Bible Study

We have been doing a women's Bible study here in the RV park this summer - "The Armor of God", studying Ephesians, with Priscilla Shirer via video. It is the first study that I have done that she has written, and I am enjoying her teaching style on the video and the study during the week.

I am also enjoying being with other ladies who are either living here on campus or associated with the campus in some way.

Karla is so generous to share her musical abilities, leading us in song each week.

Joy guides the study with pertinent questions each week, and everyone contributes.

I am so thankful for God's word, for His giftings to various individuals, and for their willingness to share with all of us.

The things I learn...

The things I learn by just reading things around me on campus. The 4-Points lounge for DIU students is beside the entry where I answer phones at the Welcome Desk. I make coffee in the lounge as it is needed (if people tell me it is needed, cuz I rarely think of it on my own!). I noticed this on the chalk board in the student lounge:

I have never heard this before! As whoever wrote this on the board says, "blessedly ambiguous"!

Continuation of "An interesting phone call"

I blogged on Friday about an interesting call I had fielded that day while working at the Welcome Desk (https://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2019/07/an-interesting-phone-call.html).

Today (Monday), when I logged into the Welcome Desk computer, there was an email from one of the folks that I had contacted to help - they had reached the doctor and patient, and determined that it was a different language than the one I had been told (Kekchi instead of Quiche) - but that they had contacts in that area also.... so it sounds as if the need has been addressed! I'm thankful to God!

Making discipleship a reality

Our former youth pastor (now pastor of First Baptist Roswell, NM) wrote this entry:
https://www.namb.net/replant-blog/making-discipleship-a-reality-in-your-church/

What I particularly appreciated from his article is the importance of making reproduction a key priority from the beginning in disciple-making.

I remember that when we were doing "Simple Second" groups, the encouragement was that everyone should lead.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzt5Y8NlWkDkRVFfaTdDbmZrd0NHLW5pSjNXNm9TcGNoVE9Z/view?usp=sharing

The "Simple Discover Guide" was the one that we used to guide our discussions. Such a simple way to proceed but such a profound way to come to know God in a more intimate way!

Acapella singing

A friend at the ILC recommended this recording of "Only A Holy God" to me:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uORftJ2jDnI

I am not a singer, and I have never been in a choir or sung in parts, but, I remember two instances where I experienced being part of such an event:

• Many years ago, I was in New York City at Christmas time. My Mom and Aunt Libby came into the city and stayed with me a few nights in the hotel. Christmas is a magical time to be in NYC. We decided one night to go to a "Messiah sing-along" at a local church (I think it may have been St Bartholomew's). When we arrived at the church, we were asked at the door what section of the choir we belonged to (I had *no* answer), but Aunt Libby confidently answered "soprano!" so we were handed the libretto and were directed to the soprano section of the congregation. I was blown away by having the libretto and listening to each of the parts of the sanctuary singing their part of the songs (I wisely mouthed the words and enjoyed those around me singing on tune!). I heard so much more of Handel's composition by having the libretto and appreciating all the different voices merging together to make a glorious whole!
• Another time, I was at a technical conference in San Antonio. I was scheduled to teach a class on Sunday before the conference began, but figured that I had time to make it to the service at Oak Hills Church, where Max Lucado was the pastor, and that I could be back in time to teach the class. This is a Church of Christ, where, during Sunday services, there are no musical instruments, and the congregation sings in 4-part harmony. It was amazing to be in the midst of the singing in that service. (Even though I think I almost gave my manager heart-failure as I showed up barely in time to teach my assigned class at the hotel!)

This video seems to be from a group whose role is to teach groups to sing acappella - it certainly sounds beautiful! And I'm grateful for the words of the hymn which remind us that "Only a Holy God" can accomplish the miracles that are His alone.

An interesting phone call...

I was working Welcome Desk on Friday, and in the afternoon, an interesting call came in...
"Hello, this is Dr <someone>, we have a patient in the hospital who is from Guatemala and we're trying to find someone who can speak their language. The patient does not understand any of the translators that we have. Someone told me that you might have someone who could speak their language."
Patti: "Ok.... I can do a search on our database and see if we have anyone who has indicated that they can translate for that language... what language is it?"
Dr: "It is strange, they wrote it down for me, it has two ways of spelling, one looks just like the food, quiche, and the other is spelled q'eqchi."
Patti: types in each of those spellings, no returns from the database of people on campus. "Hmm... I don't find anyone here on campus. Give me your name and phone number and let me see what I can find..."
Dr: gives me her name and number
Patti: "Does the person need to be in the DFW area? Which hospital are you with?"
Dr: "Actually, I'm in Michigan... it is just that my brother knows a missionary" [or maybe "is a missionary", I didn't pay close attention] "and said that you may be able to help."
Patti: "Ok, I'll see what I can do..."

So, I went in to the Center Director's office next to the Welcome Desk and explained what I needed. Immediately a couple of folks were mentioned who had been in Guatemala, so I went back to the Welcome Desk to try calling them. Mike walked up and looked at the name of the language that I had written down (quiche) and said, "Oh yes, key-shay."
"Oh, you know it?"
"No, I just know how to pronounce the name of the language!"
(Well, that's better than me saying "quiche" like the food name!)

Meanwhile, Doug, the new Associate Center Director, called friends of his who had served in Guatemala. They weren't home, but we left them a message and sent them an email.
I called folks in the DFW area who had been in Guatemala, and they recommended two couples - one of the couples were the folks that Doug had already called.
The other couple they mentioned, we didn't have in our database, but, I did a google search and found one of their prayer letters online associated with a church in Arkansas. I called the church, no answer (Friday afternoon, you know). There was an email address in the prayer letter for the couple who had been (maybe even now are) in Guatemala, so I sent them an email with the doctor's contact information and what was needed.

Result: I don't know -- I left it in God's hands to get the right people involved, but, it was so cool how everyone was working together to figure out who might be able to help, and each person had someone else that they knew who might be able to help... I pray that someone was able to get in touch with the doctor in Michigan and help the patient communicate.

Some online resources:
http://www.native-languages.org/quiche.htm
https://www.freelang.net/dictionary/kiche.php
I'm guessing that the doctor had already tried some of these online resources... I didn't try looking them up until this evening so I didn't suggest them to her.

Friday afternoons on the Welcome Desk are often a bit boring... so this livened up my day!

A kitty post

A friend of mine contacted me a couple of weeks ago, reporting to me that my blog had been hacked, that someone was posting pictures of a *dog*, and that certainly could *not* be me! (I'm lookin' at you, Mark!)

Well, I figured I needed to recover the credibility of this blog with a kitty post, and specifically, a video of Miss Kitty. She is such a sweet kitty, always has been, but with Dwayne gone and me working, she has gone from having two people at her beck and call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to part-time support for love and attention, and she is definitely at a deficit for appropriate attention!

In the morning, I attempt to do my Bible reading on my phone before I get out of bed. Unfortunately, this is one of the times that she particularly is needy for attention, so I am generally petting her with my left hand while trying to balance my phone and scroll with my right hand, making notes in my journal -- all the while keeping her distracted with my left hand.

She has always been one to chase her tail - and lately she has started chasing it on the bed, generally on *top* of me! I captured a video of her this morning... and I thought you might enjoy seeing her antics as she tries to corral that "thing" that follows her around all the time!

Enjoy!