Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Warm Fuzzies on a Cold Rainy Monday
Many of you know me from experiencing different angles of my life so some of you might not be all that familiar with the rugged logger-backpacker-tree climbing-tobacco chewing Brian of days gone by, but by you all know how unpolished and rough around the edges I am. In light of being the rugged individual that I am, I, on occasion, do get the “warm fuzzies.” Notice that everyone puts warm fuzzies in parenthesis when they write it?
I find myself driving around the greater Seattle area continually on just less than a quarter tank of gas in my 1991 Ford Explorer. As I monitor the gas gauge I subconsciously coach and urge the quarter tank to last as long as it can, but alas, it never listens. I get so sick up and fed looking at that quarter tank and nickel and diming it by putting ten to twenty dollars in the tank. The other day I was out of gas and money so I was forced to put $25 worth of gas on the credit card. Now I am experiencing the “warm fuzzies” as I see the needle pointing to just over half a tank. Don’t knock the “warm fuzzies.”
While living in Cambodia we had a cook-helper named Srey Neang who came from the provinces. She was about 32 and she had a short and very well natured husband named Phat. Because of the patronage mentality of the Cambodian people, Neang and Phat became like our grown children. They held us responsible for taking care of them and when we left Cambodia last year, we set them up with jobs for when we would be away but they fell through. I just heard that Srey Neang is working out well in her new job with the whole Kramm Family (missionaries with Pioneers) in PP, and Phat has two jobs now. This news made me very glad- a level which rises above that of the warm fuzzies. I don’t know if one can experience varying degrees of warm fuzzies, or if you just move right out of them into some other category of emoting.
Sunday I attended a debriefing for those members from the Seattle churches that support us who recently went on a mission trip to Cambodia. It was so rewarding to see how this group has grown and matured over the last 9 years that I felt a desire to write a case study on When Churches Get Short-Term Mission Right. I am waiting for someone to commission me to do the job. Attending that debriefing was quite a few degrees on the barometer above the warm fuzzies. I felt proud, proud to be associated with such a group of people.
Matt and I have been doing tree work on Saturdays and holidays. The differences between doing tree work in the Seattle area and Southern Connecticut is vast. Trees and shrubs do not have a dormant season. They grow year round and hence are much taller and bigger. Ok, so what else is new? The interesting thing is that in CT, people wanted perfect trees, and when an arborist or dendrician stepped on the property they had trees that had been trained properly and something to work with. In this area most people try to do it themselves first, then call the tree guy. I chuckle to myself because I now know what it is like to have been God when he created the universe “ex nihilo.” I get the “warm fuzzies” knowing that I can still climb and prune at age 51, and love every minute of it (once or twice a week is good).
Driving down 405 one can see on a nice day the snow capped mountains of the Olympic Range and the Cascade Range, and Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, etc., in a 360º ring around the Seattle area. It is difficult not to be impressed. With the weather like it is here, one may go about their business in a literal fog for days or even weeks, than all of a sudden, snow capped mountains just pop up to great heights out of nowhere. The warm fuzzies pale in the light of feeling an actual awe, as long as one doesn’t jump out of their skin and drive off the road when these monoliths simply appear out of nowhere right in front of you!!
I teach an Adult Sunday School class and I am the youngest in the class by about 10 years. I have discovered that I don’t feel the need to be an expert seminarian and deliver vast amounts of biblical content and lofty ideas to the class, but instead provide opportunities for class members to use and share their deep knowledge, their life’s experience, their talents and spiritual gifts with each other. I do guide and facilitate of course, but it is fun to discover new things together as a group. I feel I get more out it than my class members. We just have fun being the body of Christ and learning as very active participants.
Well I could ramble on but I have to head out to visit a tree nursery, then meet over lunch about bringing the Good News of the Kingdom in both word and deed to Cambodia. The tree nursery is warm fuzzies territory but discussing Kingdom business in Cambodia is more like the feeling you get when someone awards you a special privilege like giving you the key to the office that no one else has. Are you following me yet?
Live from Seattle,
The content of this “Musings” does not necessarily express the opinions and views of the whole family of Mercer Island Geckos, but solely that of the author.
I find myself driving around the greater Seattle area continually on just less than a quarter tank of gas in my 1991 Ford Explorer. As I monitor the gas gauge I subconsciously coach and urge the quarter tank to last as long as it can, but alas, it never listens. I get so sick up and fed looking at that quarter tank and nickel and diming it by putting ten to twenty dollars in the tank. The other day I was out of gas and money so I was forced to put $25 worth of gas on the credit card. Now I am experiencing the “warm fuzzies” as I see the needle pointing to just over half a tank. Don’t knock the “warm fuzzies.”
While living in Cambodia we had a cook-helper named Srey Neang who came from the provinces. She was about 32 and she had a short and very well natured husband named Phat. Because of the patronage mentality of the Cambodian people, Neang and Phat became like our grown children. They held us responsible for taking care of them and when we left Cambodia last year, we set them up with jobs for when we would be away but they fell through. I just heard that Srey Neang is working out well in her new job with the whole Kramm Family (missionaries with Pioneers) in PP, and Phat has two jobs now. This news made me very glad- a level which rises above that of the warm fuzzies. I don’t know if one can experience varying degrees of warm fuzzies, or if you just move right out of them into some other category of emoting.
Sunday I attended a debriefing for those members from the Seattle churches that support us who recently went on a mission trip to Cambodia. It was so rewarding to see how this group has grown and matured over the last 9 years that I felt a desire to write a case study on When Churches Get Short-Term Mission Right. I am waiting for someone to commission me to do the job. Attending that debriefing was quite a few degrees on the barometer above the warm fuzzies. I felt proud, proud to be associated with such a group of people.
Matt and I have been doing tree work on Saturdays and holidays. The differences between doing tree work in the Seattle area and Southern Connecticut is vast. Trees and shrubs do not have a dormant season. They grow year round and hence are much taller and bigger. Ok, so what else is new? The interesting thing is that in CT, people wanted perfect trees, and when an arborist or dendrician stepped on the property they had trees that had been trained properly and something to work with. In this area most people try to do it themselves first, then call the tree guy. I chuckle to myself because I now know what it is like to have been God when he created the universe “ex nihilo.” I get the “warm fuzzies” knowing that I can still climb and prune at age 51, and love every minute of it (once or twice a week is good).
Driving down 405 one can see on a nice day the snow capped mountains of the Olympic Range and the Cascade Range, and Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, etc., in a 360º ring around the Seattle area. It is difficult not to be impressed. With the weather like it is here, one may go about their business in a literal fog for days or even weeks, than all of a sudden, snow capped mountains just pop up to great heights out of nowhere. The warm fuzzies pale in the light of feeling an actual awe, as long as one doesn’t jump out of their skin and drive off the road when these monoliths simply appear out of nowhere right in front of you!!
I teach an Adult Sunday School class and I am the youngest in the class by about 10 years. I have discovered that I don’t feel the need to be an expert seminarian and deliver vast amounts of biblical content and lofty ideas to the class, but instead provide opportunities for class members to use and share their deep knowledge, their life’s experience, their talents and spiritual gifts with each other. I do guide and facilitate of course, but it is fun to discover new things together as a group. I feel I get more out it than my class members. We just have fun being the body of Christ and learning as very active participants.
Well I could ramble on but I have to head out to visit a tree nursery, then meet over lunch about bringing the Good News of the Kingdom in both word and deed to Cambodia. The tree nursery is warm fuzzies territory but discussing Kingdom business in Cambodia is more like the feeling you get when someone awards you a special privilege like giving you the key to the office that no one else has. Are you following me yet?
Live from Seattle,
The content of this “Musings” does not necessarily express the opinions and views of the whole family of Mercer Island Geckos, but solely that of the author.
