Unexpected moments

I was intent on setting a good pace on my walk at the Snow Road Metropark this afternoon. There’s a nice paved walkway there that runs along a river bank, shrouded by trees, and generally populated by a lot of walkers/runners. I was peering over the bank of the river as I walked along and suddenly saw a ball of feathers in the grassy bank, just about 5 yards from me. In a fraction of a second I realized it was a huddle of 4 ducklings, their mother close by. We sort of looked at one another a minute or so, they stirred from their huddle and followed mother into the river, all in a row.

Such moments bring sparks of delight to the routine of our lives and stir us from pre-occupation with our daily concerns, lifting our spirits. When such moments derive from nature, they speak to me of the order in the natural world established by our Creator.

Last Sunday when driving back to Cleveland from visiting with my parents, the sun peeked out from behind the storm clouds just as it was about to set, creating a double rainbow on the horizon before me.

And last Friday evening, I was taking Ruthanne home after dinner, turned down the Big Creek Parkway from Brookpark (as a very pleasant alternative to Ridge Road) and up near Snow Road we saw a doe with a young spotted fawn grazing calming about 20 yards off the roadway.

A quite unexpected and joyous moment took place at the office recently and its one I don’t think I could ever forget…. looking up from my task at hand to see Joanie and Will standing in the doorway. They had traveled literally half way around the world from the Philippines where they serve as missionaries. I hadn’t seen them in probably two years. They are in the States on furlough for the summer. Since both of them had worked at The City Mission previously, it was such a joy to watch their reunion with staff and volunteers with whom they had worked hand in hand.


Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. Genesis 9:12-13 NLT

Commencing a new life

In honor and celebration of the 44 men and women who graduated from The City Mission's residency programs this past Saturday I am posting this story about a previous graduate (with his permission) who is now on staff with the Mission. To officially graduate, individuals must achieve stability in several key life areas (such as employment/education, housing, relationships and church involvement) for at least six months. I wrote this story for a newsletter I'm preparing to send to foundations and other major donors.

At this year's graduation we recorded testimonies of several graduates which we will be posting on our web site after they are edited to a reasonable length. Once they become available I will post a link on this blog.

Free at Last
Dale Matthias felt trapped in a vicious cycle of shame, hopelessness and excessive drinking. Suicide seemed like the only way out of his misery.

Dale had lost his job, home, marriage and family to alcohol. By December 2000 he was sleeping under a tarp behind a business, clutching a bottle of vodka.

At The City Mission Dale’s life was transformed to one of joy and hope. After completing the resident program, Dale worked in maintenance for a private school until it closed. He came back to the Mission as an employee in the facilities department and now serves as a case manager for the Crossroads Program.

Dale says the key to his transformed life is in seeking God and surrendering to Him. It’s a key that unlocks the tight hold of despair and addictions, and frees men and women to live with purpose and hope.

Longest continuous friendship

I've been getting together on a regular basis with Ruthanne for over thirty years. We first met each other through a mutual friend when we both lived in Canton. Even when I moved about an hour away we still made it a point to get together at least once every few months. Somehow we both ended up living in Parma, just minutes apart.

We're getting together tomorrow night for dinner to celebrate her birthday, but just about every time we get together is a celebration of our long friendship.

The things I admire most about Ruthanne are her upbeat spirit and her sense of adventure. She could have plenty of reasons for getting frustrated or discouraged but she doesn't let those things overtake her. There's something about the way we connect that uplifts me. And often something comes up in our conversation that tickles our funny bones and makes us laugh til we cry.

Maybe its because Ruthanne spends her life in a wheelchair, that she loves to pursue the kinds of adventures that literally lift her up out of her chair. Years ago we went to an amusement park together and we rode on all the wildest rides. She's tried adaptive skiing... She gets hauled up the hill on a ski lift, tucked into a little sled and tethered to a skier who guides her down the hill.

She's been para-sailing, hot-air ballooning and even parachuting... yes, jumping out of an airplane, strapped to a guy who had a parachute on.

Nowadays most places are wheelchair accessible, but once in a while we have to find a strapping young man who can gather in his arms and carry her up some stairs. She doesn't seem to mind!

Thanks Ruthanne for the long conversations, the listening ear, the laughter. Thanks for the opportunity to get to know your friends and family. Thanks for that trademark smile of yours. It's contagious! Thanks for enriching my life with your friendship!

Happy Birthday and many more!

Dads make a difference

Dad is quick to give Mom a lot of credit for the fine home that we grew up in, and summarizes that with a favorite saying, "Mothers make a difference." She in turn says, "It takes two..." and I agree wholeheartedly. Dads make a difference, too. In my line of work I've seen plenty of heartache associated with dads who never took that role seriously.

Dad was a truck driver and was always hustling to get the next load and the next, good ones that paid well. He was generally up by around 3 and on the road shortly thereafter so he could be first in line to pick up a load and then get on to the next place. That was before the days of trucks with an "air cushioned ride" or air conditioning. He would only be gone for 2 or 3 days at a time and then would be home for awhile before taking off again. And he was always home on weekends.

Dad worked hard to make sure we had a good life and a nice home. Our house went through a series of renovations, first one part of the house and then another. A lot of the things I got to do as a kid were because he provided the means. I was involved in band, Girl Scouts, 4-H, church youth group and various other school projects. I went to camp every summer for a couple weeks. There was a special canoe trip with the Girl Scouts in Michigan, and an MYF trip to New York City. There were family vacations every summer.

Then came college. I graduated from OSU on a Friday afternoon in December. Dad had been out on the road and got back home in time to get in the car and come to Columbus with Mom for the ceremonies, and sat through the reading off of hundreds of names to finally hear my name called. There was just something about knowing that they were there that made such a difference.

They say pictures speak a thousand words. This one speaks three, "One lucky kid."

This one speaks three also.

"I love you."

School daze

I have a high school class reunion this Saturday and for that reason I've been going through my collection of ephemera from childhood/ school days ... finding things like book reports, certificates, greetings cards, newspaper clippings, even an Alice and Jerry workbook from grade school.

Our class has been getting together every five years with roughly about 1/3rd of the original 99 showing up. Three of my classmates passed away before we even graduated. A car accident, leukemia and a head injury claimed their lives. Of course more have passed since then, including Jim Pheiffer who died of a heart attack just prior to our last reunion.

Here's a photo I took of our class 10 years ago. I was working for a portrait studio at the time and my boss let me take our studio lights out on location to photograph the class. This particular photo isn't the final shot. I am sitting in the front row, 2nd from the left with my hand over my mouth. You will notice that a lot of people were laughing or smiling big in the photo. That is because I had set the timer on the camera, ran back to sit in my place and ended up sitting on Jim Pheiffer's lap. It wasn't enough that I sat next to him in home room every year.

During my school days, the New London schools consisted of three buildings sitting next to each other, and housing all 12 grades. I walked the same two blocks back and forth to school for 12 years, and there were quite a few of us that went through all 12 grades together. That says something for a sense of stability and cohesiveness.

I have a lot of stories that could cover the years between these two photos but not enough time to tell them all, at least not tonight....

Mongolia

My youngest nephew Craig is departing for Mongolia this Sunday where he'll be conducting research as part of his graduate studies in civil engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT). He’ll be studying with about a dozen faculty/students involved in various fields of study including chemistry and environmental engineering. The team also includes faculty/students from three Mongolian educational institutions. They will be based in Erdenet, which is the second largest city in Mongolia and the location of the fourth largest copper mine in the world.

Craig says he will be collecting samples for subsequent research on whether heavy metal by-products of copper mining can be permanently contained in cement mortar. This could become a suitable way to get heavy metals out of circulation since they have a toxic effect on humans and the environment.

They also will be investigating the treatment of industrial process wastewater, which may eventually lead to low-cost treatment of heavy-metal contaminated drinking water in developing countries.

On their way back home they’ll be making a quick stop in Beijing on June 21st to see the Great Wall of China.

I’m inviting Craig to post additional comments here to clarify or correct anything that needs it.

Everyone else, go look up Erdenet on your world atlas or google it to see what you can find.

Here's Craig at his graduation from Ohio Northern, alongside his brother Brian who also graduated from ONU in civil engineering, and also got a Masters Degree at SDSMT.

Here he is with Grandma and Grandpa Phillips, very proud.

The deer no longer roams

As a follow up to the previous post...

We all wondered what happened to the deer that authorities tranquilized and removed from the City Mission's campus last Friday. The Plain Dealer reported in the Saturday issue that it was euthanized which is required by state law so that someone doesn't end up eating the meat laced with the tranquilzing drug, and to avoid transfering illness or parasites to other areas.