Getting Settled In

Just some quick notes as I look back on my office's relocation during the end of June and beginning of July to share with everyone:

It was not helpful that:

• We had to move.  We HAD to move, though, since our lease expired.
  
• I had to work Saturday. That's life, and an occasional Saturday is much better than my schedule was at Glenkirk!
• Instructions were not exactly right.  The packers expected certain things that we did not anticipate.  It happens.
  

It was essential that:

• We hired movers.  I "helped" get ONE file cabinet onto the dolly.  I can not imagine how long it would have taken without professionals.
• We asked for only essential staff on Friday and Saturday, so there were not many people in the way.
• Labels - Labels - Labels!  I was able to help someone at the new office find a box of cables that should probably have been hand carried over.

It was really helpful that:

• We moved over a weekend, whether I like it or not.  Our office was down for two days instead of four.
• I got "old office" duties, so I got to leave earlier than the folks at the new place.
• I was able to access the internet through the wireless signal at another office.  Just nice, I guess.
  

Since I have not actually arranged my book case and this is our third week in the office, I think I will tackle that first this this morning when I get to work!

And the office relocation accounts for why I have not been blogging for the last month - by the time I get home in the evening I'm doing my best to spend all of my time with my sweeties. 

The Wide Web

A friend at church asked me yesterday how I chose where to put photos of Abby online, so I thought I would share a bit of how I have spread out on the world wide web, and I really have streched out to enjoy the stay!

Blogging

• You obviously know about this blog, you're reading it!
• I also jointly blog  with Anny over HERE to keep people informed about Abby as she grows, and she really is growing!
• We have a recipe storage blog, HERE, where we keep things that we would like to be able to access no matter where we are, without having to sign up for another service.
• I am also a monthly contributor for the PC(USA) blog.  I was asked to answer questions as an Elder, which I am, but I have turned it around to asking Questions to the Community on very non-controversial issues like stewardship and photos on the web.

Friendliness/Community

• I'm on Facebook, which I avoided for a long time at the request of my sister.  I have had fun catching up with old friends.  I don't accept a friend request of someone that I don't know outside of FB, so it's managable.
• I'm a member on the DadLabs Crib, where I am more direct with fatherly type questions and feedback for others.  It's a great place if you want to hop over.  Abby has been mentioned by name on at least one video!
• I keep up with other people with Kidney Disease through NephSpace, which is now hosted by Inspire.  I don't check that site daily, but it's a good place with a lot of information.

Photos

• We use Picasa by Google to edit photos, so we naturally use it to store them online.  But, we have gotten away from being good at that because I've started posting on Flickr.
• I post daily pictures to Flickr.  It's Yahoo's storage program, but does not have nearly as nice of a editing software.  I use Flickr because there is more community there, and am friends with a bunch of other parents that are doing a picture-a-day and are at various stages in that process. 

Official, Real Websites

• Right now I am the webmaster for Laurel Presbyterian Church, my church.  Once I got everything set up, it's much more just regular upkeep and changing things on the front page.
• At work I help out on our website, too.  I am in charge of updating committee information as well as information for all of the various teams that work for the committees.  Right now I'm in the process of updating the sites that we list all of our churches on to include their December worship services.  It's tedious, but gratifying when it's done.

Her question, though, was how do I decide what goes where?  Well, I used to post on Abby's blog about parenting stuff and rants, but now it's solely about her and her development.  I use my blog here for all sorts of things, like my countdown to 30 that will stared yesterday and will continue until my birthday! 

As far as photos, Picasa gets bulk dumps that I want others to browse through, like for events.  Flickr gets a picture of Abby a day, and on occasion will get other shots that I like or want to tweak.  I only put a picture on Facebook that I'm REALLY happy with, and those are not daily occurances. 

Here's the thing, it looks like I would spend six hours a day working on this stuff, but really I just put in a few minutes here and there.  I enjoy the larger community and conversation, and these sites are an easy outlet since I work in a small office! 

So, where do you hang on the web?  Any place I should add?

Is "Green" Just a Fad?

I had an argument last week with a co-worker about the current push for Going Green. His opinion is that it's just a fad, and we won't care about it in two years. I think he's way WAY off, and that it's a movement that has been working for a while and is now getting to the front of people's thinking.

I know that there are some people that are making small changes now, and others that are changing the world. We can't afford hybrid cars right now, but we can switch to cloth diapers. Next car purchase, though, will probably go hybrid. (We're waiting on word about the rumored hybrid minivan!)

In his defense, we were talking about Green as it relates to churches. I don't think that any church has ever sought to work against the environment, but when all of your buildings are older than most of your members, it is often true that there is waste. A lot of churches, though, are replacing old, busted things with new, green things.

I don't believe that any church that is built from this point forward will have the same low-on-environment standards, either. As our church investigaed adding onto our building last year, there was clear committment to do as much as possible to reduce our environmental footprint. I was actually amazed that folks were thinking about these things, and my eyes were opened wide to the opportunities for churches to take real steps to be leaders in this movement.

What is your church (or work, or organization) doing to make itself greener?

Or, better yet, am I way off to think that this is more than a fad that will pass in a couple of years?

How are YOU?

"How are you? "


What do you tell people when they ask "How are You?" I don't mean friends that you can be honest with, I mean folks you know through work, church, or other group. People that you like, but not people you would call if you needed something.


I only ask because I have fallen into a trap. I now have a standard reply, but I'm not sure that I like it.


Other: Hey Rob! How are you?
Rob: Can't complain. Doesn't do any good when I do.

I have two reasons that I don't necessarily like this:

1) Things are typically going really well for me! I have rough days, but overall things are on the up and up.
2) It's just not catchy enough for me!

A pastor I know through work always (always) responds with "Not bad for an old broad!" The first time I heard that I was confused. Can I agree, that she's an old broad? No. I just kind of laughed, which I think was her goal.

A man at church who has lived through some rough health issues recently also has a standard response. "Any day I can see the top of the grass and not the bottom is a good day for me!" The first time I heard this one I did not get it. Did he mean that he needed to cut his grass? Nope, he means if he's on top of the soil and not in it, things are good enough for him.

I want a catchy response. Do you use one? Do you want to come up with one for me?

Where I Work

Almost a Week Ago...

The last time I blogged appears to have been more than a week ago, and that post wsa mostly about shopping. Shame on me.

What's happened:
(Wednesday) We took Abby to a local Turkey (and Cow) farm to pick up a turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner. From her school she can see the cows and turkeys from a distance, but she was really taken with all of the sights and smells at the farm. It was fun.

(Wednesday) We took Abby to her first hockey game! Again with the sights and sounds - she seemed to genuinely have a good time.

(Thursday) During the day we spent good quality family time. Playing with Abby and catching up as a couple. Good time together. During the evening we did Thanksgiving dinner with family and a few friends (who are genuinely extended family at this point).

(Thursday) (between dinner and pies) We got to give Abby her first "solid" food of cereal. (Yet another link to the other site) It was fun, funny and functional - Michael's Trifecta of a good gift!

(Friday) We did some sale-shopping for ourselves. We got essentials for each of us as the weather turns colder, and some just plain cute stuff for Abby.

(Saturday) My brother got two tickets to another hockey game, and I could not turn it down! The Caps actually won the game, which made it even better!

(Sunday) We played hookey from church to get some things done, and didn't get to any of them. Abby is cutting her first tooth and we decided to walk at the mall with her as a distraction. It worked for us all, and we didn't spend any money!

Last night was an evening Presbytery meeting. Fairly low key, but it makes for a long day when most of us get here by 7:30 and the meeting doesn't end until after 9pm. I don't see how people do that on a regular basis!

This post is a catch-up post. I hope to post something with substance tomorrow!

I'm Just....

I was complimented ths morning via email. It is always a little weird. I have some esteem issues and often refer to myself as "just an administrative assistant."

I think this comes from the fact that my wife and bunches of our friends are teachers. My brother and his wife are both on the verge of higher-higher ed degrees. My little sister has aspirations in the field of criminal psychology. I talk to higher-educated people everywhere I go. I just have an Associates. A four-year-to-get-a-two-year-degree Associates at that!

I'm just an administrative assistant. No - worse than that. I'm just an admin.

When we reviewed my job description earlier this year I was asked what I thought my job title should be, if different from "Program Assistant." I support seven other staff members either directly or one degree of directness, so maybe a new title would be good.

Administrative Assistant to all?
Office Assistant?
Office Grunt!

We stuck with Program Assistant.

Some people talk about being called to a particular field. Typically these people are teachers, politicians or people in the ministry. I have never heard anyone say that their call was to work in an office.

I truly feel like this is my calling. I like what I do and I'm good at it. Better than I let on, but don't tell anyone!

Anyway - All of that is to say that I came across a really great quote from Martin Luther King Jr. Actually, it was sent to me by a minister when I told him I was simply a messenger.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.

If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

I think that I strive to be the best. I know my faults. I discuss them at the office openly, and will talk with anyone else about them if the need arises. I know what's wrong, and I work to fix it so that I can "sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry."

So, I leave you with that to Ponder and Comment on. What are you good at? What else do you read into this quote?

Getting Ready All Over

It may seem like an easy task:
Make sure that everything runs smoothly while I'll be out of the office when Abby is born.

It's is easy, but it's not.

If all goes according to plan, I'll only be out of the office for two weeks, and am accessible by phone or email.

I spend a lot of my day working for different people in the office. I keep trying to put on the persona that it's not too big of a deal that I'll be gone. I work with extremely competent, working adults. Everything should continue like clockwork. There seems to be a sense that it's not going to be such a nice clock, though.

I have written down in detail all of the operations that I typically do that others don't: web-calendar, voicemail controls, overnight delivery instructions, et cetera.

I think that the key to the anxiety is that the time off can't really be planned. Will it start in two days or ten? Will there be false trips to the hospital that trigger panic but are essentially just smoke and mirrors?

I think that doctors should stop using due dates. It focuses everyone onto one specific date, when we know that it's not in the realm of beign true. Only 5 percent of women deliver on their due date. ONLY 5%!!!

But anyway - in addition to the chaos of getting things done at home, I also am working hard to get things ready at work. Good news is that I get to reevaluate the way that some things are done!

There's always an upside!

Retreating

It's funny that I worked at a retreat center/camp for so many years and I now dread going on retreats. I think that it's mostly based on the difference between my leading or being a participant.

I have not had many opportunities to be a participant over the years. That's not my personality, I guess. I can remember a retreat in New York City when I was a freshman in college that I participated really well at, but not many others.

My first Presbytery Youth Retreat I picked things up so quickly that I ended up leading a small group. I was supposed to be a participant only, but that changed.

The same was true of my first Synod-Wide Youth Retreat that I was to be a participant at. I ended up joining that committee within a month!

After having worked at Glenkirk/Meadowkirk for so much of my life, it's still hard for me to not pick up and help in the kitchen (though no help was needed/asked). I was still up really early, but stopped myself from going to the meeting room to "greet" everyone. Things have changed out there anyway, and I would not know what is what. The changes are great changes, but changes notheless.

Someday I think I want to go on a fulfilling retreat and be a participant again. It's nice to get away and not have responsibility for anything at all, just to sit back and learn. This retreat was not for that, it was a work retreat, but I hope to find something in the future.

Maybe I'll organize one for my church, but I bet I would be tapped to lead that one too!

Last Year UCC. This Year UMC. When PCUSA?

Another year is wrapping up, and we all know that this is the time of year that those who do not normally go to church look for a place to worship. Our Presbytery is doing an ad campaign on local talk-radio station WTOP. It directs people to one of three websites that we (I) have updated to reflect services that our churches are having.

Our Presbytery put up the cash for this campaign. We are the ones that, in response to our churches, organized it, too.

Last year the United Church of Christ put on a media blitz with GREAT commercials that ran across the country. The commercials were moving, and directed people to their special advertising site where you could find out more about their denomination.

This year the PCUSA has once again passed up on the idea, and the United Methodist Church is doing GREAT things. I saw this one today:



I know that the PCUSA put money into developing a campaign, but stopped short of ever putting it into action. Oh well. Maybe that is a contributing factor to our "dieing denomination."

(You can find other UMC advertisements HERE.)

If you're in the DC Metro Area this Christmas and are looking for a congregation to worship with, check our our sites! Maryland is HERE. Virginia is HERE. Washington, DC is HERE.

A Wonderful Story I MUST Share

This post was written by a minister member of our Presbytery. He never ceases to amaze me!

http://web.mac.com/royhoward/iWeb/SayingGrace/Blog/DCE7EEC0-52D3-4A9E-B580-6A50A97EE0DD.html

(I also suggest reading some of his other posts! He wrote amazingly about the Amish community a few weeks back.)

Want to Help Me on a Project?

Hey Folks,
I have been given my first web project at work, but I need your help. As you know (or I hope you do) I work in a Presbytery Office. We have decided that as more people are using the web, we should probably have a FAQ page, but I don't know what questions people have!

What I want from you is a Question. What questions do you have of your Presbytery or Presbytery Office? Here are a couple of questions I have picked up from co-workers:

How much is Per Capita?
How do I get to the Presbytery Office?
Why is Rob so cool?

Okay, I threw that last one in.

Please please please let me know what sort of questions you would ask if you could. Those of you non-Presbyterians, please also participate. What questions do you have about your denominational office? Your regional office? Your church?

Any help would be great. If you cannot comment because you don't have Blogger, email me HERE.

Thanks!

Someone Else's Post on Communion

I will obviously post about our new puppy sometime this week, but I just read a post from a Pastor in our Presbytery. Though I have never heard him preach, he is great a Presbytery Meetings. I have only ever heard good things about his preaching, and this post is a story from a recent Sunday Service.

http://web.mac.com/royhoward/iWeb/SayingGrace/Blog/D1D23EF1-0FB2-4CB3-90DF-F06CCC63C615.html

Two Presbytery Pastors in the Washington Post!

HERE is an article from the Washington Post. (The link should work for about two weeks without needing to register to read the Post) The article is about Pastors who are using blogging to reach out to the younger generation on a more personal basis.

When I read the article, I was struck at the idea that people being connected to their Pastor on a daily, personal basis is a new idea. Not knowing our pastor was never an issue, because he lived in town. I think back to the way that we got to know the first Pastor that I can remember, we had a meal (usually dinner) with him on a regular basis, or just ran into him at the grocery store.
That's just not a reality anymore. It does not make sense for a pastor to feel like that have to live in walking distance, because times have changed. It's hard for a family to make time to sit down to dinner with just the parents and children, but trying to schedule your pastor into that also? As it is, churches seem to be struggling to get people to lead the programs that are going on because of other commitments, so why should pastors be held to a different standard? They are parents, aunts, uncles, or grandparents, just like the rest of us.

I'm a fan of being able to connect on a personal basis with more than one Pastor also. I have the privilege of working with several people with "Rev." as their title, so I have a different view than most. I like to hear what other leaders in the Denomination are thinking about the issues facing our Church (capital Church, Church as a whole) as well as in their local churches.

Anyway, I've rambled much farther than I planned to. I have to assume that most of you agree, because you are bloggers yourselves. :o)

National Capital Presbytery

So - I have been fairly anonymous in the blogging world for a while, only posting things from time to time, only commenting on sites of people that I know in the real world. I have just gotten word that my address is going to be published in the Presbytery's Monthly. (As implied, it's our Presbytery's monthly e-newsletter!)

So I say:
Welcome! Welcome to all you NCPers. I do not blog about things work related, so I hope you're not here looking for an inside scoop or juicy rumor! I blog about things going on with my health, my family, and just whatever is going on at the time.

Other people blog for different reasons. Some are political. Some are literally replacements for a journal. Some people use their blogs for others to use for devotions. Seek them out, and read about other people perspectives in the world!

(Disclaimer, as needed: Anything posted on this blog does not reflect the official stances of either the Presbyterian Church (USA), National Capital Presbytery, or the staff of NCP.)

Lenten Advertising

So, at work we decided to do two print ads in the next two weeks, one for Palm Sunday (goes into the Washington Post the Saturday Prior) and a different one for Easter. We decided to go with "Palms, Psalms and a Donkey... Come see what it all means" followed by three specially designed websites that just list our churches. We had some other good ones lined up:

• B.Y.O.P. - Bring Your Own Palms (or borrow one from us!)
• Come celebrate Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter at your neighborhood Presbyterian Church.
• Got Church? Try Ours
• Parade Planned! Welcome Jesus With a Local PCUSA Congregation.

The favorite on the staff, but was decidedly too "radical" for us Decently and In Order Presbyterians was:
Jesus rode and ass to Jerusalem, get your ass to church this week!

Good Times!