Classes, missionaries, Nate, Cori and the kids, work

I taught eight-hour on classes both Tuesday and Wednesday. By the time I got to church last night my voice was worn out. Both of the classes were great classes. One was a trainer-oriented class – my favorite class to teach. The other was my normal evaluator class. I have to admit that doing the classes online is more relaxed than doing the classes in person, but I still prefer having the face-to-face contact when possible. Over the next few weeks, I will be doing the evaluator class at least once per week in the online venue. I may actually be good at it by the end of the year. By the way, our remote work directive has been extended through the end of the year. I am not surprised, nor am I disappointed. Working from home will make the Holiday Season a lot more fun!

Last night at church we had a missionary family come to present their work. We also had a missionary family we support stop by to visit. The new missionary family is going to Japan. The missionary we support is working in India training nationals to translate the Bible into their native tongues. They have been stateside since the outbreak of COVID because India forced them out when things got scary during the months the world was initially reacting to the pandemic. Seeing old friends was very exciting. I believe it has been four years since we have seen them, so it was great to catch up on what has been happening in their lives and their ministry. They, in turn, were excited to see all the familiar faces in our congregation. We do not realize how reassuring it is to our missionaries to see the faithfulness of the congregations that support them.  

Since we did not have a pianist (Erin and Barbara are both our sick), Pastor asked if the wife of the visiting missionaries we support could play the piano. Thankfully, she could. She said she has not played in several years, but she did a fantastic job of pinch hitting for us. I was not looking forward to the prospect of singing acapella with my strained and tired voice, but the Lord worked it out for us. Mama and I stayed after church talking with the missionaries for quite some time. It was a great visit. The young couples that are coming to our church from BBTI also visited at length with the missionaries from India since they graduated from BBTI several years ago and are putting that education to work fulltime on the field in a very effective and practical ways. It is always good to get confirmation that what we have dedicated our lives to is something God can use for our good and His Glory.

Nate, Cori and the kids will be heading our direction this morning. They will spend the weekend with us and head back north Monday of next week. We will not see them again until Mama and I travel to Honduras early next year – hopefully. I think the kids are really looking forward to getting back to the farm, even if it is only for a couple of days. We have seven baby goats for them to handle and they are anxious to do so. I know Mama and I are looking forward to the extra time with the grandkids. I know Mama will start to relax after the big birthday bash is underway successfully Saturday, but for now she is really anxious about the event. For my part, I am hoping for fun chaos rather than any organization of games or activities.

I had to work from the office today to review a project involving updates to an Instructor Led Training class. I am only able to access the documents required from the internal server. We are due to change our entire presentation format to reflect a revamped branding initiative. That has proved a huge project and we are now in the throws of getting all our presentations and class handouts reformatted in the new layout to match the updated look. I am one of the last stops in approving the materials – for content. Once I am content I with the content, (pun intended) it goes for editorial review and final formatting before the documents or PowerPoints are approved for publication. It is a fun project. So far, I have found meaningful but minor issues with the documents I have reviewed. That shows a huge effort on the part of the branding group to get them to the stage they are at when we do our review.

Nate, Cori and the kids should be arriving in the next little bit. That should make for an interesting finish to the workday as well as the workweek.