On Friday July 15th I had a very bad afternoon. I am in charge of the food ministry and I am driver to pick up the food. But when I am not doing pick ups I am doing errands for Sharon my boss.
The Celica was nearly out of gas so she asked me to go fill it. I went down the street and pulled behind a car that was done filling up. There was no one in front of the car so I pulled right behind him. He started backing up. So I slowly started backing up. I didn't see anyone behind me. So I kept going. A few seconds later there was a car bumping my car on my passengers side. We had hit parrallel to one another. There were three people in the car. The passenger in the back rolled down his window and started yelling at me "You are going to pay, You are going to pay!!!" In my head I started asking God "God am I going to get beat up?" The possibility was very high. Should I run or should I stay. I looked at the driver he didn't roll down his window. So I mouthed sorry and shrugged. He motioned me to move forward. I started to move forward. The passenger that had been yelling at me jumped out of the car, got right in front of me and started yelling at me even more. "Oh no you are going to pay. NO you are going to pay." as if I was trying to run off. I told him the driver had told me to go forward. He had obviously not seen the driver motioning me to move forward. He finally let me through. I thought one more time do I run or do I stay. I decided to pull up to a gas pump. They pulled behind me at a gas pump.
A large girl from the front seat and the angry yelling guy both backed away when they saw me get out of the car. I got out to talk to the driver and the other two stayed distant behind him. I realized I was a lot taller than both of them and felt if I had to I could defend myself if they started throwing punches but I really didn't want to do that. I asked the driver "What do you want from me?" He was a lot more calm than his two friends. He said you need to pay me. (Just so you know I have never been in this type of situation before. No has ever told me what to do. So I did the best I could.) I asked "how much?" (I really didn't want to get beat up or in a fight I thought this would calm them down) The girl said you owe him big. In my head I was like I only have 150 in the bank I don't have that much to give this guy. He said 40 dollars. That is when his two friends started freaking out. "No NO she owes you big. Make it 50." I looked the drive in the eye and said "What do you want from me." "50" he said.
I go in pay for the gas then went to the atm with my bank card. The ATM would only let me take out money in 20's. So I got out 60 went gave it to the driver. He said "I really appreciate this" I then filled the ministries car and left.
I felt so horrible. I cried and cried. The car was fine it only had a little paint off of it. No dents or anything. But I had lost 60 dollars. Well with the atm charging us it was $62.50. I felt horrible. God had told Joel and I that we would leave Friend SHips in about a year so we needed to start saving our money and then our anniversary is in July so we wouldn't have much money to do anything. I cried when I told Joel. I then gave it to God and said "I can't do anything about it, here it is God."
The next Thursday I was over it and it didn't bother me any more. During lunch Joel and I came in our room and there was a little homemade envelope that said to Joel and Dess Butler. We opened it and there in it was 65 dollars. I cried all day after that. I was so touched that God had "remembered" I was touched that some one was obedient to follow what God told them.
You know when you cry so deep and hard because your heart is breaking with sorrow well I was crying that hard for the rest of the day because I felt the deepness of Gods love for me. I had written in my journal the day after the accident. "God were you there. Did you protect me?" Then I wrote "God I know you were there I know you love and took care of me"
It was awesome. It says in Ecclesiastes 3:11. He has made everything beautiful in its time and this fullfills that scripture to me. Thank you Jesus for what you did. I truly deeply love you.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Monday, July 17, 2006
8 Things you never knew and might not want to know about Dess hehehe :)
Joel and I have searched DEEP within me to find 8 things. Here they are:
1) I am afraid of giving an excessive amount of change to a cashier. I actually go into a panick attack: turning bright red, stuttering with my words, heart starts beating really fast, etc. I don't know where I got the idea from but I always feel like the cashier is thinking I am a big pill for giving more than a dollars worth of change.
I see other people pull out a whole sack of change and count it out slowly while there is a huge line behind them and the cashier is getting impatient. Now being in the ministry there has been a few times they have sent me with a whole envelope of change to get stamps. I start prepping myself in line "I can do this, I can do this" But by the time I get up there I am like "I have my debit card on me I will just pay with that and by pass this embaressment"
2) My love Language is Words of Affirmation. When I first read the book The 5 love langauges and I was dating Joel I thought mine were Quality time and Physical Touch. But as time went on I learned that the less Joel gives me words of affirmation or kinds words of affirmation the more I decrease my physical touch and quality time.
One time I was having a hard time with a person who had ripped me in two with words she spoke over me. I prayed asking God way did I let her words get me down so bad. He brought me to Proverbs where it said: In the Tongue are life and death and those that love it will eat of it's fruit (something like that I don't have the bible right in front of me) But God showed me since my love language is Words of Affirmation that no matter if a person speaks goodness over me or horrible things I will eat its fruit and take it more to heart than a person whos love language is physical touch or quality time.
3) I am an extremist. I am either on one side of the spectrum or the other. I do not have any shades of gray. I am either hyper or barely mobile. Hard worker or Lazy. Example: For about 2 years Joel and I have been mindless with our money. We don't have bills, we don't buy our own food, we pretty much don't live in the real world so no need for a budget. But we started praying and God showed us in about a year we would be leaving Friend Ships so we needed to start saving our money. I went from not caring about our money to saving every penny. I am not kidding. When I would be walking outside I would look for change on the road or in pop machines. This got pretty excessive and God put me in my place and said I am not going to provide for you through pennies, dimes, nickles, and quarters. I am going to REALLY take care of you. This stopped me from looking for change. I still am pinching dollars though. :)
4) I am a food magnet. Do not sit by me or around me during a meal if you want to stay clean. I am blessed or cursed (dont' know which one yet) to always walk away from a meal with food on me or on others around me. One time I had spilled a lot of Ranch Dressing on the table. (I was proud that I didn't get it on me or any one else) So I got a napkin. Put the napkin at the tables edge where I was going to scoop the ranch into. Some how I missed the napkin completely and got all of it on Joel, who had just taken a shower and had clean clothes on. BEWARE all you who sit by me.
5) I struggle with letting my imperfection for God get me down. I hate messing up when it comes to God. I beat my self up terribly. Even on the things I am ignorant about but especially on things that I know better. When I do mess up I ask for forgivenes but then I find it hard to pray as if I can't look up at God to talk. Like a child with its head down while talking to the parent after making a big mistake. I pray this will go away before I get to the other side of Glory.
6) (Getting a little more serious now) The last guy I dated before Joel I had a lot of problems with his Family. Mother and Siblings. So I get very nervous and even freaked out being around Joels family. With Casey family (the guy I dated) it was so hard. I would cry every time I would be in their presents. On time behind my back his mom and dad tried to get Casey to date other girls. One of his sisters lied to his parents about me. Said some pretty horrible things. His oldest sister (who I thought had my back) wrote a horrible email about me to Casey. I loved his family very much. They meant a lot to me. It was hard not being excepted by them. If I were to see any of them today I would get pumped and excited to see them. But for his parents I wasn't LDS (or mormon) so I would never truly be excepted. I was best friends with his one sister but that turned out horrible. With the other siblings they believed lies from his sister who was my best friend and therefore the siblings didn't always like me.
7) I have come to the conclusion and the opinion that mirrors are not just for vanity. I have believed for a long time that mirrors were just to look at yourself/stare at yourself/reflect (as my dad would call it). Until one day I was out with a friend outside at Port Mercy and some one came by about ready to through away a mirror. My Friend Sarah said "hey Dess do you want it" I go "Oh no thanks I have enough and they are just for vanity reasons. " She was like no they are not I was like yes they are. She then said " what if you have a booger and you need a mirror to show you." I then said well "I have you who I know would tell me and I know Joel would tell me so there you go. I don't need a mirror." That was that.
Later on I had a late lunch that day so I wasn't with Joel and I ate a huge hamburger with lots of Ketchup. After lunch I went to do a few errands for the ministry. When I got in the car I looked in the mirror and there on my cheek was a huge smear of Ketchup. I had just come from the office and had been all through the office and none of the ladies had said any thing. After that I knew that mirrors are not just for vanity.
8) My grandmother was born in Canada. She was still a US citizen some how. But CANADA is in her blood therefore mine. I know I rip on Canada only for the purpose of bugging Joel but some where deep in my blood I have canada flowing through.
That is it. 8 Things you know about me and may never of wanted to.
And Paul Butler . . . . TAG YOU ARE IT!!!
1) I am afraid of giving an excessive amount of change to a cashier. I actually go into a panick attack: turning bright red, stuttering with my words, heart starts beating really fast, etc. I don't know where I got the idea from but I always feel like the cashier is thinking I am a big pill for giving more than a dollars worth of change.
I see other people pull out a whole sack of change and count it out slowly while there is a huge line behind them and the cashier is getting impatient. Now being in the ministry there has been a few times they have sent me with a whole envelope of change to get stamps. I start prepping myself in line "I can do this, I can do this" But by the time I get up there I am like "I have my debit card on me I will just pay with that and by pass this embaressment"
2) My love Language is Words of Affirmation. When I first read the book The 5 love langauges and I was dating Joel I thought mine were Quality time and Physical Touch. But as time went on I learned that the less Joel gives me words of affirmation or kinds words of affirmation the more I decrease my physical touch and quality time.
One time I was having a hard time with a person who had ripped me in two with words she spoke over me. I prayed asking God way did I let her words get me down so bad. He brought me to Proverbs where it said: In the Tongue are life and death and those that love it will eat of it's fruit (something like that I don't have the bible right in front of me) But God showed me since my love language is Words of Affirmation that no matter if a person speaks goodness over me or horrible things I will eat its fruit and take it more to heart than a person whos love language is physical touch or quality time.
3) I am an extremist. I am either on one side of the spectrum or the other. I do not have any shades of gray. I am either hyper or barely mobile. Hard worker or Lazy. Example: For about 2 years Joel and I have been mindless with our money. We don't have bills, we don't buy our own food, we pretty much don't live in the real world so no need for a budget. But we started praying and God showed us in about a year we would be leaving Friend Ships so we needed to start saving our money. I went from not caring about our money to saving every penny. I am not kidding. When I would be walking outside I would look for change on the road or in pop machines. This got pretty excessive and God put me in my place and said I am not going to provide for you through pennies, dimes, nickles, and quarters. I am going to REALLY take care of you. This stopped me from looking for change. I still am pinching dollars though. :)
4) I am a food magnet. Do not sit by me or around me during a meal if you want to stay clean. I am blessed or cursed (dont' know which one yet) to always walk away from a meal with food on me or on others around me. One time I had spilled a lot of Ranch Dressing on the table. (I was proud that I didn't get it on me or any one else) So I got a napkin. Put the napkin at the tables edge where I was going to scoop the ranch into. Some how I missed the napkin completely and got all of it on Joel, who had just taken a shower and had clean clothes on. BEWARE all you who sit by me.
5) I struggle with letting my imperfection for God get me down. I hate messing up when it comes to God. I beat my self up terribly. Even on the things I am ignorant about but especially on things that I know better. When I do mess up I ask for forgivenes but then I find it hard to pray as if I can't look up at God to talk. Like a child with its head down while talking to the parent after making a big mistake. I pray this will go away before I get to the other side of Glory.
6) (Getting a little more serious now) The last guy I dated before Joel I had a lot of problems with his Family. Mother and Siblings. So I get very nervous and even freaked out being around Joels family. With Casey family (the guy I dated) it was so hard. I would cry every time I would be in their presents. On time behind my back his mom and dad tried to get Casey to date other girls. One of his sisters lied to his parents about me. Said some pretty horrible things. His oldest sister (who I thought had my back) wrote a horrible email about me to Casey. I loved his family very much. They meant a lot to me. It was hard not being excepted by them. If I were to see any of them today I would get pumped and excited to see them. But for his parents I wasn't LDS (or mormon) so I would never truly be excepted. I was best friends with his one sister but that turned out horrible. With the other siblings they believed lies from his sister who was my best friend and therefore the siblings didn't always like me.
7) I have come to the conclusion and the opinion that mirrors are not just for vanity. I have believed for a long time that mirrors were just to look at yourself/stare at yourself/reflect (as my dad would call it). Until one day I was out with a friend outside at Port Mercy and some one came by about ready to through away a mirror. My Friend Sarah said "hey Dess do you want it" I go "Oh no thanks I have enough and they are just for vanity reasons. " She was like no they are not I was like yes they are. She then said " what if you have a booger and you need a mirror to show you." I then said well "I have you who I know would tell me and I know Joel would tell me so there you go. I don't need a mirror." That was that.
Later on I had a late lunch that day so I wasn't with Joel and I ate a huge hamburger with lots of Ketchup. After lunch I went to do a few errands for the ministry. When I got in the car I looked in the mirror and there on my cheek was a huge smear of Ketchup. I had just come from the office and had been all through the office and none of the ladies had said any thing. After that I knew that mirrors are not just for vanity.
8) My grandmother was born in Canada. She was still a US citizen some how. But CANADA is in her blood therefore mine. I know I rip on Canada only for the purpose of bugging Joel but some where deep in my blood I have canada flowing through.
That is it. 8 Things you know about me and may never of wanted to.
And Paul Butler . . . . TAG YOU ARE IT!!!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Knitting Dess
I never thought it would happen but last night, Dess asked me to teach her how to knit. I thought it was a big step in proving that Dess is maturing. She's always been repulsed by the idea of learning how to knit. She says that she isn't patient enough and it takes too much time. But when i started to show another lady on the ship how to knit, Dess caught the bug. It's pretty cool how you can use some needles and yarn to make beautiful projects. Even though Dess didn't get to far with the knitting last night (she learned how to cast on and did 2 knit rows and 1 purl row before she got tired and wanted to go to sleep) she still did a great job and it's a good start.
I'm suffering with another bout of poison ivy rashes. This time i've got rashes up and down both my arms and a little bit on my chest and stomach. What a pain!! Really it is painful at times. I'm usually pretty good about not scratching. I was getting excited too because the rash on my legs had cleared up and i was looking forward to being able to scratch my body and not have to worry about there being a rash or not. Oh well, i guess that's what i get for being so hands on with my work. I was probably chopping down some limbs off a tree and the poison ivy sometimes crawls up the side with other vines. I don't exactly know what poison ivy looks like, even though i did a google image search for it and saw the plant, i can't really distinguish it when i'm out in nature. I guess those are the breaks.
Dess is out right now at a shelter for women and children. Her and her friend, Kippin, wanted to go and feed them a meal and make them feel special. They made lasagna. I think they also took salad, fruit and ice cream. I really love Dess' heart for other people. Especially for the poor, homeless and those in need. She really likes to be able to meet their needs and to do it out of Christ's love for them. As i've mentioned before, i'm not that way inclined, so it's awesome when i see her move out in it. It sort of spurs me on to get out of my normal selfish habits.
Thanks for the feedback on my 8 things. It was good hearing from Anna and from Rachel. Oh yeah and i guess you too Dad. I hope Dess comes up with her 8 things soon. Well, it's hot and humid and i'm hoping to call home tonight. I hope you are well and we miss you.
I'm suffering with another bout of poison ivy rashes. This time i've got rashes up and down both my arms and a little bit on my chest and stomach. What a pain!! Really it is painful at times. I'm usually pretty good about not scratching. I was getting excited too because the rash on my legs had cleared up and i was looking forward to being able to scratch my body and not have to worry about there being a rash or not. Oh well, i guess that's what i get for being so hands on with my work. I was probably chopping down some limbs off a tree and the poison ivy sometimes crawls up the side with other vines. I don't exactly know what poison ivy looks like, even though i did a google image search for it and saw the plant, i can't really distinguish it when i'm out in nature. I guess those are the breaks.
Dess is out right now at a shelter for women and children. Her and her friend, Kippin, wanted to go and feed them a meal and make them feel special. They made lasagna. I think they also took salad, fruit and ice cream. I really love Dess' heart for other people. Especially for the poor, homeless and those in need. She really likes to be able to meet their needs and to do it out of Christ's love for them. As i've mentioned before, i'm not that way inclined, so it's awesome when i see her move out in it. It sort of spurs me on to get out of my normal selfish habits.
Thanks for the feedback on my 8 things. It was good hearing from Anna and from Rachel. Oh yeah and i guess you too Dad. I hope Dess comes up with her 8 things soon. Well, it's hot and humid and i'm hoping to call home tonight. I hope you are well and we miss you.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
The long awaited "8 things you didn't know about Joel"
Well I've thought about it and talked it over with Dess and i've finally got the 8 things about me that you probably don't know.
1. I have a tendency to wear womens clothing for shock value.
2. I am a pyromaniac. I love setting off fires and playing with fire. The only problem is that i've burnt myself numerous times. Yesterday i got to light off the burn pile which was filled high with broken up wood and rags. Wee!!
3. Here's a story which Dess reminded me of: It was the day of our wedding. We were on our way to our honeymoon destination which was about a 5 hour drive from where we got married. During our drive we were opening up cards and presents which we'd received for our wedding. Dess felt the need to make a pit stop, so we pulled into a Wal-Mart in a small town in Texas. We sat in the car for a bit and i made sure to take all our cash gifts into Wal-Mart with us because i didn't feel it was safe in the car. When we were finished at Wal-Mart we started back for the car. As we approached it i told Dess, "i locked the keys in the car." She thought i was just joking. I was puzzled because the car hadn't done it's usual dinging to let me know the keys had been in the ignition. Then i figured it out. I'd locked the keys in the car with the car running. We had to go back into Wal-Mart to get a "wrecker" to open our locks. As we were waiting in the Wal-Mart, a lady asked us if we were coming from a prom. We were still dressed up in tux and wedding gown. Very embarassing.
4. I never thought it would happen, but i've married my mom. Well, not actually my mom, but Dess and Mom are very similar in their personalities and even thoughts. I remember telling Mom about how i wasn't going to marry someone like her. I don't remember why i said it, but i did. I think it may have even made her cry. I'm a mean person.
5. I'm an instigator at heart. I like to incite others to do things that are bad. One time i conviced my friend on the ship to "moon" Mary, the facility manager of the ship. He slipped down his pants and drew her attention. It was great.
6. My addictions are video/computer games and chocolate.
7. I feel like i've become part of the "system" at Friend Ships. Like i'm the one who explains why we do things the way we do them when it doesn't make sense to anyone else. It's frustrating because i never wanted to become a part of "The Man" but now i think i am.
8. I struggle with feelings of inadequecy in my life. This extends to all parts of my life, like as a supervisor or as a husband or my spirituality. I just don't feel good enough.
There's my 8 things. I'm going to tag Dess next. She's a good victim and i'm sure you'd love to know more about her. Also this keeps you checking out our blog for her 8 things.
joel
1. I have a tendency to wear womens clothing for shock value.
2. I am a pyromaniac. I love setting off fires and playing with fire. The only problem is that i've burnt myself numerous times. Yesterday i got to light off the burn pile which was filled high with broken up wood and rags. Wee!!
3. Here's a story which Dess reminded me of: It was the day of our wedding. We were on our way to our honeymoon destination which was about a 5 hour drive from where we got married. During our drive we were opening up cards and presents which we'd received for our wedding. Dess felt the need to make a pit stop, so we pulled into a Wal-Mart in a small town in Texas. We sat in the car for a bit and i made sure to take all our cash gifts into Wal-Mart with us because i didn't feel it was safe in the car. When we were finished at Wal-Mart we started back for the car. As we approached it i told Dess, "i locked the keys in the car." She thought i was just joking. I was puzzled because the car hadn't done it's usual dinging to let me know the keys had been in the ignition. Then i figured it out. I'd locked the keys in the car with the car running. We had to go back into Wal-Mart to get a "wrecker" to open our locks. As we were waiting in the Wal-Mart, a lady asked us if we were coming from a prom. We were still dressed up in tux and wedding gown. Very embarassing.
4. I never thought it would happen, but i've married my mom. Well, not actually my mom, but Dess and Mom are very similar in their personalities and even thoughts. I remember telling Mom about how i wasn't going to marry someone like her. I don't remember why i said it, but i did. I think it may have even made her cry. I'm a mean person.
5. I'm an instigator at heart. I like to incite others to do things that are bad. One time i conviced my friend on the ship to "moon" Mary, the facility manager of the ship. He slipped down his pants and drew her attention. It was great.
6. My addictions are video/computer games and chocolate.
7. I feel like i've become part of the "system" at Friend Ships. Like i'm the one who explains why we do things the way we do them when it doesn't make sense to anyone else. It's frustrating because i never wanted to become a part of "The Man" but now i think i am.
8. I struggle with feelings of inadequecy in my life. This extends to all parts of my life, like as a supervisor or as a husband or my spirituality. I just don't feel good enough.
There's my 8 things. I'm going to tag Dess next. She's a good victim and i'm sure you'd love to know more about her. Also this keeps you checking out our blog for her 8 things.
joel
Saturday, July 08, 2006
36 Hours
It all started yesterday at
By the time we got done with Cintas it was time to start our regular schedule. There really is no rest for the wicked.
Joel and I parted ways. He went to be head honcho over the grounds I went to go ride my big bad truck with a "girl" friend that wanted to go with me that day. Sarah and I had a good morning with picking up from a grocery store, bread warehouse and then vending machine place. The truck was full and ready to be taken to its designated places. We took it to the ship for the galley to go through and then to a shelter. But on our way to the second shelter Sarah SCREAMED while I was driving. "DESS PULLOVER" I had seen what she had seen, a man collapse while another man was trying to help him.
I pulled over knowing a bit more about the situation than Sarah but it turned out to be a good thing that Sarah didn't really know what was going on or I would have not pulled over. When I parked the UD I tried to explain to Sarah what she was seeing. (She is not naive or anything. She is a mother of 3 young adults but she just didn't know what see was seeing) I explained the man was drunk and the other guy was helping take him home. But we stayed around to watch longer than expected. And what we saw unfold was horrifying. The man couldn't even walk with out the other man holding him up. (We will call the drunken man Bob and the other man Fred) So Fred put Bob in a truck. I thought Fred was going to push Bob over so Fred could drive. Oh no Fred put Bob in the truck then set Bob's feet to the where they needed to be on the gas/break peddle and then gave over the keys and shut the door. I was like this is not happening, this is not happening. Fred went inside. I thought Fred was going to come out any minute but he never entered our eye site again. Bob just sat there. Sarah said out loud "I am praying he passes out" For 5 minutes we watch to see what Bob will do. He turns on the engine and goes. I grab a pen and write down on my leg the car type and license plate number. It was horrible. To my surprise Bob was driving extremely well for his condition. Sarah called 911 and I followed Bob for a little ways so we could tell 911 where he was heading. 911 said that a cop car was on his way to get Bob. And that was it. We went back to giving food while praying Bob would be pulled over before he killed himself and someone else. It was crazy.
How do people just do that? Oh I forgot to mention when Bob pulled out there were two guys across the street watching everything from a car dealership. But when Bob drove down the road the two teen guys started laughing hysterically like it was the funniest thing they had ever seen I was so mad.
Any way. It was just as crazy the rest of the day. Joel and I picked up another new crew member during lunch. When I got back I was sent to a city 1 hour away from
Just as I got back to Port Mercy I got a call saying Laura ran out of gas and needed gas to be taken to her. By this time I had had no break since
I went to bed right after that and woke up to go to Dinner and then Joel and I went to get him his new glasses. We will send you pictures of the new Joel when we get some. They are awesome we both really like them. Don't Tell Joel I told you but they are girls glasses but he still looks MANLY with them on.
As of now I am waiting for Joel. He is sooooooooo nice . . . Ms. Gwen asked him during dinner well she didn't ask she just said she can't flush her toilet because her tank is full. This is asking, in her own way, if Joel could empty it out for her. Some times I get frustrated because she doesn't ask or doesn't care that she keeps asking Joel to do it on his time off but then I remember the words of our beloved Pastor Rufus in
So that is it for the past 36 hours. Hope everything is going great with you guys.
Love you LOTS!!!!
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Morning Refreshing
Hi,
I just have a story that i want to tell. I hope that it'll be encouraging to Paul! Dess was asked to arrange some songs by CD for Wednesday's morning refreshing. She picks out songs and then writes the lyrics on a big piece of paper so the crew can sing along. One of the songs that she picked was "The Prodigal Son" by Paul Butler. I think it was the debut playing of the song in Louisiana. The crew liked it and clapped along to the music (which they don't often do). I just thought that it was really neat to be praising God along with Paul.
Okay so that was my main point on blogging tonight. I haven't had anything really exciting happen to me lately. But i guess i can talk a bit about what's been going on. Something strange happened at Friend Ships over the weekend. It was Saturday afternoon, around 4:00pm and Stuart, one of the crew, came back to the property after a bike ride. He heard some loud music coming from one of the ministry mini-vans. When he went over to the van to see why the music was on, he found a kid from the neighborhood just sitting in the van, listening to music. Someone had left the keys in the van, and for some strange reason, this kid happened to come into our property (all the gates were locked) and he found the van with the keys in it and decided to play some music. Well, he took off with the keys. Later on, Josh, another crewmember went out to look for the kid (who was probably about 16 years old) to see if he could get the keys and let him know he's not welcome. He found a kid who claimed that it was his "twin brother" who'd been on the property. Josh couldn't get anything out of him, so they left it alone. I don't know what this kid was thinking! Why would he do that?!?! It just doesn't make any sense to me. Then on Wednesday i went checking around to make sure we didn't have anymore keys left in vehicles and i found the CB radio was left on in one of our semi trucks. I assume that this kid had been in it too and had thought that it was a normal radio. So, security at Friend Ships has been beefed up again. Today Tim and i have been putting up vinyl along our fence. We used to have it up, but had to take it down when hurricane Rita came through so it wouldn't tear out the whole fence. It makes our property look more like a military compound because the vinyl is a dark green color. But the good thing is that people can't just look in and see what's going on anymore.
Let's see, i guess i can talk about our Canada Day/4th of July celebrations. Well, i guess celebration isn't the right choice of words. On Canada day we went to the indoor football game that i've mentioned in a previous post. No one really acknowledged that it was Canada day and no one in the States has ever heard of Canada day. They just don't get it. Then on the 4th of July we drove to Houston to see Chuck and Janet. Chuck was being released from the hospital that day from surgery. He had some problems with his veins or arteries in his legs. They cut him up good. We went to be a support for both Chuck and Janet. Chuck was doing well. He was pretty weak because his hemoglobin count was low and he was hurting from the surgery, but he handled himself really well. Janet was a little bit emotionally fatigued. She'd been going through a lot during the surgery, worrying about the procedure and the future. Dess and i were able to just help relieve some of the stress. We spent about 4 hours in Houston with Chuck and Janet, then we headed back for Lake Charles. We picked up some Taco Bell went back to Chuck and Janet's apartment (they were letting us stay in it while they were in Houston) and crashed out. We didn't see a single flash of light in the sky from a fire work. I guess we just aren't that patriotic.
Life is going well as a whole. We are going to get an extra day off next week because we've been working so hard! That will be a nice break. I'm still waiting to get my new glasses. They were supposed to be ready today, but when i called the eyeglass store they said i'd need to wait until tomorrow. I'm looking forward to having a new look, a stronger prescription and no scratches on my lenses.
That's all for tonight... until next time.
I just have a story that i want to tell. I hope that it'll be encouraging to Paul! Dess was asked to arrange some songs by CD for Wednesday's morning refreshing. She picks out songs and then writes the lyrics on a big piece of paper so the crew can sing along. One of the songs that she picked was "The Prodigal Son" by Paul Butler. I think it was the debut playing of the song in Louisiana. The crew liked it and clapped along to the music (which they don't often do). I just thought that it was really neat to be praising God along with Paul.
Okay so that was my main point on blogging tonight. I haven't had anything really exciting happen to me lately. But i guess i can talk a bit about what's been going on. Something strange happened at Friend Ships over the weekend. It was Saturday afternoon, around 4:00pm and Stuart, one of the crew, came back to the property after a bike ride. He heard some loud music coming from one of the ministry mini-vans. When he went over to the van to see why the music was on, he found a kid from the neighborhood just sitting in the van, listening to music. Someone had left the keys in the van, and for some strange reason, this kid happened to come into our property (all the gates were locked) and he found the van with the keys in it and decided to play some music. Well, he took off with the keys. Later on, Josh, another crewmember went out to look for the kid (who was probably about 16 years old) to see if he could get the keys and let him know he's not welcome. He found a kid who claimed that it was his "twin brother" who'd been on the property. Josh couldn't get anything out of him, so they left it alone. I don't know what this kid was thinking! Why would he do that?!?! It just doesn't make any sense to me. Then on Wednesday i went checking around to make sure we didn't have anymore keys left in vehicles and i found the CB radio was left on in one of our semi trucks. I assume that this kid had been in it too and had thought that it was a normal radio. So, security at Friend Ships has been beefed up again. Today Tim and i have been putting up vinyl along our fence. We used to have it up, but had to take it down when hurricane Rita came through so it wouldn't tear out the whole fence. It makes our property look more like a military compound because the vinyl is a dark green color. But the good thing is that people can't just look in and see what's going on anymore.
Let's see, i guess i can talk about our Canada Day/4th of July celebrations. Well, i guess celebration isn't the right choice of words. On Canada day we went to the indoor football game that i've mentioned in a previous post. No one really acknowledged that it was Canada day and no one in the States has ever heard of Canada day. They just don't get it. Then on the 4th of July we drove to Houston to see Chuck and Janet. Chuck was being released from the hospital that day from surgery. He had some problems with his veins or arteries in his legs. They cut him up good. We went to be a support for both Chuck and Janet. Chuck was doing well. He was pretty weak because his hemoglobin count was low and he was hurting from the surgery, but he handled himself really well. Janet was a little bit emotionally fatigued. She'd been going through a lot during the surgery, worrying about the procedure and the future. Dess and i were able to just help relieve some of the stress. We spent about 4 hours in Houston with Chuck and Janet, then we headed back for Lake Charles. We picked up some Taco Bell went back to Chuck and Janet's apartment (they were letting us stay in it while they were in Houston) and crashed out. We didn't see a single flash of light in the sky from a fire work. I guess we just aren't that patriotic.
Life is going well as a whole. We are going to get an extra day off next week because we've been working so hard! That will be a nice break. I'm still waiting to get my new glasses. They were supposed to be ready today, but when i called the eyeglass store they said i'd need to wait until tomorrow. I'm looking forward to having a new look, a stronger prescription and no scratches on my lenses.
That's all for tonight... until next time.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
It's A New Season
Hi Everyone,
Well, Dess just blogged last night about our adventures in eyeglasses. I figured i'd give you a bit of an update of the last week. It's been pretty intense and tiring for us, so you must want to know what we've been up to.
Last week Friend Ships held their first annual Disaster Response Training. About 50 people from around the United States congregated in Lake Charles, LA to participate in this training. The training consisted of many lectures and some practical work shops. Dess and i both got to teach in a work shop. We had 2 hours to teach about our different topics and then we got to repeat it 4 more times because the people had the opportunity to attend 5 of the 7 work shops available. Dess' work shop was on disaster response radio broadcasting. After hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Dess' voice could be heard on 107.9 FM as she pronounced public service announcements and played her rocking gospel and hip-hop music. So, she was the perfect candidate for teaching this course. She was able to create the atmosphere of a mock radio station and had the participants speak over loud speaker to get the feel. Dess did an awesome job and many of the people who came to the training spoke highly of Dess and said she had the perfect personality for it (and that was even before they knew i was married to her!!!).
I did the work shop on roofing. It didn't go as bad as i had expected. About the week before the training i was told that i was going to supervise groups tarping a RV for Miss Gwen (the founder of Friend Ships mother). This disgusted me and made me not want to do it. Then, Dess knew a lady through the food ministry who needed her roof tarped. She had gotten her roof fixed after the hurricane, but it started leaking again just two weeks ago. I gave a 15 minute talk about tarping and then we piled into cars and vans and drove to the lady's house. We would put up a few sheets of vinyl and nail it down. Then we'd pack up and head back to Port Mercy. It was awesome because we finished tarping the roof during my last work shop. Everyone who came to my work shop was able to go away feeling more comfortable working on roofs and hammering in nails. I was glad.
Last night Dess and i went to an arena football game. The home team is the Swashbucklers. Arena football is a fast paced game with lots of action. We had a good time screaming and cheering. It made for a late night to end our tiring week, but it was worth it.
Well, for any of you who are waiting for me to respond to my "tag" from Sarah, you'll have to wait a bit longer. I've gotta do some deep thinking before i come up with 8 things. Keep checking the blog and i'm sure i'll come up with it sometime soon.
That's a bit of what's happening with us.
Well, Dess just blogged last night about our adventures in eyeglasses. I figured i'd give you a bit of an update of the last week. It's been pretty intense and tiring for us, so you must want to know what we've been up to.
Last week Friend Ships held their first annual Disaster Response Training. About 50 people from around the United States congregated in Lake Charles, LA to participate in this training. The training consisted of many lectures and some practical work shops. Dess and i both got to teach in a work shop. We had 2 hours to teach about our different topics and then we got to repeat it 4 more times because the people had the opportunity to attend 5 of the 7 work shops available. Dess' work shop was on disaster response radio broadcasting. After hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Dess' voice could be heard on 107.9 FM as she pronounced public service announcements and played her rocking gospel and hip-hop music. So, she was the perfect candidate for teaching this course. She was able to create the atmosphere of a mock radio station and had the participants speak over loud speaker to get the feel. Dess did an awesome job and many of the people who came to the training spoke highly of Dess and said she had the perfect personality for it (and that was even before they knew i was married to her!!!).
I did the work shop on roofing. It didn't go as bad as i had expected. About the week before the training i was told that i was going to supervise groups tarping a RV for Miss Gwen (the founder of Friend Ships mother). This disgusted me and made me not want to do it. Then, Dess knew a lady through the food ministry who needed her roof tarped. She had gotten her roof fixed after the hurricane, but it started leaking again just two weeks ago. I gave a 15 minute talk about tarping and then we piled into cars and vans and drove to the lady's house. We would put up a few sheets of vinyl and nail it down. Then we'd pack up and head back to Port Mercy. It was awesome because we finished tarping the roof during my last work shop. Everyone who came to my work shop was able to go away feeling more comfortable working on roofs and hammering in nails. I was glad.
Last night Dess and i went to an arena football game. The home team is the Swashbucklers. Arena football is a fast paced game with lots of action. We had a good time screaming and cheering. It made for a late night to end our tiring week, but it was worth it.
Well, for any of you who are waiting for me to respond to my "tag" from Sarah, you'll have to wait a bit longer. I've gotta do some deep thinking before i come up with 8 things. Keep checking the blog and i'm sure i'll come up with it sometime soon.
That's a bit of what's happening with us.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
We are more than conquers . . . WE whooped those eye glasses in the bud!!!
GOODNESS . . . . . is all I have to say. We have been trying to get new glasses for Joel since Dad and Mom Butler came up to see us. They wanted to get Joel a new pair since his is all scratched up and falling apart. But it didn't work out. So Joel was able to get a free eye appointment the week after they left. The eye doctor said nothing really had changed when it came to Joel's eye sight.
So we went to get Joel a pair of glasses with his new prescription. Before we went to the eye glass shop Joel found his old prescription and to the unprofessional eye it looked like Joel's eye sight had changed a lot. So we took both of the prescription (one from five years ago and one from the new eye exam) and brought them with us to the eye glass store. The lady at the shop said she would not make us a pair because looking at the prescriptions they were totally different. So we went back to the doctors office but were not allowed to see the doctor, just nurses. When we explained what had happened and showed them the two prescriptions they said they trusted the doctor and would not question him. This was frustrating. We just wanted to know if they were truly different or not. But they would not help us.
So Joel went back to the lady (Jan) that set us up with the eye exam/doctor. She told Joel she would not call the doctor and question him. So being the wife that I am and being a bit tight with money at the moment I had a heart to heart talk with Jan. Finally in the end she said she would fax the doctor with the two prescriptions.
You would think everything was okay but things got a bit stickier. It went to the wrong doctor and Dr. Hart never saw it. They actually called me personally and asked me why I faxed them the prescription since it was another doctor who looked at Joel. Awwwwwwwwww. So we went back to Jan and asked to call Dr. Hart to see if they ended up giving him the two prescriptions. She found out that they looked at it and then called Joel on his old work phone number left a loooooooonnnnnnnngggg message and then ripped up the fax. By the grace of God and knowledge of Joel we some how got that message. It said the prescriptions were fine the new one was a little bit stronger than the first one.
"Finally!!!!" I thought "We can get Joel glasses now." So we went to Sears in the mall they were having a half off lenses and frame sale. Joel and I finally found glasses he liked then sat down for the pricing. The lady would only sell us the most expensive lens, she wouldn't even give us any other price besides the 2 most expensive lenses. Which with out the sale were 400 to 500 dollars for two lenses and with the sale it was well over 200 dollars. The grand total she wanted was almost three hundred dollars. I began to panic but quickly prayed and just said God we have that much money with us and if Joel needs it and this is the best we can do we will manage. The lady suggested we look around .
So the next eye glass store we went to the lady was saying we couldn't buy certain frames because of the wideness. (But the wide frames were the ones we liked) Finally we found one we liked and asked the price. (They were actually having the same sale) The frames and lenses with the sale came to 160ish dollars total. So we took it and are waiting for the glasses to be done this Thursday.
What I learned from this: Tenacity: Never give up and just give it to God. In the end He has your back.
So we went to get Joel a pair of glasses with his new prescription. Before we went to the eye glass shop Joel found his old prescription and to the unprofessional eye it looked like Joel's eye sight had changed a lot. So we took both of the prescription (one from five years ago and one from the new eye exam) and brought them with us to the eye glass store. The lady at the shop said she would not make us a pair because looking at the prescriptions they were totally different. So we went back to the doctors office but were not allowed to see the doctor, just nurses. When we explained what had happened and showed them the two prescriptions they said they trusted the doctor and would not question him. This was frustrating. We just wanted to know if they were truly different or not. But they would not help us.
So Joel went back to the lady (Jan) that set us up with the eye exam/doctor. She told Joel she would not call the doctor and question him. So being the wife that I am and being a bit tight with money at the moment I had a heart to heart talk with Jan. Finally in the end she said she would fax the doctor with the two prescriptions.
You would think everything was okay but things got a bit stickier. It went to the wrong doctor and Dr. Hart never saw it. They actually called me personally and asked me why I faxed them the prescription since it was another doctor who looked at Joel. Awwwwwwwwww. So we went back to Jan and asked to call Dr. Hart to see if they ended up giving him the two prescriptions. She found out that they looked at it and then called Joel on his old work phone number left a loooooooonnnnnnnngggg message and then ripped up the fax. By the grace of God and knowledge of Joel we some how got that message. It said the prescriptions were fine the new one was a little bit stronger than the first one.
"Finally!!!!" I thought "We can get Joel glasses now." So we went to Sears in the mall they were having a half off lenses and frame sale. Joel and I finally found glasses he liked then sat down for the pricing. The lady would only sell us the most expensive lens, she wouldn't even give us any other price besides the 2 most expensive lenses. Which with out the sale were 400 to 500 dollars for two lenses and with the sale it was well over 200 dollars. The grand total she wanted was almost three hundred dollars. I began to panic but quickly prayed and just said God we have that much money with us and if Joel needs it and this is the best we can do we will manage. The lady suggested we look around .
So the next eye glass store we went to the lady was saying we couldn't buy certain frames because of the wideness. (But the wide frames were the ones we liked) Finally we found one we liked and asked the price. (They were actually having the same sale) The frames and lenses with the sale came to 160ish dollars total. So we took it and are waiting for the glasses to be done this Thursday.
What I learned from this: Tenacity: Never give up and just give it to God. In the end He has your back.
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