Glass Pieces

I had someone ask me to post more glass pieces.  I always post my stuff on Facebook under Wayne's Panes.  (There is a link on the right column.)  But I will post a few of the newer things.

I have been playing with my GlassEye program.  This is a CAD program specifically for designing stained glass.  I want to make sure people know that these are ideas to be possibly made.

I really do hope to make these two.  I think a stained glass portrait is a cool concept.  I have not seen many of these.

A final glass piece.  This was Nic's Christmas present for this year.

Observation While Watching Campaign Commercials

I find it sad that we have come to a place in America where helping people get good healthcare is seen as something negative.

10 Months and Counting!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Once in Our Lifetime!

What's Been Happening

Well, I know I haven't blogged in a while.  I guess I have not been writing because I have not been in the best of moods and I get tired of being a total downer.

At least I have started to get more preaching Sundays.  This helps to keep me "in practice" and making some money.  It is nice, but it lacks the ability to get to know people and become part of a community.  I have been going to Nic's church, and that has been nice.  But I always feel like I can't really engage because I am so often away.

I hope to have some deep thoughts for you all later, but just wanted to stop by to say, "Hi!"

11 Months 'til Christmas!

Spleen Venting

Well, I got another "Dear Fr. Ben" letter from a congregation.  I got denied from cover letter and resume alone.

It makes it really hard to keep going.  I keep wondering if this is the thing I should be doing and then it seems that I keep running into roadblocks.  One can only keep going and trusting for so long before the question needs to be asked, "Maybe the GPS has the wrong directions?"

My clergy career has been rocky, at best.  It has been strewn with ghosts of past alcoholic pastors, power hungry secretaries, rude congregational volunteers, and various children dressed in adult suits.  Really, it shouldn't be this hard.

And now, I feel pained into a corner because my other skills in the psych area are a bit rusty.  I would have trouble going back into the field just from dusty credentials.  So what I have done doesn't seem to want me any more, and my longer past is no longer up to date.  I feel like I have nothing that I can do and I am still paying on my degree that allowed me the "privilege" of working in the church.

Going back to school would incur more debt, but I also do not want to go back to Starbux, I think if I had to continually serve "Upside-down Caramel Macciatos," I would, in not kill someone, at least serious scald someone.

I have got to wonder if I even want to be associated with "Christian" no days.  What passes for Christian in no way represents what I believe.  I feel that congregations just want to be little "Drama Centers" or little fiefdoms. It seems that people don't really want to be about the work of Christ, but they want to claim to be.

I know I keep crying "wolf" about ditching the clergy thing, but it is a constant presence in my mind.  I am notorious for getting into crusades, and I wonder if the whole priest thing was just another crusade that I tossed my life after.

I am getting tired of doing nothing.  I have to get some kind of discipline in my life, but it is hard.  Everything just seems to take on a "why bother" aura.

An Observation

Is it just a coincidence that Pap Smear and Pabst Beer sound similar?

Thoughts on Marriage

Well, Nic and I went and did it.  We got married, legally.  We drove to Iowa and did all the legalities.  Our legal anniversary is Jan 2, 2012; or for people like me who are a little help in remembering things, 1/2/12.

The whole marriage thing had a bit of cloak-and-dagger about it.  My family had let me know previously that the whole "two men getting married" was just a little too weird for them.  They have always treated us well, and when we visit, we are not excluded from anything, but they do not seem to be able to fit their world view around the concept that Nic and I not only want to live together, but we want our relationship recognized like any other couple.  So we arranged for a local, gay-friendly pastor to do a small service and to sign the papers.  We are planning an affirmation of vows later at Nic's church.

It is just kind of sad that we could not celebrate our love for each other in the manner as the rest of the world.  But it is what it is.  And we still have the problem of being legal in Iowa and other states that recognize same-sex marriage, but not recognized in other states nor on a national level.

But, even with all of this, I am MARRIED!  The man that I love and I have declared to the world that we intend to stick together until "death do we part."

And that is something to smile about!

What Did Santa Bring You?

Jehovah's Witnesses at the Door

I had a very pleasant conversation with some Jehovah's Witnesses this morning.  I posted about it on Facebook and got slightly rebuked by the owner of the house we are housesitting.  His comment was that he had finally gotten them to go away and never come back by telling them he was a pastor and openly gay.  Now he was afraid that my hospitality would have them ringing his doorbell again.

This just didn't set well with me.  I know that people always look for ways of brushing off JW's and Mormons.  We just don't want to get into it with them.  But are we really acting in a Christian manner just to come up with a way of offending them to make them leave?

Is it very loving to purposely offend someone?  I don't think so.  In thinking about the situation, I think Jesus would have talked to the people.  Jesus would have looked for a way to love them and to engage them.

And also, although I am secure in my faith, I am not haughty enough to think that I have all the right answers and that I do not have something that I can learn.  I also look at this as a way of sharing my faith with them.  I don't see how that can ever be a wrong thing.  If we are so certain that they are wrong, then aren't we honor bound to share our truth with them also?  (No, I do not advocate pounding people with the Faith Hammer.)

I remember some "Christian" who talked about how having Gays come into the church would be a sign that the Holy Spirit wanted that person to speak the TRUTH to the gays.  I wondered if the Holy Spirit was bringing the gays into the church to speak the TRUTH to the church.  How do I not know that maybe there was a word of truth for me in what these women were saying?

Actually, I have great respect for JW's; what they do is not easy.  How many of us would go from door to door knowing that we would probably be subject to ridicule or even have the door slammed?  I would love to have a congregation that was willing to put legs on their faith and go out into the world.  That takes more faith and more courage than we find in most pews.

I am glad I had the opportunity to speak to these two kind ladies.

Another of THOSE nights

Well, it seems to be one of those nights were everything is going through my head and nothing seems to want to slow down enough to let me sleep.

The biggest problem lately seems to be the problem of finding a job.  Two weeks before Christmas is not a good time to be job hunting.  Also, jobs within the church as about as plentiful as compassionate republicans.  It just gets so frustrating to think that ten years of college is just sitting here playing CastleVille.

I did, at least, get the glass unpacked.  Now I am able to make some things.  At least if feels like I am doing something!  Otherwise I just sit here and feel like life is futile.  We don't have MSNBC so I have not gotten upset about all the crap that is going on in the world, but it still feels like no one in the world is happy.

Christmas is coming but I really am not looking forward to it.  All it seems like is a conspiracy to show just how little money we have.  They talk about giving huge gifts but most of the gifts this year will be the "Thank God we can be together" type.

I am still batting around the idea of leaving the church behind.  It really has not been a pleasant journey for me.  I know I keep saying that, but I really don't see any way out.  I know that I am supposed to live on God's time, but that is becoming harder and harder to do.  And I also feel like I am trapped here.  How can I start a new career path at 47?  I am still trying to pay off the school loans from my previous foray into school.

I am so far at the end of my rope I feel like I just need to give it a good swing and let go.  I don't really know what else to do.  For those of you out there with a good job, thank the Lord.  If you are working part-time with no benefits, ask how this came to be and let's all do something about it.

Get Out in the Wilderness! Advent 2 B

They say that the way something starts gives you a clue as to what you can expect for the rest of the journey.  And in today’s gospel reading, we have the very beginning of the gospel of Mark.  And the way that Mark begins the story of Jesus Christ, the Son of God is by telling about John the Baptist.  Doesn’t this seem kind of odd to you?

We would expect the gospel to jump right in and give us all the good stuff about Jesus.  We would expect Mark to start telling us all the deep theological stuff.  And if we don’t get right to the Good News, then at least we should start with the birth story of Jesus.  But we don’t get this.  We don’t get a birth story of Jesus.  To start the story of the Good News of Jesus Christ, we are sent…out into the wilderness!  (You knew that was coming, didn’t you?)

And when we get out into the wilderness, we don’t find what we think we should find.  We get out into the wilderness and we find John.  Now, in biblical times, there were a lot of strange things, but John was strange, even by biblical standards.  We are told about his dressing and eating habits not as some kind of interesting sideline, but to let us know that this guy is weird!  John is not someone most people, even in Biblical times, would choose to associate with.  John was a fringe person.  Again, we are being told to not search for Jesus in the usual places.  We are not sent to the temples, we are not sent to the palaces.  We are sent out into the wilderness and sent to see the lunatics.

But why?  Why do we have to go out and see the lunatics?  So often we seem to assume that we are sent out to see the people in the wilderness so we can help them and bring them back with us.  And yes, one of the reasons that we go out to those who are in the world is to spread God’s love to those who need to hear the Good News, but also, we go out into the wilderness to be blessed.  We are not going out to John to bring John to the church.  John is never going to be in a church.  So if we don’t go out to John because John will never be a “good member,” then we are going to miss the things that we can learn from John; we are going to miss the blessings that only John can bring.  And we will not find John by sitting here hoping John comes in the doors.  John is never going to set foot in the building.  The building is just not big enough to John.  No, to get the blessings that can only come from John, we have to go out to John.  And to find John, we have to go out into the wilderness.

So the question becomes, for St. Augustine’s, what does a trip into the wilderness look like?  Often, we want to claim that because we are older or we have been at it for a while, that we do not need to go out into the wilderness.  But that is just not the case.  John does come into the temple to do the baptizing.  We are not told to wait until Jesus wanders into town.  We are sent out there, out to the weirdo John.  The story of Jesus begins with John out ranting and raving in the wildness; eating weird things and wearing strange clothes.

Wildernesses can be just about anyplace.  Wilderness can be someplace way far away or it can be someplace nearby viewed in another context.  I worked in a camp for a few summers.  Walking the trails during the day, we got to know the trails pretty well.  Got to know some of them so well that we would go running down them, at night, with no flashlight.  We got to know the trails well.  But once, I was taking a group of kids on a night hike and I stepped off the trail.  And I dropped about a foot down the side of a hill.  I suddenly was in a wilderness.  I had to figure how to get back on the trail and get the kids with me back on the trail.  (Oh, I would not leave anyone bring a flashlight on a night hike!  Well, after this event, I would ALWAYS carry a flashlight.  Well, this and the situation of running into a tree at night.  But that is a whole different story.)  I went out expecting to give the kids an experience they had probably not had living in the city, and I learned the lesson of carrying a flashlight!  I learned that I was responsible for these kids and it was negligent of me to not have a light, just in case!

Wilderness was something that was right there, just beyond the well-worn path.  So often when we think of wilderness we think of things like the jungle, or Borneo, or Detroit.  And all of these places can be wilderness, but again, how do we here in Mason, we who may not have the money or the health to travel to far-flung Jackson to find Jesus in the wilderness.  How do we find wilderness?

A colleague of mine came up with a wonderful idea for an outreach project.  It involved going out to the wilderness of the Mini-Mart!  She had suggested that her congregation make Christmas stockings for the people who worked on Christmas Eve at the local mini-marts.  That they could bring a stocking to the people and sing them a carol.  It was not a big thing, but it was a way of saying that the Church was thinking of these people who had to work.  And it was not to be done as a way of dragging people into church.  It was to be a gift of love to those in the wilderness. 

You see, the wilderness does not need to be that far away.  It can be the people working at Meijer.  It can be the folks in the bar.  It can be at the coffee shop.  The thing is, in trying to find Jesus, we can’t just sit in the temple—we have to go out.  Mark, in the gospel, reminds us of that.  The story of Jesus starts with John in the wilderness.  The way to find the love of Christ is to be out in those scary, uncomfortable places; encountering people who stretch our comfort levels.  If we are searching for Jesus, we need to go out into the wilderness.

It doesn’t take a whole lot, but it is something that WE have to do.  We can hold a door open for someone.  We can let someone go ahead of us in line.  We can smile at someone who is frowning.  We can reach out to those who may feel that the world has forgotten them.  Especially at this time, when so many things are telling us to have a Holly Jolly Christmas, some people may feel all alone.

During this second week of Advent, Mark again sends us out, out into the wilderness.  In Advent as we await the coming of Christ, we are also called to search out Christ in our world.  Wherever those places may be.

It's a Train! Advent 1 B

Mark 13:24-37

I got a joke for you:  (I will use Germans, since I am of German descent.)  There were two old Germans out arguing one day.  The one German said, “Those are deer tracks!”   The other said, “No, those are moose tracks!”  They stood there and argued and argued over who was right.  The question is, “Who WAS right?”  Well, we’ll never know, because they got ran over by a train.

In our gospel reading for today, Jesus is talking all about signs.  Jesus is talking about looking for signs of the coming of the end.  It may seem weird that we would be talking about the end of the world at the beginning of the new church year.  And it may seem weird that we would be talking about the end of the world when we are starting Advent, the time when we are anticipating the coming of Christ to the world.  But weird or not, that is our reading for this Sunday. 

Jesus tells us to look for signs in our world.  He uses the things that the people would have known, things like the fig tree.  Jesus uses the natural progression of the tree to help people realize that the coming of the messiah will occur within the workings of daily life.  He tells the people to look to things and try to read the signs.  But the thing that we miss in the reading for today is the part that happens just before today’s reading.  You see, the disciples were looking at the wonderful buildings and temples in the city, and although they looked big and beautiful, Jesus was saying that these buildings would tumble.  The signs that the disciples were to be looking for would not be found in the temples where the people would expect to find the signs, they would be found in the wilds, where they would be least expected.

Jesus would not be found in the temples.  The messiah was not to be held in the glorious buildings.  And looking for the savior in the established places would be futile.  The places where the savior is SUPPOSED to be will end up in an empty search.  The buildings will fall, and the people will still be searching.

The poor old Germans in joke were searching.  But they were searching in the wrong place.  They were searching moose and deer, but they were not looking in the right place.  They were looking at the tracks that were obvious to them, but the obvious tracks were not going to lead to the end the old Germans desired.  Looking for deer and moose by following train tracks led to a disastrous end.  And Jesus would point out that the most obvious ways of searching are not necessarily the best ways.

Anyone who has gone hunting knows that looking for the trails of deer or other game requires some knowledge of the animal.  The person who is tracking has to be aware of the subtle changes that surround them.  They have to be aware of the broken branches and the leaves that have been eaten.  It is by following the subtle signs, not the big glaring tracks of steel that will lead hunters to they quarry.  All that following the large, man-made tracks will do is scare the animals away and lead to dissapointment.

Granted, Jesus does talk about some big signs; “The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light;” but these are still the natural signs.  These are the signs out in the world.  We have to be out of the building to be able to see the signs Jesus speaks of.  We have to be out in the wilderness to see the subtlety of the changing of the fig tree.  The buildings will fall apart, but the signs of Jesus coming are not found in the buildings!

For the people of biblical times, this would be a surprise.  You may remember I have said that the Messiah was supposed to be a warrior king.  The Messiah was supposed to come in and clear away all of the peoples’ enemies by a show of force.  To the people of biblical times, kings, leaders, rulers would all have palaces and great monuments; and it would be in these monuments that the king would be found.  So for Jesus to be telling the people that the great temples will fall and that the Messiah will not be found there is quite shocking.

But for us, this should not be too surprising.  We, the ones who know the story from our vantage point two-thousand year in the future should comfortable with this.  We should know not to look for Christ in the “usual” spots.  We should be used to finding the tomb empty.  We should be used to finding the King eating with the tax collectors, beggars, and prostitutes.  We should be comfortable with the idea of the Son of God being born in a stable.  We should know – as a part of our being – that we need to look of our Savior “outside” of the expected places.  But so often, we find ourselves in the place of the old Germans, we are looking for moose and deer but end up following the train tracks.  Now granted, the train tracks are easier to follow, but those old Germans are never going to find what they are looking for.

So often we are surrounded by people who think they have found the right signs, and they are very willing to do all kinds of things to follow those tracks.  They are willing to spend two weeks sleeping in a tent to be the first to purchase their savior.  They are willing to spray pepper-spray on others in order to grab their savior out of the hands of another.  They are willing to put those around them in jeopardy just so they can get what they feel they deserve.  But I have trouble believing that our Savior is going to be found on an X-Box 360 or appear on a waffle made with the $2 waffle iron, the acquisition of which sent three people to the hospital.  I have trouble believing the Savior will appear in the Summer House in the Alps or the Winter House in Cancun.  I have trouble believing our Savior will appear in any monument we build to ourselves, even if we say we are building it to the glory of God.

The problem with the “expected” tracks is they WILL always lead to SOMETHING.  Who knows, maybe the old Germans will convince themselves that trains are actually moose and deer.  But just because they call the train a moose, doesn’t make it a moose.  Just because we have been told that church is a place we are to find comfort, doesn’t mean that our search for Christ should end when we are comfortable.  We can try to convince ourselves of this, but then we are left trying to chew on a train instead of having venison.

Christ calls us to look for signs.  Christ calls us to search.  But Christ calls us to look for the signs in the wilderness.  Christ calls us to look beyond what our world would tell us.  Christ is not found on the cross.  Christ is not found in the tomb.  Christ is not found in the palace.  Christ is not even found in the comfort of the maternity ward.  We find Christ in the wilderness.  We find Christ on the fringes.  We find Christ in those places that most of society would choose to avoid.

In searching for Christ this Advent, where will you search?  What wilderness are you being drawn to?  The tracks you are following; will they lead to Christ or to a train wreck?  Christ is calling us to him.  Christ wants us to find him!  Christ will give us the opportunities we need if we will only search.  The search will probably be difficult, but I am sure the results will be worth it!  And if our search ends up sending us headlong into an on-coming train, then I am also sure Christ will be there to help us back on our way.

Crafts for the Gay Man!

I know that I should come up with something of my own, but this is too good not to share!

TAMPON ANGELS!

One Month!

Christ the King

Well, we have made it to the end of the church year.  Today is Christ the King Sunday.   This is the day that we celebrate the reign of Christ over the world.

Since we so often hear how America is such a Christian country, I figured I should be able to just look around and see all kinds of signs that Christ truly is the King.  But for how much I looked, I had some difficulty finding any sign that anyone truly believed that Christ was the king.  People were crabby.  Drivers were mean.  No one seemed to care about anyone except themselves.  For being such a Christian country, we seem to be so far from living our Christian heritage.

Why do we, and I am not just talking about us gathered here this morning, but all of us in this “so called” Christian country, have difficulty showing to the world just how Christian we are?  If Christ really is the King of our lives, why is it so hard to see? 

One of the big arguments our Jewish friends have is exactly that question:  If Jesus was the Son of God; then why isn’t it more obvious in the world?  And I really think they have a point.  As a friend of mine always asked, “If being a Christian were illegal, could people find enough evidence to convict you?

I think one of the problems is with the whole “King” thing.  We don’t have a whole lot of experience with kings, and often the experience we do have has more to do with Elvis as the King of Rock ‘n Roll or Michael Jackson as the King of Pop.  Quite often, when we think of King, we think of someone who is out in front, out seeking popularity.  We may think of some of the tyrants from third world countries, but we probably have the most experience dealing with the King as showman.

When it comes to Christ the King, Christ OUR King, we don’t have a showman.  We don’t have someone who is out seeking fame; we don’t have someone who is out there trying to dominate all the things, quite the contrary.  We have a King who is a servant.  We have a King who is not seeking the limelight.  We have a King who is not out seeking popularity; and to us, this can feel odd.  In our world, the things that we are TOLD are important are those things that are constantly seeking our attention and seeking our adoration.  We are told our politicians are important because they are always on TV.  We are told celebrities are important because they are always seeking our adoration.  We are informed by the media that these people are important, and that we are supposed to follow their leads. 

But our King, Christ the King, is different.  I think if Jesus were in the world right now, we probably wouldn’t hear much about it on TV.  He wouldn’t be making the headlines.  He wouldn’t be on the 11 o’clock news.  I don’t know if he would even make it to the morning talk shows.  Jesus didn’t make it onto the radar of the leadership of Biblical times until the end of his ministry.  And then, when he did make it into their consciousness, it wasn’t in a positive manner.  No, I think Jesus would more likely be one of the Occupy Wall Street people than one of the politicians.

Now, you may wonder why I would say that.  Well, look at what Jesus says to the sheep and the goats in today’s parable.  Jesus does not separate the sheep from the goats by how much they have acquired.  Jesus does not separate the sheep from the goats by the size of the house the creature has.  Jesus does not use the usual, or worldly, methods of separating the sheep from the goats; Jesus’ method of judgment is a challenge to us.  Jesus’ method of judgment is a challenge for us to move beyond the expectations of the world and move on to something quite incredible.  Jesus’ method of judgment asks us to look beyond caring for our own needs and reaching out to care for the needs of others.

Our world tells us to look out for ourselves.  Our society holds the “lifting yourself up by your bootstraps” in high regard.  Our world seems to think that if you are poor, unemployed, or have some kind of disease, then this is your own fault and you are getting what you disserve.  Our world keeps telling us that the people who are industrious are the ones whom God helps.  You know, “God helps those who help themselves!”  (Actually, this is not in the Bible at all.  It is most often attributed to Ben Franklin, but more accurately came from Algernon Sydney in 1698.)

But this is so opposite of what Jesus is saying in today’s Gospel.  When Jesus lifts up the sheep, he doesn’t praise them for being frugal; he doesn’t praise them for not creating dependent deadbeats.  He does not praise them for helping those who help themselves.  What he does do is praise the sheep for helping those who were in need.  He praises them for feeding the hungry, for bringing drink to the thirsty, for visiting those in prison.  (What we need to remember about visiting those in prison, this wasn’t just a social visit, prison did not supply for those in prison.  It was up to visitors to bring supplies for the in prison.)  He tells the sheep that when they helped the least in society, that they were, in fact, helping Jesus.  This is no, “God helps those who help themselves,” this is God looking with gladness upon those who reach out the hand of love to those around them.

On Christ the King Sunday, we are once again reminded that the way of the world is not the way of Christ.  We are reminded that our King is not a showman or someone seeking fame.  We are reminded that we are to be followers of Christ and that we are to reach out to others in Christian love.  We are reminded that when Christ looks to us, Christ is not interested in what we have acquired for ourselves, but what we have given to others.

What ways can we reach out?  How can we feed the hungry?  How can we clothe the poor?  How can we become the people of God out, in the world?  How do we trust in our King more than we trust in our own bootstraps?  We claim Christ as our kind, but do we really believe this?  This is the tough part.  Do we trust that we can give?  Do we trust that God will care for us when we step out in faith?

Ponderings

I have been thinking about all the hoopla surrounding Occupy Wall Street.  I was thinking about the 1% carpeting the protesters in McDonald's applications.  I have seen postings about how #OWS is just a bunch of whining babies.  And I keep getting more and more offended.

My first thought:  If these people had jobs, good jobs,  would they be out protesting?  Obviously the "Job Creators" are not creating jobs.  If they were creating jobs, the people would not be out protesting.  And not just any jobs, but jobs people can take pride in.

Secondly:  Are McDonald's applications being used because the only jobs that are available are at McDonald's?  If minimum wage jobs are the only thing that economy can produce, then we are really in some trouble.  If our economy can only produce low-pay, no insurance jobs, we are definitely on the downward slide.  When I hear people say, "I work two jobs I hate because I don't want to whine," it saddens me.  Is this all we have to look to?

Thirdly:  If this is what the 1% think we desire, they are sorely mistaken.  We want fulfillment from our jobs just like they want fulfillment from theirs.  I know I would be willing to work at a lower paying job if I could feel that I am DOING something.  Handing overpriced lattes to affluent soccer moms is not my idea of fulfillment.

Fourthly:  If the 1% think we can afford medical insurance on part-time pay, they are WAY out of touch with the world.  Or that we want to work two part-time jobs to make ends meet.  We like to have healthcare just like they want healthcare.  And working part-time for McDonald's isn't going to do it.

Fifthly:  We like to have vacations too.  We are even happy just to have some time at the lake, we don't need to go to Rio or the Riviera.  We are happy to have a tent or a hotel, we don't need a luxury spa resort.  We just want to have a good time at our working class vacation spots with our family and not have to worry that the vacation will push the budget over the edge.  Who can enjoy a vacation when every expense must be fretted over.

Sixthly:  I have ten years of college!  What a waste to be putting that education to work making sure the "upside-down caramel macciato" is exactly 170 degrees.  I can, and have, worked minimum wage jobs, but I would hope that in the greatest country on earth I could find a job that allowed some of the "American Dream."

Showering the #OWS people with McDonald's applications may have seemed like a funny idea to some people, but it just goes to show how out of touch some people are.  People want jobs with dignity and that have worth; give these jobs to people and they will work them.  People would not care that the richest people have their toys if we knew we had the basics and a little extra to make life pleasant.  Yes, I could work at McDonald's, but I would get very tired of it very soon and I would probably end up throwing a McHeart Attack into someones face out of frustration.

Is this all we have to offer as "The Greatest Country?"  If so, how pathetic.

New Place

Well, we are in the new house.  And it is starting to look more like a home.  The bulk of the boxes are now in storage.  The glass room is getting set up.  Pretty soon I will be able to start making CHRISTMAS STUFF!!  (Well, I have been making some Christmas stuff for a while, but now I can get back at it!)

Now I can start looking for work around here.  I would like to find a church, but I am not so sure that will happen.  But that also means that I can start looking for calls across our great country.  Actually, I would prefer to find a call in the southern part of the US, but we will see.