West Cocoa Chat

I’m publishing the following “Changes in Florida Official State Symbols” in honor of the fact that we here in Brevard County on the East Central Coast of Florida, are now facing our fifth hurricane in 3 years courtesy of now Tropical Storm Ernesto. Already lines at gas stations are getting long from people like me who are filling gas cans and vehicles in preparation of power outages and no gas.

The big question is do I “board up” all or part of the house. We’re supposed to feel the effects of Ernesto starting on Wednesday. As some of you remember with our Hurricane Wilma last year that ended up dumping almost 15 inches of rain in 24 hours on our humble abode of West (I think Steve said he heard CNN mention “West Cocoa” during the flooding.) Cocoa, it’s not so much the wind but the massive amounts of rain that can be the most damaging effect of a minimal Category 1 hurricane or strong Tropical Storm.

So, my fellow bloggers, pray Mr. Ernesto takes a right hand turn and heads out into the open Atlantic. Enjoy the list below while I can still laugh.
(http://www.myspacecoast.com/Florida_Humor/Changes%20in%20Florida%20Official%20State%20Symbols.htm)

Changes in Florida Official State Symbols
Gov. Jeb Bush held a special news conference in Tallahassee today to inform the people of Florida of new state symbols. The changes take effect immediately and must be implemented by all official agencies. The changes are as follows:
The Florida State Flag will now be a blue tarp...............
The license plate symbol of two oranges will be replaced by a chain saw.
The new State song will be " Blowing in the Wind".
The state motto will now be..."Oh my God, Here comes another one".
The new state beverage will be ............. anything with an alcohol base.
The new State tree will be any that are left standing at the end of hurricane season.
The new State Bird will be the "whipper"will.
The new State nickname will be "State of Disaster".
However, keep in mind, that Disney will be the "last man standing" as they are up and running.

Here are two of mine:
1. New designer Florida Windows – sheets of plywood
2. Most hated phrase to hear on radio or T.V. in Florida, “Its time to “hunker down.”

My son who is now a junior in high school, had homework the other night. Normally Steven is very conscientious about his studies but for some reason (no jeers from the guitar gallery please) he was playing his guitar instead of working on his homework. As Steven was playing and singing one of his favorite Contempoary Christians songs, I yelled from the living room, “Son, you need to start your homework.”

His response was, “In a minute, I’m learning about Jesus in here.” Hard to throw a book at a kid who is singing (and learning?) about Jesus.

Greg's recent ("You Make The Call" at http://gregengland.com/ ) post and some (including mine) of the comments prompted me to think about the concept of "compassion." As I see it, there are definitely two sides to this coin with respect to pitching to “Jordan,” the stud of the 9 and 10 year old baseball team, or practicing good baseball strategy and intentionally walking Jordan to get to “Romney,” a skinny, frail cancer survivor by all accounts.

First, there is the stance of pitching to Jordan and thus practicing some level of compassion in pitching to the good hitter and not avoiding Jordan to get to a sure out in pitching to Romney. Though I answered in the affirmative of this choice I will admit that the old “Ball (to borrow a Steve Spurrier term) Coach” in me winced at not practicing the obvious choice based on Baseball Strategy 101 and thus appearing to not support my players and my team if I had been the opposing coach.

I guess I just stated some of the second position which would be to be true to your boys and your team and as some of the folks who commented on Greg’s blog stated, no one forced Romney to play baseball. In making such a choice, Romney needs to be welcomed into the (my phrasing now so forgive me if I’m not characterizing some of the opposing comments) world of winners and losers because this is a reality of life.

In all of the thinking I’ve been doing on this subject I’ve only come up with more questions:

1. When is it the right time to bring children from the world of innocence into the world of winners, losers, competition, and “reality?”
2. I’ll go counter “Mr. Spock” on this one. Is there ever a time when the needs of the “few” out-weigh the needs of the “many?”

Final thoughts – As a teacher I’ve seen education (my opinion) become less “compassionate” due to the state of “high stakes testing” that we currently find ourselves operating under. Perhaps we need this kind of environment to compete in a global economy?

Second – As I turn my thoughts towards my experiences as a Christian I have been confronted by acts that seemed to be devoid of compassion. The most recent taking place in July when an individual not belonging to our church, took bits and pieces of some of my posts and attempted to used them to discredit what ever character I possess, at a recent gathering here in Florida. I thought I was use to these acts which seem to be devoid of compassion but I wasn’t. I was thrown “back” for a couple of days.

To this “brother / sister” who will remain nameless, I say welcome to our blog family. I say this with as much love and compassion as I can muster. You are welcome to comment at any time. I say that as an honest invitation and not a veiled challenge. We have varying opinions in this blog community but our love for one another is unwavering.

To this “brother/sister” I say please believe me when I say that I am not a threat to your church. I respect your church, your church's ministry, and your elders. I wish nothing but the best for you and the congregation that you attend. I do wish our 2 churches could find ways to work (I believe we’ve tried) together but if nothing else, I wish that we could just peacefully co-exist.

My brothers and sisters, those who like me and those who despise me, those who know me and those who know of me, I make an appeal to all of us:

No matter what we would have done in the case of “Jordan and Romney,” we must endeavor to do this:
To be Jesus to one another and perhaps that means showing compassion even to those we don’t like.

I welcome all readers to my blog and I hope you always feel free to agree, respectfully disagree, and by all means, to comment. If you’re local (and even if you’re not) please feel free to call me if you feel you need something clarified or if you feel that I need correcting. I may not agree with you but I promise to listen to you in love.

There’s my heart the best way I know how to bare it on this imperfect medium of the written word.

Have a good weekend guys.

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

In many middle schools across America, the concept of "school within a school" is a standard practice. The more generic term is “teaming.” The team (4 academic teachers / approximately 130 students) that I am a member of is called the “Spartans Team.” We practice what for many middle schools is the annual rite of holding a “team dinner.” Actually we should have called our meeting a “Team Dessert” since we only served sweets following our presentation.

The main purpose of a Team Dinner is to give both parents and students a non-threatening venue that they can use to become more familiar with their child’s teachers and facility. Each member of our team spoke on different aspects of making the transition from elementary school to high school in their 2 years (7th and 8th grades) at a middle school.

Two thoughts came to mind:
First, I remembered how just a few short years ago, not only was I a teacher presenting this kind of material to anxious and worried parents who were bringing their children from the sheltering environment of an elementary school, I was one of “them” when my son was here.

Second, I couldn’t help but think of the church. Do we need to hold “Team Dinners” at our churches so to speak for our new members and our visitors? I’ve been in “church” for so long I wonder if I can identify with how a visitor or new member feels when they first enter our church environment.

Just a thought or two.
Have a good day bloggers.

Having a 16 year old in the home at various times can lead to stressful situations. Yesterday wasn’t one of those times. We have a “chalkboard” which we refer to as our “Prayer Board” that hangs in our kitchen. We write the names of people or situations that we’re praying for as a family.

When Barb and I came home yesterday, Steven had written on our “Prayer Board,” “Stress Free Environment.” However, he had done more than pray about it. Our 16 year old boy had taken the time to clean our kitchen, living room, and his bedroom. You talk about de-stressing the family. His reaction afterwards was priceless. He said, “I really feel good about myself.” A lesson for us adults to get out there and serve others.

We celebrated with 7 pieces of “Purdue (no additives) Chicken” on the grill and all for a grand total of $4.79! How about that for economy?

Nevertheless, we were thankful for our son’s contribution to a stress free environment in our home yesterday. He still hasn’t asked us for something or to go somewhere yet.

Have a good weekend my blogging family.

No, this isn't a picture of our Fellowship Room but it was the best picture of a "meeting" that I could find. Hello all, I'm back. I’ve been busy getting ready for the start of (sorry Steve) school which commences this Wednesday. Apologies for my lack of blogging.

One of the most stressful activities a church can engage in is holding an “open forum / business meeting.” It can be especially stressful for the leaders of the church that are running the meeting. I’m sure we can all relate some “horror stories” of church business meetings that we’ve participated in or have heard about second hand.

At our church we call business meetings “Family Talks.” In fact, we address our congregation almost exclusively as “Family.” You can probably gauge the “spirit of the church” by the manner in which it’s members conduct themselves. That’s probably not true in every case because I’m sure there could be some occasions where perhaps a member or two has some kind of issue that they want to take up in an “open forum” setting with the leadership. The preceding may not always be a negative experience unless said parties have by-passed the teachings of Jesus (Matt. 18:15 – 20) and, or, conduct themselves in a mean spirited way during the meeting.

I’m proud (and glad) to say that the spirit of our “Family Talk” was both positive and affirming. I asked our church family if they had any questions for us. What came back were affirmations for our leadership team and admonitions from individual members to their fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ to “get busy.” One sister said that “we” needed to move from being “consumers” to “producers” for the Lord.

As I reflect on the “sweetness” of our meeting, I want to thank our Heavenly Father for sending His Holy Spirit for it was evident that He was working in the lives of our members. I’d like to think that it helps to be open and honest as a leadership with the church.

In addition, we’ve been on a bit of a push to get our church to follow the steps of conflict resolution as laid down by Jesus in Matthew 18. We must break the cycle of sin where fellow Christians have some kind of issue with a fellow believer, whether it’s something he or she has written or said, and instead of going to that person in love, they talk around and about that individual.

The ministry of Godly conflict resolution takes time and energy but it’s benefits are a church that can be unified even when fellow members disagree.

Have a good day my fellow bloggers.