Who Moved my Cheese

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Lolo and I have made it to Missoula Mt. We are getting settled in, and I thought I would take a minute and talk with you.

We left Spokane are 9 am and immediately drove into Courdelane, Idaho; this reminds me of a joke, "Deleware asked Nebraska, 'What is Colorado wearing to the big dance?' Nebraska responded, 'Idaho, Alaska!"

We got to Courdelane, Idaho, and found an Elmer's restaurant to eat breakfast. Lolo loves to regale me with the fact that before she started dating me, she dated Elmer's (Of Elmers Restaurant fame) son. He would drive her around in either his Corvette or his Porsche, take her to Blazer games and sit courtside, along with posh restaurants and stuff.

I just look at her and grin, thinking to myself, "Lolo should have really thought that one through before she traded him in for me." After all, we are driving across the country in a VW and staying in KOA's.

I like taking her to Elmers to eat, I don't know why, but I do.

Before I left on vacation, Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor had us read the book Who Moved my Cheese? By Spencer Johnson, it is a book that helps people deal with change. I bet Frederick the Great has already read it. Remember, he is good with change; it is a CPA thing. 

Another person who is good with change is Elizabeth, our CFO. No, Elizabeth is not her real name; in fact, I named her after Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha on the T.V. show Bewitched. 

Why would I name our CFO after a character in Bewitched? Simply because how Elizabeth handles our finances is magical, just say-in.

In his book, Who Moved my Cheese, Dr. Johnson says, "It would be all so easy if you had a map to the maze. If the same old routines worked. If they would just stop moving 'The Cheese.' But things keep changing."

I am reading through his book again, taking in the cheesiness of it all!

I wonder if I will ever be able to completely let go of my cheese, or will I just become Limburger?

I will ponder this for a time.

Do you ever think about this stuff?

Blessings,

Roger

  

Laurie and I are on our road trip!

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Laurie and I are on our road trip! 

I can't tell who is more excited, Laurie and me for being on vacation, or the YMCA for me being on vacation!

It is Sunday evening, and we are at a KOA in Spokane, Wa. We have a cabin and a toilet, which, if you know me at all, is glamping!

We are sitting here waiting for our pizza from River City Pizza to arrive. Best pizza in Spokane, I am told. I googled pizza in Spokane and found that River City Pizza is the only pizza in Spokane; I am a bit dubious of the quality now. 

Not to mention the fact that Darryl has a statue dedicated to him.

As we sit here, me with my bread (darn those carbohydrates) and Laurie with her phone. I started thinking about our last round-up.

People have been talking about the round-up post.

Here are a couple of comments:

• In Kansas, they don't have falling housing prices; they have falling houses!
• Be careful, Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor, he may send the flying monkeys after you.

I wish Frederick the Great had been at the Round-up. he would have been a big help getting people to understand change. Did I mention Frederick the Great is a CPA? CPA's handle change well, or so I am told. 

After the Round-up, Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor, Darren, Daryll, Natalia, and I went to, and I don't really even know what to call it, this place that had 57 million, 312 thousand, 465 beers on tap under one roof. Surrounding the place that had 57 million, 312 thousand, 465 beers on tap under one roof was a wagon train of food carts in a circle, just like in a John Wayne movie, Wahaa. If you don't know what Wahaa is, ask Padme, and she will tell you. 

My Dad used to tell me, "If I have told you once, I have told you a million times, don't exaggerate!" 

I try my best not to exaggerate, but stories always go better with a bit of embellishment, or so I am told.

Anyway, Daryll found a beer from his heritage, a Sasquatch beer; he ordered the beer and was very proud of himself. 

Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor claims he ordered water and that Jesus keeps turning it into wine; I told Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor not to make up stories; that is my job.

Darren ordered this thing with mango in it; I guess it is a California thing. 

Enough about the round-up, Daryll and his Beer, Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor and his wine, and Darren and whatever that was he ordered. 

Laurie (Lolo, as the grandkids call her) and I are on our way to South Dakota. I will officiate my niece's wedding, a contract we cemented 15 years ago when she was just a kid. Hannah, yes, that is her real name, looked at me and said, Uncle Roger, when I get married, you are going to marry me! I looked at her lovingly and replied, "Hannah, I am already married, but I will officiate your wedding for you. Words are important.

I am sitting in Spokane, Washington, wearing my Ridgefield Octoberfest t-shirt. Yes, I was officially on vacation as I worked the Y-on-the-fly pop-up tent at the Ridgefield Octoberfest. Introducing Padme to the community as their new E.D. Archibald and the Safety around water program, and Esmerelda as the most incredible membership person ever. 

Lolo and I are on a journey. 

Our Y is on a journey.

Our journeys are much alike. 

We spend our days meeting new people and loving our neighbors. 

I wonder what adventure tomorrow will bring.

Blessings, 

Roger

We have a roundup today.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I got up a bit early this morning; every time I say the word "bit" I am reminded of the witch scene in Monte Python's Holy Grail.

I know what you're thinking, "Really, you had to bring Monte Python into a bread?"

My answer is, "Yes, how else can I make nut bread?"

I know it isn't funny, but it does beat Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor's "Two guys walk into a bar" joke!

Anyway, I got up a little early this morning. 

We have a roundup today.

These roundups are nothing like the roundups we had back in the land of Dorothy and Toto. While it is true that I still have to get up a bit early for these roundups, that is where the similarity ends. These roundups don't involve going out to the corral, waking up a sleeping horse, getting stepped on by said horse, feeding it some hay, and then going through the whole putting a saddle on a horse that thinks it is a bit early to have a saddle on its back. Then going out to the pasture with a bunch of other riders and horses that also think it is a bit early to both be ridden and to ride. Find a bunch of cows that also think it is a bit early to be pushed around by a bunch of weak men with their bully horses. 

If you think cows don't get mad, try waking up a Black Angus bull first thing in the morning; it will give you a whole new definition of, "A bad start to the day." 

This is a YMCA roundup, and it involves people. Of course, these people also think it is a bit early to start a roundup and can be a bit cranky. 

Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor knows how to deal with cranky people; his magic involves two guys, a bar, and a bad punchline. 

I'm never quite clear on whether this actually puts people in a good mood or they are just scared that if they persist with their crankiness, he will tell another bad joke; either way it seems to work. 

At our roundups, we talk about many things; at this one, we will be talking about fear and how it can paralyze people and organizations; change is hard and can be scary.

Today we are going to ask:

• Do I want something else?
• Do I want something more?
• Do I want something different?

It will be interesting to hear everyone's answers.

Of course, this causes me to wonder.

• Do I want something else?
• Do I want something more?
• Do I want something different?

I will ponder these questions. 

Will I be able to walk through the process or be frozen by fear?

Will you ponder this too?

Something to think about.

Blessings,

Roger

Life Together

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

One of the things that I love about being a chaplain in the YMCA is that I get to do life with all those that call the Y home. 

I grew up in a small town, and when I say small, I mean SMALL!

I grew up in Kansas, you know, the place where Dorothy grew up, and her little dog Toto (To quote a witch). 

Not only did I grow up in Kansas, I grew up in Cheyenne County Kansas, a part of Kansas that even Kansaner's (Not sure if that is a real word or not, I guess now it is. I feel a bit like Paul, making up new words to make a point), would say, "I didn't even know we had a Cheyenne County!

Cheyenne County, Kansas, was roughly 1020 square miles in size and had about 5,000 people living in it; 2000 people lived in the tiny town of St. Francis, which only left 3,000 people for the rest of the county. To quote Tony Stark, "If my math is right, and it always is." That only leaves 2 people per square mile for the rest of the county! 

My wife just came into the living room (where I am currently talking to you from), and told me that actually it leaves 3 people per square mile for the rest of the county. She also reminded me of why I spent so much time in school to be a theologian and not a chemist; math is hard!

St. Francis was small enough that everybody knew not only knew everybody, they knew about everybody. 

We lived life together in St. Francis, Kansas. 

Being a chaplain in the YMCA is a lot like living in St. Francis. 

I was on a call with YCP, talking with Tim Hallman, and he mentioned how cool it was that I resided in a branch and not the corporate office. 

I said that there are two reasons that I reside in a branch:

1. Residing in a branch gives me more clarity of what it is the staff and volunteers are going through on a daily basis.
2. Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor (our CEO) refuses to tell me the location of our corporate offices. 

Our Association is broken up into 5-regions:

1. North
2. South
3. East
4. West
5. Central

I reside in the North region, and travel to the other regions within our Association. I am the only full-time chaplain in our Association; we currently have 9 volunteer chaplains across the Association in various stages of training. 

Being in a branch allows me and all those that call the North home to live life together. 

We cry together.

We laugh together.

We mourn together.

We rejoice together.

Somebody, in a book somewhere, said that was important to do.

I am busy training up as many chaplains as I can so they can live life together in their branches too. 

I found out early, in my life in St. Francis, that if you don't walk the talk, people know it pretty quickly. 

It isn't any different in our YMCA. 

I always check myself to make sure that I am not missing anything in my walk with Christ and with my fellow humans that I live life with. 

We like to joke in the Y that the Y would be a lot easier place to work if it wasn't for the members; it always gets a good laugh because we know it wouldn't.

Dietrichtrch Bonnehoffer once said in his book Life Together, "A pastor should never complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men."

I like to remind staff and volunteers that they are pastors too; they shepherd those that come to them for help.

It is important for me to remember Bonnehoffer's words. 

As you live life together with those that God has put before you and into your care, are you complaining to others, and to God about them?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

1]

---

[1]Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1954), 29.

And then Darryl said, "There's got to be a better way!"

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

There's got to be a better way!

I first heard this phrase was 11-years ago during our annual closure at our YMCA. The annual closure is a week-long and is accomplished over the Labor Day weekend. It is a time when we all roll up our sleeves and give our Y a complete makeover from top to bottom, a thorough cleaning, painting, refinishing all the hardwood floors...

"There's got to be a better way!" was uttered by Darryl while we were busy scaping calcium buildup from the pool tiles. 

I have now heard this phrase every year during our closure event for various activities; this year Darryl as he sanded down the HVAC system to prep for painting. 

Eventually, we got the HVAC system painted and completed our makeover.

"There has got to be a better way" has become our mantra at our Y when we evaluate programming and services that we offer or when we look at things that are not offered yet in our community.

Now don't get me wrong, there are many times when we look at things and find that, at this time, there isn't a better way that we can see. It is this avenue of thought process that has brought on feeding kids at risk for hunger in our community. It is this thought exercise that brought on free swim lessons for kids in our community. It is this undertaking of contemplation that brought on the "Y on the Fly," our mobile program that takes our Y to communities where there is no Y yet. 

We just finished a Safety Around Water (SAW) event, complete with a mobile movie, popcorn, snow cones, and pizza, in a community that will have a Y built in it in 2024. 

It is the mantra of, "There's got to be a better way!" that has us not only thinking outside the box but thinking, "There is no box." 

I like not having a box. Not having a box is a freeing experience, but it does have its risks.

The safe place to be is inside the box, never stretching yourself, never risking failure and pain. 

Inside the box is a place of comfort, but it is also a place of stagnation. 

Inside the box begins to smell bad after a while.

Outside the box is freedom, of sorts; you can always run back inside the box if it gets too scary, or too painful.

When there is no box, you have left the box behind, much like Cortez did when he landed his ships in America in the 1500s when he burned his ships. 

While living with no box might be scary at times, there is no greater feeling than when the process works. 

Watching those kids and their parents have such a great time while they learned how to be safe around water was as much fun as we have had in a long time. 

Living with no box pushes you to cross a desert and take an oasis to the people instead of demanding they cross a desert to come to your oasis. 

I wonder what we will think of next when we ask the question, "There's got to be a better way."

Are you inside the box, outside the box, or have you left the box behind?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Once I realized I was a dork, the whole world opened up!

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Once I realized I was a dork, the whole world opened up!

I would tell people my ideas, and they would say, "Roger, you are such a dork!" and I would respond, "I know, isn't it great!" 

My realization came early in my life, mainly because my sister would tell me I was a dork daily. She always said it came out of a place of love. I would respond, "Ok, sure." (We all know what that means).

Speaking of coming out of a place of love, when I was in Jr. High (back in the dark ages, we had Jr. High and not middle school), I had a wrestling coach who also happened to be the P.E. teacher. 

One day, I am not sure exactly what I did, Coach Dufus (Not his real name, but he deserves it) started punching me. He hit me in the head (Which probably explains a few things), hit me in the chest, and punched me in the stomach. 

I said, "Why are you hitting me?"

Coach Dufus responded, "Because I love you."

I said, "Well, don't love me so much!"

He hit me again.

Anyway, once I realized I was a dork, the whole world opened up.

People like to say, "Think outside the box."

I always come back with, "There is no box."

Being a dork allows me to risk failure without fear of what people think of me.

I am reminded of something Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

― Theodore Roosevelt[1]

I can remember a time when I was fearful of completely surrendering to God. 

He kept calling me into ministry, and I would say to Him, "I am not good enough; I can't do that."

He kept saying, "If I call you, you can!"

When I finally relinquished my fear and submitted, everything came into place. 

I walked through the fear of the unknown and began living in the mystery of God. 

I am comfortable in the mystery of God. 

Living in the known is boring for me. 

Where do you live?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

---

[1] The man in the middle, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=roosevelt&commit=Search Viewed November 3, 2021.

 

Let your dreams be bigger than your fears

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Esmerelda and I met with the E.D. of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) yesterday.

It was a great meeting; September is suicide awareness month, and we want to do some workshops around this topic for our community. 

As Esmerelda and Kamilla (Not her real name, but you know the drill) discussed the finer points of the workshop, I was so riveted that I started to read all the things that Kamilla had on the walls of her office. Neither Esmerelda nor Kamilla had any idea I had checked out of the meeting mentally as I continued to use my Chappy training to appear engaged. I used words like "ok" and "sure," as you know, code words for I am not really listening now. It is a good thing Esmerelda doesn't read my blog, or she would be really mad at me, since I use those words a lot when we talk.

As I looked around the room, my eyes fell on a quote it read, "Let your dreams be bigger than your fears."

I love that quote.

I started to think of things I am afraid of:

• I am not afraid of dying
• I am a bit nervous of the transition process. I am lazy; I want to fall asleep and wake up in Heaven.
• I don't want to outlive my children, or for that matter, any of my loved ones; that would be horrible.
• I have always been afraid of losing my mind, but I think that ship has already sailed.

Then I started to think of things I thought I would be afraid of but am not:

• Losing my job
• I have lost jobs before, and life went on. I have even been fired once; thank God I am friends with a sasquatch; that is a story in itself.
• Getting cancer
• I had cancer, and I found it very enlightening about life, mission, big stuff and little stuff.

Actually, the more I think about it, I have never really been afraid of things. I don't know why; I chalk it up to being the village idiot.

When it comes to being a chaplain and coming up with new and exciting/crazy programs to help our community, I have no fear at all.

I get a lot of:

• What if it doesn't work?
• What if people don't like it

I could go on, but I got bored listing things.

My usual answer is, "It might not work, but what if it does? Look at the good we could do."

As I go through life, the only constant I can see is, change. 

So if the change is inevitable, embrace the change and let your dreams be bigger than your fears.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger