Actions speak louder than emoticons

There's this thing that we call "getting stuff done" and, as it turns out, it doesn't matter how you feel while you're getting whatever it is done. If you rake the lawn, and you're sad, the lawn still gets raked. If you go to a dinner party and have lively conversation with friends and family while you've got a headache, you still have lively conversation with friends and family. Pretty cool.

Also, if you've got a ton of stuff to do and you're a bit nauseated so you sit around and think about how nauseated you are...you're gonna love this.... you sit around. It's true.

I recently realized that if i feel like i need a cup of coffee, sometimes i can think to myself "look, you can do a bunch of stuff in the next half hour, regardless of how sluggish you feel" sometimes i can get a bunch of stuff done. Sometimes i can't though. I'm learning what the difference between those is.

Well, i feel woefully unprepared to organize work for tomorrow and get up on time and have personal prayer before morning prayer. But that's no reason it can't be done. It's go time.

Some break

It was a great time of relaxation and rejuvenation. I got some good ol' reading in (which i had not done in a while) and was able to get to bed early whenever i wanted.

Then the Company Convention hit full force and i was off on a road trip to Indy with Tom, some good talks and discussions and living with my brothers from across the country. Y'all, we done good. We worked til we dropped and made some big strides on that duplex.

Back home in Shreveport, time for Widmo. I had been mulling over what all needed to get done for quite some time without really coming to roost on anything ("well, i definitely need to vacuum.... and then i need to teach Josh how to frame....and maybe a new dog?.....and finances, gotta get that done.....and, i know there was more....") etc.

By the time this morning rolled around, the Lord and I had made some strides and i ended up making some good lists (thanks Laura!) and having a great meeting with Nathan. Mickey and Josh did some framing by themselves today and I think we all learned something from that.

Time for bed so that my morning happens on time.

A break in the clouds

Thanks to much prayer the cold sore is in recession. I may yet reawaken it but I'm doing my darndest to keep it down.

I had a fruitful conversation with a great customer today that really saved me a lot of work. Still not all caught up but time should heal that wound. I can feel things moving smoother all the time.

The framing guy did well today, worked hard and is cool with the work schedule I proposed. I look for him to start making a big difference in '08.

Brummers remain a joy to have in the household. Ben and I continued our Jenga grudge match, I continue to trounce him. He has been close to tears but I will not let that stop me. We built a house together with the blocks after his 3rd defeat. Friendship is a guarantee.

One more day of framing; it needs to go very well. Then.... bring on the Christmas rest-fest.

Progression

We're firing on all kinds of cylinders. Some we did not know we had. Widmo continues to be busy but the light has made itself evident at the end of the tunnel. 1 huge double door and 1 small double door and 3 exterior doors by Friday. then some rest.

I was able to start training on our new employee today. His name, coincidently, is Josh. He's going to fill out paperwork tomorrow and may start working for real in January. Praise God, I need him.

Ben Brummer and I played one intense game of Jenga this afternoon. I won by a slim margin and he was rather crestfallen that we were unable to complete our rematch before dinner. He'll remind me tomorrow, I'm sure of it.

Hit it running

Nice day today. Started out on the wrong side of the bed... the sleeping-in side. I missed morning prayer but woke with enough time to get prepped and ready for the day without rushing. Kind of bittersweet.

Slow morning, not a lot of activity. Caught a mouse in the glue trap, spoke with Bud Rose, my boss, about hiring a new guy to frame, did a little gchatting and emailage.

The afternoon saw some reorganization of the warehouse by Mickey as well as a very cool conversation with a man whose last name is X. Quite the guy, we had a serious talk.

Headed to Vincent, talked with my friend Gabe about his newborn baby girl (very cool), and hit the framing hard. Polished off two doors and got set to finish the rest of 'em.

Many people for dinner. Brummers, Seitzes, and the household at two large tables. Ruthanne cooked some ridiculous spaghetti and hit the spot that I needed hit. I gave the DL on WDMO. Jeff Brummer talked a bit about his work at a hospice house. We learned that Seth may or may not have beat Carl twice at Jenga. The discussion lacked some finality.

I then headed back to the warehouse on St. Vincent where the framing occurs. I finished the custom hinge and strike preps for one door and tacked on the threshold for an exterior door that I'll need to get a 15 lite insert in tomorrow. I then organized a ton of disorganized items from super glue to hinge screws.

Praise God! I got a cold sore! I'm getting close to the end of my rope! Bring it!

Sunday Sunday

Laura Brummer's family arrived in town today. They're here to visit her and all of us and celebrate a little Christmas and do a little work. Her parents, Jeff and Dikka, are long-time members of People of Praise in Minnesota and have raised 10 kids, 6 of whom (including Laura) are now in Allendale.

We had a household meeting about all that we're planning for the next couple of weeks. Right now the household is working on creating and instituting systems by which we can sustain our life. There are so many areas of life that we want to concentrate on and so few of us to operate everything that we really need to formulate a common practice for many of the operations we need to do. Finances, food, cars and several other things are all slated for systemization.

Lord, help us do this well. Help us plan well, work with you and with each other, do what you do, the way you do it, with you.

A whole new life

A man from the neighborhood stopped by the other day. We've been helping him pay for his diabetes medication. He's been in a bad way; he can't see well, he has almost no energy, he can't work because his energy level is so low he can't stay on his feet. We are very careful with giving out money because it's such a powerful tool. Through serious conversations we've learned that his story is reliable and we've actually gone to the pharmacy with him to pick up his meds.

Unlike most folks we help out he's repaid us every time and even given us a couple small gifts in gratitude. This is totally unprecedented activity and we love to see gratitude like that blossom.

Recently, he called Nathan (the leader of our work here) to borrow some money to pay for getting his apartment room unlocked. Nathan, in telling me this, related that he wanted to help him out in this situation but that he really just wanted to give him a whole new life. The guy is half dead from diabetes, he's got no job, his apartment charges him $25 bucks when he locks his keys in, etc.

So, the guy comes over, after having gotten into his room, and he needs the money for his diabetes meds. He has his VCR with him for Nathan to hold until he pays us back (wow!). Nathan says something like, You need a whole new life and the guy says I'm getting one (again, wow!). Nathan, after 5 years in Allendale has been fed many similar lines, is a bit skeptical and asks What do you mean?

This guy explains: he's been to a doctor to talk about his diet and how he can get this disease under control. He's changed what he eats and has gained 5 pounds. He's drinking green tea with Vitamin C and not sugar (not the favored drink of the urban black male). He shows Nathan his half-empty bottle of the stuff to prove it. He's got a job offer. The world doesn't dissolve into an indistinguishable blur when he takes off his glasses. The Lord is at work!