The Weekly Wrap-Up: December

I'm just going to make this a blanket December post because we appear to have missed most of it. Last week, I was rushing around trying to get things done before the retreat started Friday night. This week has been more of the rushing, but I finished most of my stuff yesterday, so today is pretty chill. I don't know how I always forget how crazy it can get in December. Lori says it's like forgetting the pain after having a baby. I don't have experience with that. I do have experience with kidney stones, which I'm told is like being in labor, and I have vivid memories of writhing on the floor in pain. So I guess December can't be that bad in comparison. Plus, the only consolation of getting rid of the kidney stones is that they are gone, while you have a squirming vomit factory after giving birth and rad gifts at the end of December. I will take the holiday season every time.

So yes, lots to do. Most of it involved supporter gifts and my end-of-year letter. I had a few meetings here and there in the last couple of weeks, mostly about the future of ECC and publishing in general. I will have some announcements on that score sometime in the future.

I do enjoy going back through my calendars and photos for the year. I did a lot more than I remember, and it was actually a pretty good year all around. I've been working on my anxiety, spending more time with friends and family, and generally just trying to find more joy in life. It's amazing how much attitude can make a difference. My dad's favorite line was "Attitude determines your altitude." He's not wrong. And I know it's not as easy as just flipping a switch and changing your attitude. Sometimes you need to be sad or angry. But don't linger in it. Feel your feelings, and then move on. Nothing good comes from dwelling on the bad stuff. 

I got to sing some Christmas carols in chapel this week. I haven't done much of that yet this year. This extra week between Thanksgiving and Christmas threw me off. I was very appreciative of it, because I was able to finish everything in a timely fashion. But it also draws out the suspense. 

Not sure what I'm doing for Christmas this year, but I do hope that you have a fantastic day, week, and a safe New Year celebration. 

See you in 2022! 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: November 29 - December 3, 2021

Well, we're officially in the season of madness. Doesn't matter what year it is, the month of December is a madhouse. I don't know why it surprises me - I get caught off guard every year. Part of me is annoyed by the concept of Thanksgiving, because it's like this arbitrary wall between talking about Christmas and actually doing things for Christmas. Personally, I like decorating as early as I can because I enjoy the lights and everything, and also, if I don't do it early, IT WON'T GET DONE. Ain't nobody got time for putting up a tree after Thanksgiving. I'm barely keeping everything together even with my lists. I've got the ECC retreat coming up, ECC planning meetings, the OMS Christmas party (which I'm helping plan), my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it. I'm swamped.

Seriously, though, I can't remember the last time I was just able to sit back and enjoy the season. It's like saying "Next year in Jerusalem" at the end of Passover when you know full well that next year you will not be in Jerusalem. Probably. But there's that little smidge of hope that keeps you going. Humans are remarkable beings. 

Anyway. 

I had a lovely week off and a very nice Thanksgiving with my parents. I indulged in a little holiday shopping, but I didn't go overboard. Now we're back in the trenches, in our perpetual quest to catch up to some unknown point at which we will miraculously have completed everything we've ever put off. 

This week, I've been working on Tamil booklets. They come with their usual issues, but I've grown quite used to those, so it hasn't been too difficult. I'm also working on the ECC retreat and the OMS Christmas party, as mentioned above. I like being creative, but I must admit, I will be relieved when these things are come and gone. 

I went to see the Christmas episode of The Chosen on Wednesday. I don't think I talk about it much on here, but I love that show. I watch all the livestreams and invest where I can because I think it does a phenomenal job of introducing people to a very realistic portrayal of Jesus and the disciples. I enjoyed the Christmas episode, and I would encourage you to download the app and start watching if you haven't already. 

That's what I have for you this week. I hope your holiday plans include a chance to relax and enjoy the season. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: November 15-19, 2021

Greetings, fellow humans! I have returned from my dark sojourn to the sick halls also known as my apartment. Yes, I was indeed laid low with a bad cold last week, and while I am indeed still feeling poorly, I was well enough on Monday to return to the confines of my office. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though. 

Last week, I was able to finish some urgently needed projects before I crashed out on Wednesday. I got the new Mozambican Portuguese booklets from the first group done and published, with the added bonus of configuring a volume for them. I also got some work done on the retreat, giving everyone their gift recipient assignments. We should have a nice time this year. 

This week, I've been working on end-of-year cards and gifts. I'm also working on Tamil booklets. Most of my week has been spent clearing up stuff I missed last week and trying to get stuff done since I'll be gone next week. Yes, I am taking the week off for Thanksgiving. It will be nice to have a break in which I'm not constantly blowing my nose or hacking up a lung. That's assuming this thing clears up. (It's not COVID. Just a cold. I'm annoyed that I have to clarify that now.)

So, the next time we chat, it will be December. Geez Louise. A lot of this year has dragged (and been a drag), but these last few months just are flying by. I don't like it. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: November 1-5, 2021

This week has been all about Mozambican Portuguese. Just like Spanish and Castilian, Portuguese has differences depending on where it is spoken. Since we're using Portuguese in Africa now, we've had someone go through what has already been done (based on what is spoken in Brazil) and make a few changes. This mostly effects T&M booklets since we haven't already translated VCP materials. But it's a quick turnaround because they want to start using the materials ASAP, so I'm doing my best to get it ready for proofs and publishing. 

I've had so many meetings this week, and while they have all actually been good and useful, they also make my head hurt. I'm on the team planning the OMS Christmas party, I'm planning the ECC retreat with Sarah, I've put myself in charge of working on some safety plans for OMS (also with Sarah), and I still have to do the development stuff for the app and download sites. I am ready for some downtime. 

I don't have a lot of side rambles today. Sorry. 

I will leave you with a riddle, though. What did the Gingerbread Man put on top of his bed?

Comment with your guesses.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: October 25-29, 2021

Yes, you are crazy. But also, I did not do a blog post last week. After three days of editing a dissertation, training people how to do volumes, retreat planning, insurance meetings, etc., I took Thursday and Friday off to do a deep clean of my apartment with my lovely mother. It was badly needed. But hey, I have a floor now!

This week has been quiet again. I think everyone is realizing they have vacation days left and are scrambling to use them. I've been dressing for the season this week, with my Renaissance Faire dress and a few other themed outfits. Why not have a bit of fun?

I've been doing quite a few small projects this week. We've had some projects that require small edits now that they've been in use for a while. I've been letting them collect, and this week has been the week for starting on them. I still have a few more to do as I've also been publishing more Portuguese booklets. 

I don't have any words of wisdom for you this week. I'm tired of all the political junk floating around, tired of seeing the news, and just fed up with the world in general. I'm going to watch some videos of baby animals and read some soothing Scripture. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: October 12-16, 2021

I am definitely a cat person.

I don't mind dogs. Really. But were I to officially own a pet, it would be of the feline variety. Dogs are exhausting.

Yes, I'm pet/house sitting again. Sonny is sweet and also still in the puppy phase of life. He is a useful exercise tool, but he also barks at random things at 5:45 AM. (Oh yeah, and for half the week, I was also cat sitting, but cats are much easier.)

This has been a productive week! I was able to publish group 7 of Portuguese in both European and African art. It's good timing, because we are going to start using Portuguese in Africa. To that end, I'm continuing work on the Portuguese Camel Method. I also managed to complete my prayer letter, so that will be out shortly. And with some excellent help from several people at OMS, we now have updated evacuation plan maps! Exciting stuff, let me tell you. We now know where to go in the event of a fire. (Outside. Get outside if there's a fire.)

That's about it for the week. I have Sonny until tomorrow, and then the cat again. I don't know how people travel so much, but it works out well for me, so I don't question it. See you on the flip side!

Bye.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: October 4-8, 2021

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to go wrong from the get-go? This week had at least three of those days. I'm just in a funk, I guess. I'll get over it.

I made some good progress on publishing a group of Portuguese booklets this week. I'd hoped to have them done, but we had some weird tech glitches that kept slowing me down. 

We had an OMS family meeting on Wednesday. Did your family actually ever do family meetings? Because mine didn't. Information tends to trickle the parental filter, and I can't think of a time when we all sat down to discuss something. Anyway, we talked about how the last few years have effected things at OMS. Fact is, we're shrinking. We have fewer resident missionaries and fewer donors than we did before, and with inflation, our dollars aren't going as far as they used to. It's a fact of life, but it's one that we need to overcome if we want to continue to be effective in our ministries. Will you join us in praying about this every day from 12:00 - 12:10? You can pray longer, of course, but we decided to use that time over the next 40 days to really focus on this one thing. 

Other than that, I've been updating some graphics and doing quality control. We had our team meeting on Thursday, which went really well. We got through some housekeeping items, but what I try to focus on is how things are going personally, not just at work. We all have lives outside of what we do for T&M and OMS, and I want my team to know that I'm there for them for that stuff as well. 

And that's it! I'm going to go home, take a nap, and get ready for a dog-sitting gig next week. Fun times!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 26 - October 1, 2021

Greetings, fellow humans!

I felt quite productive this week. I was able to complete or work on lots of little things (and one big thing) that have been on my desk for a while. I like weeks like this.

Sarah, Mike, and I have started talking about the ECC Retreat. I doubt it will be a lollapalooza, but it will certainly be better than our completely online celebration last year. It always amazes me how much time it takes to plan these, despite being part of planning for the last couple of years. Thankfully, Sarah is much better at the details, and I can be there to talk to people on the phone when she doesn't want to. 

I FINISHED THE PORTUGUESE CAMEL METHOD. Yes, all 108 pages are in the proofreaders hands, and hopefully, there will be very few changes. After a while, I did find myself putting the wrong text in the wrong place just because my eyes started swimming from all the text. But I'm pretty sure I fixed all of those wrong'uns. 

I fixed a Tagalog booklet that needed to be republished, and I published all of the booklet formats for Castilian. We use a particular program for that because Adobe wants you to do it one file at a time. I'm not doing that for 85 files. But Lynae, who published the rest of Castilian, doesn't have the program, so I finished that for her. (We're trying to get a different program, but it's slow going. Technology is great when it works, am I right?)

The rest of the week has been decent. Lots of meetings as usual, and only a few of them could have been an email. My mom is in town so we can work on stuff for her church, and I am quite pleased to spend time with her. 

Give your loved ones a squeeze this weekend. They deserve it for putting up with you.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 20-24, 2021

I'm on page 70! I've spent quit a bit of this week working on the Camel Method in Portuguese. It is slow going. I am able to do some of the finalizing as I go (making sure there's no overset text or weird breaks), but this is still going to take at least another week. Maybe. It all depends on what else crops up around here. I had to fix a Tamil file this morning that I had apparently started and never finished. I do try to write myself a note if I start a new project before the end of the day or on a Friday. But some things just slip. Fortunately, it's not a big deal as it was only a proof file. But it would still be annoying for translators, so they should be able to do their job more easily now. 

I had a few meetings this week. One was a debrief of the missionary council. I think we had some good takeaways from that. It will definitely mean more work for us as we learn some new systems that should help with hybrid events. Honestly, life is just easier when we can do all online or all live for events. But we're not there yet, so we do what we must. 

We had a really cute couple in chapel on Wednesday. Tim McGill and his wife Karen were here after retiring from working at a school in Taiwan. Karen actually retired in 2019. But after being in the U.S. for a while, she got an email from Tim. He asked her if she'd ever thought about marriage. 

That is one heck of a pick-up line. 

A few of us got to thinking about how we'd respond to an email like that. I honestly don't know (I do know it would likely involve a very unfeminine snort). But then we also figured out that there aren't actually any single male missionaries available to do something like that. Single guys rarely become missionaries, and if they do, they rarely stay single for long. 

I'm not saying I'm looking for a husband. I'm perfectly happy being single. But it is an interesting phenomenon. I could comment further, but I doubt it would be edifying to humanity, so I won't. 

It's weird how quiet it has been this week. Compared to the last few weeks, this feels abnormal. Honestly, it feels a little bit like last summer when we were in lockdown. I don't mind having fewer people around. But it is weird. Maybe I should get out more.

...

...

Yeah, nah, I'm good. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 13-17, 2021

Why is it already the middle of September? I'm not ready to be cold again. Make it stop!

Unlikely. But oh well.

This was a crazy busy week. I told you last week that I would be helping with tech stuff for Missionary Council. And honestly, the actual running of it was fine. Very few surprises. What it takes is time. I was in the meetings probably 7-8 hours - a full work day. I did hear some interesting things and it was definitely interesting to have a front row seat as leaders discuss the future of OMS. But it was a lot. 

When I wasn't down the hall, I was working on my normal stuff. I FINALLY finished Tamil (for now). I am immensely happy to have that off my plate. Now I'm working on converting our guide on the Camel Method into Mozambican Portuguese. This one is actually more time-consuming because it's part of the VCP course, and I don't have the resources that I normally have with T&M. So I'm copy/pasting the text into the correct position. I'm on page 20 of 108. 

That's what I've got this week. I hope you have had a fantastic week and that this weekend brings you everything you need.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: September 6-10, 2021

20 years ago, life was pretty normal. Monday, September 10, 2001, I probably had the usual Monday blahs. I don't actually remember anything about that day. Why would I? Nothing remarkable happened. And then Tuesday. I was moving from one class to the next. There was a weird undercurrent. Mr. Weaver was late to Geography. When he arrived, he told us that there had been a plane crash in New York City, a big one. The school started to realize that something bigger was going on, so we were all herded into the cafeteria to watch the news. My timing is all mixed up, but we were definitely watching when both towers fell. We watched the Pentagon in flames. We watched plumes of smoke in Pennsylvania. 

I'm pretty sure we were sent home early that day. I remember going to the gas station and seeing endless lines. At school, my best friend had asked what the World Trade Center was, and I said it had something to do with finance. I didn't really know. But I knew something fundamental had shifted. My mom was flying somewhere a few weeks later, and our car was searched for explosive material before we entered the airport grounds. The airport had checkpoints now. We couldn't go in with her. When I took my first flight ever a few years earlier, my sister had come with us all the way to the gate. No ticket required. 

I don't think I'll ever forget where I was when I first heard the news. But other memories are fading. Unity gave way to tribes and factions. Our love for the first responders turned into distrust and fear. A war that started when I was 16 turned into something undefined and "ended" in disgrace. 

The echoes of what happened on September 11 will be felt for decades to come. I will likely never know in my lifetime everything that happened before, on, and because of that day. But I know what it did to me. I know how it made me feel. I know that for one brief moment, this country was unified in a common grief. I will never forget that. 

It seems a bit cheap to talk about my week after that, but another thing I learned that day is that life goes on. There was a September 12. The world didn't stop turning, and so, neither must we. It is appropriate, though, that we started our week with Rosh HaShanah. Or Labor Day. But I prefer a good shofar. 

I FINALLY finished my thank you cards and prayer letter this week. They have been long delayed, but I hope the content will be worth the wait. 

A good part of my week has actually been spent talking about next week. We will be having Missionary Council. Many of our top regional leaders will be in Greenwood to discuss the future. This typically happens every year, but, you know, 'Rona. Normally, I have very little to do with MC. But we did such a good job of running the CMF Seminar that our glorious leaders asked us to do the same. Of course, it's next week. Running a successful Zoom call isn't simply a matter of clicking a button. We'll be fine, I'm sure, but I do appreciate slightly more warning. 

Otherwise, I've been working on Tamil. I'm getting so close to being done! If I was a better employee, I'd stay and finish it. But I'm exhausted. And any work I do right now would be pretty much useless. Maybe I'll come in this weekend. 

Bye!

(Where were you 20 years ago?)

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 30 - September 3, 2021

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to read my blog. It is a blessed arrangement. Perhaps even a dream within a dream. 

Moving on. 

Honestly, we're still recovering from last week. I did some clean up of my desk and file system before working on my prayer letter. I wanted to share some of the stories we heard last week. I took notes, but then I was out for a couple of days, so I wanted to watch the recordings of what I missed. It's pretty good stuff, I must say. That will probably get mailed the week after next, so be on the lookout for that. 

Tamil continues to kick my butt, but what else is new. I'm hoping to finish that up next week. I feel like I'm never going to run out of things on my to do list. In some ways, that's nice - job security, right? But in others, it's a depressing, never-ending series of tasks. It's hard to take the time to feel a sense of accomplishment when the next thing is waiting and equally important and time-sensitive. 

I did some more training with Lynae. She's learning how to publish T&M booklets, which is fun. There's always something new to learn about T&M. 

I gotta say, I'm looking forward to the long weekend. I hope you have fun plans, or at least a chance to do something you really want to do. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 23-27, 2021

Well, it has certainly been an interesting week, I can say that much. 

As you know, this was the week for the CMF Seminar. It did happen, never fear. But I was not as involved as I wanted to be. Monday went well, we got everyone here and sorted. I was having some after-effects of throwing axes on Friday night (yes, that is a thing, and yes, I enjoyed it very much.) My wrist was acting up, so I babied it will running tech and working.

Then Tuesday came, and my back decided it hated me. My back muscles were trying to yeet themselves out of my body, and with that came all of the fun pain that you might expect. I managed to do my tech portion, but then I was home, either lying flat or curled up in a ball - whichever happened to be the most comfortable at the time. I got some muscle relaxers from the doc on Wednesday and started being a productive citizen again, but they are not a quick fix. I've been telling people that I'll be happy when I can start taking those muscles for granted again. 

This was my view for most of my time at the Seminar. Scintillating, isn't it?

The rest of the week went quite well. I think people were happy to be together again, and I know I liked seeing people face to face instead of only on a Zoom window. I'll talk more about it in my next prayer letter, which I delayed a bit because I knew I'd have good stories from the Seminar. 

So, have a great weekend, do your back exercises, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 16-20, 2021

This week has lasted at least 10 days. I'm completely convinced of that. And I'm not just saying that because I didn't post anything last week. I took two days off so that I could get stuff around for my parent's anniversary party on Saturday. And so I could spend time with family, of course. 

(Just a side note here, but I drove up to Huntington by myself; a few months ago, that would not have been possible. My anxiety would have made it inadvisable at best. But as my mom said, this is a victory. The drive wasn't without its anxious moments, but I do absolutely praise God for keeping me safe. I am also thankful for my family and friends who are encouraging me and letting me progress at my own pace.)

We had a really nice time at the party. I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time, and I think my parents appreciated everything we put together. 

T&M projects are going well. I'm still struggling with Tamil. There are just so many speech bubbles and such long phrases. But I'm slowly working my way through the booklets, making good progress. I had Outreach proofs this week and a lot of Zoom questions. I played Zoom host for the prayer chapel on Wednesday. Lord knows, there's a lot to pray about right now. We keep getting sad reports from Haiti, I keep seeing horrible things from Afghanistan, Nicaragua is in turmoil, Cuba continues to starve - I honestly don't have the capacity for anymore news. 

The big job this week was preparing for the CMF Seminar next week. Granted, I did very little compared to everyone else, but we still have Zoom practices and cleaning and inventory to take care of before our first in-person event in about two years. Of course, it's also a hybrid event, so that adds its own complexities. But I did get to do one of my favorite jobs around OMS, which is to clean out a fridge. 

Seriously. I love cleaning out people's fridges. I'm not super bothered about my own. But I have a great time with other people's stuff. 

Please be praying for the Seminar next week. There are a lot of important things to be discussed, and I know we're all eager to get some sort of normality back. 

Finally, I'm going to leave you with a true gem of a photograph. I took this at dinner on Saturday with the family, and yes, I did buy my sister the fabulous accessory. She loved it.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: August 2-6, 2021

நண்பர்கள், அயலவர்கள் மற்றும் நாட்டு மக்கள்: உங்கள் காதுகளை எனக்குக் கொடுங்கள்.

Yes, in case you were wondering, I have spent this entire week working on Tamil booklets. Will I spend the next couple of weeks doing the same thing? Very likely. Do I wish they could find a way to say things more succinctly?

Absolutely.

Look, I love the people who speak Tamil. They are truly beautiful, and the language itself is also gorgeous to look at. But it does make publishing quite difficult. The kerning is at least 20% larger than English, and even when we reduce the spacing, it never fits within the template. I think I added about 16 pages across 5 booklets. I have to add in chunks of 4 because that's how the printing spreads operate. I don't mind adding, but that means our partners are using up more paper and ink, which can add up over time. That's why we're trying to get more people using the app, because you can do pretty much anything on there.

The rest of the week went pretty well. I had devotions for our Monday prayer time, talking about God's Will and how we determine what that is and why it sometimes takes a while to understand. 

I am also the Zoom host for chapel this month! Basically, I attend chapel online and make sure everyone has what they need since they can't be with us in person. Talk about trial by fire, though - we had an Internet issue that meant everything that came through the microphone was stuttered. It did make for some funny moments, but it was also frustrating. 

But hey, I got a great sash out of it from Sarah.

That's the week! I hope you have had a fantastic start to your August. As far as I'm concerned, Autumn is still a dirty word right now, so if you want to talk about pumpkin spice, find someone else. It's all Summer, all the time around here. 

பிரியாவிடை

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 26-30, 2021

Who else thinks we should institute the wonderful tradition of an afternoon siesta here in the U.S.? I don't know if it's the heat or my general inability to sleep through the night these days, but I have been feeling so sleepy in the afternoons. I've never been much of a nap person, but I'm thinking it might be time. 

This has been a fairly quiet week. Sarah left me to go on vacation with her family (only fair since I did the same thing to her a few weeks ago), and that has meant I'm regularly one of the few people downstairs. Add to that the slight hiccup with the A/C this week, and you have at least three days where I was the only one in my hallway. It's not an unheard of phenomenon, but it does get awfully quiet when you can't hear other people on Zoom or arguing with the printer. 

I spent most of this week making videos, which is not my normal state of affairs. I'll try to upload them sometime, but I'll tease you with this - I downloaded both the Law & Order theme and the Looney Tunes theme for these. If I tell you it has to do with the CMF Seminar coming up, what conclusions would you draw?

The rest of the week, I've been working on Tamil booklets. They are rough. We reduced the font size, and they are still overrunning just about every space they'd normally fit in English. I'm definitely going to be spending a fair bit of time on these. 

We had a special prayer time today for a man who has done a lot of work with OMS over the years. He's in the hospital with COVID. I know it's a hot button topic these days, but we were talking afterward that our mission hasn't changed. Beyond politics, beyond personal pronouns, beyond whatever distraction the world throws at you, what we are interested in is people's souls. Don't forget to do a soul check every now and then. 

We know how to love because Jesus loves us.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: July 19-23, 2021

This is a late one, boys and girls. I gotta say, I'm not normally around at 5:30 on a Friday afternoon. As soon as 5:00 hits, I tend to be off like a shot. But this has been an interesting week, and I had a lot of things to finish up, so here we are.

I started this week hearing some disappointing news. Not bad, and certainly not disappointing for the person bearing it, but it was certainly not news I expected right now. I'm happy for the person who told me, but sad for me. And yes, I'm being deliberately vague, but that's really all I can say until it's official. 

With regard to the workload this week, I was swamped. Still am, but we have to put it down sometime. I created two volumes of T&M booklets this week - one in Swahili and one in English. It's something new, and I'm glad I learned how to do it, but they do take some time to compile and check page numbers and such. 

Sarah and I created scripts for the CMF Seminar in August. We're trying to illustrate the benefits of digital collaboration, so we wrote some things to be filmed. I tried to tone down my usual brand of humor, but I do have a particular style, so there will be one or two sarcastic moments. I'll post a link to one of the videos if I think of it. And if it's any good. We'll see. 

I haven't been sleeping well this week. I had one dog sitting gig with an adorable Golden, and I never sleep well in different places, but these days, it turns out I don't sleep well in my own place, either. Any ideas?

That's all, folks. Have a pleasant day whenever you read this.

Bye!

The Weekly-Wrap Up: July 12-16, 2021

Hello, beautiful people!

Yes, I did in fact survive Wisconsin. And my family. And my family together in Wisconsin. Thank you for praying for us! We had a fantastic time and got to enjoy many of the natural wonders of the state most known for cheese. 

Alas, this week I returned to the real world and got back to business. I had a fair amount of catching up to do, which is great because it means my team did a great job without me. But it also meant a lot of emails and answering questions and catch-up meetings. I published a group of Swahili booklets in preparation for creating the next VCP volume. 

Sarah and I had a meeting with leadership about some of the safety concerns around the building. We've been part of various safety teams, but they never gained much traction. So, I now know where all of the fire extinguishers are and we have some clear steps for moving forward. It's all part of working to ensure our success as an organization.

I had a meeting on Thursday about digital collaboration - gotta come up with some video skits for that. Not sure when, but I'll find time somewhere. Then four meetings Friday morning (FOUR) about T&M and app stuff and Billion.Global. 

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to a stress-free weekend. We'll see if I get it. I hope your weekend is everything you need it to be.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 28 - July 2, 2021

This will be a quick one today. There were two major projects - proofing the Global Impact Report and publishing GR01 of Tamil. I think I finished publishing Tamil right at 5 on Friday. Craziness. I wanted to get it done before I'm off next week, so I just kept pushing. As always, there's more that we did this week, but those were really the major ones. The GIR (I have another name for it, but it's less polite) was fairly easy, but it's amazing how many little details get missed in publications. Lori and I were talking about it, and she said something along the lines of "Who really reads it that closely?" Granted, most people won't. But people pick up on the mistakes far more quickly than they will compliment the design, unfortunately. I always notice stuff like that in magazines and flyers. It makes me think less of the companies that produce those materials, like they don't have pride in what they do enough to make sure it's perfect. Maybe that's an unhealthy perspective. But that's just me. 

Anyway, pray for my family as we travel, and pray for good weather and a lovely time of fellowship and fun. I appreciate all of you so much!

Bye! Happy Fourth!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 21-25, 2021

I turned all the lights in the hallway off today. Also in my office. I usually do on Friday. I'm almost always the only one in my section of the building. It's not that I don't want to see anyone. I just don't want to make it easy for them to find me.

It's been a decent week. Lynae has been in a couple of times for training. We started her on Iloko, which is a brand new language for us. She's getting to experience all the highs and lows of figuring out the quirks of a new project. We had a Next Gen meeting, which is basically all the younger folks talking about ways to liven this place up a little. I worked on Tamil quite a bit, and we're getting close to being able to publish some of it. Otherwise, lots of meetings for future events, projects, things that really should have been an email... the Usual.

Oh! Except I did a quick voiceover for a video. And I do mean quick. I was pretty much in and out in 10 minutes. The turnaround was quick as well - what do I see in my email later that day but a link to a video. Not bad, if I do say so myself.

I do want to ask for your prayers. I've been feeling an increasing anxiety as we get closer to the anniversary trip. I really do think things will be fine, but this is my reality now. I feel a little pathetic that I get anxiety about having anxiety, but hey, FDR did make famous the saying that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. I disagree wholeheartedly with that statement - there are other things to fear. But he's not entirely wrong, nor was the original author. 

Anyway.

That's what I've got for you this week. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 14-18, 2021

Well, hey there.

I've said it before, I'll say it again - it's a good thing I write things down about each day. Most Fridays, I cannot remember details of what happened throughout the week. I'm getting old.

I've been cat sitting this week. That's not a work thing, but it was significant for the week. I had three cats. Two were close to OMS, but one is further away, so I've been staying at his house. He likes to bite. And then he'll be really cute, and I have to curtail my plans to spray him with water. 

I finished a group of French early on, and Lynae has come in two days for training. We have a pretty complex process when it comes to production, so I try not to overwhelm new people with everything in one go. 

Lots of meetings this week. We're trying to figure out how to get everyone to participate in a collaborative state. That's part of preparing for our hybrid event in August. Our CMFs will be gathering in person for the first time in two years, but some will only be able to participate online, so we have to figure out how that works. We had a T&M committee meeting that I missed half of to go to a doctor's appointment. Fun times.

Oh yeah, and I published the last remaining Spanish NVI and RVR booklets. We hadn't written them yet when we published Spanish before, so now we truly have a complete set. At least until the next new booklet comes out. Spoilers.

And that's my week. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and sitting in the air conditioning all weekend. It's too hot.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 7-11, 2021

Okay, business first. If you use the "Follow by email" function, Google tells me that this may not be available after the end of June. I think you'll still get the emails if you've subscribed, but I don't know for sure. Google is very obtuse about this. And no one else will be able to subscribe after this month. So I may need to look at a new option other than Blogger. Ugh.

Anyway, that's a problem for Future Jessica. 

This week, I spent some time working on French, which you wouldn't think would be difficult, but you sometimes come across things that make you do a double-take. 

Anyone know what happened there? (No cheating, Lori!)

On Monday afternoon, I got to do something I haven't done in a long time - record! This recording is for the newest VBS put together by One Mission Kids (yes, we have VBS material!). I'm not sure when it will be ready, but you know I'll link to it when it comes out. It was nice to be in front of a microphone again. Well, one that isn't on my computer. 

Today was kinda crazy. We had our monthly production team meeting, which was really nice. It's a great time to hear about what is going on outside of work and pray for one another. Some of the team's prayer requests today included:

- Veronica's son will be getting married in Scotland. Pray that everyone is able to attend.

- BJ's oldest child is having jaw pain and will be seeing a specialist.

- BJ's wife Andi is looking for a job in Kentucky.

- Eliana has a friend named Marisol who is in the hospital with COVID. Marisol is not a believer.

- Both Eliana and Veronica may be headed back into lockdown soon.

- Trista runs a camp with her husband in Mississippi, and they are quite understaffed this year. 

- Trista's family will be visiting over the next few weeks.

As for me, I have a doctor's appointment next week. Yay.

Also today, I had a Zoom meeting with a potential user of Train & Multiply who lives in Sweden. We had a good chat, and I have high hopes for how this will expand our reach.

Finally, I met with our new production team member! YES! It is truly official. Lynae will be joining us on a part-time basis, so we'll be spending quite a bit of time training for the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to having a new team member, and we should be able to expand our effectiveness and the number of projects we're able to do.

That's all I've got for you this week. I hope you have a fantastic weekend, and I'll see you next time!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: June 1-4, 2021

Greetings, mein friends!

No, you're not crazy. There was no blog post last week. My trip wasn't really last minute, but I was trying to get a lot of stuff done in a very short amount of time, so I neglected to tell you I was going anywhere. 

Sorry.

But I had some lovely time away, so I hope that mitigates your concerns. I spent time with my family, met with a few supporters, and generally laughed until I pulled a muscle. Not even kidding. The trip was also a bit of a test for myself on driving for three hours by myself and seeing how I handled being away from my base for several days. I did okay. There's always going to be that question, that niggle of doubt in the back of my mind, but overall, I succeeded in my quest. I did, however, come back exhausted, so we can blame that if this post goes off the rails. But that's never happened before, so I don't know why you're talking about it now.

...

Between the two days I was in last week and the four days I was in this week, I managed to finish GR08 and GR11 of French. This language has been incredibly frustrating. We started doing it with one art set, but then we switched to another mid-stream. We also started using French with the NVP (formerly VCP) material, which meant the booklet grouping needed to change. But we'd already done some things according to the old groups, so now, it's basically a mess. But we're making progress. We'll get there, I'm sure. 

We also had our first in-person chapel this week! 

We had a good turn-out, and LOOK, no masks. So this might be the last week I add our 'panic' tag to a post for pandemic-related reasons. It might turn up for other reasons. We'll see. My brain links things in weird ways. 

My big project this week was Chichewa Volume 2 for NVP (New Village Church Planting Program). This is a compilation of booklets that will be used by African church planters. As with many things in T&M, creating a volume is not necessarily complicated, but it is complex. I'm still learning a lot about what InDesign and other Adobe products can do, but they make my job 100x easier at least, so I'm very thankful to have them. 

On a side note for the week, we have changed the Bus to the Mood Squad. The Bus is what we used to call the group of us who walked around the building to stretch our legs once a morning and afternoon. During the lockdown, our numbers dwindled, and walking around was discouraged. But now that masks aren't mandated, we have a solid group of four who do security checks and wander around fostering community at OMS. (That's what we're calling it, at least. You'd have to ask the people we chat with how they'd categorize it.) We were christened the Mood Squad this week, and I'm quite in favor of it. Plus, if we don't have all four, we could become the Mod Squad, the Od Squad, or the O Squad. Silly, I know, but it helps keep us sane. 

Anyway, one of the things the Mod Squad (there were three of us) got up to was hunting down some missing forks. We had a lunch on Wednesday, the first in more than 15 months, and a few utensils had walked away from the kitchen in that time. So Lydia, Sarah, and I did some investigating, and we did actually find some of the missing items. We also found a cupboard that hadn't been cleaned or organized in quite some time, so I took it upon myself to change that. 

I really should have taken a 'before' photo, but I was so incensed by the random collection, I couldn't help myself. They were stacked on top of each other, there was coffee from 2016, and some cups in there didn't belong. This satisfied my once in a great while urge to clean. Please don't ever ask me for a picture of my desk. Or my apartment.

So that's the tea, ladies and gentlemen! I trust you are well and that you will have a fantastic weekend.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 17-21, 2021

Hello, my friends!

I hope you have had a fantastic week. It's been quite busy around here, and I don't see that changing any time soon. I keep having to remind myself to take time to breathe.

I had devotions again on Monday. I used the opportunity to talk more about The Chosen, which is fantastic, and you should watch it if you haven't already. We had a good discussion.

The last training day was on Tuesday. We had really good presentations and good feedback from our participants. I'm really pleased with how things went, but I'm also really glad that it's done. Somehow, I never remember just how stressful training events can be. I'm sure it will be a while before we do another one like this. Which is fine, because we have plenty of stuff to do.

I forgot to post this last week. Sarah very kindly gave me some fantastic things to keep me going throughout the training. We've been eating gummy bears ever since. :D

The rest of the week has been meetings and work on French booklets. Truly exciting stuff! ;)

I know it has been a while since I talked about my battle with anxiety. That doesn't mean it has gone away. I am getting better, with the help of medication and therapy and Jesus. But it's still a constant fight, weighing events and trips against how I'm feeling that day, making sure I have clear exit plans, practicing my breathing exercises - honestly, it's exhausting. Part of that is my own brain's inability to let things go and just relax, but it is also the nature of general anxiety disorders - they are GENERAL, meaning there isn't necessarily a specific trigger that will spark the anxiety. For a while, my anxiety about having an anxiety attack was actually causing me to have anxiety attacks. Ugh. Like I said, exhausting. But I am getting better, and I appreciate your prayers and patience as I navigate this reality. It makes travel difficult, so I don't get to see people as much as I want as things open up. It's frustrating, but I also know that a lot of people are in a similar boat, so I don't want to minimize the effect it can have. Please practice patience with everyone you meet - we're coming out of a dark tunnel, and for some, it was just one more thing on top of an already fraught existence. 

Anyway, if you want to know more or just share your own story, I'm here. We have been through the wars, this year my friends, and I see no reason why we have to suffer alone or in silence. So, be good, and above all, breathe.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 10-14, 2021

Whew! This week has been all over the place! I guess I could say that of a lot of weeks, but this one really has made me feel like a ping pong ball used in an Olympic-level match.

I was only able to work a bit on French this week. I made some decent progress, but most of the week has been focused on the first two days of online Zoom boot camp training. We have a good group, though we did lose one participant due to time commitments, but everyone who was able to make it has been really engaged and ready to learn. There have been a few rough spots, of course, but over all, I'm really pleased with how things are going. My facilitation team has been meeting quite a bit this week in between training sessions to practice and make sure we are doing our best to communicate well with the participants. Lots of good questions, and I'm excited to see what happens when we finish up on Tuesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, though, I went to get my second vaccination shot. I've heard all kinds of things about reactions and recovery periods, but I did my research and felt that this would be a good time to take care of that. 

On Thursday, I woke up feeling a little stuffy, but nothing too terrible. We made it through the first session of the day, and I knew that the second session was work time for the groups - nothing in which I had to participate. I had started to feel a little meh, so I went home for a nap around 11. By 12, I knew I wasn't going to make it back into the office. I had a fever, body aches, chills, and I felt incredibly dizzy any time I got up to get anything. Thankfully, my dear friend Sarah (who led this training back in March) very graciously stepped in for the final session of the day. I am so grateful for my amazing team who rolled with it and kept the ship sailing smoothly.

I'm feeling better today, but I'm still not 100%. Fortunately (maybe), most of my day has been filled with Zoom meetings, so I just had to sit and listen, contributing occasionally to the discussion. I'm confident that this weekend will give me ample time to fully recover. 

One more thing, the latest issue of OMS Outreach has been published. You can find the online version here by clicking on this sentence. If you recall, I mentioned a super secret project that I'd been working on. This is it! No, I didn't write any articles. But all of the handwriting in here is mine! Yes, you may now judge my terrible printing skills. And, of course, read about the amazing things God is doing through OMS. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 3-7, 2021

I made a baby this week.

...

Yes, I did write that just for the shock value, but I did actually make a baby this week. Out of play-doh. At a shower. Totally legit. One of my coworkers recently started fostering, so we had a book shower for her. It was a lovely day. 

Anyway, I finished a group of Telugu this week! Yay! The situation in India is only worsening, so it's a bit bittersweet, but I have faith that progressing with this language will bring a small amount of joy in an otherwise dreary time.

The next language is French. For now, the French booklets are only used in Africa. But there are 29 countries in Africa that speak French (at least a little), so this is definitely a worth endeavor. Loathe as I am to give any credit to colonialism, it does act much like Ancient Rome in creating a common trade language that many people use. Quite useful in evangelism, though we do still like to have materials in the heart language of a people group. 

The rest of the week was pretty much devoted to the boot camp. It's next week, people! We had a 3-hour rehearsal on Thursday that went fairly well. However, we have lost one participant, so that will require some reconfiguring. Good times. My team and I will definitely appreciate your prayers for this event. 

On Thursday afternoon, I was able to help out with our semi-annual work day. I couldn't work all day because of the aforementioned rehearsal. I did a bit of feathering of mulch, but it was cold and wet, so I was only out for a couple of hours. 

In other news, masks are no longer required at HQ! We're that much closer to getting rid of the panic at the disco tag. I'm still not totally sure what the arbitrary line for that is. We'll get there.

Shout out to my fantastic mother and all of the amazing support she has given me over the years! Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms and like-moms out there. 💜

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 26-30, 2021

Is anyone else looking ahead at the next few months and wondering how you're going to get everything done? I am definitely there. I guess I'll do it the same way I've always done it - one step at a time. But some of those steps will feel an awful lot like lava, so, you know...

Okay, belaboring the metaphor a bit. But there is a ton to do, and I always feel like there's not enough time. This week has been largely focused on the boot camp. I would really appreciate your prayers for this event (May 11, 13, and 18). I don't know that I ever feel fully prepared for these, but this one in particular has me concerned. Two members of my training team are very new to this process, and the other has a lot of personal stuff going on at home. I want this to be a good, informative event for the trainees, but I'm feeling the stress big time!

My other project this week has been Telugu. It's been somewhat bittersweet working on this language. Telugu is primarily spoken in India. If you've watched the news at all, you know that India is being hit hard by COVID. Many of our national coworkers have been quite ill, and I know a few have died from the disease or the lack of available care. It's so easy to narrow our focus to what is going on in our own country and forget that there is a whole world out there experiencing tragedy and upheaval of their own. Quite often, I pray for the countries and people who will be using the booklets as I'm working on them. This has felt even more pressing this week. 

There was some palaver in my own personal life this week that started with a bulb burning out and ended up with the possibility of having to move my fridge, stove, and cupboards out of my kitchen. Fortunately, I have been spared that, but it was quite the nail-biter for a while. I'm going to thoroughly enjoy all of the sleep I get this weekend.

Happy Orthodox Easter!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 12-23, 2021

Yes, it's true, mea culpa, I didn't do a blog post last week. I had to go up north to do some visiting. I had a lovely time and saw many wonderful people. It was exhausting, though, moreso mentally than physically. It's the most traveling I've done in a while. 

So, last week, I was able to publish that group of Russian. I did some proofing for the magazine, which will be out shortly. I hope you'll recognize my handiwork. 

Boot camp prep continues apace, and that has been somewhat challenging. We're all approaching Zoom and facilitation with different levels of comfort, so patience and practice are the key words. These are not my favorite words, however, so a little humility comes into play as well. I'm confident we'll be able to put on a good training event, but I'm also glad we have plenty of time beforehand. 

This week, I was able to finish a group of Telugu and send it back to the proofreader. I also got a prayer letter written, so that will be going out next week. 

Of course, the big news is that I got my first vaccine shot on Tuesday. My arm was a bit sore, but I felt okay after. We'll see what happens after the second shot. 

That's about it for me this week. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: April 5-8, 2021

Yes, it was another short week. We had to be out of the office on Friday because they were upgrading our Internet. I will happily hang out at home for that purpose. I did do some work, of course, but a lot of what I do is dependent on having access to the world wide web. 

I was able to publish the rest of the French group, worked on Telugu and Russian, and did a ton of stuff on Zoom. There's always something new to learn about the platform, and Sarah and I seem to spend some time each week testing something. There are a lot of features that it will never occur to people to use or even ask about, but I always like knowing exactly what is available. 

There are a lot of discussions going on about things that are still half formed or not ready to be announced. For some of them, I don't know why I'm involved in the discussion. But others have been quite interesting, and it'll be fun to talk about them when I can.

That's what I've got for you. Stay warm!

Bye.

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 29 - April 1, 2021

Yes, it's a short week, and for sleep reasons and for historical reasons, I am thankful. Once again, this is not how I would prefer to spend my Easter weekend, but since when does anyone get exactly what they want all of the time? SO, we press on.

This has been a fairly productive week. I finished my group of Russian, and once that is approved, I will move on to publishing. I also completed a group of French, which will also be published. So, if all goes well, two groups will be published next week. 

My team is continuing to work on preparations for boot camp in May. We're making good progress, but there's always a lot to think about. At least we now have a full complement of team members, which makes our lives easier. We're reaching out to more parts of OMS, including our literacy program, so I'm excited about that. 

I'm ruminating on some prayer letter ideas for April. It can be a struggle, so pray I find the right words. 

One of my side projects is creating videos for my mom as she leads the children's program at her church. The last few weeks have been all about Easter, and one thing she keeps saying is that the saddest day ever led to the greatest day ever. I think about that a lot. For all that we struggle and go through painful experiences, we will never know the agony of dying on a cross with the weight of past, present, and future sins of billions of people. I know of no way to repay that debt, and thankfully, I don't have to. My job is to love Jesus and pursue him forever. I encourage all of you to explore that thought and discover the joy of the Lord in your own lives.

He Is Risen!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 22-26, 2021

I don't really have a game plan for retiring the 'panic' tag. I mean, we're still technically in it. After I get the vaccine? After the stupid mask mandate ends? What do you think?

This has been a good week. Lots of small projects, but it's all necessary stuff for moving forward on some big stuff, so that's cool. Sarah is conducting her boot camp this week, and I met with my group for our boot camp in May. I think we'll have a full complement, which is nice because it means fewer changes to the training manual. We're definitely still making some, but not nearly as many. You can pray for the team as we prepare, actually. José is my co-leader and lives in OK with his wife Audrey (who has many health issues right now), Sharon lives in PA (and her husband also has health issues), and Dennis lives in KY. I don't know anything about his wife.

I started a new-to-me language this week! I'm trying to finish up the first group of Russian. It's been sitting around for a while, partly because no one is really clamoring for it, and partly because we lost our translator. So I'm just working to publish what little bit we have on the off chance that someone will need it. You never know. We're working to find a new translator, so if you know someone fluent in Russian, hit me up. 

We had a really nice chapel this week. all about our founders and looking to the future of OMS. There were a lot of good things said, but the one I wrote down was this: "Let's build for the years that we will not see." I found that to be really profound, and I think that philosophy applies in all areas of life. So many people today are about instant gratification and living in the moment, but the Bible is pretty clear on where it stands with this kind of thinking. If we truly want to make the world a better place, then we need to work for it and recognize that it might not happen in our lifetime. But it's worth the effort. 

That's all I've got for you this week. I hope you find some time to commemorate Passover and Palm Sunday. He is risen indeed!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 15-19, 2021

So I'm writing this in a Word document in the (what turned out to be vain) hope that the Internet will come back before I leave for the day. It's putting a real crimp in my plans for continuing work.

Anyway, another week is in the books. It's been quiet around here; Brian took the week off, so it's just been Sarah and Alex and me. And occasionally Mike. And whomever we chat with on Zoom. So maybe not completely quiet. But definitely on the quieter side. 

The week started off well. I led devotions, and because I like themes and it was the 15th of March, I talked about the Ides and the assassination of Julius Caesar. Excellent devotion topic, I know. But it did have a purpose. Since the Ides of March was a day to settle debts and start the year off fresh, I wanted us to reflect on the last year and the unmet expectations we'd had for it. It's been a rough road for everyone, and I think some people have neglected to really deal with the loss of what we expected to happen that didn't. Regardless of whatever else we lost this past year, we also lost our sense that some things we've held to always be true sometimes aren't. As Christians, we have Truth - it's never going to change. But a lot of people have been floundering, wondering what they can trust in.

I don't necessarily want to get too deep on here, but I thought it was important to think about. 

Lots of work on Tamil this week. I finished another group of booklets. I only had to rearrange four of the five, so that's nice. I wrote a short devotional for a book that someone in the office is putting together. That on is not on assassination. But I did title it "The Valley of the Shadow." So, you know... at least I'm consistent.

We had our T&M committee meeting Thursday and the production meeting on Friday. The committee consists of me, Mike, Larry, Brian, Sarah, Lloyd, and Sherry. Lloyd and Sherry ran Project WorldReach, which entered into a joint venture with OMS to produce T&M back in 2012, but now OMS is the sole copyright holder. It's a long and convoluted story, and if you want to know more, I'm happy to tell you; but suffice to say, Lloyd and Sherry have a vested interest in the future of T&M. We were able to give them a good report, thankfully. There are some concerns about what is going on in certain countries (mostly political stuff - if you're not aware of what's happening in Myanmar, look it up; things are very bad.)

The production meeting also went well. I like getting to talk about more personal things instead of work stuff all the time with my team. You can be praying that Trista and her husband find some staff for the Christian camp they run in Mississippi. And Eliana and Veronica's mother has been ill, so pray for any decisions they have to make. And BJ's son will have his wisdom teeth removed soon. Yuck. I feel for you, kid!

As for me, I'm still setting my small goals and working up to being human again. I hope I'm up to the task.

Bye! 

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 8-12, 2021

சேனைகளுடைய கர்த்தரின் நாமத்திலே 

Oh look, I found a longer one.

This has been a strange week. Not in the work sense, because that never ends. But in the background, I've been very aware that it's been a year since everything got flipped on its head. 

I don't know if you pay attention to the tags on these posts. They are mostly for my reference, but if you ever want to know my thoughts on a particular thing or track the progress of something, they are there on the right for you. Anyway, I started using the "panic at the disco" tag on these posts about a year ago. I thought it would be a fun cutesy thing to look back on and know that these were the few weeks or months when that weird pandemic thing was happening. And then it stopped being fun and cutesy and took on new meaning when my anxiety reared its ugly head in new and interesting ways. (If you're wondering what a disco has to do with anything: nothing; it's a band; don't worry about it.)

I don't think I can sum up the last year in a few words and tie it off with a nice bow. No one expected any of this. I certainly haven't handled it as well as I could have. But it's also been a learning experience. Some things I would have preferred not having to learn. I think that's true of everyone. But I'm very aware that I've had it much better than most people over the last year. So I am by no means complaining. Inevitably, it will take years to fully comprehend the impact of this past year (and however long it takes to get back to some semblance of 'normal'). 

As far as work goes, I finished one more group of Tamil (see above) and fixed some things in Indonesian. We've been restructuring the bootcamp again since we have a smaller group this time around. That is taking some creativity.

Mostly, though, I've just been tired this week. I'm tired of masks, I'm tired of endless political debates, I'm tired of being tired. So I'm going to give myself a break and come back refreshed next week.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: March 1-5, 2021

 ஜெபக்கூட்டங்களுக்குப்போகிறேன்

That's all one word. Or phrase. I'm not sure how it's classified in Tamil. But it's things like this that make formatting Tamil booklets take so long. Because I have to fit that and every other word/phrase like it into a very limited space. And it doesn't always want to go there. It can be fun, though. I get to recreate every booklet almost from scratch. It just takes a little longer than normal.

Thus, that's been the majority of my week. There have been several meetings, of course, because what would we be without meetings? Plus, I've been working on a super secret project for my good friend Foster. You will find out all about it when you receive the next edition of OMS Outreach. If you don't get it by mail, you should definitely subscribe to the online version. 

I haven't done an update on my health stuff lately, not because I don't want to, but because I guess I'm still cautious about how things are going. I'm on a new med for my blood pressure, which seems to be helping. My anxiety still pops up pretty regularly, but I've been setting little goals for myself to get out more and train my brain to stop seeing everything as an object of fear. I appreciate your continued prayers for this process. 

That's about it for me! I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: February 22-26, 2021

This week has felt so strange. I don't think there's a day that has felt like the day it's supposed to. 

Of course, part of that might be the fact that I fell out of bed this week. Got a little dizzy and overcorrected. Oops. Just a few bruises; possibly one puncture. It's fine.

Sarah and I finished changing the training manual for boot camp. We had a nice meeting with our respective training teams, and I have great hopes for our training in May. 

Groups 2 and 3 of Indonesian are done and published. I'm back into Tamil. It's a frustrating language to format because it utilizes more characters and we have to left justify everything. But it will be nice to have more Indian languages available. 

Sorry I'm not a fount of information this week. Like I said, it's been a weird week. It'll be nice to catch up on some sleep this weekend. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: February 15-19, 2021

What a crazy week! We've had snow, freezing cold, but fortunately no power outages. I've been knee deep in snow at times, but I always have somewhere cozy to return to. 

This has actually been a pretty productive week, which I really hadn't anticipated. We had a snow day on Tuesday. The office was closed because we got a ton of snow and nobody could get anywhere. I live across the street, and I couldn't even get out until after noon.

The rest of the week has been good, if a little bit crazy. I was able to publish the first group of Indonesian, which I really wasn't sure I'd get to. The first group is always the most time-intensive, since you have to split two booklets. But it's done, so I can move on to the next group. 

Sarah and I decided that we were going to offer two more boot camps (I mean, other people signed off on it, but we all know Sarah and I are the ones who do the real work around here ;)). So, now that we've decided on dates for the training, we've been going through the manual to make sure everything is current and less ECC-centric in language. We've opened the training up to the wider world of OMS, so the verbiage needs to be a little more neutral. Plus, we've learned a lot from the last two boot camps we did, so we're taking that and making things a little easier to understand. It's still a ton of info to throw at people in three days, though.

Finally, my biggest claim to fame this week - I learned how to create a volume! We have been doing volumes for the VCP curriculum. It's basically a series of booklets that they use in each term. I did the second volume for French, which includes eight booklets. We also have to make the cover pages and the back page. It's a beast when it's printed, but it looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Lots of fiddly bits, though, so you need someone who can pay attention to detail. I hope I'm up to the task. There are eight separate volumes and about five languages that will need them. I'm happy to help with VCP stuff, but it definitely has increased our workload. 

And that's my week. I hope your week has been as productive and fulfilling as mine. I hope you have a great weekend as well. Stay warm!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: February 8-12, 2021

Oh, hello.

How was your week? Are you keeping warm and healthy? I liked the snow at first, but now I'm over Winter. So done. Needs to go.

Right, enough small talk. Two more groups of Indonesian are done, and they've already sent them back with the seal of approval. So it looks like I will be publishing three groups in the coming weeks. I also did the presentation in staff briefing for the ECC report. We do the staff briefing every month, and each department rotates when they talk about the latest doings. This was our month, and I got drafted to give the report. It was pretty straightforward, and I managed to keep on topic for most of it. I'm not actually sure if it's easier doing this in person or on Zoom. There are pros and cons to both. Either way, it went well, and I take that to mean that I'll get saddled with this duty again at some point in the future.

Somewhere in the midst of this, I managed to write my first draft of a prayer letter. This one was not as difficult as I normally find them to craft. I usually use the first one of the year to sum up the previous year. But no one wants to think about 2020. So I found a creative way around that. You'll just have to wait to see it. 

And that's my week! Next week could be interesting if we get the storm they're predicting. We've already been told to use our discretion about coming in. It's hard to make an excuse when you live across the street, however. We'll see how it goes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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

Bootcamp is over! I can't tell you how proud I am of my little ducklings who led this training for 19 new trainers. The hope is that we'l be able to free up some capacity for future training events without relying on the same few facilitators and tech personnel as always. Realistically, even when travel does open again, we'll still be doing online events, and the more people we have who know what they're doing, the better. 

I learned a new thing this week! Part of our work with Village Church Planting involves creating volumes of Train & Multiply booklets. That means we combine several booklets into one larger book. We have 8 volumes that will ultimately be created, but it takes time. We have to have all of the booklets published before we can created the volume, so in anticipation of this, I had to publish the necessary booklets for Volume 2 of French. Then, I learned how to create a volume. It's not completely done, but I at least have a good idea of what I'm doing now. Like most things with T&M, it's complex but not complicated. 

The rest of the time, I've been working on Indonesian. We're close to publishing the first 3 groups, but you know me, I'm finicky. I'm moving as fast as I can. Fortunately, there aren't many changes to these booklets, so there are fewer things to check. Fun fact! Plural words in Indonesian don't just add an 's' or the equivalent like you would in English. Instead, they double the word. So instead of saying, "I bought pens and markers and binders," you would say, "I bought pen-pen and marker-marker and binder-binder." In some cases, because this takes up a lot of space, you can square the word. Who knew math was involved in langauge?

Other than that, things continue much as they have for the last few months. Three years ago, I was in the Philippines. It's weird to think about traveling now. I don't know when or even if I'll get to travel again. But in the meantime, I keep doing what I can. And I thank you for making that possible!

Stay warm!

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: January 25-29, 2021

Welcome to Zoom Bootcamp, part 2. 

This week, we started to see the culmination of the original training we did back in November. Our original 9 trainees have been training 19 new students in the fabulous art of Zoom meetings. We're all about multiplication in ECC, and that's what we set out to do with this. As a consultant in November, I led my team of 3 through the various practice sessions that they presented. Now, I get to watch them do the same with their teams. I have to say, it's a lot less labor intensive this time around, but I still get to watch and provide feedback when things don't quite go to plan. I'm pretty pleased with how things are going so far. Our last day for this training is next Tuesday. Then we send our little ducklings out into the (virtual) world with all of the skills necessary for successful Zoom training events in the future. And our email address, because Zoom keeps updating their software and driving us all crazy.

In the meantime, I managed to complete a group of Vietnamese booklets, start on Indonesian, pause Indonesian to work on French, pause French when I ran into an InDesign problem, and go back to Indonesian. It's a good thing I take good notes, because I would never remember where I am on these projects without it. 

I need to write these earlier in the day. I'm too tired and rushed Friday evenings trying to finish up last minute things and finally get home for some sleep. 

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: January 18-22, 2021

Like sand through the hourglass, these are the days of our lives.

That will only make sense to some people this week, but it's not worth explaining. 

Anyway, it's been a varied week as far as work goes. I led devotions on Monday about the dreams of Joseph and his father Jacob. Then I finished GR04 of Tamil, which wasn't as taxing as GR03. I did some more editing of booklet 64. We had a few Zoom meetings for the next bootcamp happening next week. I've been working on GR03 of Vietnamese, which is only about 20% longer than English, so it's been pretty great compared to Tamil. I definitely have fewer pages I need to add. 

Otherwise, life goes on much as it has for the last few months. 

Yep. That's how I feel about the world at large right now. I'm pretty much ignoring it. You might say that's irresponsible. But what can I actually do about it at this moment? Exactly what I have been doing. I'm trying to get as many people into the kingdom of God as possible. That means supporting the awesome men and women using the booklets in the power of the Holy Spirit to tell their family and neighbors about Jesus. 

And since it's been a while since I wrote about my anxiety (we are now calling it The GAD), I'll catch you up on that, too. I still have it. But I'm getting better at managing it. I'm recognizing the patterns in my life that have lead up to this and identifying triggers, and I'm pushing myself to try new things and become more comfortable being out in the world. But it's a process. It's a little bit like a dance. I can have a great day and do-si-do like nobody's watching, and then a week later, I'm back in the parking lot, breathing into a paper bag and swearing off jazz music. (I hope that made sense. It works in my brain, but I recognize that my brain is a little 'special.')

Also, the pandemic is theoretically still a thing, right? I'm a bit limited on how much dancing I can do until we've all decided that was a fever dream. 

Anyway, I appreciate your continued prayers, and don't be afraid to ask questions or invite me to things. Just be prepared for lengthy answers and a solid maybe on the RSVP.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: January 11-15, 2021

Happy birthday eve to me! Yes, I am indeed working today. I'd take the day off, but I hate doing that so early in the year. Who knows when I'll need the time? (I say that every year, and every year, I have vacation time left. Someday, I'll get it right.)

This was a fairly typical week. We worked on more bootcamp prep, which is actually going pretty well from the original training team's perspective - we only have to do 2 session out of 9. My facilitation team, however, is learning just how much we actually put into making their training experiences interesting and informative. I'm sure they will rise to the challenge. 

I'm in Tamil this week. It's another lengthy language with its own inherent challenges. I usually have to add pages to Tamil booklets just so I can fit everything in. That's not really a problem, it just takes more time to get through a group. 

I did have some downtime this week, though, because I had to do a backup and then an upgrade to Big Sur. That always takes forever, so I took the opportunity to look through the newest booklet, which Trista has lovingly laid out for us. I'm thinking it will need some pretty significant rewrites, though. There's a lot of 'Christianese' in it, and the goal for every booklet is to make it as easy to translate as possible. I'll be getting up close and personal with a thesaurus soon. 

Please continue to pray for my health situation. I've been having blood pressure issues again, and that makes life very not fun. 

I hope you have a fantastic time celebrating my birthday without me.

Bye!

The Weekly Wrap-Up: January 4-8, 2021

Happy New Year!

Is it over, yet?

Yeah, so there's a lot going on in the world right now. A lot of bad stuff. And all of it convinces me that we need to work harder than ever to bring people to Jesus. Because no government, no social cause, no NGO, NOTHING is going to save us except Jesus Christ. A reckoning is coming, and I, for one, intend to be ready. 

It feels weird to say that and then talk about the very mundane aspects of my work. But that's what y'all signed up for! So here we go.

New year means new energy and reorganization and setting goals and priorities. 

All of which means meetings. I think I spent more time on Zoom this week than I did off. I think I had one hour on Monday that wasn't spent on Zoom. There were plenty of other meetings throughout the week, but I still managed to put together the two newest books in Tagalog. It was not pleasant. The new books are filled with a lot of different elements, and Tagalog is a language with lots of long words. The two things don't always go together well. But I persevered and managed to create something passable. Now it's up to the proofreaders to decide whether or not I did a good job. 

My other big project this week was the online training bootcamp. Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, we did already do this in November. Yes, we are doing it again. Now, our original group is going to train a larger group of people how to use Zoom. We've been reworking some of the training materials and prepping the new facilitators, but ultimately, I'm going to take a step back and just let them at it. I always think the best way to learn is by doing and by teaching others. 

That's about it, really. I'm optimistic about the work of T&M this year, if not that optimistic about anything else. So we take what we can get.

Bye!