The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 27-31, 2020

Hola, amigos!

No, I haven't been working on Spanish this week. I've actually been working on publishing more English art sets, but I've been staring at the Spanish flag for a couple of hours now, so that's what you get.

Yes, I am once again covering the front desk. It's just for an afternoon, and I figured I'd get just as much work done upstairs as I normally would on a Friday afternoon. Which is to say, I read all the emails I've been skipping all week and move a bunch of files to where they are supposed to be, all with the added bonus of answering phone calls and letting people into the building. Riveting stuff, I tell you.

I don't have a lot to talk about this week. I've been having some interesting conversations outside of work about spiritual warfare and the armor of God, and I may share those thoughts with you in the future, but I need to ruminate a bit more to make sure they are coherent and factual.

Health update: no change, really, except the meds I'm taking brought a lovely cough as a side effect. This is not a good time for that particular gift. And sleep is only so-so lately. So I appreciate your prayers.

That's about it for the week. I feel like I've been very terse lately. We're all just stuck in this holding pattern, and I feel like I'm running out of gas. I pray you are holding up better than I.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 20-24, 2020

Howdy, folks.

I trust you've been well. Perhaps you've been stockpiling masks now that more than 35 states have mandated them. Or maybe you're hunkering down for the duration of this global nightmare. (I hope you have quite the hoard.)

My own week has been fairly quiet, yet productive. I published a beta version of Swahili so that we could get a volume put together for training in Africa, finished a group of Vietnamese, worked the front desk for half a day, and published the two new booklets in Mizo Chin. Not bad for a week's work. I'm anticipating the pace will continue as people start to get back into things, but you never know.

Otherwise, things have been pretty good. My CT scan came back clear, so that's good. But like I said, the piper still has to be paid, and I still await definitive answers for why I feel terrible most days.

But let's not dwell on that. Life marches on, and we march or get dragged behind it.

On that happy note, have a good weekend.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 13-17, 2020

Ladies. Gentlemen. Ducklings.

(I don't even know anymore. If you're still surprised by my spasticity, then I don't know what to tell you.)

It's been a fairly quiet week around here. Maybe I'm just saying that because this particular day has been dull as a graveyard. Although, I actually find graveyards to be quite interesting and have spent many a Saturday photographing ones in the area, so that might be a bad comparison. Whatever. Today I'm at the front desk, desperately trying not to claw my eyes out in between random phone calls and the occasional delivery. There isn't much to do up here. But, I was asked to cover, and it's sometimes nice to do something different, so here I am.

I don't have my handy cheat sheet for the week's activities in front of me, though, so I'll try to recall the highlights. I do know that I've been working on GR02 of Vietnamese this week, mostly because I've been telling everyone what random words in Vietnamese mean. Do I know what they sound like? No. But I can pick out a few books of the Bible, and I would probably understand yes and no.

I had another doc visit on Wednesday, CT scan this time. Part of me hopes they find something because that's a lot of money to spend on a negative result. But of course, the other part of me hopes they don't find something, because if they do, I will spend even more money getting rid of it. Modern medicine is a marvel, but it's an expensive one.

I helped out in an impromptu fashion on Thursday during a Pineapple PD. I didn't know what that was, and turns out, it is not what they call the law in Spongebob. It's like a teaching thing, short and sweet - personal development? I don't know. Anyway, this one was about how to host a Zoom meeting, and since I did that way back in April, I'm apparently something of an expert. Except Zoom keeps changing all the rules, so mostly I just make things up now. Anyway, I was attending to support my coworker Ashley as this was her first PPD thingie. Thingy? The squiggles like the second version better.

Can you tell my self-diagnosed ADD is kicking in? Umm, what else did I do this week? I started to clean my desk in order to find the 5-year pin OMS gave me, but that project was largely abandoned. I might pick it up again later when I can't find something else. Might be a good idea. But I was thinking about the pin because my 10 year anniversary is coming up, and that's just weird. Not sure we'll do a recognition because of the COVID, but never fear, I've had my speech written for months, and you can be sure I'll be sharing it with you fine folks.

Okay, nine minutes until closing time. I'm gonna take some laps around the lobby to get the feeling back into my legs.

Bye!

Star Wars: The Rise of Meh

Okay, we're finally doing this. I watched the first disappointment in the theater. I watched the second farce under duress. Now I'm finally watching this train wreck. I think I've avoided spoilers, but I'm not sure knowing anything about this movie would actually spoil it.

What are we watching? Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

I have some help this time: Philociraptor (P), Yoda's Tree (Y), Nermal (N), and Eli (E).

Let the torture begin.

Good start so far.

And they ruined it with the text scrawl. WHY bring Palpatine into this?

Kylo is a supreme leader now? Doesn't he know that's my title?

Oooh, he's so angry! That sword is still stupid.

Nice Macguffin. I have a feeling this will lead nowhere.

Oh, it's a map? Maybe? That's the most ridiculous way to get anywhere.

(N is still eating the fantastic pizza she made for us.)

Ugh. Palpatine is apparently a ventriloquist.

"The first order was just the beginning." That is unintentionally funny.

Ew, he's real. Gross hands.

E wants to know what Palpatine told everyone using his sinister voice. We're thinking he asked for some chapstick. Maybe lotion.

Dude, forget the girl.

Those long pauses crack me up. Like, I just imagine it going on forever until someone awkwardly slinks away.

This duo. They need their own movie. A better one.

Ooh, R2 is only good for transporting messages. Poor little guy.

Right, because they intended to lose the war before. (I mean, they may have, according to the way the last movies went.)

I don't think that's how hyperspace works. But again, they didn't care about the rules in the last movie. So.

Wow, J.J. really is copying all the movies.

Oh, hey, dead woman.

This is definitely more than Luke had to do. Discrimination against women.

E likes the toaster effect on the helmet.

P is taunting his mother with a pillow.

Kylo and Rey are communing, but I really don't care.

Oh, hey Harrison.

P wants to remake the old movies with better graphics. We had to break the news to him.

WHY IS LEIA A JEDI MASTER?! SHE IS NOT A JEDI. OR A MASTER.

I like that the Falcon always prompts panic.

I feel like we don't have time for this fight. It's funny, though.

THERE'S A HOBBIT!!!!

Yet another planet I care nothing about.

Moz? Maz? And Rose? So many people.

"I need to go alone." "I know! And we're coming with you!"

She's channeling Padme in that outfit. I like it.

C-3PO sounds old.

What's the significance of the lightsaber? Shouldn't she have made her own?

(P is building a nest.)

Forget the helmet, dude. And why is there a monkey?!

Force choke him!

Never mind, he's hilarious.

Y chimed in - "Star Wars is not below cheap tricks."

I have to say, killing your allies is not the wisest move.

Desert mardi gras.

Why is there a Bollywood dance in this movie? N concurs.

Pig children.

This stupid 'who is Rey?' mystery is tired.

E thinks this message thing is weird. I concur.

I sense foreshadowing. And yet I don't care.

"Follow me if you want to live."

Hi Lando.

Oh look, I was right.

Also, there was a muppet.

That was an early bad feeling, says E.

And podracers are back.

Don't they still have TIE fighters? Couldn't they shoot from above much easier than motorcycles?

Flying stormtroopers is cool.

Still can't shoot.

Oh look, they found the one who can shoot. Very convenient.

Roll credits!

E is annoyed at the last words trope.

Yes, be optimistic.

N is laughing at Poe's inadequacies.

I want this dagger.

This is some Harry Potter shizzle here.

Does any of this move the plot forward? Like, it's fun, but it's also pointless.

Is she a Force healer now? P wants to know where this is in canon.

And the knights are now in Assassin's Creed.

Of course there's still power on this ship that's been abandoned for years.

I feel like we're getting the trailer scene now. I just don't know why.

Black in the desert? That's so last season.

Aww, the walking mop.

There's really no reason for this scene. I thought it was dumb before. I still think it's dumb.

Do or do not. Why are you trying?

Tug o' war is the new penis measuring.

Did they just kill Chewie? Those jerks.

THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE!!!

I'm so lost.

Oh good, Chewie is alive.

This guy Richard is playing is the mole, right? Like, there's no other reason to pay this much attention to him, right?

We all have High School Musical vibes now. (P says the new HSM show is not good.)

I sense a new marketing opportunity in this droid.

Still very lost. What are we trying to accomplish?

Sure, put the girl in the skintight outfit. Disney is sexist.

Just kidding, girl power!

Ugh, I hate their musical cue.

Like, I thought JJ had already remade "A New Hope." Why are we doing it again?

I thought Rian Johnson was the only one dedicated to erasing the fun parts of Star Wars.

Y and N are in awe of the finger.

Now I'm getting Prince of Egypt vibes.

Aww, Poe, is this love? I'm weirded out that Keri Russell is in this movie.

Pausing for cookies.

P says Disney is basically that scene from "Rogue One" - "You are being rescued. Please do not resist."

So, our intermission was full of bathroom breaks, cookies, dance moves (Cuban shuffle?), and the legend of Zelda.

Okay, back to the movie. We're not even halfway through this thing.

Ugh.

I swear if there are Ewoks in this movie...

Why did the first two movies exist? They made absolutely no difference.

Dude, there are definitely more stormtroopers on this thing than infiltrators.

I don't know if I can accurately represent how much I don't care who Rey is.

Cool imagery, I have to say.

Really, Hux? That's so dumb. But then again, I don't remember what he did in the last movie. Did he do anything? And what's the point of Richard? What's his name?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! SHE'S HIS FRICKIN' GRANDDAUGHTER? THAT'S SO FLIPPING DUMB.

I'm really confused about the timeline on this. Did Palpatine have a kid on Naboo? (Also, I shocked the children because I asked who in this universe would jump his bones. Oops.)

Y is really shipping Finn and Rey.

How many times can we wreck the Falcon before it's actually wrecked.

P is wondering how something that exploded can have debris on this random planet.

Has no one heard of erosion?

Y says the Death Star is now an oceanic reef. P says what about the fuel?

These are horses with mop heads on them.

See, this is an interesting stormtrooper story.

P is now outside looking for sasquatches.

I'm fine with Poe not being Leia.

Why did Palpatine need the Macguffin when he already had a Death Star? His hubris would never have allowed him to think he could fail.

Daisy had a lot of practice in slow turns, didn't she?

Look, I admire the writers' creativity in pulling all of this out of their butts. But where is it leading?

Now THAT is a cool lightsaber design.

I like Adam Driver as a person. But not as Kylo Ren.

(N is now referencing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.)

Y is questioning the efficacy of wet lightsabers. I concur.

They are both leaving themselves wide open in this battle.

Leia's making a collect call. Will he accept or decline?

Live by the sword, die by the sword...

OH COME ON!!!

We could have been done with him. We never had to see him again.

Oh, Leia's dead again.

How much did Harrison get paid for this movie?

Nice callback.

Oh good, we're destroying planets again.

"I wish the ring had never come to me."

General. General.

Luke just looks terrible.

I hate this backstory. I hate it so much.

I needed an X-wing. I hate this less now.

Y has reminded me of the milk thing. RUDE.

HSM is back.

That's a heckin' lot of ships.

You've got to be kidding me.

I'm being warned that I will hate the end of this movie. I'm inclined to agree.

That's the weirdest life support system I've ever seen.

Dude, get some new lines.

Nice archery. Totally unrealistic. But nice touch.

I've been quiet because this whole thing is dumb. Are these knights Sith? Or just weird ninja things?

Oh good, more Ben/Rey chats.

This is a better fight scene than the last movie. Someone's been training.

thisisnotathingthisisnotathingthisisnot

Oh, snap.

Dude, where have all of these people been this entire time?

IS THAT WEDGE ANTILLES? I LOVE WEDGE!!!

Who are all these robed figures? I'm so confused.

Talk about your overpowered villains.

Oh, good, only the non-important people are dying.

That was kinda cool, with all the voices. I didn't recognize all of them.

P thinks Palpatine looks like a smurf now.

Remember when these movies were simple? I do. I liked those days.

There goes Pryde.

Why can this boy feel the Force again? Did we ever establish that?

Oh good, Ben is back.

Aww, how cute. Ugh.

What a terrible ship.

I'm fine that he's dead. But that's super dumb.

I'm still confused about how this First Order/Empire thing worked. I never had any idea how it worked on a galactic scale. Just these little microcosms that told me nothing.

Oh, there are the Ewoks. Why not.

Learn how to flirt better, Poe.

Chewie finally got his medal!

Y just commented on how rank Rey must smell right now.

This trio was sadly underused.

Is that it? Are we done? Oh, good, Tatooine.

E and P are enjoying remembering whiny Luke.

FINALLY! She made her own lightsaber.

Ugh. Fine. Whatever.

Aaaand we're back on Zelda. Because this movie was just that forgettable.

Okay. Ratings:

Y says 2 out of 5 stars.

P says 4 out of 10, and 3 are for the cinematics. (1 is disgusting, 10 is amazing.)

E says 2 out of 5 because it completely invalidates the other movies.

N says 2.5 out of 5. Way to sit on the fence, Nermal.

Aggregate rating: 2. Out of however many new planets we were introduced to throughout this waste of worldbuilding.

I'm annoyed that I spent time on this movie. But I enjoyed my fellow watchers and their love for me, their true Supreme Overlord.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 6-10, 2020

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. ~2 Corinthians 12:7-10


This passage has been on my mind a lot lately. It keeps showing up in disparate contexts, and I know by now to pay attention when that happens. 

Like with most revelations, I've read these verses a few dozen times over the years. I speculated over what Paul might have meant by a 'thorn in the flesh,' but it never seemed very important beyond the principle of being content whatever the circumstance, relying on God to supply every need.

I'm still not really bothered by the specifics of that thorn. It's a deep well, though, and the Internet is happy to give a hundred possible answers. Most people are pretty convinced it was a physical malady, likely something to do with his eyes resulting from being blinded on the road to Damascus. (Which in itself is intriguing, because it's a seminal moment for Paul, and you really only ever hear about the good things that came from it, but there are lasting consequences to encountering the Lord, and it's fair to assume that not all of them will be pleasant in this life. But I digress.) Some people think it was a moral issue, some kind of chronic temptation that Paul constantly battled. I'm less inclined in that direction, but I suppose it does present its own lessons and challenges. 

Whatever it was, Paul describes it as a thorn in the flesh. Thorns are annoying. They prick at you if you move the wrong way, they bury themselves so that they are hard to root out, but most of the time, they can be ignored. And yet, it was annoying enough that Paul pleaded with God to remove it. He didn't ask nicely. He didn't passive aggressively hint about it. He pleaded. A plea is a request made in an urgent and emotional manner. HE DID NOT LIKE THE THORN. It was distracting and hindered his ministry.

But it also helped his ministry. It kept him honest. It kept him from Moses' fallacy of taking credit for God's good work. At some point, Paul stopped pleading. He accepted the thorn's presence as his new reality. He accepted God's gift of grace. For the sake of Christ, he allowed himself to be content no matter what thorns he inherited or encountered. 



Okay, so why are we talking about Paul when I'm supposed to be giving you an update on my week? Well, a) it's me, and if you aren't used to this by now, you haven't been paying attention; and b) I feel a little bit like Paul lately. But like, early Paul. When he was still in the midst of pleading. 

I'm struggling. We still don't have a handle on my health stuff, and new issues keep cropping up. Sometimes, it's helpful, because if I'm thinking about how much pain I'm in, I'm not thinking about the fact that we're in the middle of a global pandemic, riots, and an election year. But I'm not enjoying this thorn. I'm not content. I'm still pleading. And truth be told, I'm not sure how to get from here to there. My head knows that God's grace is sufficient. My heart has doubts. So maybe I'm progressing to the boasting about weaknesses part. Because I have many. And I could do with the power of Christ resting on me right about now.


Just to reassure you that I can still do work, I did some proofing of the Global Impact Report this week. It's what we're doing now instead of the annual report on the ministry. If you donate to me or OMS, you should receive one of these. If you don't get one, I can send it to you. I also finished up a group of Castilian booklets. And Veronica and I did some much-needed inspection of our production log to see what needed to be updated and what we're doing well. Proper maintenance is a key to healthy living, or some rot like that. 

Drop me a line to say hey. I could use some encouragement.

Bye!