The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 22-26, 2020

Welcome to my island. Watch your step.

So, we came in Monday to a flood. Fortunately (for me, but not for others), it was localized at the other end of the hall. I feel bad for everyone whose office was trashed and thankful that mine wasn't. But now all of us are subjected to the sound of giant fans and the smell of mildew. Fun times. Also, they still don't know what caused it, so this may be an ongoing concern.

This was something of a catch-all week for me. There were a lot of smaller projects that wouldn't take a ton of time, so I tried to knock out as many as I could. That included a group of French booklets, the two new booklets in Mizo Chin (back from proofing), VCP editing, and some Spanish booklets. On Friday, I spent the morning covering the front desk. Then the rest of the day was spent tidying up and getting ready to take a week off.

Yes, I will be out of the office next week. Partly for the 4th, partly to see family, and partly for my own peace of mind. All these med switches have taken a lot out of me, not to mention the global pandemic that is still very much happening. It's past time for a little break.

So, try not to miss me too much, practice social distancing, and try not to blow yourselves up.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 15-19, 2020

Well, the pandemic is over. Quarantine is cancelled. Everyone can stop panicking now (whether it's at the disco or not).

What? It's still happening? Huh. That is not the impression I'm getting any time I venture further from my front door. People be crazy.

But the office is once again open. Partially. Not everyone is back, but the population has increased significantly. We're all wearing masks in the halls now, and casual wandering or exercise in the halls is 'discouraged.' I mainly hang out in my office, and when it's nice, I take breaks to walk outside. Fortunately, we've had decent weather for it. So far.

My projects this week have been all over the place. I had a lot of little things that needed to be done in order to advance larger projects. Those kinds of things are great when you're easily distracted and looking for a short project. But I was also doing more VCP editing. I'm close to being done with the current series, and then I'll have about 35 more lessons to edit. I'm told that interface will be easier, but we'll see.

I also managed to finish my prayer letter! It occurred to me that I was getting perilously close to the end of June without having done that, and I couldn't wait too much longer since the bulk mail envelopes take longer to get out. But I think it's ready to go now, so you'll get to see... well, a lot of stuff I've already talked about on here, to be honest. But who am I kidding, most of my supporters don't read my blog, so that's fine.

We have a new member of ECC in the office! Alex started on Wednesday (weird time to be starting a new job, I know), and she will be assisting Brian with VCP admin and 'other duties as assigned.' We like to stick that phrase into contracts so that they can't complain when their job ends up looking nothing like what they were hired for. We're excited to have Alex on board, and I'm hoping she can free up some breathing room in VCP land.

And that was my week in a nutshell. I switched meds (again), so prayers for that are appreciated. I hope you all have an excellent weekend!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 8-12, 2020

Well, my days of quiet may be coming to an end. Rumor has it that the office will be mostly open starting on Monday. Thus, I've been spending the week doing all the things that will no longer be allowed, such as casual wandering and dress code violations (jeans every day!).

I had to switch gears on projects this week. I was technically still doing VCP, but it was a different part. I found out in the Monday meeting that we had promised to have one of the Chichewa booklets published this week for a training event. Who knew? Fortunately, that group was just about ready. So I spent most of the week publishing 9 booklets. The next step will be to create the first volume, but I shouldn't have too much to do with that. But who knows?

That really took up most of the week. I'm not sure how I feel about people coming back yet. It feels too soon, but I don't know if that's because I'm concerned about COVID or I just don't want to deal with all the noise. Alas, no one asked me for my opinion, so this is my life now. Or will be, next week.

As for everything else, my health seems to be a bit better at the moment, and I'm actively avoiding most social media - well, media in general. The news is really terrible for my anxiety right now, so I'm going to hang out in my bubble for the time being and pretend everything is hunky dory. I do hope you are all well, though.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 1-5, 2020

Is the world spinning for anyone else? And I don't just mean metaphorically. Hale and hearty are not adjectives I'm familiar with right now. (No coronaviruses, though that appears to be old news these days.) Have you ever tried to diagnose something when you can't actually visit a doctor's office? But aside from some minor bellyaching, I'm persevering. Ugh.

Anyway. Work is progressing nicely. More VCP lessons in the can. Lots of meetings about future projects. And I'm thinking about my next prayer letter. If I thought finding content for April was hard, June is going to be even harder.

I realize I'm often delving into personal matters on here. That's pretty much what a blog is for, even if it is primarily a way to connect to people about my missionary journey. But everything that has happened lately - COVID-19, George Floyd, protests, riots, the apocalypse in general - it has thrown me for more than one loop. I was already struggling to maintain some kind of mental equanimity. But now I'm juggling anxiety, anger, sadness - you name an emotion, I've probably felt it. (I've been part of this study about mental health during the last few months, and I'm probably throwing off their results, because they always ask what emotions you had in the last 24 hours, and I pretty much always check every box.) And part of me wants to speak out and tell everyone exactly how I feel about everything. And an equal part of me doesn't want to invite that kind of scrutiny. I don't want to be told that what I'm feeling is wrong. It isn't. It's an emotion. It just is. My response to those emotions absolutely is up for judgment, but only by one authority I actually acknowledge. I don't like painting with broad strokes or assuming I know something just because of one visible characteristic. I like dealing with people one at a time. I have an opinion of someone based on my interactions with them. That's it. I have impressions of people I haven't met, but those are always open for correction once I actually get to know someone.

Mostly, I'm tired. I'm tired of constantly shifting emotions, I'm tired of listening to people shout over each other, I'm tired of being shamed for what I did or didn't do, I'm tired of the realization that this is how life is on Earth. We live in a fallen world. No political system, religion, progressive ideal, or -ism is going to change anything for the better. Only Truth can do that. And until we all start using Scripture as the basis for every decision we make - and I'm talking ALL of Scripture, in its context, not cherry-picked to present our pet argument - nothing is going to change. We'll all just keep trying to get one over on everybody else instead of realizing that we are all created in the image of God, and as such, we are all worthy of being treated with dignity and respect.

I'm sad. Not even a fraction of how sad God is right now, and I don't know how he stands it, because the weight is crushing me. So please, for the love of God, let's all start with the one thing we can change - our own heart. Examine it against Scripture. Search for Truth. And then you can start looking at your neighbor to see how you can help instead of win.

Bye.