Work Thoughts

So...working at a greenhouse provides a lot of hours for pure thinking. Which can be good or bad.

But I was just thinking about how much I can struggle every day as a Christian. How I, and every Christian for that matter, is exactly like ancient Israel.

You know how while reading the old testament you want to take the Israelites and shake them up sometimes. I mean really, God leads them out of Egypt with one miracle after another and they praise and thank Him, forget Him, complain, worship other gods, God says, "that's enough" and they after chastising them they come back humbled, beaten, and once again praise God.

Life is good again.

So they go back to their wicked ways. Talk about some hard headed, stupid people!

Now go write down a summary of your walk with God in the last year and compare notes with the Israelites...you almost can't tell which is which, can you?

Aunthood here I come.

Oh yes. My dear sister Rachel gave birth this morning to Soren James.

I shall see the little blighter in 1 week.

Pictures shall follow.

Yesterday was officially my worst day at work than ever before.

I lied in my last post. Accidentally. I was not getting better from that sickness I came down with...but I did think I was that night.

I woke up Wednesday morning feeling like a train wreck. Halfway through the morning I was loading a tall metal cart with potted plants and moving them to another area.

It was in a tunnel section where nobody else was around and as I pulled the cart in I realized I had it facing the wrong way and needed to turn it around. Now, in this tunnel, there is only a cement path down the center and either side is dirt..so as I turned the cart it caught on the dirt.

My brain was not fully functioning and I remember standing next too it and calming realizing that, "the cart is about to tip" as it fell it somehow threw me on the ground and a second later I sat with a pinched finger and my foot trapped under this heavy cart with hundreds of plants in every direction.

They flew! Pots, Plants, Dirt.

I wanted to cry. Instead I picked myself up, heaved the cart off my foot, and began cleaning that horrendous mess up.

I knew I would need to tell one of my bosses...and I was trying to think how to evade that awkward convo.

When I was about halfway through Juan walked in, stopped dead in his tracks and let out a long long groan.

I began apologizing pathetically and he said, "it's okay, just clean it up."

Then I thought he was heartless for some reason (I didn't feel good, alright.) and I had to replant half of them...

The whole deal took almost 2 hours to clean up!

By the time I finished it was noon and I decided it was high time I went home for the day.

On arriving home I found out that Jay Holston, the deacon in our church had had a massive heart attack that morning and had passed away! It is still so shocking and it made me realize how trivial my problems for the day had been. That they are not the end of the world.


I stole an amazing quote from the sermon tonight at church: "God wants us to do--not just to think and feel--but to do."

A Christian's death is so bittersweet. How much we miss them. And yet, we know they are in a better place..Rejoicing.

I arrived to work today at 7:59...I hate pulling it that close.

Walking into the greenhouse I caught up to my boss, Juan. "How are, you?" he asked.

"Tolerable," I scowled. I'm usually quite cheerful in the morning and ready to go but today I woke up with a tennis ball in my throat and all achy. I hate being sick. I hate how it slows you down.

"What are we doing today?" I asked.

"Planting," Juan replied.

"What a novel idea," I said dryly. Juan didn't understand what I meant by that since he only came to the U.S. about 15 years ago and doesn't understand what a lot of phrases mean.

"What?" he asked.

And I was stupid enough to repeat it. Not feeling good usually makes any sarcasm that comes to mind twice as bitter.

At 9:00 Chuck came into work. That man is going to drive me insane. He came in doing his whole celeb wave again. He's a huge guy and he walks down the aisle partly crouched over with ludicrous look on his face waving in slow motion and yelling hi to everyone. I think he might have been attention-deprived as a child.

On Friday he was across the greenhouse from me and talking to another worker there. And out of no where he began yelping and leaping in the air...

He also has a fascination of charging at people with carts at full speed.

I was in no mood to talk to anyone until about noon when my throat began to loosen up a little. My head hurt today too...I have a huge egg on the top of it and it hurts to brush my hair. So I decided to give that up for awhile.

I remembered earlier what that was from finally. But you might not believe me. The other day we were all in my mom's room and after a while I told everyone it was time to go out.

Talitha, whose three, dove back in and hid under my mom's bed. So I went after here and the little Snippet got to the other side and escaped before I was halfway under. On coming up I forgot I had a head and smashed it into the metal bar full force.

I have regained almost all my old happy self as of now...shesh I hate being sick.

And I hate it when people complain about being sick.

This past week I received confirmation about being accepted on a missions trip to Brazil for three weeks in July.

I am the happy owner of a ticket.

I was the last person able to get in on this trip. Originally I was going to go to Nigeria but they cancelled the trip because it was too dangerous.

I am excited. And yet, nervous too. I'm flying from Atlanta to Manaus, Brazil. We'll be there for a few days and then float down the Amazon river for 2 days...then canoe for an hour to a village. The church there needs to be re-built and that is our main project.

Geez though, I have a lot to prepare for...