Saturday Night Summary

Well, I finally have a chance to sit down and blog for a few moments.  The last couple of days leading up to Sabbath were a bit trying due to an unexpected intrusion by a hacker into me FB account.  It took me the better part of 10 hours to unravel and clean out the mess created by the unidentified purveyor of personal electronic pandemonium.  In hindsight I know the exact moment when I was compromised—it was a FB invitation by a family member, who will go unidentified, to see myself in a video (does that sound familiar?) in some embarrassing emotional state.  I couldn’t resist.  I should have my head examined for opening the document, which ended up being a pointless video of a mediocre music band singing a non-descript song while doing nonsensical pirouettes – who knows anymore?  In any case I will not soon forget the hours of tedious searching for the threads of misinformation on many of my friends’ accounts.  Oh, well….

On a brighter note I spent the first hours of the day in the North West Heights SDA Church in Tucson this morning and early afternoon.  And contrary to my older brother’s snide comment on FB, there were actual people there.  My sermon was based on the series of stories in Genesis 12-19.  I enjoyed preaching it.  I hope the people got my point and actually enjoyed it along the way.  Penny gave me a B+, which was lowered from an A- due to the use of the expression “Lot was a little” once too many times for her taste.  I have been receiving a grade on my sermons by Penny for over 30 years so I am used to it.  The good news is that I have never received a failing grade by her.  There may be some bias associated with her grading system although she denies it.

Tomorrow seems to be lining up as a work day in preparation for a busy week:  Yuma on Monday; Sacaton (Gila River Indian Nation Headquarters) on Tuesday morning; Glenview on Tuesday afternoon; in the office on Wednesday (two major projects due that day!); Maricopa Village on Thursday; and then off to speak on Sabbath in Rubidoux, California for an Adventurer Sabbath.

I am most concerned about the two projects than I am about any other commitment this week.  I am partnering with the president’s office (AZ Conference, mind you) to pen a letter to all the pastors in the conference to officially launch the “Save Our Children” Education Tax Credit Initiative.  In short it consists of a conference-wide, three-year initiative to stabilize, strengthen, and spread our educational system in the Arizona Conference territory.  The plan received the endorsement of all pastors during their meeting last week, but the implementation and accountability details have yet to be outlined—that is the project due Thursday.  The results of the letter will hopefully be a whirlwind process by which every church board in the conference is visited in the next two months (by a core group of pastors/educational stakeholders) to explain the plan, elicit support, and encourage the participants.  Critical to this stage will be the local church leaders seizing the importance of the initiative for the future of the church, not just the Adventist school system.

I am pretty excited by the possibilities!  There is a steady move across the conference within the educational system.  Maranatha International is beginning to arrive on the campus of TAA to begin their renovation project (the first of at least two phases).  Budgets and personnel decisions are being forged at the local school level.  Curricular interventions are in being put into place.  Documented teacher observations are now the norm.  School evaluation teams are being formed.  The load is beginning to appear a little more daunting, but only if I stop to consider it.  Otherwise, it’s what needs to happen—and somehow, God will make it happen.

Penny is here for the weekend as you may have surmised from my previous statements.  That’s pretty nice.  She went with me to church this morning.  It required an early start since the service was in Tucson and we arrived for Sabbath School.  We were both pretty beat (and sleepy) when we got back home.  I must confess there were some serious “lay activities” taking place upon our arrival back home about 4:00 p.m.  We will enjoy the time while it lasts. 

To close, a brief “shout out” to my brother-in-law, who is the only consistent commentator on my blogs.  Thank you, Skip!  Blogs are always welcome as long as they are constructive.  Humor also helps.  Good night. (228.8)