A Good Guess

We've just attended grandson and grand-daughter-in law's baby shower.  This is a picture of Gerry and the expectant mother, Haley, and great-grand-daughter, soon to be.

I made a lovely baby quilt, which somehow I never thought to take a picture of, and wish I had.  It was so sweet. (and it was much appreciated).

There was cake and ice cream, decorating onesies,  opening presents, and some guessing the number games.   One glass container had tea lights;  one had individually wrapped candies, and the third was filled with M&M's.   I only guessed on the last one.  I turned the glass jar over and got a good estimate of how many M&M's there were on the bottom layer. Then I counted how many layers up there seemed to be.  Then I multiplied.  Math has never been my greatest skill, but it worked for me this time.  I guessed the closest number and won the jar of M&M's!  Of course, they are only for display, not to eat!

Do you hear that, Gerry?

Process Versus Results

I have always been big on setting goals.  But when I was serving a particular church, it bothered me that the primary goal they always set was "to get more people in church".    Of course, that is what we all want, and is a biblically sound goal.  I could not have articulated exactly why I thought that was the wrong goal, but I always did. I knew I wanted the focus to be on how we were being the church, rather than the end result of numbers.

I just read a chapter in a book  (Christian Caregiving:  A Way of Life, by Kenneth Haugk), which clarified that frustration for me. The chapter is about the differences between process goals and results goals.  What follows is a summary of the main thoughts in that chapter, which I want to put together for my own edification.

Goals are helpful, but in Christian theology, results are primarily what God accomplishes.   We, of course, have goals to "press on toward---the upward call of God in Christ Jesus"  (Phil 3:14)   But overall, scripture directs us toward the  process of Christian living, and toward the goal of spiritual growth and renewal.  Results and outcomes are God's turf.

Rather than the bottom line of church work being about getting "more bodies",  the focus should be on the process.  Process words are:  providing, comforting, accepting, helping, relating, encouraging, communicating, sharing.

This focus is not unlike any athlete or team, who needs to concentrate on what has to be done at any given moment--guarding, passing, receiving, scoring, dribbling, blocking.  If the players focus on the championship, or the trophy, or the super bowl ring or the outcome, there is a much greater chance of losing than winning.  Victories are the results of many things being done well.

Same way with the church.  People who come will want to come back, and stay if the church does all the little things well----greeting, welcoming, accepting, informing, presenting the best worship service, or music program, or most excellent educational program.

So, Church, listen up.  To ask: How can we get more people in here is the wrong question!  Rather, ask:  How can we improve the ways we relate, invite, integrate?  How can we provide excellence in service and program?

NYC Ballet

This was my first live ballet experience.   Nor am I especially well informed about ballet.  The performance we attended was in three parts, three movements, three acts, each completely different, with different stars and accompanying dancers.

I learned that the men do not do the dancing on tiptoe;  they simply support the women, lift them and twist them around in various positions, while they are on point.  I think they males have the easy part!

I would make the observation that ballet is mostly about the music.  It is as much about the orchestra and the musical selections as it is about the dances.   The first of the three performances was good;  I enjoyed it. (In G Major)  The music was fine.  On a scale of one to ten, I would rate my enjoyment at about a six.   The second of the movements was entitled In Memory Of.  The  music throughout the piece was a slow funeral dirge.  My enjoyment was at about a two level, though the dancing was lovely.

The third act was lively, upbeat, frivolous and extremely funny. (The Concert)  I enjoyed it at a ten plus!  In fact, there were many times when we laughed out loud.   In addition to the lively music and fun costumes, there was a clear story, and characters with distinctive parts---not just the star dancers and the dance company.

I'm glad for the opportunity to see a ballet.   It is something I always wanted to see---ever since that time I was in college and a live ballet came to my campus,  but I didn't have enough money for tickets.

Picture It

At a recent ladies gathering, some women were talking about advice on de-cluttering, condensing down, de-cumulating.   One de-cluttering expert said that if you have special objects of sentimental value, you don't necessarily have to keep the object.  Rather, you can take a picture of the object and keep that, and refer to that if memory dictates.  After photoing the object, the directions included storing that picture in cyberspace on the cloud  (whatever that meant). [dropbox.com I guess].

 I do value the family photos taken over the years, though I don't make copies of very many now that I take digital pictures and upload them onto the computer, and often the blog.

Two blogs ago, when I wrote Decidedly Personal,  I got out some old photo albums.  One old picture of me fell out of its sleeve in an old album, and I looked at it with utter amazement.  I think it is quite a pretty picture, though I don't ever remember looking this way.   Another way of saying that might be:  my internal self-image never seems to match where and how I actually appear at any given moment in time.

So, for old time sake, I am going to post that old photo of me here.  It was taken a few days after I married Gerry.  Must be I just still had that glow!