'm reminded of stories that my parents would tell me of their early married life. I guess pretty early on they felt that they wanted to get rid of all their non-christian tapes, records, 8-tracks??? and all that kind of media from their lives. Today, Dess and i gave away all our non-christian videos and DVDs. It's a good thing to get rid of stuff that isn't the best for you anyways. Dess has been mentioning the desire to do this for a while now. This morning when she brought it up again i told her that we should act on it if she's felt convicted about it that many times. Now, i know it's not a calling that God has for everyone, but we deemed it best for us. Not long after Dess joined Friend Ships she had a similar conviction, except it was for her music. She broke all her non-christian CDs. I guess it's just the next step in the process for us.
I guess you can figure out by reading this blog that it's probably not a good idea to send us gifts of non-christian DVDs or videos. The next thing i know that Dess will want is the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We both really loved that movie.
My friend from here, Matt, will be leaving at the beginning of next month. This has allowed us to have some deep discussions about life after Friend Ships and all that it entails. It's interesting to think about the future some times. I don't always know what i'm going to do with my life. For a few years, i didn't have any concrete plans about what i would want to do. I guess i tossed up the idea of working on a tug boat as a line handler, considered the Canadian Coast Guard or Navy at one point even. Lately my idea about the immediate future after Friend Ships would look like this: Move to Stockton, CA. Go to college there to learn how to be an electrician and also take some gasoline and diesel mechanic courses. Find more ministries or missions that i can get involved in using my skills. Maybe get a job to pay the bills while i'm doing all of this.
It's really vague to me at this point just what kind of ministry i want to actually do. I know that i'm a 'hands on' worker. I like to do physical work where i can bless somebody. For example, last weekend, Dess and i spent our afternoons working with a couple who's house went through the hurricane. I helped with the roofing. We were able to be hands on and didn't want anything in return. I like to be able to give and not expect anything in return. So, to me, even though i was tired and hurting after the weekend, i was still filled with joy at being able to help out.
Although my future is vague, i'm still looking forward to it. Each day has it's own rewards. I don't want to look more to the future than i do to the present, so i don't miss the jewels of each day. I also want to have some goal that i can press towards, so i can strive towards something and not feel that the present has no purpose. It's kind of this wierd paradox.
Well, that's about as deep as i'm going to get for tonight. We miss you and hope you enjoy the blog.
Well our duty weekend is over. It's been a nice and restful weekend. We've still got tomorrow off which makes it that much sweeter. Today was a day of purging for Dess and i. I'm reminded of stories that my parents would tell me of their early married life. I guess pretty early on they felt that they wanted to get rid of all their non-christian tapes, records, 8-tracks??? and all that kind of media from their lives. Today, Dess and i gave away all our non-christian videos and DVDs. It's a good thing to get rid of stuff that isn't the best for you anyways. Dess has been mentioning the desire to do this for a while now. This morning when she brought it up again i told her that we should act on it if she's felt convicted about it that many times. Now, i know it's not a calling that God has for everyone, but we deemed it best for us. Not long after Dess joined Friend Ships she had a similar conviction, except it was for her music. She broke all her non-christian CDs. I guess it's just the next step in the process for us.
I guess you can figure out by reading this blog that it's probably not a good idea to send us gifts of non-christian DVDs or videos. The next thing i know that Dess will want is the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We both really loved that movie.
My friend from here, Matt, will be leaving at the beginning of next month. This has allowed us to have some deep discussions about life after Friend Ships and all that it entails. It's interesting to think about the future some times. I don't always know what i'm going to do with my life. For a few years, i didn't have any concrete plans about what i would want to do. I guess i tossed up the idea of working on a tug boat as a line handler, considered the Canadian Coast Guard or Navy at one point even. Lately my idea about the immediate future after Friend Ships would look like this: Move to Stockton, CA. Go to college there to learn how to be an electrician and also take some gasoline and diesel mechanic courses. Find more ministries or missions that i can get involved in using my skills. Maybe get a job to pay the bills while i'm doing all of this.
It's really vague to me at this point just what kind of ministry i want to actually do. I know that i'm a 'hands on' worker. I like to do physical work where i can bless somebody. For example, last weekend, Dess and i spent our afternoons working with a couple who's house went through the hurricane. I helped with the roofing. We were able to be hands on and didn't want anything in return. I like to be able to give and not expect anything in return. So, to me, even though i was tired and hurting after the weekend, i was still filled with joy at being able to help out.
Although my future is vague, i'm still looking forward to it. Each day has it's own rewards. I don't want to look more to the future than i do to the present, so i don't miss the jewels of each day. I also want to have some goal that i can press towards, so i can strive towards something and not feel that the present has no purpose. It's kind of this wierd paradox.
Well, that's about as deep as i'm going to get for tonight. We miss you and hope you enjoy the blog.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
More of us
Hi Friends and Family,
I guess it's been a little too long since we've written anything down. Sorry that it's taking us so long. I'm sure it's annoying to day after day check on a blog just to find that the writers have gone AWOL. Well, we haven't gone anywhere, we've just been busy out of our minds and at the same time, a little bit lazy in our keeping in touch. We apologize.
But, here i am, trying to get some thoughts together so i can inform you of the latest things happening in our lives. I guess i'll start with work. It consumes about 8 hours of my day, so it's kind of a "big deal", if you know what i'm saying. Here's the latest about my new position, how i'm liking it, what i do, etc. My title is "Grounds Manager". I'm a liason and manager for the grounds crew, garden center, warehouse and yard, security and mechanics. Pretty much i'm not actually in any of those departments, i'm mostly overseeing them and making sure that things run smoothly. This involves stuff like talking with people about needed parts to do jobs, organizing incoming cargo, making sure our property is secure, making sure the yard is clean and orderly, etc. Like i said, i'm not in the departments, but overseeing them. At this point, i've got time to spare each day for actual hands on work, so i'll stop by the mechanics shop and see if i can help loosen bolts, or i see if the warehouse and yard guys need help moving pallets around. It's kinda nice because i can be involved in whatever projects i deem necesary and with whatever involvement i choose. I've got a lot of flexibility, the pace changes often and i'm able to work around nice people.
The biggest problem: NOT ENOUGH VOLUNTEERS!! We don't have enough people here to do what is needed. There are about 4 people working in the yard and warehouse. They receive incoming pallets, categorize them and move them to appropriate storage facilities. Their job also involves receiving incoming mailed donations, constantly sorting through used donated clothes and much, much more. The garden center has 2 people but i'm still not exactly sure what goes on in there. Our groundsmen and security guard are the same guy. Ken mows, line trims (when his shoulder is feeling well), poisons ants, and all other grounds maintenance at Port Mercy as well as making sure the property is locked up for the night. We've got two mechanics to maintain and repair tons of large equipment, vehicles and small engines. It's just too much for the crew that we've got. It feels like we just keep getting more projects and things to do but aren't getting much help to do it.
Now i don't want you to think that nobody comes to Friend Ships to help out. In fact we had two work groups come through this week. They were a huge blessing to us. They helped sort through lots of clothes, started building more warehouse space, cleaned a ship for the next voyage and much more. There's one guy in particular that has stuck out to me from that group. It's a fellow named Terry (spelling?). Terry is a refrigeration guy. He works on the units that are mounted on 40' reefer containers. He's a very skilled worker. When he got to Friend Ships, he just wanted to help out in any way possible. He was willing to sweep, paint, swing a hammer, whatever. We made him do what he normally would do during his work week. He fixed our ThermoKing reefer units. I only really got to talk with him just before his time to leave. I saw him working late on a Saturday afternoon (after all our regular crew had already taken off). He was trying to clean out a unit that we'd sorta run without refrigerant. I asked him some questions and talked with him a while. He was a good man, pleasant to talk with. Well, he could tell i knew a bit of the jargon and later on told Don (the ministry founder) that he thought i could finish the job that he was working on. That dropped him down on the "nice guy" status. But it was neat to be able to just get even an hour to fellowship and see this man's heart to serve.
Switching gears. Dess and i are on weekend duty. That means that we're responsible (with two other people) to cook, clean and maintain the safety of the ships. We had a very peaceful day today. Some friends of ours, Chuck and Janet, who used to volunteer with Friend Ships offered to buy CiCi's pizza for the crew. It was a special treat because it meant that we had very little cooking to do and even less clean up (we used paper plates). It was a nice day. Dess and i started the morning off with changing the oil in the car and cleaning it. We vacuumed it out and washed it. It looks great. Dess got a deeper appreciation for the car after that. Then Chuck and Janet took us out for lunch. Hopefully tomorrow will be pretty low key too. Then we get Monday off. Weekend duty can be a good thing.
I think that's enough for now. Sorry again for taking so long in posting anything on this site. We'll try to be better. And don't forget that you can always call us too!!!
I guess it's been a little too long since we've written anything down. Sorry that it's taking us so long. I'm sure it's annoying to day after day check on a blog just to find that the writers have gone AWOL. Well, we haven't gone anywhere, we've just been busy out of our minds and at the same time, a little bit lazy in our keeping in touch. We apologize.
But, here i am, trying to get some thoughts together so i can inform you of the latest things happening in our lives. I guess i'll start with work. It consumes about 8 hours of my day, so it's kind of a "big deal", if you know what i'm saying. Here's the latest about my new position, how i'm liking it, what i do, etc. My title is "Grounds Manager". I'm a liason and manager for the grounds crew, garden center, warehouse and yard, security and mechanics. Pretty much i'm not actually in any of those departments, i'm mostly overseeing them and making sure that things run smoothly. This involves stuff like talking with people about needed parts to do jobs, organizing incoming cargo, making sure our property is secure, making sure the yard is clean and orderly, etc. Like i said, i'm not in the departments, but overseeing them. At this point, i've got time to spare each day for actual hands on work, so i'll stop by the mechanics shop and see if i can help loosen bolts, or i see if the warehouse and yard guys need help moving pallets around. It's kinda nice because i can be involved in whatever projects i deem necesary and with whatever involvement i choose. I've got a lot of flexibility, the pace changes often and i'm able to work around nice people.
The biggest problem: NOT ENOUGH VOLUNTEERS!! We don't have enough people here to do what is needed. There are about 4 people working in the yard and warehouse. They receive incoming pallets, categorize them and move them to appropriate storage facilities. Their job also involves receiving incoming mailed donations, constantly sorting through used donated clothes and much, much more. The garden center has 2 people but i'm still not exactly sure what goes on in there. Our groundsmen and security guard are the same guy. Ken mows, line trims (when his shoulder is feeling well), poisons ants, and all other grounds maintenance at Port Mercy as well as making sure the property is locked up for the night. We've got two mechanics to maintain and repair tons of large equipment, vehicles and small engines. It's just too much for the crew that we've got. It feels like we just keep getting more projects and things to do but aren't getting much help to do it.
Now i don't want you to think that nobody comes to Friend Ships to help out. In fact we had two work groups come through this week. They were a huge blessing to us. They helped sort through lots of clothes, started building more warehouse space, cleaned a ship for the next voyage and much more. There's one guy in particular that has stuck out to me from that group. It's a fellow named Terry (spelling?). Terry is a refrigeration guy. He works on the units that are mounted on 40' reefer containers. He's a very skilled worker. When he got to Friend Ships, he just wanted to help out in any way possible. He was willing to sweep, paint, swing a hammer, whatever. We made him do what he normally would do during his work week. He fixed our ThermoKing reefer units. I only really got to talk with him just before his time to leave. I saw him working late on a Saturday afternoon (after all our regular crew had already taken off). He was trying to clean out a unit that we'd sorta run without refrigerant. I asked him some questions and talked with him a while. He was a good man, pleasant to talk with. Well, he could tell i knew a bit of the jargon and later on told Don (the ministry founder) that he thought i could finish the job that he was working on. That dropped him down on the "nice guy" status. But it was neat to be able to just get even an hour to fellowship and see this man's heart to serve.
Switching gears. Dess and i are on weekend duty. That means that we're responsible (with two other people) to cook, clean and maintain the safety of the ships. We had a very peaceful day today. Some friends of ours, Chuck and Janet, who used to volunteer with Friend Ships offered to buy CiCi's pizza for the crew. It was a special treat because it meant that we had very little cooking to do and even less clean up (we used paper plates). It was a nice day. Dess and i started the morning off with changing the oil in the car and cleaning it. We vacuumed it out and washed it. It looks great. Dess got a deeper appreciation for the car after that. Then Chuck and Janet took us out for lunch. Hopefully tomorrow will be pretty low key too. Then we get Monday off. Weekend duty can be a good thing.
I think that's enough for now. Sorry again for taking so long in posting anything on this site. We'll try to be better. And don't forget that you can always call us too!!!
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