Current Events

JP is out of school for spring break. Its great to have him home.

My grandma turned 91 this past Friday and we celebrated on Sunday at my folks house. She is such a gem. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. She got her driver's license renewed last Friday, too. But she only drives to church, the bank, and the grocery...less than 5 miles round trip, so don't worry. She's smart and she knows her limitations.

I don't exactly know what to call what it is I did at church on Sunday. Basically, during the offering time, I orated/performed a poem (co-written by my friend, John Waltz) accompanied by a simple hip-hoppish/electronica-style musical underscore that I composed. Is there a name for that? I was a little nervous at first, but after I got into it, it seemed to go well from my perspective. So far, all the feedback I received was positive. It was definitely different than anything we had done before. It was my wife's concept. She's a smart one. If I get a video clip, I'll try to figure out how to post it.

We did several cool things at church this weekend, including playing as a postlude the old R&B hit "I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers, redone ala BeBe & CeCe Winans. Jesus likes the funky music and so do I. Go check out this fabulous YouTube clip of this tune on Soul Train. You know this song - you love this song. It is big fun.

Next weekend, I get to play my lapsteel guitar at church. I need to practice and get my chops together. Scary, because I'm really not very good, yet.

The snow is nearly gone, having had a couple of days where the temps were in the upper 50's. It was unnerving how quickly the birds and bugs appeared, though, at the first hint of warm weather. Somehow a wasp got in the house, in our bedroom, and in our bed on Saturday morning. Not long after I left for a BSF meeting, Nancy woke up to find that she had been stung on the palm and looked over to see a wasp sauntering across my pillow. She was not pleased, to say the least. And we've already had flies and ladybugs (actually, it is that stinky little asian beetle that looks like a lady bug - you know the one). Yeesh. This old house needs an exterminator.

I'm quitting my part-time job at the USPS. As much as we need the extra income, I really have felt since the first of the year that the Lord was nudging me to let it go. It will be a couple of months, probably, before they find my replacement and I am committed to stay on until they do, but it is in the works. This will help me in several areas, simplifying some things and enabling me to do a better job in my function as lay worship leader and artist at my church. It will also require me to trust God in an area where I always seem to have issues...financial security. I'm cool with that although I don't expect it will be easy. The Lord and I have a long history with this particular topic, and I'm probably due another lesson. He will provide, just like He always has.

k...bye.