highlight of the week ::
Sushi night.
While I hated that I had to enjoy the sushi alone, I was pleased with the outcome and surprised at how easy it was to make. I always imagined it being a much more painstaking process. It was time consuming, but not difficult at all.
quote i’m digging ::
“I can’t take the Eucharist and not be cognizant of the fact that I belong to a universal community.
I can’t take the Eucharist and not be cognizant of the fact that my primary allegiance is to God and to faith in Christ.
I can’t do that and then allow myself to go out and have another allegiance claim ultimacy in my life.
That is profoundly threatening if you start to think through the implications of what that looks like for the Christian who lives anywhere in the world.â€
– Dr. Jeffrey C. Pugh referring to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theology.
ministry-wise ::
Our group has decided to actively pursue a Laundry Love Project here in Red Oak. I’m excited about this! I hope its a great opportunity for our group to grow and serve those outside our normal walls.
I did some “site surveys” on Saturday and visited two local laundromats. The owners of the one laundromat we’ll likely use were very confused as to what we wanted to do.
Me: Hi, we’d like to see about scheduling a couple hours, once a month, where we come and pay for people to do their laundry. They come in, bring their laundry and we pay for it and provide laundry detergent for them.
Owner: I don’t understand.
Me: Well, we’ll bring several people and a bucket full of quarters. As people come in to do their laundry, we’ll fill the machines with quarters for them.
Owner: I’m still not sure I understand.
Me: We want to help people do their laundry – and pay for it – instead of them paying.
Elizabeth, laundromat customer: You can pay for my laundry!
I think the ultimate quandary for the laundromat owner was that he couldn’t understand why we would want to do this. I think he understood what we were wanting to do – just not why we’d want to.
As I talked to Elizabeth a bit longer, I found out that she spends $25 a week on laundry. Fifteen loads for her and her 3 kids. I can’t imagine!
Visiting the other laundromat, I talked with a guy who said that by himself he spends $7 – $10 a week on laundry.
I’m looking forward to seeing what comes of this initiative. If you’re interested in helping with your time or financially, please let me know.
looking forward to ::
Spending some time with Laurie this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. She’ll be out of town for most of our anniversary day so we’re planning to celebrate some time away on Friday and/or Saturday this week. Plus, we’re going to make our annual anniversary trip to Outback Steakhouse when she gets back in town Wednesday night. And… it’ll be all free thanks to credit card rewards!
