The End of 2011

It is officially the last day of 2011!  It is Sabbath as well.  I usually get quite introspective on the final day of the year.  There is something about the passing of the year and entering the new one that causes me pause. 

The year gone by has certainly provided me experiences that will remain etched in my mind for a lifetime.  I have seen the best in people, as well as a side of people that I had not experienced before in the same way.  Being in the position in which I presently serve has been an education.  This completes my first complete calendar year as Superintendent of Education for the Arizona Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.  I love the fact that I am involved in something significant.  I must confess that I often wonder what God was thinking when He brought me here.  Certainly there are more qualified and seasoned people out there than me!

But here I am doing what I believe God is leading me to do.  Some unexpected things have taken place in the last twelve months.  Getting asked to serve for a five year term is not the least of these amazing things.  The AAF relationship with TAA has developed quite well and has been a boon to the campus.  The elementary system is beginning to experience some of the adjustments needed if we are going to offer an educational experience worthy of the God who commissioned us.

The New Year 2012 will bring its own brand of experiences and its share of trials and challenges.  But I will trust God to continue to do what He promises to do when He calls us to do a task.  I am honored to be part of the plan.  Thank you for sharing in my sojourn in the desert.

Monday Morning Sickness

It is the day after Christmas and I am a mess!  Too much food and too many family celebrations!  It was non-stop for the entire weekend.   The dress rehearsal took place Friday night for the Christmas Concert the next morning at the Orange SDA Church.  I was asked a few weeks ago to help out.  The fact that my daughter is serving as youth pastor made the answer a foregone conclusion. 

I was not feeling quite well in the voice department, but we trudged through the rehearsal and the program the next morning with only minor glitches.  It was a great time for all.   The concert was followed by a family luncheon at my son’s house to celebrate my granddaughter’s 7^th birthday.  I had already spent Thursday at Disneyland celebrating her birthday as is our yearly tradition (with the accompanying food), but I was not prepared for the onslaught of food that awaited me for Sabbath lunch.

My granddaughter had requested a trip around the culinary world for her birthday—and that is exactly what she got.  My daughter-in-law, who is a trained chef, made food from at least ten countries!  There were at least 40 people there for lunch and we all ate to our heart’s content.  Greek, Italian, Mexican, Swiss, Peruvian, Moroccan, Bolivian, Indian, American and other countries’ foods were represented.  Almost all the food was gone by mid-afternoon.  It was wonderful—topped only by the afternoon conversation with family and friends.

The evening took us to see some Disney fireworks (that were cancelled due to “high level winds” which I am convinced is Disneyland’s way of skipping their pyrotechnic displays whenever they choose to do it.  After all, who can argue with “high level winds” even if one cannot feel a hint of “ground level winds”!  Of course, the night would not have been complete for my children without a visit to Buca di Beppo’s, an Italian restaurant that is a favorite for my entire family, with one notable exception—me.  There was a full table of “immigrant Italian food,” as the establishment describes their menu of hefty offerings.  I did my best not to eat.  I was not totally successful.

The next morning was Christmas and the morning brought a reading of the Nativity Story and gifts for the grandchildren.  It was great morning on that basis alone.  But we had company from out of town and breakfast was served—an endless supply of breakfast burritos!  They were delicious.  I cannot resist breakfast burritos!  The day, however, was just beginning.  At the conclusion of the nuclear family’s Christmas morning festivities we quickly got ready to join the extended family’s traditional children’s gift opening and gift exchange for the cousins and “old folks” (I am in that group now).  As you can imagine by now, no family gathering is complete without food.  So once again there was a house-full of plates and platters of pastries and entrees for all to enjoy prior to the gift exchange.  Too much!

 But the day was not over yet.  I had made a commitment a few days prior to travel to Indio, California to visit my brother, Albert, and his family.  It was fun spending some time with some members of my side of the family.  It was only a matter of time however before I was led like a lemming to the dinner table where my sister-in-law had prepared some Mexican delicacies for me to sample—and by samples I mean piles of food.  It was delicious!

By the time I got in my Prius later that evening my digestive system was beginning to go into survival mode.  I am much better this morning, but food is not on my agenda in the near future.  In spite of all the excesses and hectic schedules, I am blessed beyond measure to have family and friends.  I got many hugs from loved ones and sat down to talk with people I had not seen for some time. 

God is good all the time.  The Gift keeps giving abundant grace flowing freely from the same heart of God that gifted humanity with that tiny little infant package lying in the trough in that little town of Bethlehem.  May God’s desire for “Peace on Earth and Good Will to humanity” become a reality in our lives today as we anticipate the complete reality in the world made new. 

Visitors from the West

Today is my last planned day in the office.  I will be out of town for the rest of 2011, although I anticipate I will be working most of the days in California—much remains still undone!

I had some special guests in town since Friday.  They provided transportation services for Penny on Friday.  Gary and Susan (and Penny) arrived late Friday afternoon. They ate a meal I had prepared for them.  They are still alive at this writing!  They stayed the weekend at the Westin off Greenway.  I have known Cousin Gary and his wife, Susan for close to two decades—wow, that’s hard to believe!  Our daughters went to school together through La Sierra Elementary and Academy.

Now they will always be remembered as our first and only visitors from California (not counting my mom).  We went to church on Sabbath morning at the Camelback Church.  The TAA choir, string ensemble, and handbells were featured in the main service.  They all did a wonderful job.  I felt very proud!  That afternoon we attended the Glendale Church’s Christmas Concert.  It was wonderful as well.  The church was full and the spirit was amazing.

 The evening took us back to the Camelback Church for the Phoenix Philharmonic Orchestra Ensemble and Choir’s rendition of Handel’s Messiah.  It truly was a memorable night.  The soloists were stellar, although the soprano took the night with her vivacious interpretations of her musical scores.  At the end of the night we were beat and called it a night.  Penny called it a night before the end of the concert!

Sunday was a special in-service day for teaching principals of elementary schools slated for evaluations in the spring of 2012.  Martha, my small school union representative and friend from the Pacific Union led out.  It was good morning and lunch was courtesy of Chipotle’s.  The afternoon included a birthday party for Brianna, a one year old girl in continual motion, followed by a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Line that up with a late breakfast at The Good Egg restaurant and pizza night at the Westin playing “Gone Bananas” with Gary and Susan, followed by another lunch at an all-you-can-eat establishment and I am an inch away from gastronomical collapse.  I am not used to eating so much, although I must confess that I do it so well!

My friends are now off back to California.  Penny and I will launch our year-end break tomorrow.  California is awaiting us with a plateful of activities.  I am looking forward to it, while at the same time hoping for a moment of peace somewhere in the midst of the chaos.  I am determined not to eat more than I should during my time away from the Spartan surroundings of my duplex.  Gotta go!  Duty calls!  See you a few pounds from now!

Comments still welcomed!

Early Friday Morning Report

It’s very early Friday morning.  I enjoyed a day at the office sandwiched around a dentist appointment that I did not enjoy as much.  I didn’t get as much done today as I would have liked, although I did get a lot done.  Next week will be pretty busy before I check out for the holidays.

The big news around the office was the plane crash less than a mile away from the conference office.  A small plane with two passengers went down as it was arriving at the Scottsdale Airport.  Unfortunately there was loss of life—the pilot, with the passenger in critical condition as of this morning.  That anyone survived is a miracle in itself.  I was busy getting some work done so I did not know anything had happened, but my administrative assistance heard a loud crash and assumed it was an auto accident in front of the conference office.  I guess they have happened before, since Scottsdale Road in a very busy street.

The cacophony of sirens was the first clue to the office staff that something unusual had taken place.  By the time I joined the observation party, the residue of smoke in the air was the telltale sign of something more serious.  I took a serendipitous route to the dentist and stopped to see the remnants of the plane on a street between homes.  None of the homes had been hit.  The wreckage was charred and mangled.  The news choppers were hovering above and cameramen were already staking out their prime location.  It made me feel sad to know that a person had perished and was still lying under the tarp that covered most of the fuselage.  My discomfort at the dentist did not seem like anything of which to complain.

After returning to work for the rest of the day, evening took me to Glenview Academy for their Christmas Concert.  It was a memorable and delightful evening.  The contingent of students numbering close to one hundred was dressed in Christmas colors and standing as would an experienced and trained mass choir.  Bells and piano pieces by students ranging in skill and ability preceded the vocal portion of the concert.  I must confess I was not totally prepared for the sound of all these children singing as only children can sing—with gusto and enthusiasm, but also on key and harmony.  They began with “O Come, All Ye Faithful”—“wow’ is the only word that comes to mind.  Other renditions included an arrangement of “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” and the “Hallelujah Chorus”—neither of which seemed to be typical elementary school pieces.  It was amazing!  There were harmonies, echoes, with small group ensembles singing counterpoint to the melody of a much focused mass choir of children. 

The large group was made up by students ranging from kindergarten to 8^th grade!  Every singer was doing their part with discipline and skill.  The church was filled with sound that registered loudly on my soul.  I was blessed.  I cannot see how any parent present was not either extremely proud to have a child as part of such a marvelous program or wondering what it would take to have their child be part of it in the future.  I will remember that concert for a long time!  Good night.

Board Meeting Surprise

It’s Thursday morning and I am taking a short moment to blog.  The week is winding up and a busy weekend lies ahead.  Verde Valley and Maricopa Village school board meetings were fruitful and productive.  The board meeting in Maricopa last night took over three hours!

I also took some time to visit the Desert Valley School in Tucson.  It was good morning there.  One scene that registered was entering the lower grade classroom and observing the entire class sitting around a semi-circle table doing classwork while singing Christmas carols.  It was a heart-warming moment.  I also enjoyed my time with the upper grades, where I spent the lion’s share of the morning.

Something extraordinary took place during the long board meeting in Maricopa.  We are facing enrollment challenges of the good kind—too many students.  We had to wrestle with the idea of capping enrollment for the time being, while at the same time wondering how we could find the resources to hire a part-time teacher’s aide for the teaching principal.

              
God, I sense, had anticipated our need.  During the course of the meeting the pastor’s wife, who is a member of the committee, presented the board with a check from the Pacific Union Conference that was exactly the amount we needed to cover the aide for the remainder of the school year.  We were all pretty excited about the development.  God is looking after Maricopa!  Back to work….

One Week Later

Where has the last week gone?  I just realized I had not been blogging since last Wednesday.  A lot has transpired since then.  Perhaps I should bring my millions of readers up to date.

As you may know, the Executive Committee of the Arizona Conference meets the day following the K-12 Education Board.  Last week was no exception.  I had missed the prior meeting due to a sudden death in the family.  I was able to attend this meeting and I am glad I did.  Some important votes were taken that were of significance.  Shifts in the conference office and in the pastoral assignments will soon become reality.  I believe they are good moves—the challenge is to see how the membership of the affected churches perceives and reacts to the move of a pastor from or to their church.

There was one item that surfaced that will have a major impact on the conference evangelism goals for years to come.  It has to do with a sponsor providing the financial resources to make contact with every household in the entire State of Arizona.  That is monumental.  The concept is still in its infancy but I see it as another way God choosing to smile down on our feeble efforts.  It’s pretty exciting to think that every household in Arizona will be contacted with the Advent message.  If that is to become reality, it certainly means that our churches will have a lot to do between now and then to get ready to be an inviting and receptive place for new people to be embraced.

In any case, I had the opportunity to travel to Southern California for Friday and Sabbath.  It was particularly special in that my daughter, Amanda, was the Sabbath morning speaker at her home church in Orange.  She preached an amazing sermon about the Advent through the eyes of the angels.  I was truly an inspiring and inspired presentation.

That evening I had the opportunity of listening to my nephew, Joe, in concert at a venue in Los Angeles.  He is quite a talented singer-songwriter that is making ripples in the music industry.  He did not disappoint.  I left early Sunday morning in order to make a 3:00 p.m. with the Spanish pastors from the conference.  In the end I did not even stay until the end of the meeting.  My stomach was not happy at all—most likely because I left early Sunday morning from Riverside, and thus missed out on my mom’s traditional Sunday Heart Attack Breakfast for the family.  My arteries thanked me, but my stomach complained vehemently.

Monday took me to Gilbert and Yuma.  Both meetings were rewarding for different reasons.  I am hoping to see a church school open its doors officially in the new future.  The way it is being perceived at this time as as a hybrid school that would provide a solid core curriculum together with enrichment to home schooled students.  We are moving with a proposal that should be ready for the February meeting of the K-12 Board of Education.  The trip to Yuma made the day seem long.  My time there flew.  There are some very wonderful people in Yuma!

To be continued…. I have to get to my board meeting at the Verde Valley School in Cottonwood.  I’m hoping the temperature does not drop below freezing before I have a chance to get off this mountain!  I hope the meeting is short….

December Meetings

The Arizona Conference Education K-12 Board takes place today.  There is a full agenda.  Some very meaty topics will be discussed today.  The future is sobering.  I truly do not see in myself the person who has the ability to solve the puzzle that is Adventist Education.  In fact I feel pretty small to the task.  But I have no choice—I am here during this time.  There are enrollment, financial, and infrastructure challenges in every school in the conference.  Add to this the added burden of increased costs for faculty remuneration and benefits that are not presently budgeted.  The committee will have to find a creative way to address the projected shortfall in next school year’s budget.  The only option if no solution is found is to close schools—and that is not an option that I want to consider.

My morning will be spent putting the finishing touches on the materials that need to be presented on this topic.  AAF will also be bringing a report and some recommendations to enhance the partnership dynamics between the Foundation, the academy, and the conference.  There are challenges, but we do not want the information channel to be compromised in any way.

The topic of how best to associate with Adventist home-schooling parents will be addressed.  There are pitfalls in running ahead without a long-range plan.  I will be asking permission to launch a pilot plan, subject to Pacific Unionapproval, to engage this segment of our church membership.  Failure to do so will cause long-term harm to our school system.  Much prayer and wisdom is needed here as well.

I have been thinking that leadership is most often defined by the context in which is develops.  It is easier to be a leader in times of relative peace and abundance.  But leadership is forged in times of crisis and opposition.  I pray I will be willing to be endowed with the qualities needed during these challenging times.  There is a way.  There are resources.  We have to connect with the ultimate Source of wisdom in order to confront head-on the spiritual forces that are determined to destroy what God is doing.  Send up a prayer on our behalf today.

Bah Humbug!

I am typing on my laptop computer counting the minutes before Penny arrives in town.  It’s been a roller-coaster week health-wise and as a result personally.  In the midst of the fluctuations I actually got some things done.  The good news is that Sabbath is here and I can set the busy-ness aside and reconnect with the most important areas of my life.

It’s not that my work draws me away from those areas, but it can definitely create so much to do that I forget to slow down and reflect on the big picture.  Next week is already overflowing with items that need immediate attention—but they will have to wait.

Today is about being with God and with Penny.  No preaching.  No work-related commitments.  No meetings to attend due to some role to be played.  I will wake up with no demands on my time other than those that I would otherwise have as a regular member of the church.  I will attend church within walking distance of my home—Thunderbird-Scottsdale SDA Church on the campus of Thunderbird Academy.

The Thunderbird Church is a hybrid of students and community coming together to worship.  I will be interested to see how these two groups blend into one cohesive group.  Then we will have the afternoon free to walk or read or watch Hope TV or whatever seems appropriate for a Sabbath afternoon.  The point is that these days do not come around very often, although it seems that I will have most Sabbaths free in December.

It’s December!  What happened to the eleven months of the year?  I am not quite ready for another Christmas season.  Contrary to my conference president who likes this time of the year I tend to fall on the other side of the spectrum.  I do not like this time of year.  I tolerate it.  I make the best of it.  But I do not gravitate towards all the trappings of the season.  Somehow the simplicity of life is lost in the seasonal chaos.  I like simple and quiet moments.  I am quite happy enjoying moments of peaceful solitude.  Quiet solitude is a rare commodity this time of year.  I don’t know when I developed this less than joyous attitude toward the Christmas season, but I would be delighted to return to a rustic and austere time when the day meant more than multi-colored lights and artificial icicles hanging from cookie-cutter house eves.  I would trade it all for a moment of contemplation standing at the edge of a wooden hay trough in Bethlehem on that very first and quite foreign Nativity scene two millennia ago.

Otherwise—Bah Humbug!

Tuesday Ends in Tucson

Every day is a gift from God!  I have to remind myself of that reality on a daily basis.  It is too easy to get caught up in the things I do, forgetting the people I work with and the God I work for.  I will try to me more intentional about that.

My week is settling in after a rough start yesterday.  The long night’s drive back from California on Sunday night spilling generously into Monday morning wreaked havoc with my body.  I got a late start to my day and was trying to catch up from that moment on.  The day ended in Mesa for the RRCS board meeting.  I am amazed at the level of commitment of that church towards the five students they presently have enrolled.  Their budget is tight, but balanced.  Their leadership is committed to the cause.  God is good!

Today will take me north to a meeting with the AAF and TAA leadership.  After that meeting I will be traveling to Tucson for a critical meeting with a local church and the local church school leadership.  It will be a late night, but it will be worth it.

Family Thanksgiving Recollections

Wow, it is truly hard to believe that I have gone all week without blogging.   It is now Friday morning.  I am sitting in anticipation at the breakfast bar at my son’s house in Riverside, California where I have been since Tuesday night.  My mom is cooking up a typical “heart attack breakfast” for the grandchildren.  I, of course, am making the supreme sacrifice as I share in the bounty to save my children from experiencing the full brunt of this culinary onslaught.  My body is conditioned to such meals since they were part and parcel of my childhood.  It is no wonder that I still retain the physiological evidence and girth.

Nonetheless, here I am waiting for my mom to finish making her home-made tortillas, beans from scratch with special seasonings and fresh cheese, breakfast links (Worthington), and some sort of savory and spicy breakfast stew with a cacophony of ingredients that may possibly violate some health laws in more than one state of the union.  There is even some homemade salsa to pour generously on whatever you choose to pile on your breakfast plate if in fact your mouth is not already sufficiently on fire.  Penny and I were commenting earlier today that we were going to make today a recovery day from the Thanksgiving Day feast of yesterday.

In all honesty, I did not eat that much yesterday.  I am still in my yearly recovery day for other reasons altogether.  We call it Family Thanksgiving Day—I call it physical abuse!  It began Wednesday night at the softball field.  It was the Annual Family Softball Game.  I was assigned third base (obviously because of my rocket arm).  Of course, I was assigned third base on the “geezers” team, who having not forgotten last year when we won the game against the “whipper-snappers” on our last at bat, chose to challenge them again this year.  The results were not the same at all. 

A combination of poor hitting, lousy fielding, and questionable base-running, weak pitching, and let us not forget old-age, combined to a score of 25 to 2.  We dived, we hobbled, and we jumped—all relative terms, of course.  The result was a forgone conclusion after the first inning.  My body was already beginning to feel the yearly angst of over-indulgence in the physical arena.  But this was just the beginning….

The Annual Family Rook Tournament followed.  It went into the wee hours of the morning.  My team, consisting of my life-long friend George and me, were eliminated in the semi-finals.  I went home to what my mind envisioned at the time as a good night’s rest.  My body had other ideas.  I spent the night trying to find a position that would not interrupt my aching muscles trying to find an excuse to wake up in knot.

The next morning I was awoken by my son who nonchalantly reminded me of our 7:30 a.m. appointment at the Eagle Glen Golf Course for the Annual Family Thanksgiving Golf Tournament.  There were eighty people present for this exercise in futility.  It is probably not a good idea to play golf on the morning after you have played third base for the losing team of a game that ended 25 to 2!  But this, of course, is not an option.  I got up and dutifully got dressed and piled the three golf bags into the trunk of my Prius.  Let me just say—it was a long day.  On a good day (which are fewer and fewer nowadays), when I actually get a chance to play (which is rarely), I have been known to shoot a golf score in the low 80’s.  That is a respectable score.  Yesterday, due to combination of age, pain, lack of practice, and mainly lack of skill, I broke the three digits before the round was over.  I did have some remarkable shots, mind you.  They were probably three in total.  These were more than obliterated by my dozens of attempts to make my body move in ways it was not prepared to move.  My back muscles were already atrophied—now they were breaking out into spasms.  The golf balls flew in various directions not intended when my mind envisioned and I mentally crafted the shots.  Nonetheless I gutted it out.  But the day was not over.

The Annual Family Thanksgiving Feast came next.  Over one hundred people were in attendance for this part of the festivities.  I saw people I had not seen since—well last year at the same event in the park.  Little kids were just a little less so this year.  Old people were a little older.  We waited as long as we could but the natives were getting restless.  The welcome was given and special acknowledgments were made of new-comers to the event.  Prayer was offered and the line was formed.  I served my mom her plate and ran some errands.  By the time I was done, I had to scarf my food down quickly because it was time for the Annual Family Soccer Game (or as we call it—Mexico versus Bolivia). 

As the elder statesman in the game I was assigned goal-keeper for the Team Mexico.  It ought not to be inferred that the reason I was assigned goalie is due to the fact that I can no longer run with the young bucks (although this might also be true).  It is mainly because I have been serving in this role for many years due to my unexplained willing need set aside any thought of self-preservation in my desire to keep a goal from scoring.  I have many memories of feet and knees and other body parts colliding with me in an unforgettable moment of pain and exhilaration.  So there I was again at my post, still seething from last year’s loss to the Bolivian Team.  This year the score was 2 to 1 in favor of Mexico with 30 seconds left.  I could almost literally taste the victory.  I was already imagining the celebration and gloating at the expense of the opposing side of family members who would be deflated and crushed by their defeat at the hands of an obviously superior force and expert goal-keeping.  Then it happened—a last second thrust by the foe; a pinball-like series of deflections; a weak shot on goal that I moved to cover—then the awful sight of a slight, albeit accidental glance on the head of a Bolivian team member’s head a mere 10 feet from goal—enough to keep it out of my reach and into the very receptive embrace of the net behind me.

I have erased the scenes ensuing this unfortunate turn of events.  I am sitting here at the breakfast counter at my son’s house….only 365 days before next Thanksgiving Family Day 2012.

Shopping Gone WIld!

Day is dying in the west… and it is six o’clock plus in Scottsdale, Arizona.  I am still in the office.  My desk is clear.  My stacks are diminished.  My filing is neatly out of sight in a drawer set aside for just that purpose.  Nothing left to do but blog.  Penny is in town, but I have only seen her for a few minutes.  I heard through the grapevine that there have been sightings of her at The Kierland Commons Mall, The Scottsdale Quarter, and The Fashion Square in Scottsdale….  Note the fact that all of these shopping locations all begin with a “The”, which automatically raises the price by 75%.    Have you ever heard of “The” Salvation Army Store or The Goodwill?  I think not!  I am doomed to work until I turn ninety years of age in order to pay off my revolving credit cards!  Oh well….

I had a great day in the office today.  It is budget time in the conference office.  I enjoyed a somewhat lengthy meeting with the conference treasurer.  With the NAD Teacher’s Convention slated for next summer it was important to make sure we had the funds in place to assist the teachers in attending this division-wide educational event. 

Thunderbird Academy treated the conference office to a special Thanksgiving lunch in the school cafeteria.  It helped balance out the heavy morning outlay of personal funds and the even heavier financial bleeding yet to come in the afternoon.  It was great.  Penny and I got to sit down for a few minutes.  This was followed almost immediately by a Pie Feast provided by the Communications Office of the Conference.  They had planned the event prior to the invitation by the Academy, so we made the best of it and ate a lot of pie—mainly pumpkin and pecan.  Phil even located some pre-existing Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake in the freezer, which the group attacked with zeal.

Somewhere in the midst of that we actually got some work done.  Letters followed other letters.  A new phone call was placed immediately at the end of a previous phone call.  New emails were sent while other emails were requited with an appropriate response.  This bodes well for the days after Thanksgiving is over.  No boring days lie ahead.  No siree!  If only I can survive Fashion Square!

Hectic Sunday Happenings

Sunday night is here.  Penny and I kept quite busy most of the day with various activities that were in our schedule.  There was some necessary shopping for home and a baby shower at the conference office.  The baby shower was fun—we will just leave it at that.  There were a respectable number of male counterparts sentenced to a similar fate on a Sunday afternoon.  It was a good day all in all.

Tomorrow is another story altogether.  There is a full docket of activities and tasks to complete and only a limited number of hours in which to complete them.  I want to be able to be on the road headed to California by Tuesday noon!  Penny will spend my work hours doing some early Christmas shopping…ouch!          

Friday Recap

Yesterday took me to the city of Tucson, Arizona, for some teacher observations and document deliveries to both schools.  While visiting the Saguaro Hills School for the second time this week I was treated to a children-led program on Thanksgiving.  The children did a great job.  The program gave me a living example of the impact Adventist Education has on young lives.  They spoke unprompted of their love for God and God’s love for them.  They read poetry saturated with spiritual themes.  The y also read creative acrostics immersed in spiritual concepts.  It was great!

I spent the afternoon at the Desert Valley School, also in Tucson.  I enjoyed seeing the lower grades practice their Thanksgiving skit for the following school day.  I did some classroom observations and participated in an evening school board meeting.

Both schools are dealing with similar budgetary and enrollment challenges.  There is a mixture of tempered concern and courage in the face of such challenges.  Seeing the faces of the little ones certainly reminds me why we do what we do!

On a personal note, Penny is scheduled to arrive later today!  I have to clean up before her arrival (and her white inspection glove).  We are planning to attend the Paradise Valley Church for Sabbath Services.

Interesting Query

The end of the day is close.  I am in the office working on some loose ends.  Some major challenges are looming.  Among them:

1)      Task Force Workers’ compensation packages for next year.

2)      Securing new funding to compensate for the loss to schools of the locally-funded option

3)      Working through the process of identifying a workable paradigm for re-establishing an aviation program without cost to the school and without exposing the school and the sponsoring associations to financial risk

4)      Four elementary evaluations with preceding in-services in the early new year

5)      An Education Board and eight boards squeezed between Thanksgiving and Christmas Breaks

6)      Personnel challenges across the conference

I love this job!  By the way, a friend questioned the character of a person associated with recent initiatives to assist Adventist Education.  I was a little surprised since it would be small, if non-existent, contingent to help move this initiative forward if faultlessness was a prerequisite.  I am inclined to believe that the Bible and church history, in fact, is full of ordinary and fallible people who performed amazing things!  I count myself among those who are very fallible—it’s a human condition.  I am confident that God will accomplish great things here in Arizona—I am just thankful to be part of this process.

Change in Plans

Today got off to an early start after a very restless night’s sleep.  I was able to produce a newsletter for Arizona Conference educational stakeholders and educators.  It had been over a month since my last edition due to all the interruptions and detours that pocked my last month. 

My plans going to bed last night were to travel, after the office worship, to Yuma to do some observations and then stay for their monthly school board meeting.  I was rudely reminded by a morning email that there was a major conflict which made my entire day change directions.  Instead of traveling to the Yuma school I made the decision to remain in Scottsdale and do my observations at TCE. 

The reality was that my presence was needed at this evening’s meeting at TCE.  They had graciously moved their board meeting dates to facilitate my attendance at their meeting.  My theory is that Yuma must have moved their school board meeting thus creating the conflict.  I will have another major conflict tomorrow due to another changed school board date.

In any case I enjoyed my observations today at TCE.  I am beginning to use a new instrument for my formative classroom observations in the elementary system.  They incorporate more differentiated instruction into the overall observation.  It took me a while to edit the previous template, but the result is a much more comprehensive form that will not only provide the assessment, but provide the teachers with a list of areas that I am looking for as I conduct my observations.

The TCE board is going through a transitional stage.  It is creating some interesting dynamics.  It is to be expected that most systems that employ humans will eventually face dynamics that will require a spirit of cooperation that may be counterintuitive to our natural tendencies.  I like working with people—the process may get dicey at times, but I still believe most people want to get along and are willing to work to make the common good the goal.

Morning at Mesa

Can you believe it?  I went the entire day yesterday and was not reminded even once that it was 11/11/11.  I did not even have time to blog for the day.  Today is 11/12/11, which is aesthetically pleasing but does not have the same chronological or metaphysical impact as yesterday did for many people.

On the other hand today took me to the Mesa Spanish SDA Church.  I had been invited a few months ago to preach for the main service.  As a side note, I had inadvertently double-booked myself to speak in two places at the same time during their original date scheduled.  Thankfully, we were able to re-schedule the date for today without much impact to their preaching schedule.

It was a bit of an odd request since I was asked to visit and preach a “stewardship” sermon.  Not only do I not work in the “stewardship” department, but I have had a career-long reputation for overlooking stewardship-type events in the church service.  I won’t even mention my shortcomings in the development side of my duties over the years.

In any case, I accepted the challenge without letting on regarding my hesitancy.  I preached a sermon entitled “La Fe de Oquis” with translated means “the Faith of Okies” but that with a play on words can come to mean “A Useless Faith.”   It would be difficult to explain the play on words that works for Hispanics of Mexican descent that is triggered by the use of such a title.  As it was I had to give sort of a history lesson on the Dust Bowl of the last century, in addition to labor relations in the Central Valley of California during the mass migration from the Dust Bowl States to the Central California.  Penny got lost in the language and claims she did not understand most of the sermon.  She stayed awake though, which is a good thing.

This afternoon I am headed to a wedding here in town.  Penny is getting herself ready.  This has provided me the time needed to blog a few lines.  She will be leaving tomorrow morning back to California.

New Day at Education COuncil

I am in the midst of the final day of the Fall Education Council.  I believe I have been here long enough to be able to make some valid observations of the differences that have taken place since the last council meeting in the spring.  The changes have been noticeable and positive.

The meetings this year seem to have moved at what seems a faster pace.  There is less lag time during the meetings and less fluff in content during the general sessions.  One major improvement is the fact the union colleges are no longer given a portion of the report time to give reports of what is happening at the university.  That alone has saved over an hour of time during the “report” portion of the meetings.  On the other hand, this year they sponsored the traditional Wednesday Ice Cream Fest after lunch.  It was truly a tasty treat.

Another major change is the move of the policy portion of the meetings to a time frame earlier in the program, thus more valuable discussion was made when the larger group was present and more energetic as they were previously had been in previous meetings, at the end of the session.  It was a great change.  Some pretty meaty items were discussed.

Two major issues that will have a direct impact on the Arizona Conference are related to task force workers and locally-funded employees.  These areas will require some creative thinking if we are going to honor the policy as it behooves us while protecting the viability of church schools that depend on one or both of these provisos in the policy to enrich, and at times, keep their local school open.  It will be our immediate challenge to find a way to bridge the gap.

Divine Intervention Needed

The meetings continue at Education Council in Ontario.  All day…Lord, help me!

Weekend Roundup

Daylight Savings Time kicked in here in California, where I arrived to attend the Fall Education Council for the Pacific Union.  Principals, educators, business managers, and superintendents from the entire conference congregate for a couple of days two times a year to work on policy, to review curriculum, to take in some in-services, and to network with other educators from across the five states that make up the Pacific Union Conference.  I look forward to these meetings for the fellowship as much as I do for anything that actually takes place, as important as some of those activities are for the direction and philosophy of education in the entire field.

There will be an official changing of the guard this fall.  Berit Von Pohle will be in charge of the Educational Council for the first time since the transition between Kelly Bock and Berit as Superintendent of Education for the Pacific Union took place in early July.  She has already demonstrated some extraordinary leadership abilities in her short tenure.  I am looking forward to see what transpires for the next couple of days.

In the meantime I spent a wonderful Sabbath morning at the Mesa Palms SDA Church in Mesa.  After preaching the sermon (Penny said it was great!) we got to eat some great food at the church potluck.  We even got to sit with the pastor and his wife—which also meant Penny and I got to take cuts to the front of the line.  That always makes me feel more than a bit guilty.  That didn’t keep me from benefitting from the courtesy afforded me. 

After that Penny and I traveled back to Riverside and closed Sabbath with the family.  Sunday was spent at a rainy flea market in Orange County and babysitting my grandson in the afternoon.  We all went to visit grandma in her new surroundings.  We managed to squeeze in a couple of meals—Bolivian and Vietnamese!  It was a good day.

I am spending the night in Ontario.  I have an early morning meeting with the PUC Educational Leadership Committee.  I am still getting used to all the committee work I participate in as part of my job description.  I am learning the ropes, but I am determined to master the information that will make me a better asset to the committees I serve.  It’s not about me—it’s about the people I serve.  They deserve the best I can be for them.  Good night.

Of Computers and Life Lessons

Well, it’s Friday morning and I have a full day of tasks to complete on this day that the conference office is closed.  Last night I attended a very important school board meeting in Laveen, Arizona—where the Maricopa Village School is located.  I came back to the office to pick up my computer which I had left there, intent in getting a head start on my work for today.  Boy was I in for an unpleasant surprise.
My computer went berserk!  Before the night was done whatever glitch had affected my laptop had literally wiped out every file and every program on my laptop!  Everything was gone—files, internet, programs, pictures…everything!!!  Obviously I did not get anything done last night.  I was dreading today when I went home after a futile attempt to recover anything.

I believe God got me out of bed at about 12:30 this morning.  I was impressed to return to the office where I had left my laptop going through a scan to see what had caused this collapse.  While in the office I cancelled the scan and discovered the “system restore” function.  It gave me two dates as options: one yesterday, the other—October 31.  I chose yesterday.  Bad decision!  It restored the system which had already been purged of whatever Trojan horse had entered the system to the moment right before the virus struck.  I got to see, first hand, the process of collapse.  It was disheartening.  It restored the laptop to the moment all files were wiped out.

After cleaning out the system again, I set the system to restore, but this time to October 31.  I got tired of waiting for the computer to restore at about 2:30 a.m.  It was just frozen (not totally since an icon was spinning).  I went home and left it doing whatever it was doing. I did a lot of praying before going home and before going to bed for good.

This morning I woke up not knowing, but hopeful of, what I would find when I got to the office.  The fact that I am writing this blog is a testament to the fact the God impressed me correctly to do the needed steps to restore this machine.  God is good! 

In the big scheme of things I guess it’s not a big tragedy.  It would have been a major inconvenience to have to reconstruct financial programs and try to assess how many documents were lost forever due to the collapse.  I was prepared to accept the loss but a bit perplexed as to how I would get the computer set up to work today since it was totally stripped of every program, not just every file!  Lesson learned.  Number one:  Back up files regularly!  Number Two: Being restored is better than being lost.  I like that.  But the third one is just as important:  Be careful what you let into your system.  Something innocent can have tragic results.  Finally:  Know your sources.  Stay away from the unknown. 

I don’t know the exact moment when the virus got into my system.  I can only speculate.  But trust me I am going to be a lot more careful about emails and hyperlinks from sources I do not know.  I thought I was vigilant—I will be even more vigilant.  Somebody out there is trying to mess me up—mess all of us up, in fact.  We cannot let our guard down—ever.  That kind of sounds like a life lesson as well. 

On a positive note—Penny will be flying in later on today and spending the weekend with me.  That’s pretty awesome.  I will be in a better state of mind now that God has restored my computer and files to working order.  I better get busy.  I need the make the house presentable for my special guest!

Exciting Times

The three AZ Conference officers returned today from their North American Division (NAD) year-end meetings in Washington, D.C., Silver Spring, Maryland to be exact.  Major votes on women’s ordination and locally funded employees were among two of the significant votes taken.  The first, at least for the time being, places the NAD out of compliance with the General Conference policy.  There are people in this division who feel very strongly about this issue and the contingent has voted to go out on a limb so to speak.  I am sure the vote was not without painful discussion on both sides of the issue, since even the NAD is not monolithic in its position on ordination as it pertains to the women of the church.

On a personal note it was nice to see the officers back—at least two of them, today.  The third one had a secondary appointment that kept him from being in the office. 

A major meeting also took place between the GC auditors, the AAF leadership, TAA administration, and AZ Conference officials—yours truly included.  It was one of those moments when you know history is taking place.  As you may know TAA and the conference office has entered into a partnership with AAF (Alumni Awards Foundation) to provide management and funding to TAA as they work to make it a model school.  Today was one of those days that was bound to take place sooner or later as the reality of the partnership becomes cemented into the day to day operations. 

In this case the need for clarification of roles and processes became necessary due to a recent General Conference yearly audit of TAA.  It became apparent to all present during the audit exit interview that GCAS (General Conference Auditing Services) was not familiar at all with the new governance paradigm in place between the entities that participate in the new governance format.  It was a stimulating and at times tense discussion as roles and definitions of the Memorandum of Understanding were vetted out and clarified for the sake of the auditors.  In the end it was a great meeting with all parties feeling better about having taken the time to bring the group together, if for no other reason than to ensure future audits are implemented with the new paradigm in place and clearly understood by all parties.

It is exciting to be part of something new and innovative.  I do not know where it will lead.  A lot of prayer and thought has gone into it, but we are in uncharted waters.  It will require a lot more of both prayer and thought in the future as well.  Good night!