So which one is to be, then? Or can it truly be both?
If I seize every opportunity today to make the future a better place, and if I accept that GOD loves me as I am, and yet strive to be more frugal, more healthy, more steadfast in my faith – there really isn’t that much of a conflict, is there?

As I left a friend the other day, she innocently displayed an image which captured my attention and my imagination. Moving her arms as if she were swimming she declared in unspoken action, “I am a fish swimming upstream, everyday, pushing through the weeds, towards something better.” Sometimes the only goal you can focus on is the one that says “just keep going.” I suppose we all want to believe that we are headed for something better if we can just push through the negativity of others, the cramped means of our lives. Mad paddling, sweeping breaststrokes, scissor kicks – we move in whichever way our limitations allow.

Of course we’re not frantic salmon with only one pre-programmed genetic goal. But, we are pre-programmed with a great universal goal – whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. There is an innate drive for and toward “something” better, “something” more. Not an abstract, but rather an easy, well definable target: Heaven is the ultimate goal.

Realize this – we spend hours swimming against the negativity of our world, so that we can make our way to peace and joy. And as long as we’re headed there, let’s recognize this as well - It is our responsibility to bring others along on the ride.

In this issue: New Pennies, Salmon, Thinking for Yourself in the Face of Doubt,Health Benefits of Swimming
Now Posted: Action Plan Early July, New Orleans, October 2009.

Pitifully, all of this planning plainly points to the end of my two favorite seasons – summer and fall.
I don’t usually start griping until after the first snowfall, which is usually some time before Thanksgiving (sigh).

I’ve been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving: my absolute favorite holiday – a chance to reflect on the best things, the happiest things, the things that matter most.
I’m thinking I’ve already been so much more thankful this year than recent years.
I’m thinking I’m thankful I still have so much more to be thankful for.
I’m thinking if I start now, I might be able to get all the good stuff listed by November 26th.

I received a gift book a few years ago titled: 10,001 things to be happy about. It was an interesting book. Not all were choices I’d have made, but I enjoyed the point. For a while, I would grab the book, open to any page, and find dozens of interesting ideas of where I could begin to look for happiness in my own life.

I’ve thought about going back to that book now, but I think I’d rather start my own.
It’s likely to include things like cleaning out the filing cabinet, dismantling the salsa garden and even putting away the summer furniture.
We should be more thankful about the things we do for ourselves.
Because tasks fulfilled, plans achieved, goals attained, responsibilities met, are all accomplishments to be happy about.
If you’re happy, be thankful; if you’re thankful, be happy.

Psalm 118:1
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!

In this issue: The Miss America Pageant, DoGood App, Effective Email
Now posted: Action Plan June, New Orleans, October 2009

I've returned home safely, and tired.
Learned a little more about vinyl siding than I already knew.
Learned a lot more about insulation than I never knew.

I've spent some time looking back already just trying to figure out how this particular October GITC mission trip got started, and how it could possibly be over so soon!

Both the word and the concept of "team" have changed for me.
The most surprising part of the change is the realization that we are always involved in, part of, or on, a team of one sort or another.

Every relationship is a team effort. Every coworker is a team member.
Every person in your family is part of your assigned team.
How positively or efficiently our teams work is another issue.
For now, let's just try to concentrate on the idea that we are always on a team.
GOD is with us; we never alone.

In this issue: Vince Lombardi, definition of a team, duffel bags, and Obstacles to Success.

Now posted: In The Beginning, New Orleans October 2009

If you haven’t ever been on a mission trip, here is how one works.
A bunch of people, mostly strangers, from different backgrounds,
different personal histories, and different financial statuses
get together for a important common purpose, automatically
transforming them into totally invested coworkers, which usually
leads to amazing amounts of productivity, and equally important
friendships.

Our work lives should be more like mission trips.

Because that’s the day I received the email. Here’s how it went down:

>>> "KM” 5/21/2009 1:09 PM >>>
Do you want to co-lead a trip in October with me?????

>>> “JK” 5/21/2009 1:15 PM >>>
Yes! Where to? Dates? So I can make sure I can do it. Kids or Adults? Not that it matters. It's just one of those questions I ask now. I'm getting smarter at that!

>>> "KM" 5/21/2009 1:24 PM >>>
Adults. Look at your calendar for dates the second or third week of October. It would be the Gulf. I will start the process.

>>> “JK” 5/21/2009 1:35 PM >>>
Leaving the 3rd, returning the 11th - first choice
Leaving the 10th returning the 18th - second choice

5/22: When morning comes, I stretch awake thinking, “Yeah, that must have been a dream.” Unfortunately, my email proves otherwise. “OK, now what?” I ask myself and proceed to conjure up ways I can not be a team co-leader without actually backing out.

Amongst my brilliant ideas are: I can do most of the administrative duties, and let my co-leader be the voice. I can write the devotions and my team co-leader can give them. I can put her name down first on all the paperwork. "Yeah," I think as I saunter toward the shower, "I've got this covered."

So, that’s how a mission trip begins.

In between planning, co-plotting, almost-daily (and sometimes 20-times daily) communications, regular life continued...

6/10/2009
KM: I am looking forward to October. We are calling down there to set up a location and dates… Or did you want to do that… Looks like October 3 thru the 11 I think… Not looking at a calendar.

JK: The 3rd thru 11th works for me. Since you're the one with the sparkly personality, and all the hometown support available right there to help you, I think you should be our voice for this trip! I would prefer to be the paper person running around behind you....

KM: Works for me…. I think we will make a fabulous team…

6/22/2009
KM: We are going to stay in Slidell at the same place we were last time… We will travel for our site… Are you moving this weekend?

JK: Yeah! Aldersgate! So we have set the dates as 10/3 - 10/11 for sure? Shall I draft an announcement email for posting and e-mailing to the GITC list? I'm so excited. And, no, I guess I am not moving this weekend. I have until March 2010 to decide if I will buy the house or move. I'm pretty sure I will move, but I don't have to decide right now. And if I find something I like before then, I'll just do it. I believe I have a cavity below my gum line on one of my last few remaining front teeth. I am also maxed out on insurance use, so I have to call and see how much it will cost to fix it as opposed to pulling it. The good news is that I am not planning on auditioning for the Miss America Pageant anytime soon....

We are delighted that your team will be coming to help with the recovery of Louisiana. We have assigned your team to the Southeast Center in New Orleans. Thanking you in advance, LA UM Disaster Response, Inc.

JK:
HI! Yippee! What besides salsa should I bring for dinner Saturday night? I need to be in Livonia (Gem Show) by 1:00 pm on Sunday, but I should be ok if I leave right after church.

7/10/2009:

Dear KM,
Thank you for your interest in joining the United Methodist Southeast Louisiana Disaster Recovery with the Hurricane Katrina recovery process. Our number one resource continues to be the commitment and hard work of volunteers. Please review this information regarding your trip and the attached registration forms. After your review, please contact me with any unanswered questions you may have.

Reservation Details
Date of Trip: October 4–10, 2009
Group Name: Get In The Car, VIII
Volunteer Count: 9

Registration Forms
Please have each volunteer complete (1) Liability Release Form and (2) Medical Information. If you have youth participating, please complete the additional youth forms as well. In addition, please fill out ONE Skills Survey for your group. The Liability Release Form and Skills Survey Form are due two weeks prior to arrival.
Every member of your group must have accident insurance. Proof of Insurance for your team is due two weeks prior to arrival. If you would like to purchase travel accident insurance for 75 cents a day through Global Ministries, please visit www.laumcstormrelief.com for more information.

Also, please provide Southeast Louisiana Disaster Recovery with two or three contact cell phone numbers where we can reach members of your group during your trip.

Housing
Our housing facilities provide a place for you to Rest, Refresh, Replenish, & Relax. Please contact us one hour prior to arrival to gain access to your housing.

Your assigned housing is: the Epworth Volunteer Building at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Slidell, LA 70458.
This facility has a dormitory style layout. There are 50 bunk beds inside the facility, a commercial kitchen for your use, and a community area for dining and gathering. Finally, there are 6 showers (3 male/3 female) to which you will have shared access. There is also internet access at this facility.

As a note for your scheduling, during the school year, Aldersgate UMC hosts a Family Dinner/Bible Study on Wednesday evenings from 5:45-7:15. All recovery workers are invited to attend. The dinner is $5 per person. Please inform me on Monday if you wish to join the event.

A housing donation is requested of $12.00 per person/per day. Our housing facilities are made possible by volunteers through dedication, donations, and hard work. This housing donation covers utility maintenance, and general upkeep costs. Please make checks payable to Louisiana Disaster Recovery Ministry with ‘Housing’ in the memo line. Please turn in your housing payment on Monday morning following Orientation.

Meals & Food
Please remember that your team is in charge of purchasing and preparing your meals. There are sufficient grocery stores and general stores stocked with food and supplies so you can purchase these things upon arrival. The kitchen has all the necessary cooking utensils (pots/pans/spatulas/etc), but we recommend that you bring disposable plates/cups/eating utensils. Please remember to take any food you purchase back home with you or dispose of it prior to your departure.

Orientation
All volunteers are required to attend an orientation meeting on Monday morning at 8am. Please be prompt. Dale Kimball, New Orleans Station Manager, will give you an overview of the week and SLDR’s construction coordinators will assign work projects to your group at this time.
Orientation Location:Northshore Disaster Recovery Inc., Slidell, LA 70458

Flying Your Flag
One important aspect of the volunteer experience at SLDR continues to be the flying of state flags over the building. Volunteers take pride in seeing their flag fly while they work in this community. More importantly, the flags are a sign of hope for residents that still await services. If possible, please bring a full size state flag (3’X5’) with you.\

Water & Hydration
We have a limited supply of water coolers and ice chests available on a first come first serve basis. If you are able, please provide extra coolers and chests for your teams.

Donations
Our ministry is so grateful for the continual giving of so many wonderful people. Through labor and financial contributions we continue to coordinate the recovery of many individuals in this community. If you would like to donate financially to the ministry, we welcome any form of contribution. However, please know that monetary donations in the form of “gift cards” to Home Depot and Lowe’s are most useful to us and your fellow volunteers.

Preparation Training
If incoming volunteer team members are interested in improving their construction skills prior to volunteering, Lowe’s and Home Depot offer free classes on drywall, taping & floating, texturing walls, applying molding, installing doors, laying tile or carpet, etc.
We are looking forward to working with you and seeing you soon.
Peace, SLDR Volunteer Coordinator.

“Our mission is to seek and to save the least, the last, and the lost.
Without the sacrifice of volunteers, this would not be possible.
Thank you for being sensitive to the greater spirit and for putting the needs of others ahead of your own.
We rejoice and feel blessed to have you here!”

**Please be aware that due to the nature of social services, your volunteer information may be discussed internally among supervisors. If you desire for your information to remain confidential, which you have the right to do so, please advise the Volunteer Coordinator of your wishes.**

However, not too surprisingly, I found it a whole lot easier to jump out of bed in New Orleans than I did this morning in Michigan.

Coming home is always hard for me. Everything I left undone before my journey remains in waiting. The perpetual list is overwhelming and in many ways an obstacle of my own making.

For tonight though, the urgent list is shorter than usual. Newsletter, unpacking, and sleeping.

The rest of it will just have to wait until I am ready to reopen the door to my immediate past.

In this issue: Leo Tolstoy, Blog, Are You Your Own Obstacle, A Few Last Words About Worry.

Now posted: slidell, poetry, 2009

What was I thinking or not thinking yesterday?
98 degrees, 100% humidity, working with insulation in extra garb, glasses fogged up, masks damp, necks itchy.

Also, 10/6 Historically:
Wedding Day - 2001
Funeral Day – 2006
How did I end up here? Day – 2009

In this issue: Big Bob Gibson, Bob Gibson, The Idiom of Food for Thought, We’ll Never Be This Young Again.

Somehow it works out though that the things I don’t want to do are always first on my list of things to do. I always find a way to give in to responsibility by assuring myself that I will get to the fun stuff as soon as the not-so-fun stuff is done. However, this has turned into weeks on end of meeting my own obligations, and the “lesser” things remain undone.

So, if I struggle with motivating myself, how can I possibly motivate others effectively?
I can’t. And luckily, I don’t have to.

The team I am about to travel with is already comprised of completely motivated individuals. My strength is to be found in encouraging others who are already motivated. My simple gift of administration is offered to assist the motivated in making their visions reality. Despite the required volunteer essay submitted with each application, I can’t say for sure what it is that has motivated them to join this team at this time. As we know, words don’t always convey the full conviction of the heart, no matter how flowery or firm.

I can, however, put this out there: If the difference between management and leadership comes down to functions and relationships, it can be explained this way:
Team coordinators are managers whose job it is to plan, budget, evaluate, and facilitate.
Leadership’s job is to select talent, motivate, coach, and build trust – which obviously GOD has already done – at least 9 times that I know of.

Based on this, I can confirm that I am in the right place for me.
And with hopeful faith I can believe I am in the right place for this team, as well.

In this issue: Stop Worrying parts 5 & 6, Margery Allingham, Management vs Leadership, Motive, Try It - writing down what we are grateful for.

“This year,” he continued with obvious exhuberant enthusiasm, “We’ll begin our new season by killing somebody!”

What does this have to do with this week’s message?
As usual - absolutely nothing; and then predictably - everything.

For me, Sunday’s season opener was a much anticipated escape. Even so, as I was sitting there, the floor vibrating with menacing bass and brassily snapping shark jaws, my mind remained distractedly clamped on missionary management issues.

At this point, our vehicles and our volunteers are in accord.

However, there are also three more potential volunteers looming on our horizon. As our discussion evolved, someone said, “We have room for one more.” Technically, there is one traveling seat still available the first week, and two seats available for the second week.

But that’s not completely accurate, either. When we began to evaluate it, we all headed the same direction. Do we really have room for one more? Nope, we have room for as many more as GOD sends our way.

Why? Because, we cannot limit ourselves to our current resources. We cannot encourage inclusion or exclusion based on “now,” when our missionary organization is based on “faith, hope, and the future.”

How? Oh, I’m not 100% sure GOD will provide what we want, when we want it. But if HE leads people to be moved with the compassion for volunteering, I suspect HE will also provide a way for us to move them. Probably not without stress or worry, probably not without reworking all the figures, reanalyzing the budget, or resubmitting required paperwork. But probably with gifts we’ll have to reach for, seek out, and submit to. And there’ll surely be a lesson to be had, a message we can pass along, a testimony to how GOD works for the good of all men.

And if, in the final hours before departure, we still find ourselves one seat short, we could always begin our new missionary season by killing somebody.

In this issue: John Williams, Apple App – Ocarina, Stop Worrying Step 3, Learning to be a More Valuable Employee

Now Posted: Details

In Humanities class we were instructed to change the arm we wear our watch on. If you wore it on left, you were to switch it to the right and vice versa. The point was to disrupt our routine, draw attention to automatic reactions, and make us more aware. I indeed found myself continuing to check my left wrist for the time, even though my watch was on my right wrist.

Last weekend I changed my bedroom setup. My new neighbors are noisier than my old neighbors, so I moved the bed from near the windows to the opposite side of the room. Actually, I reversed the entire room. Not a life-changing event, but enough to change my perspective at least twice a day. Once when I wake up facing the windows, and again when I go to bed glancing down the long hall to the den.

Turning things around, creating negatives of our prior routines, mirroring our perspectives, soundly alerts us to how stagnant we have become. Acknowledging that, I’ve decided to change another part of my routine, as well: my prayer routine. I’ve been waiting until the end of the day to set my thoughts to GOD, for the goodness I have received and in the prayers I have for others.

Morning prayers take a lot more thought for me. The prayers I have for others remain the same. However, I am no longer able to inventorily thank GOD for the day’s events. I must pre-thank him for guiding me through a day of events yet unknown. That leaves out the possibilities of specific gratitude, and causes a more specific step of faith. Beginning my day with trust is a challenge I have not quite mastered. I find myself falling back on gratitude for the prior day, and then asking for more of the same.

Still, this purposeful negative has developed into a positive. Recognition of rote behavior, realization of the differences between beginnings and ends, and devoting myself to uncomfortable changes: all positively negatives. All positively worth pursuing.

"O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.” Isaiah 33:2

In this issue: Stop Worrying (part 2 & 3), Photographic Negatives, Positivity at Work, Negative Calories, Negativity Word Challenge (I made 55 words from the word "negativity", can you?)

Now posted: Blow Pop Man - Transformer! Humor, That's Random.