For an overview of the most recent few weeks (and one reason there haven’t been any blog posts), see the article on Sim Games: A Metaphor.  I’m starting to climb out of the dangerous hole I’d wandered into, and with a low-cardio high-ministry week coming up, I should be in fine shape soon.  At least, that’s what I’m telling myself and anyone else who asks.

And yes, it’s getting past time to wiki-fy this blog.

We did a Deaf Camp in Grand Junction, MI, and I met some more kindred spirits (yes, they each have their own bodies, though one is a clown who shares a body with her human – it works that way).  I can report that JJ (my clown) and I, and our team from Silent Blessings / Dr Wonder’s Workshop, presented the gospel clearly to about a dozen families in a fun and memorable way.

One family was there for only a day, the day the clowns were there.  This family touched chords in each of us, and each of us in turn touched a member of that family.  We spoke at length, giving encouragement for the parental advocacy battle, Father to Father, Mom to Mom….and the subject of discussion had some one-on-one time with a real live clown who spoke his language and didn’t mind getting dirty.  “Will you go to the beach with us?”  “No, time for me to go somewhere else.” “Please?”… in my search for my fellow clown, I ended up at the beach, much to the little guy’s delight.  Something whispered that the whole event was orchestrated to bring God’s love and some much needed encouragement to that family.  God’s been known to do such things.

Next up, a marathon week at my pay-job, and a trip to KY for my family reunion.  While there, I made some progress in honing my “elevator presentation” for both Silent Blessings and Stained Glass.  (the “Elevator Presentation” is a networking device, a challenge to clearly present a complete package of information in the amount of ‘face time’ you have during an elevator trip between floors.)  I also spent some time at the Silent Blessings office, and got a little farther into the communication flow between Dr Wonder’s Workshop and fans of the show.

The following week was supposed to include a church homecoming in Columbus, OH – reference the ‘Sim‘ article for why I didn’t make it.  I did have a productive and encouraging meeting with someone who knows far more about ministry & missions & financing than I do.  (There’s an English idiom about ‘going off half cocked’…I’ve long known what it meant, but now I have a clearer understanding of it’s application:  a big explosion of concentrated energy, with no distance or power to penetrate.) We’re going to assemble a committee, and they’re going to add their energy and guidance, a longer barrel, if you will, to ensure that the target is actually reached effectively.   It’s infrastructure work, which is both critical and largely invisible.  As for the rest of my week, it was spent on Mom & Dad’s couch until I had to make the drive back home & resume my work schedule.

One private Bible study has resumed.  We’ve finally wrapped up the books of the Kings, and now we’re in the first book of Chronicles (or, the book of First Chronicles).  This will take us, from another perspective, through the life of the nation of Israel, starting with genealogies (and difficult names).  If you’re in the same place, don’t skip too quickly through the first chapters, because some of those names include parenthetical remarks about the people they belong to, giving hints that will be important in the longer stories told later.

Today, I enjoyed a relaxing, laugh-infused picnic with my deaf friends and others from the area I hadn’t met before.  I spoke with another set of parents who are finding themselves in the aforementioned advocacy battle with the schooling and professional systems in place.   I told a few people about Dr Wonder’s Workshop, handed out a few business cards, and lost a watermelon eating contest.

Next on the agenda is a VBS (Vacation Bible School) in Warsaw, IN, using the Dr Wonder’s Workshop materials and some of the lessons learned at camp.  We’re expecting 20 or so deaf kids among 70 or so attending.  That would be fabulous!!   Tune in to the next ministry report article to see how it went (but pray for us while it’s still underway).

The Prayer List:
— energy, for all of us
— families that attended Deaf Camp in Michigan
— the committee of people God will assemble for this missionary
— long distance Bible Study (via Skype)
— deaf people, and parents of deaf children, in our community
— Vacation Bible School in Warsaw
— wisdom, always wisdom 🙂

— a friend’s car that insists on dying when she needs it most
— a coworker who’s been to too many funerals this week
— our very own Deaf Olympian, heading out of country soon
— some medical billing and worker’s comp entanglement

Jesus knows the details 🙂