Day 81 - Photos, Slides and Negatives (Throw)

In the box I brought inside the other day from the storage shed, I found some old records and stacks upon stacks of photos.  I actually threw away hundreds of prints, dozens of slides and a multitude of negatives.  I kept only a third or less of the total. 

Getting rid of the negatives was no big deal - with all the changes in technology, there's really no reason to keep a negative strip when you can easily reproduce any picture by scanning it.  Likewise, the slides were nothing special and I have no way to view them anyway.  I did save two slides - they were shots of my father on his fishing boat.  It wasn't until after Dad died (back in 2002) that I realized how very few pictures I had of him...

The pictures I threw away were not hard to part with either.  After years of college, seminary, youth ministry and camp counseling, I have photo after photo of school kids, teenagers, classmates and even coworkers whom I hardly recognize ... or don't recognize at all!

These pictures spanned from my time in LeMars, Iowa (right after college), through seminary days and my time as pastor at Marietta (where I was living when I met Melissa).  Looking through all these pics left me with an "It's a Wonderful Life" sort of feeling... 

My old Kentucky home ... where I lived with my good friend Tim while we were students at Asbury Seminary.

Some of the guys on the Smoky Mountains backpacking trip - I think it was Luke (in the middle) who first suggested I could be the youth pastor at Shelbyville First United Methodist. (See Day 72)

Graduation from Asbury Seminary.  One of the few pictures I have of me with Dad. 
I know, right?

I seriously don't remember having a goatee so often, but it seems like I have one in about every other picture.  And I'm sure I was unaware of how bad my hair looked most of the time.



While at Asbury, I learned many things... including how lucrative Christian marketing can be.  Too tired to write about it tonight ... maybe another time...



Just saw on line that school has been canceled for tomorrow, so I get to sleep in! 

Melissa and I agreed that if we got any snow days this week, we'd use some of the time to move forward on our application for OMS.  Getting the house ready to sell took precedence over the application, but now we need to give it some attention.  Part of what we need to do is get some reference letters out ... and I think we need copies of transcripts.  Melissa had the kids at the doctor's office this afternoon and they all got their Hepatitis A shots - part of the vaccinations they need before going to Haiti.  Apparently The Princess was not at all happy ... or calm ... about it.  She was limping around all evening!

Day 80 - Chia Pet and Clay Buffalo Skull (Give)

I had several of the students over last night to watch a movie.  I am directing a production of "12 Angry Jurors" this spring.  We've started practices and they are supposed to have Act I memorized by this coming Wednesday.  If you aren't familiar with the play, it is based on a 1957 movie, "12 Angry Men", starring Henry Fonda. 

I have to tell you, my cast is quite the mix of ... remarkable individuals.  They are something else.  I learned so much last night - mostly things I didn't want to know!  From day to day, I manage to keep my ears 99% free of all the faculty and student gossip that flies around a school building on a regular basis.  So after the teens left the house (most of them had spent more time texting than watching the movie), I was tempted to do a Sargeant Shultz as I closed the door and declare, "I know nothing. NOTHING!"  (That's a Hogan's Heroes allusion, in case you missed it.)

Anyway, before they all showed up, I ran out to the storage shed and pulled in another box because I figured I could find something quickly to Give.  I found a Chia head and a buffalo skull I had made out of clay in high school.  Alex got the Chia and David took the skull. 

David cracked me up - he wanted to make sure I was really willing to part with that thing!  "Are you sure you don't want to take this with you to Haiti?"

Yeah, pretty darn sure.

Here they are:

Day 79 - Zombie Sign (Definite Throw)

I bought this goofy "Zombie Free Zone" at Big Lots a few years ago on clearance after Halloween.  I thought it would make a good decoration for my classroom.  And, in my mind, it held a hidden meaning:  "zombies" were those students who go through the school day (and life in general) in a fog (perhaps chemically induced!) accomplishing little more than taking up space.  I have had my fair share of "zombies" in class and wanted to declare my room off limits to them.

Most students liked the sign, though I rarely explained it's meaning.  A few students HATED it and would turn it around to face the wall whenever they could.  It creeped them out.

It IS a creepy looking thing. 

I have been meaning to throw it away ever since I returned from Haiti - but I just didn't think to do it from day to day.  But Friday I finally remembered and brought it home with me to Throw.  And honestly, I had students begging me for it as I left the building!  I had to tell them that I was determined to throw it away.  A few asked me why and I was more than happy to explain...

Zombies to us are just harmless staples of horror movies.  Nothing more than Hollywood fantasy.  But in Haiti I met an old man who has written a book on Voodoo practices and he told me about meeting an actual zombie.  It was a woman who had been dead for three years. 

I asked him how he knew it was a zombie and he chuckled and gave me a look that meant "what a ridiculous question!" 

An American friend who is very familiar with Haiti said that he does not believe zombies are people who have physically died and then been brought back to life by the spirits, but are rather people who have been drugged into a stupor by a witch doctor who may even go so far as to bury the comatose victim and later dig him or her up. 

Either way, the point that nobody in Haiti disputes is that there are such things as zombies and their role is to serve the witch doctors. 

Upon my return, the sign hanging in my classroom struck me only as a mockery of a mysterious and evil reality.  I just decided that, for me, it's not something to joke about and it's not something I would want to pass along to some teenager to hang in his bedroom!  So it's in the garbage can where it belongs.

“Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favor.” (Proverbs 14:9)

Day 78 - Three 120 Day Dry Erase Planners (Give)

Years ago I bought these planners so that I could hang them on my wall in the youth ministry office and have space to plan out an entire year in advance.  I thought it would help if I had the dates in front of me, since most times when I write dates down in a traditional calendar, events tend to sneak up on me.  I don't flip the page until the month ends and then ... Yikes! ... there's some big event early in the next month which hasn't been planned yet!

I got them in 2000 when I first started as youth pastor of First United Methodist Church of Pensacola, Florida.  The best part was these calendars had a slick surface for dry erase markers so they could be used and reused.  When I pulled them out of the garage, they still had writing on them.  The most recent date is April 2002!  Haven't been used since.

November 18 of 2001 has the words "Grand Opening" written in big capital letters...

It was the Grand Opening of a million dollar youth ministry center.  Literally ... a million dollars.  Just before Melissa and I arrived in town, the church had purchased an old funeral home across the street for $300,000.  It was going to get fresh paint and new carpet, but instead got sucked into a capital campaign drive which resulted in $700,000 worth of renovations!

We went out of our way to make it an attractive, interesting place for teens - a place they'd want to visit often - a place they'd be excited to bring their friends.  There was a sanctuary with video and sound equipment.  The "One Way Cafe" sported kitchen facilities, a fountain soda dispenser, a garage theme throughout and full-fledged pinball games rigged to play for free.  Upstairs there were classrooms - each one with its own unique theme.  Pool tables.  Ping pong tables.  Video games.  Murals.  Even an outdoor deck with picnic tables.


The Grand Opening was a huge success.  We were packed out with church kids and their friends. 

Which caused a few of our ministry team adults to freak out.

When the last kid was out the door that night, some of the adults wanted to meet to discuss new rules we might consider ...

... to limit the number of teens...

... and to protect the building.

Isn't that the way it is with THINGS?

(I don't want to leave the impression that the church as a whole felt this way ... they had willingly invested a million dollars in an effort to reach out to the teens of Pensacola.  I am only pointing out the temptation to protect what's ours - even when it's a church building and even when doing so puts doing God's will in jeopardy.  I know a lot of great ministry has undoubtedly taken place in that building over the last decade and I pray that it continues for many more years to come.)



I left the calendars in the teachers' lounge at school with the word "Free" on a post-it note.  If they haven't moved by next week, I'll offer them to my students.

Day 77 - Old Fireworks Tube that Contained my Childhood Posters (Give)

The other day I took to school the tube in which I had stored all those old posters.  I had a few posters that I thought someone might have some interest in - including the Star Trek poster that went to Nerd Supreme.  The next day, the tube was sitting empty by my desk - I hadn't gotten around to tossing it out yet - and one of my sophomores asked if he could have it. 

Sure. 

But why?

Day 76 - Christmas Plate (Give) and Day 77 - Star Trek Poster (Give)

Many of the folks we interact with on a regular basis are from our church and since all the small groups are doing the study on The Hole in Our Gospel journal, it's getting harder and harder to pass things on to them.  They are all more conscientious about clutter and having too much stuff around!

So Melissa sneaked a Christmas plate out yesterday.  She filled it with applesauce bars and took it to a friend from church.  When the friend offered to transfer the bars to another plate, Melissa told her not to bother, she could keep the plate.

Today's Give was several posters, including this vintage Star Trek poster.  I don't remember having this poster... maybe it actually belonged to one of my brothers.  I looked at the back of it and it was copyrighted in 1978.  I would have been ten years old and I can guarantee that I did not like Star Trek as a ten year old.  I didn't come to appreciate the Star Trek universe until much later.  Maybe I had the poster because I liked the U.S.S Enterprise even if I didn't care for the show itself - it is one sweet ride.

So I wanted to give this poster to someone who was a bonafide Trekkie.  I offered it in my 7th grade class and several boys shot their hands up and requested it, but when I asked them to name some characters to prove who was the biggest fan, none of them could name any characters... the closest one came was "Dr. Spock"!  I mean, these guys knew William Shatner was on the show but couldn't name his character as Captain James T. Kirk!  Trekkies my foot!  It's not like I was asking them to speak Klingon, for heaven's sake.  Ultimately, they were all deemed unworthy of my 33 year old poster...

In the end, the poster was bestowed upon Nerd Supreme (from Day 49) 7th period.  I know I've already given him something, but what can I say ... I've got a soft spot for nerds.

Day 75 - Oil Dispenser (Give) and Day 76 - Pink Boots (Give)

I am fighting to get caught up after a busy weekend.  Friday night was small group.  Saturday evening we had tickets to the Disney on Ice show in Indy - a Christmas gift from my Mom.  Unfortunately, Mom wasn't feeling well and wasn't able to go with the six of us.  Instead, The Princess (age 4) got to offer the extra ticket to her very bestest friend, Ellie. 

Ellie is an easy kid to have along - she's easygoing and good-natured... but Saturday night she was also a bit gassy... which I know because she was sitting on my lap through the whole show.  At one point in the evening I called her a goofball and she laughed and laughed and kept repeating, "Goofball!  You called me a goofball!"  She's hilarious.  And she and The Princess are so darn cute together.  I try not to think about taking The Princess 1,500 miles away from Ellie because when I do, I have to fight back tears...

Anyway, the evening was certainly pleasant enough, but for a family that is fighting back against materialism, it was like being thrown into the lions' den.  Conseco Fieldhouse was filled to the brim with colorful plastic THINGS and overpriced food.  The show itself was based on Toy Story 3 and at one point there were 30 "Barbies" skating in formation.  Definitely surreal.  As you watched the skating Barbies, your kid could enjoy a scoop of multi-colored shaved ice in a Buzz Lightyear-shaped bowl for only $15. 

They did manage to trick me into spending some of my money.  A box of popcorn was fairly reasonable (by movie theater standards anyway) and so I got one at intermission to share.  As soon as the vendor placed the thing in my hands, I realized my mistake.  I knew I would have to endure a chorus of "I'm thirsty!"  So I cringed and plopped down $6.75 for a refillable cup of soda ... and grabbed 7 straws!  It was almost worth the price to watch the kids knock heads together sipping soda after a couple of handfuls of extra salty popcorn.

After the show ended, The Princess had a queen-sized meltdown over a bag of cotton candy.  She could not understand why Daddy wouldn't shell out 12 dollars for 50 cents worth of sugar!  She eventually gave up on the cotton candy and switched her attention to the toys.  She got neither.

But we did walk down to the South Bend Chocolate Factory on the square and shared a collosal piece of chocolate cake - the seven of us had our fill for $10. 

The best part of the evening was when The Princess (completely without prompting) looked up from her chocolate cake as we sat around the table together and said, "This is better than a toy."

THAT is what I want my kids to understand and THAT is what I want to live.

As far as the Gives go for Saturday and Sunday: 


On Sunday, my younger brother Russ and his family-to-be came over for lunch.  Melissa fixed a great meal and we had several hours to converse while our kids played with their cousins-to-be.  Alecia mentioned at one point that Allison didn't have a pair of snow boots of her own (she had to wear her brother's) and Melissa found a pair of pink boots that The Drama Queen has outgrown.  Russ had jokingly said at one point that he hoped to get out of our house without receiving a "Give of the Day" (since he is also trying to sell a house) but he didn't refuse a Give that was purely practical.



This oil dispenser was a beautiful gift from my (brother and) sister-in-law.  It has the little dishes with it and the idea is that you mix the oil with some spices in the tiny bowls to dip bread in.  Well, we love that at restaurants but never think to do it at home, so this is going to Goodwill ... unless someone out there wants to claim it before it actually makes the trip!  I would much rather give it to someone I know who might appreciate it - especially since it was a gift - so don't be shy!

Day 74 - Assorted Posters (Throw)

My little brother, Russ, continues to send things my way that he has found stashed away in our childhood home.  Yesterday I picked up a large tube (which at one time - 30 years ago - held an assortment of fireworks) that he had dropped off for me and discovered a poster collection which I had long forgotten.  There had to have been over 60 posters in that tube.  It turned out to be a real window into my childhood.  Melissa laughed at the view.

Apparently, I had a real affinity for kittens as a child.  My wife has no reason to tease me for all the kitten posters - it's perfectly natural for a kid - even of the male persuasion - to like pictures of fluffy, adorable kittens.  After all, they are so fluffy ... and adorable.  My theory is that since I was allergic to flesh and blood (and fur)cats, I had to settle for posters. The Christmas kitten poster from Day 10 was just the start.  It had somehow gotten separated from the pack.  In the tube, I found posters of kittens up a tree, kittens in a drawer, kittens on the phone, kittens with flowers, and kittens with fluffy, adorable puppies. 

But, seriously, it wasn't just kittens - I had posters of horses, dogs with ducks, porcupines, prairie dogs, and chimpanzees (including one dressed as a tennis player - nothing funnier than a monkey dressed as a human).

Ida (age 7) thought the "Tree Little Kittens" caption was hilarious.  He asked me, "Do you get it, dad??"

I also had a 3-D poster of some skateboarders.  I think it must have been one of my favorites because it was one of the most familiar looking poster I pulled out of that tube.

And apparently I once considered Ziggy to be funny!

My boys were excited to see some vintage Star Wars posters in the mix - I'll let them enjoy these for a while before they get thrown out.

I bet even a tough, uber-macho guy like Darth Vader liked kitten posters as a kid...

Day 73 - Assorted "Jewelry" that Only a Kindergarten Teacher Would Wear (Throw)

Melissa has been working on cleaning up the master bedroom and then doing little things to help "stage" it.  I asked her if she had thrown or given anything away during the day and she said, "Oh yes... I just threw away a whole bunch of jewelry."

"You threw away JEWELRY??"

Then she showed me the "jewelry" in question.  It was an assortment of lapel pins and necklaces.  Most of the pins said something like "Best Teacher" or the like.  Some were homemade - perhaps by a kindergartener, from the looks of them.  And most of the "jewelry" was big and gaudy - the sort of thing only a kindergarten teacher would wear - and Melissa admitted to wearing all of it in the past. 

I'm sure each was a very special gift at the time, but now it's clutter and it gets thrown.  I suggested she take some of it to Goodwill and Melissa replied, "What?  And risk inflicting some other teacher with it?"

And I almost forgot another Throw that day - the most "dangerous" Throw so far.  We threw away two key chains loaded with keys.  Couldn't identify a single lock any of them opened!  But my fear is that in the process of packing and moving, we will discover some chest or locked suitcase and will then be smacking our heads in regret...

Day 72 -A Foam Bedroll (Throw) and Backpacking Memories

I bought this bedroll for a specific backpacking trip long before I got married.  I used it once or twice and just carted it around with each move since.  Sometimes I get indecisive about throwing away something - could someone else use it?  could I sell it?  might I need it again in the next year and a half?  is it something I could possibly use in Haiti down the road?

This sort of Throw is easy because the obvious answer in each case is No.  It's not an expensive or valuable thing and it takes up space.  It was sitting on a shelf in the garage, collecting dead crickets. 

It does bring back some fun memories if I pause long enough to reflect.  I got it years ago for a youth group backpacking trip in the Smoky Mountains. 

I was a student as Asbury Seminary at the time - three hours south of my hometown of Shelbyville.  My parents called me one September evening and said their pastor was going to be out of town over a long weekend late in October and wondered if I would be willing to preach in his place that Sunday he would be missing.  I said I'd be willing, but then I asked, "Where is he going to be?" 

"Oh, he's going on a backpacking trip to the Smokies with the youth of the church."

Out of my mouth came one of those sentences that literally changes the course of your life, although you have absolutely no clue at the time:  "Well, I'm willing to preach, but if he needed some help with chaperoning, I'd much rather go backpacking with them." 
Turns out Rev. Alan did welcome some extra help.  He had 5 or 6 high school boys who were eager to spend their fall break in the Smokies.  I had a couple of classes that were going to prevent me from getting there in time to start with them, but we worked out a plan for me to meet them at a particular trailhead late in the afternoon of their second day.

It was the last Friday of October when I pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead.  I was about 30 minutes early and I was enjoying the sunshine as I waited for the group to appear.  I was wondering who these guys were ... I figured they would have been little kids when I was last a regular attender at the church (before leaving for college). 

Just minutes before I spotted my group, heavy clouds rolled in and the rain started.  By the time I joined them and started down the hillside, the shower turned into a downpour and our trail into a shallow stream! 

I was completely inexperienced at real backpacking and it took less than ten minutes to realize that I had been caught completely unprepared.  One of the boys gave me a black trash bag to stuff my sleeping bag into since I had no waterproof bag with me.  Also, I had exactly one pair of jeans with me - the soaking wet pair I was wearing!  It was the end of October... in the mountains!  (In the morning, I was not surprised to see the puddles were iced over!)  In fact, that foam bedroll I had bought was about the only smart thing I had packed.  That evening in the shelter definitely ranked in the top ten most physically miserable experiences of my life.  The shelter was a roof over three wooden walls and one chain-link fence.  There was a fireplace and a series of bunks which were like wide shelves.  All of the firewood was soggy.  Fortunately, teenage boys can be very persistent when it comes to fire - it took them 90 minutes, but ultimately we had a fire at which to dry out our soggy shoes and to finally warm our bodies. 

The rest of the weekend was just as memorable - but in more positive ways.  We watched a bear approach and then push on the door of an outhouse - just 60 seconds after Rev. Alan had walked out of it.  Luke literally had deer eating out of his hand one morning.  And we laughed constantly about the meals the Reverend had packed - they all seemed to include beans of one type or another. 

When our hiking was over, we piled into the church van and Rev. Alan drove me back to where my car was parked.  Just before I was ready to hop out of the van, the teens started talking about their youth group - the same youth group I had been a part of when I was a teenager.  They said it was lame.  They said there was no official youth pastor, just parent volunteers. 

One of them piped up, "Hey, you could be our youth pastor!"  To my surprise, Rev. Alan twisted around in the driver's seat, looked straight at me and said, "That would be a great idea."

And that's how I ended up the youth pastor at Shelbyville First United Methodist Church.  And that's how I ended up driving back and forth to Shelbyville from seminary every weekend.  And that's why when I graduated it seemed a natural fit to remain youth pastor in Shelbyville part-time and pick up a part-time pastorate in nearby Marietta.  And that's where I was living (between Shelbyville and Columbus) when I got set up on a blind date with Melissa ... and so on and so on. 

Lately I've found a knot sometimes forming in my stomach over exactly what the future holds as we prepare for Haiti.  But God has been so good to me in the past and He has done such wonderful work "behind the scenes" through all the various twists and turns my life has taken.  At this point in my life, how can I not have total faith in Him for whatever remains of my future?

Day 71 - 2 Sleds that Never Worked (Throw) and Day 72 - A Towel (Throw... Lame, I know)

I'm so tired and distracted right now that it's hard to remember to take something to school to give away each day - Giving at school tends to be the easiest way to keep on track with my downsizing.  Since I didn't take anything yesterday, I found myself in an all too common position:  end of the day and nothing Given, Thrown or Sold.

I hate it when this happens because I am taking this commitment to Give, Throw or Sell daily very seriously.  AND I am hoping that I am running out of time to take this at a leisurely pace.  (When the house sells, I don't want to be in a position where we are throwing things out left and right or, worse, moving them to some new location.  And, of course, I'm hoping it sells quickly.)

So last night I had to run out to the garage to get some blueberries from the freezer and on my way out I picked up a couple of sleds that I bought our kids for Christmas a few years ago and carried them to the trash can.  The sleds were cheap - and totally ineffective for getting a kid down a snowy hillside.  So they took up residence in the garage for years, giving me an easy Throw last night.

Tonight wasn't much better as far as having time to contemplate a decent Give or Throw.  Melissa finally convinced me the other day that the downstairs toilet was running almost constantly.  I seriously had not really noticed.  She kept telling me that our water bills seemed high and that she heard it running, but I always shrugged it off.  Once I finally paid attention, I admitted it needed to be fixed. 

So I wrestled with the toilet tonight.  I took it apart, put the new part in and it leaked.  I had to run to Lowes to get a new gasket and then take it all apart again.  It was a messy, disgusting job.  When I was done, I asked Melissa what to do with the towel I had used to soak up spilled water and to clean ... stuff.  She suggested I make it my Throw of the day.  That's good, because I'm too tired to go searching for a better option.

And now that I'm finished with this, I need to go sanitize the bathroom and check once more for leaks.

Day 70 - Candle (Give) and Candy Regifting

Yesterday was Day 70 and The Princess' 4th Birthday. 

After church Beka offered to come by to help with birthday party preparations ... if we needed help.  We ALWAYS need help on birthdays.  And I already knew that I would be spending most of my afternoon (before our 4:00 appointment with Chuck E. Cheese) working on a pink and purple princess castle birthday cake.  So Melissa and I gladly welcomed Beka's offer.

Before Beka left, Melissa offered up a simple candle she had received recently.  It smells great, but it has cinnamon in it and that (along with cats) tends to make Melissa sneeze. 

Melissa was also clever enough to spot an opportunity to empty a kitchen cabinet of its Christmas (and even some lingering Halloween) candy.  She made little gift bags of candy for each of the kids who came (and included a little toy as well - it wasn't ALL recycled!). 

Day 69 - Glass Candle Holder (Give) and Progress

Melissa met her cousin Angie this morning for breakfast and took with her a candle holder as a belated Christmas present.  A few years back, Angie's mom had a nice shop that sold fine gifts.  This candle holder was a wedding gift from that shop, so Melissa figured Angie would appreciate it.

I spent the day working in the downstairs bathroom.  There were a couple of places where drywall needed to be repaired - a bit of water damage from the shower over time.  Also, I mounted a shelving unit over the toilet.  It is such a tiny bathroom that it is hard to strike a balance between having adequate storage (for towels and curling irons and such) and having space to turn around!

Melissa has worked hard this week at painting doors and trim in the basement.  The bathroom is the last "big" project to be done.  That means we're almost ready to list and it also means I had better step up the process of Giving, Throwing and Selling.

While she was out today, Melissa bought a "For Sale by Owner" sign, so it looks like maybe we will take a crack at selling the house without a realtor.  It sure would save some money, but we're not quite sure how it works!  We know some folks who have done it, including a couple who is new to our small group.

Speaking of the small group, last night we started a study on "The Hole in Our Gospel".  I think it might have the unfortunate side effect of shutting down one of our favorite Give locations.  Keri (who helps lead the group with her husband Steve) got some crystal from Melissa a few weeks ago (you might remember).  Well, the other day, Melissa gave Keri a tub half full of various baskets and other decorations that "might look cute in her daughter's room".  Keri shared at group last night that she has felt convicted by the study already - especially concerning the amount of "stuff" they have and the tub didn't make it into her house.  It's in limbo in the garage.

I told her we don't care what she does with the tub of "stuff" as long as she doesn't bring it back to us!

Day 68 - Postage Stamps (Sell - hopefully)

This is one of those things I almost threw away, then thought about giving away, then decided I should try to sell it.  I think there's a shop in Indianapolis that might give me something for it.

I hardly remember having these stamps and I don't remember if this was an on-going collection or something I was gung-ho about for a few weeks before completely forgetting it (as my own kids do now with so many of their toys and hobbies).  They aren't organized in any way - in fact, they are just jumbled together in an old Estee Lauder box my Mom must have provided.

What's somewhat depressing to consider is this:  at the time, the collection was pretty worthless because it was just a bunch of common stamps - only a few of them more than a few years old.  And that's why I was going to just toss them.  But then I paused long enough to realize that now all these common stamps are 30 to 40 years old!  They are antiques because I am now ... OLD.

So I decided to check them out on-line to see if any had value.  What I found was that quite a few of them retained their original face value ... sometimes a few cents more.  And I've got hundreds of them. 

Of course, it was 30 years ago, so the face value of most is between 5 and 8 cents!

Day 67 - 30 Year Old Crayons (Throw)

Still sorting through the box of forgotten "treasure" from Russ.  Not sure why, but he decided to include a couple of boxes of 30 year old crayons.  Now, they did have my name on them, so they were mine, but I think he could have thrown them out himself. 

We don't need them around here - markers, pencils and crayons seem to reproduce inside drawers and cabinets around the house, eventually spilling out onto the floors and rolling this way and that.

I asked Melissa if she wanted to take them to her kindergarten classroom.  She thought about it, then said,
"They smell funny." 

So that was that.

Day 66 - Baseball Caps (Give) and One Year Anniversary of Earthquake

We had a delayed start to school today due to blowing snow.  My wife, who works for a different school system within the same county, got the entire day off!  On the one hand, I thought, "Not fair!"  But on the other hand, a two hour delay gives you a bit of extra time to sleep in while you still get to put in a partial day of school - enough to keep us from having to make up a day later on.  So, no complaints.

I walked into my 7th grade writing class and several students immediately asked if I was giving anything away today!  Fortunately I had thought ahead and brought some baseball caps that were given to us during our small group white elephant gift exchange - one hat advertised "Toyota Trucks" and the other "Indiana University Football".  A couple of the guys claimed the two hats happily.

Predictably, the students did a bit of complaining today about having to come to school on "dangerous" roads and how they would have liked to sleep even longer than they did.  On a day when the anniversary of the Haiti earthquake was recognized by all the news outlets, it just served to remind me how very comfortable our lives are and how much we take for granted. 

If you want to read a gripping first hand account of the earthquake's aftermath, take a moment and look at Matt and Stacy Ayars' blog here.  They lead the Emmaus Seminary in Cap Haitien.  Matt and Stacy felt the earthquake when it happened, even though Cap is 100 miles away, and within a few days they visited Port-au-Prince itself.

And if you are moved to help in some tangible way, you might want to check out Beka Mech's blog here.  She is a stateside missionary with OMS and I got to know her when she became a part of our mission team to Haiti in October.  She has first hand experience with several projects which OMS sponsors in Haiti.

There is so much need!  And still so much suffering...

Think what could be accomplished if American Christians took their Bible literally!  When I was in seminary, arguments over whether or not to take the Bible literally always cracked me up because we argued over the wrong passages.  Instead of wondering whether Genesis 1 is to be taken literally, why didn't we argue over something like 1 John 3:17?

 "If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?"

Or James 2: 15-17?

"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Do we take the Bible literally?  It has been pointed out that last year, Americans spent $20 billion on ice cream.  Ice cream!  It's one thing to take our blessings for granted ... it's another to squander them on ourselves.  (And I say that as a big fan of ice cream myself!)

Day 65 - Used Light Fixture (Give)

I was going to just throw this in the trash, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I spent money on this fixture and it's still in good shape, so I want to see if Goodwill will take it. 

Snow kept us home from school today. We slept in, got lunch together and then went to my Mom's house with Keri and her kids to go sledding.  Good times, but not much accomplished around the house until this evening.  I finally got the downstairs bathroom ceiling painted and Melissa got some painting done on the downstairs doors and trim.

And we reached a milestone in prepping the house for sale:  the upstairs is finished!  Oh, yes.

The last thing on the upstairs list was the kitchen ceiling.  When we first moved in, the kitchen was a mess.  It was cramped, poorly arranged, black and white, and had a giant black ceiling fan whose blades whacked the cabinet doors when open.  My Mom helped us reorganize things and get new cabinets installed and my brother, Spencer, helped with the physical labor and installed a tile floor.  I replaced the ceiling fan with a square fluorescent light fixture and then painted the ceiling.

It didn't take too long to realize the fluorescent fixture was weak and completely inadequate for a kitchen ... but it took years for me to replace it with a smaller but brighter round fixture. 

Unfortunately, this switch resulted in a big, unpainted square surrounding the new light fixture, which stubbornly - year after year - refused to paint itself.  It became one more of those unfinished jobs that I didn't tend to notice except when we had visitors. 

So with the ceiling square finally getting painted tonight, I thought it would be fitting to make the old square fixture (which has been languishing in the garage for years now) my Give of the day.

Day 64 - Jaw Harp (Give)

I located a couple of jaw harps stashed away in one of my boxes.  Seems to me that at least one of them was a souvenir from a grade school fieldtrip of mine - maybe Connor Prairie.  But who really knows?  My memory is shot.

So I took the bigger jaw harp to school on Monday and gave it to one of my eighth grade girls.  She has the reputation of being rather talkative, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone:  I'd take care of a Give and I'd give her mouth something quieter and less annoying to do ... at least for one class period.  (She's got a good sense of humor.)

It worked.

Day 59 and 60 - Christmas Decorations (Give) ... It's a Christmas Miracle!

On Wednesday, January 5th, Melissa and I did something we had never done before:  we took down all our Christmas decorations in one evening.  It was not festive.  It was not even pleasant.  It made us fight. 


But when it was all over and done, Melissa and I agreed on several Christmas decorations to get rid of.  We have a whole box of ornaments and such to take to Goodwill.  We even threw away some of the various crafty decorations the kids have made in past years.  Not the really cute stuff - we're not completely heartless. 

The following day I put this gem on Facebook and offered it to any takers:

It is a drink dispenser!  Probably capable of holding a gallon or so of liquid.  See the spout on its belly?  Anyway, it is going to a former student who routinely calls me names on Facebook.  Maybe she'll be nicer to me now... but probably not.

Day 63 - Wabash College Yearbook (Throw)

I found a Wabash College yearbook for 1989 (my Junior year) among the junk Russ gave me from the old house.  I hope I didn't pay money for that trash.  It was the junkiest yearbook I've ever seen - all black-and-white, no individual head shots and random picture spreads which included three guys urinating on certain Wabash property and a close-up of a condom package!  Besides, I wasn't even on campus my Junior year - I was at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, that year.

I also tossed out quite a bit of the papers and information from my year in Scotland and similar stuff from a summer (1987) I spent at a Goodwill Camp in Massachusetts called Camp Morgan.  I will have to tell you about that summer another time.

I did, however, decide to keep the Wabash yearbook from my Senior year - at least for now.  It was of much better quality than the other.  And I kept it even though it has this picture of me:



Laugh at my hair
if you must,
but at least it
didn't look like ...

This guy's, or ...


This guy's, or...








God forbid ...

THIS guy's!!

(Who once got me into trouble with administration for some writing he published under the name of the Wabash Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship while I was the presiding officer of that group!)




I like to think that I have grown better and wiser with age.  Besides, Melissa no longer allows me to grow my hair out beyond an inch and a half...

Day 62 - Garfield Ceramic (Throw ... sadly)

Apparently I was a bigger fan of Garfield as a kid than I remember.  My younger brother, Russ, who is currently living in the house in which we all grew up, gathered together a box of items which he believes belong to me.  I think he found them in the attic.  Just what I needed - more stuff! 

Considering I had not known of this stuff's existence until the other day, I probably would have been safe to chuck the whole box into the garbage, but I'm curious, so I can't just do that sight unseen.

This Garfield was on top, though, and he's a good candidate for a chuck - his ear is chipped.

He did remind me, though, of times when I was a teenage boy, spending one evening a week with my Aunt Lossie Marie and a bunch of other middle aged women in Gladys Brandenburger's basement.  Gladys was a sweet old lady who operated a ceramics shop out of her home.  We'd all sit around a big old table and "clean the greenware" (which involved taking the rough edges off of the unfired clay with a sharp tool) or painting a piece that had already been cleaned and fired, or staining a piece that had already been painted.  All the while we'd sit and talk about all sorts of things that interest middle aged women.  And they would "oooh" and "ahhhh" over my work and generally boost my self confidence. 

On nights when I would finish a piece, I would proudly bring it home from Gladys' house ... to be mocked by my brothers. 

But my Mom loved every single piece.  She had to - she was president of my middle aged ladies fan club.

Day 61 - One more piece of crystal (Give) and an Unusual 24 Hours

Keeping it short tonight because I'm already a day or two behind and I don't want to get any further behind but I am exhausted and ready for bed. 

The last 24 hours have been out of the ordinary.  After school yesterday, Melissa and I farmed out the kids to the two Grandmas in order to get some work done around the house.  Storly, Karen and Keri then came over to help get some doors and trim painted. 

In the five years we have lived in this house, we have painted every wall and, in the process, have replaced nearly all of the existing trim.  I seriously dislike painting in general and painting trim is the worst of all, so that's my only excuse for never getting around to finishing the trim ... ALL OVER THE HOUSE.  Last night, with the help of these friends from church, we pretty much got all of the upstairs finished up and it looks so much better. 

I even got some primer on the downstairs banister that I installed roughly two years ago!  It's really weird to finish up these projects, because on the one hand, of course, it feels great to see it done.  But on the other hand it's just a bit ... I don't know ... depressing in some way - I guess because any of of these little jobs could have been done A LONG TIME AGO.  If I didn't have the habit of leaving projects Almost Finished, we wouldn't have had to live with the ugliness for so long and we wouldn't be in this crunch right now.  (Our realtor friend says we want to get the house on the market as by mid-January because several local companies are hiring a combined four or five hundred more employees by mid-March.) 

Anyway, we all worked hard all evening.  I think it was after 10:00 PM before Keri left for home!  Then Melissa and I stayed up a bit longer finishing up odds and ends and headed to bed by midnight.

Three hours later I was awakened with an odd sensation in my lower guts - that's all the more graphic I need to get here!  There was no way to go back to sleep so I showered and even headed to the local 24 hour grocery to get some cranberry juice (I thought I might have a urinary tract infection).  By 7:00 AM I was in line at our doctor's office and by 7:30 she was ruling out UTI and suggesting the possibility of a kidney stone.  I headed to school to make plans for a sub - with only three hours of sleep and feeling the need to be close to a restroom, there was no way I was going to be able to spend the day in the classroom. 

I slept a bit off and on through the day and just minutes before Melissa got home, it hit me hard.  She found me literally curled on the bathroom floor around 4 PM.  Within the half hour, we were sitting in the emergency room.  A CT scan soon confirmed the kidney stone - according to the doctor it measured 3 mm, so not a record-breaker by any means.  They sent me home with a prescription for pain killers and wished me luck.  As I write it is 10:00 PM and I am actually feeling rather ... normal.  Praise God.  I really think it's over.  I guess I'll find out soon enough.

Well, so much for keeping it short.  I am hoping for a normal night of sleep, so I will wrap this up and post a few pictures of our progress around the house.

By the way, the other day Melissa found another piece of crystal which matched the two she gave to (Steve and) Keri, so she sent it home with Steve tonight when he dropped off our kids (even in the midst of leading the small group meeting tonight, Steve and Keri had come to our aid in taking care of our four little ones while Melissa and I were at the hospital. 

Tonight I am thankful for good friends and good health!



The Drama Queen's room before ...







... and after finishing the floor.



Karen and Keri hard at work.





Day 58 - "The Brain" Lapel Pin (Give) and how do we reply when God asks, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

I found a lapel pin a few weeks ago as I cleaned out yet another box from the shed and decided it would be a good thing to give to a student. But I see over 100 students each day in class - and many more in the hallways, so it's difficult sometimes to determine who to give something to.

So I decided I needed to find a true fan of "Pinky and The Brain."  In my 7th grade class, I drew a picture of "The Brain" on my whiteboard and the first kid to spontaneously start singing the theme song ("Pinky and The Brain.  Pinky and The Brain.  One is a genius; the other's insane.") got my Brain lapel pin.

I once referenced Pinky and the Brain in a sermon I gave.  The writers of the cartoon had a running gag involving a bit of dialogue at some point in each episode which began with Brain asking, "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" 

Now, Brain was looking to Pinky for confirmation and help in some new plot to "take over the world".  Pinky, however, tended to be a bit distracted by ... other things, and so he was not on the same page as Brain.  Some examples:

 Brain:  Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but this time, you put the trousers on the chimp.

Brain:  Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but if they called them "sad meals" no one would buy them.

Brain:  Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Pinky: I think so, Brain, but why would anyone want a depressed tongue?

In my sermon, I drew a comparison between Brain's goals and God's (trying to take over the world!) and between Pinky and the church ... which doesn't too often seem to be on the same page with the One who is calling the shots.

In my imagination, the dialogue runs something like this:

God:  Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Us:  I think so, God, but wouldn't green carpet clash with the stained glass windows?

God:  Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Us:  I think so, God, but is Facebook the only way to recruit people for the church bowling league?

I wonder how frustrated ... and angry ... God must get with us.  But He is patient, thankfully.

In his book, "The Hole in Our Gospel", Rich Stearns reminds believers that the key question of our lives is "What does God expect of us?"  Stearns points out that Jesus had a "mission statement", which he revealed when he got up in his hometown synagogue early in his ministry and cited this Old Testament passage:
 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
   because he has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
   and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4: 18-19

And if this was Jesus' mission statement, isn't it supposed to be ours too?  If not, what does it mean to "follow" Jesus?

We as Christ's church would do well to humbly remember Isaiah 55: 8 and 9:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Day 57 - Eric Carle Book (Give)

As stressed as I feel over starting school again tomorrow (with last minute grading of final exams and planning lessons while trying to get the house ready to sell) at least I'm not Scott, the guy who teaches next to me. 

He and his wife went to visit family out of state for Christmas and she decided to go into labor about five weeks early!  The baby was born the day after Christmas, the day they had marked on their calendar to make the drive back to indiana. 

Scott left his grading work (a stack of final exam essays) at home since he knew he wouldn't do them during his visit with family.  With the baby altering travel plans, he just got back to town yesterday ... and grades were due today.  He came in around 5:00 PM to work on sub plans for the next week or two and then headed home to finish his grading.  I bet it will be a late night for him.

He's a great guy and I wish him all the best.  I came back to school to finish up some planning for the week and left a gift for him on his desk - a collection of children's stories by Eric Carle.  Melissa had picked it up a long time ago, knowing that it would make a good gift at some point.  Scott has an older daughter who might enjoy the books until the new one is old enough to start being read to.

Day 56 - The Drama Queen's Room Finished with Plenty to Give ... and Throw

Christmas Break ends tonight.  Melissa and I go back to the classroom tomorrow.  We managed to get one big item off our To Do List of things needing to be done before we can put our house up for sale.

When we first moved in, the upstairs was all carpeted with nasty gray carpet - except for the dining area, which had a beautiful hardwood floor.  Imagine our surprise when we pulled up a corner of the carpet and discovered the hardwood continued throughout the upstairs.  We sanded and polyurethaned the dining area, the living room, the hallway, the boys' room and what was the "office" at the time (later the Princess' nursery). 

For some reason ... maybe I just pooped out at the time ... I never got around to doing the Drama Queen's floor.  We ripped up the carpet, but left the wood dingy and dull. 

The Drama Queen's floor is now shiny and smooth.  The sanding and the polyurethane weren't actually the hard parts of the job.  The biggest hassle was just getting started on cleaning everything out of the room.  She is a pack rat and EVERYTHING she holds onto is "special" for one reason or another.

One of the little knick-knacks from the
Drama Queen's room that is off to
Goodwill.

Melissa spent the day sorting through DQ's possessions, deciding what can go back into the room (and where) and what needs to be thrown away or given away.  Some of the objects going into the Give pile make me a bit sad - things that have been in her room since she was a baby.  But she's 8 now ... and a giant (she's moving into adult women's size 8 shoes now!) and it's time to put some of the childish things aside. 

Sad.

Day 55 - Crystal Pitcher (Give) and Happy Haitian Independence Day!

Melissa is on a roll with the crystal, apparently.  Today she decided to give a crystal pitcher to Kate. 

Kate and Storly (our friends from Haiti who are responsible for getting this ball rolling in the first place) invited us over today.  They were having friends in throughout the day for pumpkin soup - a traditional January 1st meal in Haiti.  (It tastes so much better than it sounds - believe me!) 

I say "January 1st" on purpose because the soup is not really a celebration of New Year's Day as such - it is served in recognition of Haiti's Independence Day. 

January 1st, 1804, marked the official proclamation of the end of slavery in Haiti and the beginning of a new republic.  A slave rebellion, begun in 1791 and stretching into late 1803, had successfully overthrown the French masters and sent them scurrying back to Europe.  Slavery had been established on the island (mostly to harvest sugar cane) not long after Christopher Columbus 'discovered' Hispaniola (as they called it then) in 1492.  (The indigenous peoples died off as a result of the diseases that were brought from Europe.) 

Storly explained to us this evening that pumpkin soup had been a dish which only graced the masters' tables throughout the years of slavery.  The slaves were "fed like dogs" and never allowed to have the soup.  So the eating of the soup on Independence Day is a way for Haitians to assert their equality and celebrate their freedom.

I think that's an awesome tradition!

By the way, I've done some reading recently on the history of the relationship between Haiti and the U.S. and it's not at all pretty - neither recently nor way back.  For example, speaking of celebrating Haitian Independence, guess which slave-holding nation to Haiti's north was not at all thrilled in 1804 to see a republic in its own backyard founded through a successful and violent slave revolt??  (We didn't even recognize Haiti as a nation until 1862.)

But America did gain quite a bit indirectly from the rebellion in Haiti.  Napolean was prompted to sell "Louisiana" to Thomas Jefferson because of the loss of France's most profitable colony.  Jefferson had originally only expressed interest in buying the city of New Orleans.

Day 54 - Wall Hanging (Give)

This has been hanging in our bedroom since we first got married.  After ten years and four different houses, yesterday Melissa announces out of the blue, "Pull that thing off the wall ... it's so DATED."  So off to Goodwill it goes... where it is bound to find plenty of other dated artwork to hang with.

Day 53 - Crystal Vase and Bowl (Give)

(Thursday, Dec 30)

OK, as a guy, I have to admit that I don't get the attraction of fancy crystal.  Isn't it just expensive glass?  Yes, it's beautiful, but not something I would willingly spend a bunch of money on.  (I feel the same way about a bouquet of roses and, for that matter, diamonds...)  But women seem to appreciate the beauty of crystal.

So it surprised me that Melissa was willing to part with a couple of pieces of crystal that we have had on display in the cabinets that overlook our dining table.

We had breakfast this morning with Steve and Keri and their kids and afterwards exchanged Christmas gifts.  Over the last couple of days, Melissa had been looking at some of these crystal pieces and considering to whom she might give them.  She explained to Keri later that she had picked two matching pieces, found a smallish gift box, and had prayed to God saying, "I'll be willing to part with these if they both fit into this particular box."  It was snug, but they fit.  So she gave them to Steve and Keri.  (Well ... right... just Keri, really.)

I'm proud of her.  I know it's tough for a woman to part with a thing of beauty. 

One last thing.  I would be remiss if I didn't compliment and thank Steve and Keri for their choice of gift for us.  We have not been the easiest to shop for this year - with all the talk of downsizing and packing and moving.  It pretty much rules out anything that is too bulky or purely decorative.  So I thought Steve and Keri's gift was very clever:  a coffee press.  It is not much bigger than an oversized coffee mug and it makes it possible to make coffee without a coffee machine and without filters.  There's plenty of coffee in Haiti, but finding and, later, disposing of filters would be a hassle.  There's no garbage pick-up, even in the compound where we'd be staying.  (They have their own little landfill pit where the garbage is burned on a regular basis.)  So now we can still enjoy coffee in the future without feeling guilty about adding to Haiti's pollution problems!  Well done.  Must have been Keri's idea!

Speaking of being hard to shop for this Chritmas ...
The homemade snuggie my Mom gave Melissa may have limited usefulness in Haiti.