A Volume Ends A New One Begins

To you who are reading this blog, whether for the first time or for the umpteenth time, I appreciate your interest in my writing and for the comments you've shared whether on a post or in person over the years. I started Administering Grace on August 18, 2005 as a backdoor look into who I am, the thoughts I was contemplating and the reasons behind some of the policies of Grace Church. That was three years, close to 500 posts and over 16,000 unique visitors ago.

Your appreciation for my style and wit has paralleled the joy I've discovered in writing. Both are noteworthy for though English was my first language, I learned Tagalog at the age of four. And while that paid dividends during High School language courses, it messed me up grammatically and phonetically. I was in remedial English and grammar classes into High School. English composition, grammar and spelling were never my strong suit. But through Administering Grace, I've found a previously undiscovered joy in expressing thought in writing and based on your comments a style that has some appeal. I have no idea where this may lead in the future, but as time allows and thoughts worth sharing come to mind, I hope to continue.

While Administering Grace has been my personal blog, it's inception and the underlying focus has been on my administrative duties at Grace Church. As such, it seems only appropriate that with the cessation of my employment at Grace Church, that this volume should come to a close as well. As this volume ends a new one begins.

Thank You

Dear Grace Church,

I believe God has great things in store for Grace and will continue to further His Kingdom in the greater-Lititz area through the fellowship.

I cherish the opportunities and experiences that God has given me through serving the fellowship at Grace Church over the past ten years. I was honored to serve Pastor Young and Pastor Distler and to contribute in discussions and meetings that far exceeded the rudimentary elements of my job description. The indirect opportunities to care for the fellowship, which I did not anticipate initially, became a great source of personal fulfillment and joy. I hope I leave Grace Church in better standing than when I found it and likewise, that I leave a more devoted follower of Christ than when Grace Church found me.

Thank you for trusting me with the administration of Grace, for your encouragement and for showing up at each year's business meeting.

Forever committed to His service,

Andy

Behind-the-scenes: Sarah Palin on SNL

Links for 2008-10-21 [del.icio.us] Posted: 22 Oct 2008 12:00 AM CDT Lorne Michaels talks Sarah Palin - EW.com How Saturday Night Live got Sarah Palin to appear on their show and how they now handle most candidates.

Going 1 and 9 against Michigan doesn't warrant a t-shirt!

I'm thrilled that Penn State finally beat Michigan.

I'm ecstatic that they not only beat them, but pummelled them.

But producing a t-shirt of the winning score, when it was the first win in ten tries, seems a little presumptuous.

Let's save the t-shirts for a Big10 Championship or better yet, a National Championship.

That said, my 66-10 Coastal Carolina t-shirt is nicely framed and hanging on the wall in the family room... tongue in cheek.

College schedules affect rankings

Penn State's ranked third in the first release of the BCS standings, due in large part to their soft "pre-season" schedule. I know Joe and the AD have the challenge of balancing a challenging schedule with one that allows the team to build confidence, but they appear to have erred a little too much on the soft side in recent years. Granted, the overall weakness of the Big 10 conference hasn't helped. That said, you'd think they could raise the bar. College football is a different matter, but when faced with similar choices when I was in college, I aimed high.

When faced with selecting courses and professors, I purposely sought the toughest profs sacrificing a cakewalk 'A' with a soft prof in exchange for sitting under the best and busting my tail for a 'C'. I figured it was a better investment of my tuition dollars. The challenge of surviving, Ryrie-roulette (which, BTW, I did not) or doing more than "nodding-your-head-yes" for Cawood and publishing top-notch 10-pagers for Master, only enhanced my Bible education. They were men who were so notorious they're reputations, consistently applied over years, decades and generations, had become legendary. Like alligators, defending the Faith, they could sniff errant theology down the hall and each of them could shrink an off-base student in a matter of sentences. In a sick way, it was entertaining to see them chewed to pieces. And even in one case, once aware of another prof who was off base... the prof was gone mid-year. These men were tough and they were good. Everyone knew it and in some cases, their legend had been passed down from earlier generations.

Without regard for the transcript, I subjected myself to the highest standard and though my BCS rank suffered my overall education was enhanced. I'd hate for Penn State to be the only undefeated team in the nation, but still be ranked 3rd in the BCS.

2008 Campaign Airplanes

Links for 2008-10-18 [del.icio.us] Posted: 19 Oct 2008 12:00 AM CDT 2008 Campaign Airplanes Gov Palin's 2008 Campaign Charter Tucson-based company delivers campaign jet to Palin Sarah Palin’s Private Campaign Plane

Links for 2008-10-14 [del.icio.us]

Links for 2008-10-14 [del.icio.us] Posted: 15 Oct 2008 12:00 AM CDT The Best Time to Buy Everything at SmartMoney.com Obama Hasn't Closed the Sale: Both candidates continue to tinker with their strategies

Count Your Blessings...

• I've been able to see Dad when it suited his schedule best and adjust my schedule as needed
• Since the nursing home has cable (we dropped it back in late July) and Dad's become an avid Phillies fan, he and I are able to enjoy Phillies games together... so long as he stays awake
  
• We now have the opportunity to care for the other parents in a different context; when their need surfaced in the past week or two we were able to respond without hesitation
  
• I've been able to help a close relative process their job loss
• I've been able to help others search for God's next assignment for them
• I've been able to power up my network to 100% and they've been encouraging and helpful
• I've been able to pursue searching for FT care options for Dad in case he's unable to return home
  
• I've lost weight, not that I needed to, but having not played soccer this summer...
• I've been able to experience the C3N ministry of LCBC
• I learned about the book, The Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
• I've reconnected with old friends and contacts
• I've never experienced my awareness of God's leading, and confidence in His living up to the Jehovah Jireh that He is, to be as strong as it's been
• Though it's not definitive and I remain open to whatever He wants, the exit polls could be interpreted to foreshadow that His next assignment for me may not involve church ministry and that's okay
• I'm still in the analyzing phase of the decision making process, but I may get a new suit. That would be the first one since 1993 - a teal, double-breasted wonder
• I have a greater appreciation for what it's like to have a loved one go through surgery
• I've had an opportunity to be introduced to many nurses in Lancaster County as "my eldest son"
• I get to see God's fine-tuned orchestrations in every conversation, wrinkle and development

Count your many blessings, name them one by one; count your many blessings see what God has done (is doing)!

Assignment Searching - C3N

I learned that one of the larger of the local churches in our area, LCBC, has a ministry for the un-employed, the under-employed or the mis-employed called C3N for Christ Centered Career Network. A group gathers every Monday night at 7pm to work through the 6-stage process of figuring out what you want to do, how to go about finding those types of jobs and assessing which is the right job. Each week's session is a facilitated discussion where you can absorb a lot of information yet contribute your own knowledge base from past and present experiences.

The ministry is part of the Crossroads Career Network, which is a national organization that's produced the Crossroads Career Explorer Training Guide to help individuals to trust in the Lord for direction and guidance in their job search. The weekly get togethers supplement the Crossroads training information with the professional guidance and experience available from our Leadership team which includes local HR professionals and career consultants.

I can't say enough about this ministry if you sense God may be leading you to something new, as He has with me. And my network, who referred me to C3N, couldn't say enough about it either.

Checkout the LCBC - C3N website