Changes, VBS, snakes

I was abruptly informed yesterday that from this point on my coworker and I would take on the responsibility for putting together all the classes our company has at client locations. In the past both the initial contacts and the recruiting of companies to send employees to fill the class has been handled by the account managers and the sales team. Since these client accounts are their responsibility. It made sense. Not anymore. It is something we have tried in the past with very limited success, but I suppose we will try again. I think the change stems from the new supervisor we have in our department, but there is no way to tell. With the amount of travel I have scheduled over the next several weeks, I am certain that the lot for making all the required contacts will eventually fall to my coworker, who has a very full plate already. Plus, we have little control over pricing, offering discounts or issuing refunds to those who paid but cannot attend as planned. My first question will be to those who have been actively involved in putting client employees into these classes to see if they are aware of the change and if it would affect their job duties and overall income potential. This should be fun.

Last night was our third night of VBS. It was very well attended. I counted roughly eighty children and at least thirty workers. Of course, since it was Wednesday night a fair amount of our regular Wednesday night crowd was there – sitting in the back observing. Tonight, will be the culmination of VBS and the story of Nate Saint, Jim Elliot and the men who were killed making contact with the tribe that was eventually won to Christ by their widows. Bro. Zach is doing a great job with VBS. For one game he had the boys and girls stand, and while they were holding hands, from a large circle around the chairs in their respective sections. Then he gave each of them a hula hoop and had them pass it from person to person without letting go of each other’s hands. Over the head. Step through. Move it along. It was very exciting for the kids as the hula hoop neared the final person in each circle. The boys won with only a few seconds to spare. That was a great game. Even Aubrey thought so. Even though all she had to do was step through since the hula hoop was taller than she was.

After VBS, Mama and I got dressed in our farm clothes to go out to the coop. We have seen a snake lurking in the coop, and I have not been outfitted with gloves to catch it. Last night seemed like a perfect night for them to be active so I went out prepared…mostly. It was a good thing I had come ready to catch a snake. There were three of them in the coop. Two juveniles and one large, mature rat snake. After I had all three of them in my hand, I was not sure how to dispose of them. Mama offered me a hoe to use on them but that did not seem practical since it required two hands to use. One of mine was full of snakes. Shooting them was not a good option either. In the end, we put them in a large trash can and closed the lid on them. Confident that they could not get out of the trash can. I put behind the shop so I could dispose of them at a later time. While I was out placing the trash can out of Mama’s view, she called Bro Burns to see if he would dispose of the snakes today. He agreed to do so. Just to be sure, I checked the trash can this morning to make sure all the snakes were still contained. It was empty.

Somehow, they had managed to stretch themselves out enough to reach a hole in the center of the lid that the rats had made long ago. I thought the can was too tall for them to reach that hole. I was wrong. I was impressed. Mama, not so much. I will just have to catch them all over again – and be ready to dispose of them when I do.