Walnuts on My Windshield - Issue #13

Saturday, September 25, 2004

My life for the past few weeks has been full, busy, hectic, and at times truly frantic, which is why Walnuts haven't been falling on many windshields lately. Actually, there are several on the tree right over the driveway where I park the van, and one nearly scrapes the driver's side window every time I park. That is enough to remind me to write, but if it weren't, I always have gentle reminders from Katie (our webmistress) that it's Friday and Walnuts are due!

As many of you know, Scott is an idea man. He comes up with the ideas, and often I have the opportunity to figure out how to implement them. We spent most of a week working on the latest issue of our ministry newsletter. I'm not complaining, but the process of going from Scott's general ideas to a newsletter in your mailbox is not like falling off a log!

First, Scott gives me the general overview. He says he'd like articles about, for example, his upcoming trip, the guest speaker for our banquet, what our missionary's doing, how the Bible schools are progressing, and the financial state of the ministry. Oh, and he has some prayer requests to include, and wouldn't it be nice to use some quotes from the Bible school students. Plenty of photos and clip art would also be good.

Right. So I take that list and start writing articles. I send the articles, possible pictures, and clip art comments to Katie. Katie does all the layout work: placement, margins, font size, borders, etc. She returns her first draft to me for proofing. I make it bleed and return it to her. We go back and forth on that process several times, before we think we have something with enough potential to show to Scott. Which we do, and then he tells us that he'd like the articles in different locations, he wants one section re-worded, and he wants to use certain pictures that Katie and I have never seen.

On it goes, shoving proof copies back and forth between our three desks, until finally, we have a finished product. Then we print. My, how we print! We have a laser printer, and it can print really fast. However, it won't do color, so we use my HP Deskjet and a Canon ink jet that Jessica was given. I stock up on ink, and away we go. My printer takes 4 minutes per page, and Jessica's is somewhat faster. In all, it takes about five hours to print, using both printers.

This time, while the newsletter was printing, Scott told us he wanted an invitation card to the ministry banquet inserted into all the newsletters to folks living within an hour's drive. That's all he said, so Katie and I designed such a card. We showed it to him and were told that it was all wrong. Getting smarter, we waited for him to design it, then went through a miniature version of the editing process described above.

We also needed new commitment cards, designed in two forms, with two different sets of information. Then Scott told us he wanted updated prayer cards to hand out to people who wanted to pray for him when he travels. Back to Staples for more cardstock! And the printers chug on. All the cards have to be cut neatly with our handy-dandy paper cutter, a job that I refuse to delegate, because I am picky about cuts.

As far as the actual newsletters, I fold, because I am also picky about folds. Jessica stuffs, but refuses to lick. I lick, Katie labels, Jessica stamps, and Josiah applies return address labels. (Somewhere in the process, it was my job to see that the mailing list was updated and both the mailing and return address labels were printed.)

By the time those newsletters actually went in the mail, we were ALL breathing sighs of relief! However, that was just the beginning for Yours Truly. On the heels of the newsletter, I had the opportunity to host two Chinese gentlemen for a week!

Scott met "Peter" in China, when he (Scott) went there to arrange funeral matters when his (Scott's) dad died. "Peter" is the MOST gracious man I think any of us has ever met, and he is now living in the States. He and his young son came to visit us, and "Peter" spoke briefly at our church and was the guest speaker for our ministry banquet. The reason Walnuts production had been suspended was that I was simultaneously working on newsletter stuff, banquet prep, and trying to be a good hostess. Of course, mom-hood always marches on, regardless.

We had a grand time with "Peter" and his brilliant and adorable son. He introduced us to many things Chinese (no diapers on babies, eating from a common bowl, chopsticks technique, men cooking!!!, numerous Chinese phrases, and loads of information on growing up in the Chinese countryside and living in a Chinese city), and we introduced him to many things not Chinese (softball, cereal for breakfast, children on a schedule, roller coasters that go upside down, kickball, wide open land that is used for neither houses nor crops, and desserts).

The ministry banquet was a great success, with 47 people attending, many hearts touched, and numerous commitments made. All the food was donated, the location was donated, and our friends volunteered to handle set up, decorating, serving, and clean up. We have some REALLY nice friends! So the bottom line was that all the offerings received can go straight into the actual ministry overseas, which is a huge blessing.

This week, life is a bit slower for me. I do love the sense of accomplishment that comes from a week like we just had, but it is also nice to have time to clear off my desk, read a book, or write a Walnuts column.

Until next time,
Patty

From my bookshelf:

Touch the Top of the World by Eric Weihenmayer, rank 7. This autobiography is written by a man who went blind in his teens and subsequently climbed Denali (Mt. McKinley) in Alaska, Mt. Kilamanjaro in Africa, and a notorious rock face in Yosemite, whose name I cannot recall right now. Since he wrote this book, I believe he also successfully summited Mt. Everest. I enjoyed the book, but I am AGAIN ready to read a great true adventure story by a Christian.

Quote of the Week:

"Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous." ~ Author Unknown

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