Guy eating pancakes: Everything's funny in retrospect, like the time I got that screwdriver stuck in my eye.
I suppose I haven't post in a while, which means, I have some catching up to do. For instance, my youth group ended up not being able to go to Watertown, because the weather would have been too bad and it was decided that it was just safer not to risk the roads not being good. So, that does indeed mean that I have a sermon burning a hole in my pocket. Or rather, my purse, but I haven't taken it out of my purse yet, but you get the idea. Jeremy says he will make sure I preach it sometime soon. Quite honestly, I was looking forward to preaching again just to see if I have totally lost my touch. You see, the last sermon I preached in my home church didn't go so well. (Good thing my mother doesn't read this, or else she'd be like, "Andra, don't say that!") It sort of resembled a train wreck with someone laughing through it the entire time. But anyway, I wanted to see if I somehow took a wrong turn in the "road of life" and it somehow isn't my calling.
When I look back, I really only see all the times that I have totally failed after I opened my mouth. For instance, the End of the School Year Bash my freshman year, when for some reason I thought that everyone was expecting me to speak, but I didn't have anything prepared, so I just got up there and rambled on for way too long. All the while people just looked and tried to pay attention, but I was really just going on for far too long. And then, I hadn't turned my cell phone off, so it went off while I was going on for too long.
Then there was one time I preached in church and it went for way too short. I probably set the record for quickest a church service has ever gotten out. You know you haven't spoken for long enough when afterward people tell you, "At least I didn't fall asleep," meaning that I didn't give them enough time to fall asleep.
Then there was the NYC presentation that Krista and I gave after we got back. The lesson I learned from that is even though you say stupid things, don't tell your entire church that you ever said, "I looked at the pamphlet and it said 50 states were represented and I said, 'Which ones are missing?'" That's not something you say when you have a mike in a church.
There are many times where I have not done a good job speaking. That's really my point here.
I should be going to bed. In fact, I have no idea why I am even awake. Maybe I am hoping school will be canceled and then I will get a break and can at least take a nap. I don't really want school to be canceled, but at any rate, I should be going to bed right now.
And yet, here I am. You see, my youth group is putting on a service in Watertown on Saturday. I am really hoping that it turns out to be more organized than we were in Africa. (Let's overlook that I got to church to practice late on Wednesday so I ended up not practicing with them.) I am hoping that is God moving and that even though, I don't really think anyone has a clue what we will be doing, that we are still able to stir up that church and get them excited to get their youth ministries fired up. That might be a lot to ask coming from my group though (no offense). Of course, I am just as much to blame, considering I have no ideas for a sermon. So, obviously, I haven't started writing it yet. So, hopefully things fall into place. Hopefully things are driven by God and not us. Because if it were just us, we would crash and burn. For sure.
At the nursing home, one resident asked me to take care of her because she loves me. And this resident doesn't always seem to have it all together (for example, every day I set out a plate to place the pitcher on and she asks if she can have a plate to or why do they only get one plate), she is nice to me and for some odd reason, she seems to like me (according to her, she loves me). Yes, she is the one I forced to take a toothpick. I am finding that most of my stories are about the nursing home.
Now here's the real challenge. After the election yesterday, there is only one thing left to do. (Actually, I suppose you come up with a lot of things left to do, but just go with it.) We have to not only trust Jesus, but we have to praise Jesus.
Psalm 42:6-8
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Hebrews 13:15
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
I had a feeling the outcome of the election would be this way and I'm struggling to see the importance of just one vote (even though I was six months off of being able to vote anyway), but God is in control. God is in control of my life, this country and all governments. God is in control and we should praise Him.
I'm too young to vote.
But, I'm old enough to care about who gets elected.
I'm old enough to care about the issues.
I'm old enough to realize that government affects me.
I'm old enough to know that just because I don't get to write on a ballot, I still need to voice my opinion.
If you talk to me a lot (or I suppose, listen to me talk a lot) you probably know most of my nursing home stories. However, if you are just as bad at keeping in touch as I am, you don't know most of my stories. So, I thought perhaps, since I haven't posted in forever and a day, I should take some time and write down some of my nursing home stories.
Soda can be ambiguous. So, I was washing dishes in the back room. The phone was ringing for the kitchen (you can tell because the ring ends with a deep whenever it is for dietary) and it rang like at least twelve times before I answered. Normally, it doesn't ring for that long, but Stacy was charting and Gloria was getting the water pitchers. So, I answered the phone and Subiaco asked for about a half a cup of soda. So, I said, "I'll make sure we have some." (Since after working for almost three months, I don't really know all of what we have and don't have.) So I ask Gloria if we have soda and she says that we do in the back of the walk-in cooler. On the phone they didn't ask for a certain kind, so Gloria said to get some Sprite or 7Up. I find some store-brand lemon lime soda in one of those cute little half of a can and take it down to Subiaco. The nurse looks at me and starts laughing. I ask if this works and she laughs some more. Finally she says, "I know the lady on the phone didn't say baking soda, but that's what we need."
We cover our plates with "hats" apparently. Kyle is a CNA there and I was the only one in the kitchen at the time. So he asked me for something, but clearly he didn't know quite what it was called. He kind of motioned with his hands that he wanted something to cover the plates and said, "Do you have like...a hat?" I look at him and sort of laugh and say, "You mean a lid?" He said, "Yeah." (I must have been looking at him like I thought this was hilarioius, which I did, but he must have thought that he needed to explain himself.) "Well," he said, "I thought they had a special name." I laugh and say, "And you thought that special name was hat?" I really wasn't trying to make fun of him, but it was funny.
Then there's toothpicks. One of the newer residents is usually the last one at her table when I am clearing the tables, so she's usually sitting there when I am there. (Did you get that? She's sitting there when I'm there, I thought I'd like you know like three times, so you get it.) Anyway, she asked for a toothpick for two days in a row, so I assumed she liked using toothpicks. The third day, she was sitting there and I asked her if she wanted a toothpick. She just kind of looked at me, confused. I say, "You've wanted one before." She looks at me and is still confused, "Sure, I guess." So I bring her a toothpick, but I really felt like I was forcing this toothpick on her. And Gloria was there, but she hadn't been there either day the resident actually asked for a toothpick, so she must have really thought I was forcing a toothpick on her. I really wasn't. The best part of the story is that to use a toothpick... she takes out her teeth, right there at the table.
![[photo source]](http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/vote.jpg){kind=link}