The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 23-27, 2019

Is anyone else still enjoying the warm weather? I almost felt the need to put on a jacket this morning, but I refuse! I like being warm, and if I have to keep wearing flip-flops and t-shirts in order to fool myself into thinking it's still summer, then so be it.

I published another group of English B and English U. There are a ton of speech bubbles in these later booklets, and for whatever reason, a lot of the text got offset when the new art was uploaded. So that's been interesting to deal with. But I am starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

Other projects are also going well. I'm so grateful for my team. They definitely keep things moving, which gives me more time to figure out why other projects are stalled. Sometimes our translators are busy doing other things, sometimes it's a problem on our end, and sometimes we don't really know what's going on. Which is why I review all the projects regularly so that none of them fall through the cracks.

Sarah and I are also in full-on planning mode for the ECC Retreat. Sure, it isn't until December, but since Sarah was in Africa and I'm gone half of November (T-47 days), we need to get this done now so it's ready. We couldn't find a speaker we agreed on, so we're running the show again. I think it will be good. It's just a lot of details to sort through.

It was cake week for whatever reason. We had a retirement celebration on Tuesday with white cake. We had a recognition chapel on Wednesday with chocolate cake. And we had almond raspberry cake just because on Thursday.

Not a good week for my diet.

But, you know, cake. So who cares?

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'm gonna hang out with my temporary cat and probably read a bunch.

This is the life.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 16-20, 2019

Party people!!!!

Sorry, been having flashbacks to the 90s for whatever reason. It's possible I've already cracked.

Also, why do I ever turn my office light on? Two days this week, I was all by myself in the ECC hallway. And let me tell you, it was GLORIOUS. On Tuesday, I didn't turn my light on at all. Or the hall light. I didn't really need to. And no one came in! No interruptions, minus the couple of times people skulked their way through the hallway and I hid under my desk.

Hypothetically.

But today, for whatever reason, I just had to turn my office light on. And like moths to flames, there came the people. I am not the droid they are looking for!

Anyway.

So I was able to get a lot done this week. (Until today, obviously.) One more group of English was published, and I'm almost done with another. And Trista was able to start a new language this week! Plus I got a lot of organizing done. And we had a training session on replacing art in booklets.

Good times.

And hey, Sarah is back! So next week should be a little more epic.

Medical update: I'm not going back to the doctor. Unless I'm actively dying. Because I can't afford to keep doing tests. So that's that.

I'm sure it will be fine. 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 9-13, 2019

Hello, my lovelies! How is your Friday the 13th treating you? Not that I put stock in that drivel, other than people's tendencies to get amped about an arbitrary day and be more stupid than usual. It's a typical quiet day at OMS, though. I've been the only one in the ECC hallway all day. Most of the others are off in Africa. I did leave briefly for an eye appointment this afternoon, but other than that, I've been enjoying having the place to myself. I can get a lot more done.

It's been a fairly productive week. Trista arrived Sunday to attend Orientation this week. I appreciated the extra time we got to spend together. She's been a godsend as I lead the production process, and I can always count on her to ask excellent questions.

With Orientation comes the usual history of missions session. I was not at all intimidated to do my little doodles in front of my art teacher roommate. Nope. But I think it went well. It was a small group this time, only five, and only one of those will be serving full-time in a field. But missionaries come in all shapes and sizes, and we do what we're gifted in. And since all gifts come from God, it's fairly safe to say we're using them appropriately.

I was able to publish three groups of Romanian this week! Yay! I actually did four, but it turns out I got a little ahead of myself. So the fourth group will have to wait to be reviewed by our translator one more time. Which is fine. Otherwise, I've continued my work on English.

We had our staff briefing on Wednesday. It was a little shocking as we learned that three people will be leaving us soon - one in finance, one in development, and one in marketing. It's been one of those seasons, unfortunately, but I'm hoping we can figure out how to better retain our HQ staff. It's always harder for those raising funds to work in the U.S. But they are essential positions to keep our fields running successfully.

We also had a memorial service Thursday for Rick Beard. He and his wife Barb served in Taiwan at one of the churches. He had a very unexpected heart attack in July. It's always sad to lose someone, though I didn't know him well, but it's not quite as common now as it was in the old days. We talk in history of missions about the missionaries who would pack their belongings in the coffins they would eventually be buried in, but that's not supposed to happen in the modern age. It's easy to say that God's plans are bigger than ours, but to actually live in that reality is something different entirely. But we can pray for Barb as she adjusts to a new reality and figures out where to go from here.

That's about it. When Sarah gets back, we need to start planning the ECC retreat. Well, continue to plan. We started planning this one about five minutes before the last one officially ended. But details are important. We have where. Now we need what.

Thank you for praying for my medical stuff! The labs that have come back are normal, so that's a relief. Just waiting on a few more things (and the bill). I do appreciate all of you. 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 26 - September 6, 2019

Yes, I know, I keep skipping weeks.

My bad.

But these last two weeks fit well together since I've been doing a lot of the same things. Or running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

That tends to happen a lot.

I can't help it! People keep finding things that have to be fixed right now. Supposedly. Which interrupts what you were doing and then you have to remember what that was and which step you were on.

For example, in between groups 3 and 4 of English publishing (yes, still doing that), I needed to process a group of Chinese booklets. Now, between groups 5 and 6 of English, I need to publish four groups of Romanian. There's a training event there in two weeks, which I did know about, so I knew this was coming and took precautions against being in the middle of something vital when it was ready. But still.

Also, have you ever tried to alphabetize something in another language? I did it this week for Estonian (oh yeah, I had to stop English to fix the already-published Student Activity Guide) and I'm about to do it for Romanian. Probably next week, though, because it's a somewhat tedious process.

Anyway...

Sorry. My brain is all over the place today. I had a doctor's appointment. I don't really feel like sharing details yet. Mostly because I don't know a lot until some tests come back. And I don't want to sound cryptic, but you know me. I overshare until I don't. Either way, prayers are appreciated. It's no fun feeling sick all the time.

One other thing I'm now involved in is the newly-formed Safety Response Team at OMS. We figured someone should know what to do in an emergency, so Sarah and I are ECC's best hope (help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi!). Of course, actually getting beyond just having a team to actually knowing what to do on that team will be something of a challenge. But I'm sure someone is working on that.

I will leave you with a side project I did in all my copious spare time. I needed a visual representation of how many days I have until my vacation. Any guesses where I'll be?