Splash 19 & 20

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well. 

Carl and I are still out at hole 5. 

Frederick came by to check on us.

Splash 19 

He gave us some words of wisdom. 

He told us some jokes. 

Somebody on the other fairway must have heard his joke because we almost got hit. 

Splash 20 

by a ball from a direction, we had no idea someone. 

Splash 21 

could hit a ball from. 

The tournament has been a big success. 

I got to tell stories of impact. 

I got to complain that Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor didn’t wear his kilt. 

Carl told everyone that someone had already hit a hole in one! 

I would then tell them that Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor had put Carl with me so I could work with him about this lying thing he has going on, which is funny because I am lying when I say it. 

I am liking my kilt, it is cool and breezy! I might have to get another one, a different color; I wonder what Laurie will think about that? 

Splash 22 

Splash 23 

Splash 24 

Today has given us multiple conversations on how “We save lives.” And impact our community in a positive way. 

Splash 25 

As Carl and I sit here, surrounded by trees, I cannot help but ponder life, life choices and God.  I see the tree and look at the trunk, it is straight and tall; as I look up the trunk, I see branches growing out in all directions. I look down the branch and see many more growing off of it. 

Splash 26 

Life is like a tree. You start off on the main trunk, but every decision causes you to branch off. Enough off center decisions and you find yourself way out on a branch far from center. 

Splash 27 

Splash 28 

Splash 29 

For me, God was then one that helped me find the trunk again. Without Him I would still be way left of center. 

Splash 30 

Splash 31 

Splash 32 

Splash 33 

Splash 34 

Splash 35 

Have you ever thought about the decisions in your life and wondered how you ended up where you ended up? 

Splash 36 

Splash 37 

Splash 38 

Splash 39 

Splash 40 

Something to ponder. 

Splash 41 

Splash 42 

Splash 43 

Blessings, 

Roger

Splash 4 & 5

 Good Morning,

I pray the day finds you well. 

Splash four and Five, yes Carl and I are still at the golf tourney. 

It is fun watching golfers; they are a special breed. They get dressed up and buy fancy gadgets and range finders to get the actual distance to the pin. They stand there and argue whether the pin is 160 yards away or 158 yards. Then they take a bunch of practice swings, talk a bit of smack, and then hit the ball to the women's tee. 

Splash 6 and 7. 

Splash 8, 9, 10. 

Splash 11 

Splash 12 

I had a great weekend with my oldest son. We canoed the Willamette River from Independence to Newberg. We started at 9am. 

Splash 13

Splash 14 & 15 

My youngest son joined us for the first 12 miles, we wanted him to go the distance with us, but he could not. He left us when we hit Salem. 

Splash 16 

After Salem, Brandon, my oldest son, and I continued to paddle and read the river. We saw bald eagles, Peregrine falcons, and more trout than we could count. 

The day was beautiful, and we covered 30 miles before pulling out at 5pm. 30 miles is a jaunt. And we decided to do less paddling and more floating the next day. 

We camped on an island. 

We had really great talks. 

We slept very well. 

Splash 17

Splash 18

Our first women’s tee (9-yard shot). 

Camping on an island was fantastic! Camping on an island with your kid is epic! 

We woke the next morning, had breakfast, and broke camp. We loaded the canoe; it is incredible how much stuff you can bring when you don’t have to carry it yourself. And shoved off. 

We floated, only paddling when we had to, at a leisurely pace that was very enjoyable. We covered the last 20 miles in about 5 hours. 

We took out at Newberg and sat in our chairs until Laurie arrived to bring us home. 

I love my relationship with my kids. We enjoy each other's company.  

We are already planning a 4-day trip with all the brothers and me. 

I can’t wait; it will be a blast. 

I think that is what God says about His kids. He loves being with them, joining in the adventure, having great talks, and listening to them. 

On these trips with my kids, I am reminded of God and His love for us all. 

Do you ever think about this stuff? 

Something to ponder. 

Blessings,

Roger

I finally got my blog back!

Good Morning,

I pray the day finds you well. 

I finally got my blog back!

Splash one! 

The “Y” golf tournament has started; Carl (not his real name, but every story goes better with a name attached) and I are at a par three, it is hole #5, and there is water to contend with. 

Splash two! 

So far, there has been a water shot from each foursome. 

My day started early; I was going to wear a kilt to the tourney (Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor had made a deal with me; he would wear one if I would wear one. I chickened out when I got up this morning and put on my shorts; just before I left, I got a text from Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor saying, “I want to see that kilt! So I went back into the bedroom and changed into my kilt. This threw my Morning off. 

I left wearing the kilt, and I had gone 5-miles down the road before I realized I had forgotten my phone, so I turned around and went home to get it. This put me behind; I am that person who, if I arrive 10-minutes early, I am 5-minutes late. I was a bit stressy! 

I arrived right at 7am, and low and behold, there was Frederick the Great! I told him that if I walked up with the Board Chair, I wouldn’t get in trouble. Frederick laughed; we knew he and I had gotten into trouble together. It was more like trouble loves company. 

As I explained my forgetting my phone, Frederick laughed and said, “That’s nothing; I walked around the house this morning for 10-minutes looking for my pants; I finally found them. I was wearing them!” 

We made our grand entrance, and there was Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor, not wearing a kilt! Oh, he owes me now! 

We stood there talking to Daryll when suddenly, a golf ball bounced off his chest! He just got hit with a golf ball. Did I mention it isn’t a good idea to hit a sasquatch with a golf ball? Have you ever seen one of those beef jerky commercials with Daryll’s cousin in it? Daryll’s cousin gets to beat up people who do stupid things to a sasquatch. 

Daryll didn’t even say ouch. 

Daryll grabbed a golf cart, who knew he could drive? And we loaded in; Daryll was taking Carl and me to hole number 5, our CFO to hole 15, and one other group to hole number 2. Seven people in a golf cart, more like a clown cart if you ask me. 

We dropped off hole number 2 quickly enough, that is where the adventure began. We must have driven the entire course twice. I told our CFO that I was glad she was our CFO. Math is hard. 

Darryl finely found hole 15 and hole 5. 

Now Carl and I are busy counting balls that go into the water.

The sun is shining, and the air is cool; this will be a great day. 

I have said before, and I will say it again, “It is easy to see God in the puffy clouds of a beautiful blue sky day. The trick is seeing God in the mud puddles, because He is there too.” 

Splash 3. 

Have you seen God in the mud puddles? 

Something to ponder. 

Blessings,

Roger

I was too busy to ponder today

Good Morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Yesterday I shared an article that I wrote for YCP ("Y" Christian Principles Group).

I wrote this last night as I sat in the Welcome Center out at camp.

When we first talked this morning it was 5:30 am; it is now 5:30 pm and I will stay out at camp until around 7 pm. 

I arrived a little after 5 pm, and made my initial rounds. I met with two staff that I had placed in counseling after being first responders to an incident at Oxbow Park; Oxbow Park is a state park that is adjacent to the camp. Both of them are doing extremely well and I am glad I was able to help them out. 

I then met with a staff and her fiance; I had been working with them because she had been very distraught. she had asked her parents to watch her dog while she was at camp and would pick him up at the end of the summer. Her parents agreed to watch her dog.  I was called out to camp at the end of July because her parents had given her dog away without her permission, in case you are wondering, she is 20-years-old and engaged to be married (thus the fiance thing) and the dog was actually both of thiers. 

She is doing better and is accepting the loss.

Her relationship with her parents has been drastically altered, people can be so mean, so stupid. I guess that is why my work is never over.

And that is the reason I end up working 14-hour days.

We have a saying in the "Y," "this work would be so easy if it weren't for the members!" That always gets a good giggle.

By 8 am I had a staff in my office crying about a hard decision they had to make. She had come in for her daughters swim lessons, made it to my office and broke down. I called another staff who came and took her daughter to swim lessons so her daughter would not miss her lesson and it freed her mom up totell me the news. I sat with her for quite a while before she felt good enough to leave. I will be putting her and her husband in counseling soon. 

At 9:30 am started to do some more admin work; I had a 10 am meeting with Daryll and I wanted to get some things done before the meeting. 

At 9:45 am the staff that had taken the daughter to swim lessons came in and was worried about the little girl that she had been watching. She said that she was crying and refused to get in the water, which was odd for her, she loved swim lessons. I told her that the little girl was dealing with transferance. She had been with her mother when she broke down and her mother's stress and hurt had transferred to the little girl. 

I was still working with this staff until 10:17 am; it is a good thing Daryll is understanding, he should be he has been working with me for over 16-years; he knows the drill.

By 10:20 am I was in Daryll's office for our meeting. 

the meeting was going great until daryll needed a magic marker, I said I would go up to the Welcome Center and get him one. 

20-minutes later I was back in Daryll's office. 

Daryll said, "What was it this time?"

I responded, "It wasn't too bad, just a mom yelling at one of our program directors. I set a meeting with her so she could offload the stress and be her best self for others. n another staff needed me which took a few minutes, but I am here now."

People, Uggg.

Daryll and I finished our meeting and I went back to my office.

Later I held a training for the mobile food bus, we will be using it at our back to school backpack giveaway this weekend. i will be missing it as I have a commitment withone of my sons. It will be the first one that I missed in a decade. We typically give away around 300 backpacks filled with school supplies in about an hour.  We also hold a huge BBQ and feed those that attend. Poeple in our neck of the woods could always use a good meal. It is a big event, one that we spend most of the summer prepping for.

I finished the training, returned the bus to the secure storage. As proud as we are to help support the catalytic converter theft industry and the gas siffoning union there is only so much we can do, so we have to keep our bus in an offsite secure storage facility so it is running when we need it. Needless to say (I don't know why I keep saying this, since if it is needless to say, why am I saying it?) Retrieving the bus and returning the bus adds a layer of complexity to the "Mobile food bus training."

I got back from returning the bus just in time for some good old pre-marital counseling that I am doing for a wonderful couple that will be getting married soon.

we finished around 4:30 pm and I left for camp.

Here I am, we are all caught up.

I was hoping to see Willow when I got out to camp, he wanted to talk with me, but I was late and he had gone home.

I am glad that everyone at camp is doing good now. they made pizza for dinner, I think I will join them.

tomorrow is a ribbon cutting at one of our centers, I am sure I will find something to write about when I attend the cutting.

I was too busy to ponder today.

Blessings,

Roger

Less talk, More Action

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

This is an article that I wrote for the Y Christian Principles Group about chaplaincy, and I thought I would share it. 

At the time of this writing, it is 5:30 am, and I am sitting in my office at my YMCA. The “Y” is yet to open, and I am here talking with you.

In the words of the Joker, “Why so early, Batman?”

I have a lot to do, and today is exceptionally busy. My day will not end until I return from our resident camp around 8 pm.

I like to get in early, before the staff and members arrive; once they start coming into the “Y,” my office gets busy. Therefore, I like having the quiet time to take care of admin stuff.

As I sit here with you, I am beginning to think, and thinking leads to wonder, and wonder always ends for me in pondering. I am sitting here pondering chaplaincy and how different it is from pastoring a church. Back in time, long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was inside the walls of the church. I like to say I pastored my congregation, but in reality, I think it was more like pestering my congregation.  

I pestered them to be more like Jesus.

I pestered them to be the hands and feet of Christ.

I pestered them to love their neighbor.

Yes, looking back, I pestered them a lot.

And just as any good pastor will attest, we are good at talking.

I spent most of my time giving sermons, teaching bible study, and leading a men’s group…All of which required my jaw to move in an up-down motion with noise coming out of my face.

My congregation usually only saw me for a few hours on Sunday.

The bible study and men’s group for another couple of hours during a weekday evening, and if I am really lucky, someone would stop by my office for a few minutes and talk with me.

Why am I telling you this? Well, as I ponder and look back at my life inside the walls of the church pestering my congregation, I realize that I didn’t spend all that much time with people. It was easy for me to be “On” when after a bit of time, I could crawl back into my office and be alone, doing Pastor/Pester stuff.

Chaplaincy (at least for me) in the YMCA is vastly different.

First of all, I spend a lot more time listening, which requires the talent of not moving my jaw in an up, down motion and not letting noise come out of my face; secondly, as I mentioned earlier, I spend many hours with people; even when I am in my office, I am in front of people. You see, my office is all glass and in the welcome center area of my “Y.” I make many rounds throughout the day; I also go to many of the “Y” locations in our association, visiting with staff, members, and volunteers.

It is impossible to be “On” for 8 hours straight, let alone a 14-hour day. If I am not “walking the talk,” people would know it. Now I need to be clear that I am not some “Ultra-Spiritual” being with an emotion quotient so evolved that things never affect me. In the words of Eddie White, The VP of Operations North Region, “It is good to see that you are human, Roger.”

You see, when I was the senior teaching pastor, it really required me to talk a lot. Being the Association Chaplain requires an entirely different skill set, one of listening and doing.

When people ask about chaplaincy, I like to say it is about less talk and more action.

We Matthew:25 people in our “Y.” We feed people, we cloth people, we visit those that are shut-in and in the hospital (imprisoned somehow). Of all the things that we do in our “Y,” the thing we do best is love on people.

In some ways, I am still that teaching pastor. Except I teach by doing, not talking about it.

I know, I know, you are saying, “Why don’t you get more chaplains?”

My answer is that I have chaplains. Currently, I have nine trained up. I also have chaplain training. I have two tracks; track one is for those in the area who can attend in-person classes. Track 2 is a certificate program that I helped develop with a university; it is asynchronous and online; because of this format, we can offer it worldwide. It is a two-year program that is directed specifically for the YMCA. Others outside the “Y” can certainly take the courses, but we built them to fit our needs. A student can finish this program and receive a certificate in YMCA chaplaincy. One can go all the way through and get a master’s if they want to.

One of the reasons I come in early is to create curriculum for the program.

The days may be long, but it doesn’t feel like work; it feels more like helping.

I am here to help.

Blessings,

Paleo poetry, those were the good ole days!

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

One of my hobbies is anthropology, more specifically, the origin of the Native Americans. You see us Button's have been here for quite a while.

My mother's side of the family came over in 1620.

My father's side came over in the 1660s.

My mother's side came from England.

My father's side came from Wales. 

But to say I am Welsh/English would be a very shortsighted and abbreviated rendering of my family's history. 

One thing that became very apparent to me as I learned more about my family history was the fact that in four hundred years of our existence on this side of the pond, my ancestors married all sorts of nationalities, including Native Americans. 

Yes, in fact, I am a mutt.

I am part Potawatomi. I often wished I had been part Nez Perce simply because it is easier to spell.

I have learned a lot about my heritage. I also learned a lot about the cost of College anthropology books. I have a nice library at home, and my one rule is that a book does not go into my library until I have read it. 

My wife tells me that I am that guy who spent way too much time in school and read way too many books.

I guess that is why I go through life so confused. 

The one thing that t I learned is that the more I understand, the less I know. I guess that is where the confusion comes from. 

It is either that, or I am just an idiot, most people that know me tend to lean towards the latter. 

As I read and learn and learn and read, I am confronted with Paleo poetry, you know, "The Good old days." Life was always better "When I was a kid" or before this happened or that happened. 

I am also interested in a particular aspect of anthropology.

I tend to read and be more interested in cultural anthropology.

A people's culture is fascinating. Knowing how to interact with that culture is a very useful thing. 

As a chaplain in the YMCA, understanding different cultures comes in quite handy. 

I don't talk about it much, mostly because people tend to go to sleep when I do.

Paleo poetry, I hear people take about this a lot.

Why are people so resistant to the opportunities of today?

Why are we so focused on yesterday, not to learn from yesterday, but to relive it?

We tend to romanticize the past as if it was an Edenic place. 

I watch organizations do the very same thing. Instead of embracing a new concept or idea, one is met with, "We don't do that? or that is not who we are?" when it is precisely who they are and exactly what they do.

Cultural Anthropology is "Knowing your audience" organizationally; it translates into knowing your customer and your community.

As I write this, I continually look inward and see where I have fallen into the trap of "the Good Old Days." 

Am I the only one that worries about this stuff? 

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Look for Muddy Boots

 Good Morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

When I was young, I bought a canoe. One of the obvious things one does when canoeing is get into the canoe and out of the canoe. 

I had gotten out of the canoe to look at some mucky stuff in the reeds at the lake's edge.

I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a sword in the water and I thought I could be king!

Don't laugh; it could happen.

I didn't find a sword, but I did find a bag of sweet tarts floating in the water. Does that qualify for a watery tart? I'm not sure, but it might!

As I got to the shore and tried to step out, I found myself mired in the mud. I had sunk halfway up my shin, and my boots were quite stuck as the suction increased as I tried to pull my foot out. The harder I pulled, the more suction there seemed to be!

Being stuck in the mud is quite the experience. As I stood there wondering how I would get out of the current predicament that I found myself in, I began to think.

You know what happens when I begin to think. Soon I was in wonderment and eventually ended up pondering, and because I have trouble focusing, I started to ponder all sorts of stuff. 

I began to ponder how being stuck in the mud is like being stuck in other areas of your life. I began to think about how I had been:

• Resistant to change at times in my life.
• Stuck on a particular way of thinking.
• Stuck on a particular way of being.
• Stuck in unforgiveness.
• Stuck in depression and anxiety.

I thought about many things; after all, I had a lot of time on my hands, being hopelessly stuck in the mud. 

Eventually, someone came by and helped me get unstuck from the mud I was in. 

As I walked up to shore, my rescuer looked at my boots and said, "those are some muddy boots you've got there. 

I looked down, and sure enough, I had a lot of gooey black swamp mud all over my boots. 

I looked back up at my rescuer and said, "How did you know how to get me out of the mud?"

My rescuer said, "Oh, I have been stuck before. You learn a lot about how to get unstuck as you go through life."

As time went by in my life, I often thought about that day in the mud. How I had been hopelessly stuck and how someone came along and helped me. 

I learned a lot about being stuck in the mud.

I now know how to get unstuck from the mud. 

When I come across others that are stuck in the mud, I do my best to help them get unstuck. 

As I paddle my canoe across the lake of life, I look for muddy boots. 

When I see someone with muddy boots, I know they have traveled through a period of stuckness, but now they are free from the mud.

People with muddy boots seem to have a way about them; they tend to not get wrapped around the axle about the little stuff, and most things in life are little stuff. 

Do you have muddy boots?

Do you know someone who does?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger