Test Your UK English

Yes, they do speak English here, but a different style of English! The items below are things that I have bought for my stay here. See if you can guess what they are!

1. Scottish Fingers

2. Washing Up Liquid

3. Honey Roast Ham & Cranberry

4. Melts

5. Still & Fruity Summer Fruits

6. Summer Fruits Squash

7. Best Before End (not an item, but on an item)

St Edmundsbury Cathedral

A lovely place!

The joy of Toaster

There are a lot of things that bring happiness. Health, friends, love, things like that. But today the source of my joy is a toaster. Yep, a toaster. To really understand my joy you have to think about your last hotel stay, now consider living there for 75 days with just those things in the hotel room.

No dishes, no silverware, no cleaning supplies, no toaster! Sure, I've got a microwave and a very lovely half-fridge but sometimes you need toast. Warm, crunchy, butter melting on it, honey dripping through it toast. Ahhh...

So, today on a day trip to Bury St Edmunds I bought a toaster AND silverware! Yes, you read it right, silverware! For the past week I have been using plastic stuff from the fast food place (and you know what fine quality those are). I ate lunch at a church rectory today and had a fleeting thought of stealing the spoon and fork but that really seemed wrong so I left them. (The lamb cobbler was so-so but the bread pudding with custard more than made up for it.)

The day also involved a market, the kind with vegetables & fruits and the vendors yelling out their specials ("fresh asparagus, two stalks for a pound - c'mon, give it a go"); A big fresh loaf of bread and some local honey found their home with me!

And now, the big event of the day looms before me. To the toaster!

A guarded existence...

So, I work at the Children's Center here on base. It's a pretty typical Children's Center, lot's of color, fun things to do, pool table, ping-pong table, dance machine, the normal stuff.

The thing that is different is getting in the door. We've had kids in different day cares where you have to sign-in to get inside but this is a little different. To get inside the area you are greeted by an armed Military Police. Sweet.

It's an interesting view, the colorful playground equipment in the background behind the barb-wire and armed airman checking your ID. Now THAT'S the way you maintain control of childcare!

I'm all for it! (Hmm, the teachers who taught my kids probably agree!)

Low battery, high opportunity.

So, it's Saturday night. I'm leaving Sunday evening for England for 75 days. (OK, for those who don't keep up, I am working in England for 75 days working at an Airforce base working with children trying to help them learn some financial things.)

I connect my iPad (yes, it is awesome and you deserve one) to the computer so that it can sync the movies and TV shows that I have put into iTunes. It's going to take a while so I leave it plugged in and head to bed.

Sunday morning, I grab the iPad to head to church and realize that it did NOT sync, that it had an error message that had caused it to just sit there all night waiting for an answer. And, no - it did not charge during the process. Hmm. This could be a problem. The iPad will last 10+ hours (I told you it was awesome) but the flight is 10 hours.

After church / lunch with my awesome family I plug it in during last minute packing. I charge it in the car on the way but only get it to 65%. Bummer. I get through security (did the new arm over the head machine - spiffy) and to my gate. I score a seat right by the gate door, sit down and catch my breath. I sit for a few minutes and then decide I need to charge the iPad some more. I wonder down a little to one of the marvy charging stations. I sit by a fairly unhappy looking lady (not really any choice as it was the only open plug). I sat quietly for a few minutes, she did so as well. She finally looked up at me and I asked her "how 'ya doing?". "Not good" was the answer. She was coming back from somewhere North on her way to San Antonio when she was not allowed to get through security. It was something about having shears with her. Yep, that would keep you the other side of security (for which I am somewhat thankful - even though they were only haircut shears). She ended up having to buy another ticket, $500 worth of ticket. To make it worse she was supposed to be working Sunday at an insurance company. She was really upset that she couldn't keep the commitments to her clients that she had made.

I tried to console her, reminded her that if you can solve it with money it's really not a big problem and that her customers would understand. I asked her if she was religious, she said that she was. I told her that now she needed to look around and see what God had in mind for her, that maybe this was His plan, that something could come from this. She agreed that maybe she needed to look at it that way.

I asked her about where she worked, she works for USAA insurance, currently in the P&C area but really wants to go into the investment side. About that time the guy sitting behind me asked her "what office do you work in?". Turns out that he works for USAA, in the investment area. Turns out that he is a director or something in that area. He talks to her about what she needs to do to get to the investment side. He likes what he hears from her. He looks her up in the company system, he sends a few emails and tells her to get her portfolio together. I told him "Rick, we've go to make this thing happen". He assures me it will.

The now nice happy lady tells me that she is going to cry, but happy tears not sad. I tell her that now I understand why my iPad didn't get charged last night. There was a reason. God had a reason. I left and wondered down to my gate where it was time to board. The iPad did just fine, I had plenty of battery to last the whole trip.

Thanks God for the chance to talk to someone who needed someone to talk to.

Give it try sometime, might surprise you.

Ceremony or Service?

They call it a “briefing”, it’s a short overview on whatever the Subject Matter Expert is there pitching. I had a briefing today at the monthly Chaplain meeting. It’s a great group of people that provide so much for Service members and their families, from Spiritual comfort and advice to food if needed.

I got there at a break in the schedule so that I wouldn’t interrupt things and there was one presentation before the briefing. The Chaplain was going over Memorials, funerals we would call them. He talked about the difference between a Memorial Ceremony and a Memorial Service.

The Memorial Ceremony is just that, a ceremony. Everyone involved is required to be there, it is defined by the pomp and circumstance that only military can provide. The formations, the rituals, the dress, all are executed with planned and rehearsed precision. There can be some religious elements, but they are not really a big part of the Ceremony.

The Memorial Service is a voluntary function and will have a deeper emphasis on spiritual things. It is more of what we would experience in a civilian funeral.

This begs the question. Is church involvement a Memorial Ceremony or a Memorial Service. Is it just about being there because we are supposed to be there? Do we feel that it is requires our attendance, getting our card punched? Or am I there as a volunteer, because I want to be there?

I think that a lot of folks come every Sunday to a Memorial Ceremony, and as such they are pleased when the ceremony happens with the expected rituals and rhythms. I want so badly for them to come to a Memorial Service. To do so may require them to step out of the comfort zone, to become emotionally involved, to “dive in”. That can be scary, it’s hard to do, but the benefits are pretty amazing. Give it a try, forget the Ceremony and come the Service. (Yes, you still get your card punched!)

Straw Hats @ Walmart

So, Tuesday finds snow on the ground in Tennessee and straw hats in Walmart. Not for sale at Walmart, on heads! It was time to restock the Diet Coke so I stopped by the Walmart that is so conveniently right beside the hotel. It's nice and cold today with about 4" of snow on the ground so as I walked into the store I figured that I would head to the restroom for a quick stop.

The door opened as I got close and it was held by a kid about 5 years old with a straw hat on, then right beside him appeared another young lad with a matching straw hat. One kid with a straw hat is somewhat unusual in my vast Walmart experience, two kids together in straw hats has now exceeded my expectations of any Walmart trip.

The hats are flat on the top, wide brim all the way around, I spot another hat, it's on Dad, he has a younger child with a "scarf" type hat on, turns out it's a young girl. Dad has a nice long beard. I flashback to a highway sign I saw the first day I was headed to the base. The picture on the sign showed a horse and carriage with a warning "Next 5 Miles". Putting it all together I have encountered either Mennonites or Amish at the restroom door of Walmart. It is certainly a clash of culture.

I ran into them several times as I shopped. It reminded me of "traditions". The nice folks at shopping at Walmart have held on to some very old traditions. You can argue whether they are better off or not, that's not where I'm going. I'm thinking about the fact that we often hold on to traditions just because they are traditions, not because they are of any real value. I was talking recently to a friend who leads worship at a church and there is someone there who dislikes an element of how my friend leads worship. It is not a question of whether he is leading in a scriptural manner, it's not a question of his "ability" from a vocal standpoint, it's not even about new music verses old standby music, it's about how he dresses while leading.

Sadly, when dealing with folks at churches the issue is not the real issue, "who's in charge" is the issue. The stated "issue" is just a means to say "I want things MY way". It's sad because what generally happens is the person who is concerned about being in charge ends up running off those who are giving their lives to further the kingdom of God. Sometimes it's because fellow elders don't step up and deal with one or two folks who want to be in charge.

I'll be praying for my friend, I'll be praying for his elders to do what God would have them do, not what someone wants them to do for their own sense of power. Maybe I'll buy my friend a straw hat. That should make it all better.