What to do when your whole family is Sick!

This last week has been miserable! It all started with finding out that I was getting some sort of germ infestation that manifested itself as the flu with snotty cold addition. The worst thing is when you can feel it coming and there is nothing really to do. I am a firm believer in Airborne, despite their current legal struggles, so I dosed up right away. I think it helped with the severity of the sickness but did not prevent it. Anyway I am too cheap to buy the actual Airborne stuff so I settled for the Target brand “Immunity Supplement”.

Getting sick is a lot more complicated when you have little munchkins involved. Especially my boogery boys. One sneeze gives those germs a chance to spread exponentially. So it started with me and then moved on to Ethan. He in turn graciously passed on the infestation to his little brother Ryun. Ryun then slobbered on his mommy and in doing so bridged the germ gap. So Melodie got the sickness and was down and out, which caused me to miss school (which is easy to make up) and our house to become a disgusting mess.

The baby then got involved because lets face it, chewing on used Kleenexes out of the trash can’t be conducive to your health. (Hey don’t judge me! You try watching him 24 hours a day and studying Greek paradigms… and playing a little xbox!!) Anywho… Everyone was sick, the house flowed with boogers and whining, and it turns out Melodie really does a lot of work around here.

I washed a lot of dishes and wiped a lot of noses (and some butts) and I learned a thing or three about what to do if your family is sick.

#1 Move into a hotel.

I have a funny story about the time we were moving to San Luis Obispo and our house wasn’t ready so we lived in a hotel for a week. It involves diarrhea, a clogged toilet, a formerly white shower curtain, and the forensic technique of identifying poo splatter. We’ll save that for another blog.

#2 Hire a maid

I only wish that we could afford such a luxury.

#3 Borrow an exterminator tent and Lysol bomb the house

Costly yet effective.

#4 Quarantine the sick ones (or send them to a hotel)

Hard to do in a two bedroom apartment but there are refrigerator boxes that can accomplish this.

#5 Suck it up and serve those people you love. (They can’t all be funny!)

When my wife is sick I get to show her how much I really care. And also marvel at her unique ability to multi-task and yet not let any snotty Kleenexs become part of the baby’s supplemental diet!

Please comment and let me know what you think!

Some shut doors and open windows

God has answered a few questions lately in my life without giving me any clear direction yet. I recently sent a proposal to Pastor Ray at Ambassador for the position of a 15-20 hour a week Teaching/Utility Pastor. We already have an Outreach Pastor and an Inreach Pastor but I believe they are swamped and need help. So my proposal was basically to be the guy that would help them get some much needed ministries off of the ground and grow our church. Recently the money situation at Ambassador got better because we rented out both sides of the building we were locked into. One at full price (which was a huge relief) and one at a partially discounted rate (to help out a smaller church and relieve some of our own financial burden). The future of the church offices are still uncertain but God is working it out.

As you may have read before in previous blogs O' mine, My position as Youth Pastor is currently being fazed out because of the move. Not a huge ordeal because of my calling (please read more about it in previous blogs, I speak now somewhat nonchalantly but it was a struggle to understand this) but still left me uncertain of my future at Ambassador. Would something else open up? should I hang on to the hope of an influx of money or just go and find something else?

Pastor Ray admitted help was needed in the areas I brought up but currently lacks the budget to do anything about it. Therefore, I am soon to be finished at Ambassador Church as paid 10 hour a week (about $600 a month) staff. He would like me to stay on as a lay pastor but that does not pay the bills. So if I can find something else to supplement my income I would consider it.

Meanwhile my buddy Paul wants to plant a church and wants me to be a part of it. That would be awesome but I am unsure if this is the timing (with school and all). I am struggling to figure out the direction God is moving us. Strangely there is a huge peace about it. God has always provided. It gets a little frustrating at times but I really do feel God has things in control. I just want to be faithful.

I am looking for a job where I can work around school. I am enjoying school. It feels good to get into the nitty gritty of theology and work out what God is doing in and has done in the world. If I could find a trainer/presenter job that would be cool! Putting my speaking gifts to work to supplement my income. I am not really sure how to break into that field though. We shall see!!