Hard to believe, but the year is half over!
Where on earth does it all go...
Oh well.
Summer is in full swing here.
This morning we have a Tropical Depression
that is likely to become a Tropical Storm
by the end of the day.
It's breezy out there.
The good news (for us) is that it is
chugging on up the Eastern Seaboard
and will be out of our hair before
this weekend.
Not that I care...
I'll be on the other coast this weekend.
Hopefully my students will join me in class.
(I wouldn't go to an insurance class
over the July 4th weekend... but that's just me!)
We had a great Sunday.
A newer member gave an EXCELLENT talk.
The topic was the difference between
Self-Reliance and Self-Sufficiency.
An excellent reminder that being self reliant
means that we rely on self and the ability
to either do something for ourselves
OR to know where to get things done.
As members, we seem to think that there is
some sort of shame in accepting help
whether it's spiritual, temporal, financial,
physical, whatever...
He said that it surprises him that in a church
that espouses service, that there is so little
service going on between the members.
(Granted, as a newly married young man,
he doesn't see the workings of the Relief Society,
we tend to work quietly in the background...)
His comments stemmed from 4 years of
Home Teaching with not one request for help
from any of his families.
Even in situations where they could clearly
use some help!
He started out by talking about our understanding
of words and concepts as compared to their
actual meanings.
Did an excellent breakdown of the Word of Wisdom,
reminding us of what it actually says, and that while
most of us focus on the "shall nots", that makes up
less than 1/3 of the actual scripture.
The majority of it is the "shalls" and the blessings
that will follow.
Then he reminded us that none of us are truly
self-sufficient. We all NEED to be reliant on others,
most noteably Heavenly Father, but also family,
friends, community, etc.
It was a really good talk about service and
the blessings not only of giving, but also of
allowing it to be received.
Got me thinking...
And that's always good.
And then we had a "substitute" chorister.
I LOVED watching her lead the singing!
She sang with her whole body!
She did more than just beat out the tempo.
It was like she was leading a choir,
giving us direction as to how to
sing the words to milk the most meaning
out of the message.
(We were singing The Spirit of God)
It was wonderful!
(And yes, I have sent her an email, since
she was dashing off to teach a class as soon
as the meeting was over...)
We rounded out the day with a run up to
visit George. He is doing well in his new
"digs". He is fitting in with the other
residents well, they are all really nice folks.
His dementia ebbs and flows.
He is sharp as a tack and then his mind
wanders and he rambles about something
that even HE admits he has no idea what he is talking about.
Like when you suddenly wake up and continue
to talk, but like you are still in the dream.
But all in all, he is doing well.
And, of course,
Jim got all moved to his new place and job
over in Tampa.
Yesterday was his first day at work.
He is working EARLY in the morning
(ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)
(Jim hasn't seen a sunrise in, a decade?)
There are about 200+ miles of paved bike paths
in Tampa (VERY bike friendly city) so
he rode 13+ miles on Saturday and Sunday.
The job seems to be as challenging as he was
promised and he is excited to rise to that challenge.
He'll be home this weekend.
Hopefully we can get together Friday
in the early afternoon before I have to head out.
Can't wait to hear his news...
Ok.
Now you know everything.
Back to work!
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