COVID Testing Report Disaster

 Last post I mentioned our preparations in coming to Italy. We reported to our test site in Birmingham, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, after three trips back to the admissions desk, a guy came out and summoned us inside. His timing was good in that the clinic closed at 4PM and it was about 3:40.

We went in and the guy quickly took his samples. They sent us back to our car to wait. We were happy that the over 4 hours we had been in the car was relatively comfortable as the day was cool. Finally a lady brought out our test results about 4 PM. We both got a negative on COVID, so we were thrilled. What I failed to note was that whereas Brenda's form was pristine, mine had NOTHING written in the "Day and Time of Collection Box". Instead underneath the negative it had that information as a note--unfortunately not clearly tied to the time and day of collection.

Well, I hadn't noticed, but the lady at our Delta Flight check-in window did notice. Fortunately she gets her personal medical care from the same clinic. She suggest I call and get a full-completed form sent to me via email. She kindly offered to print off a new copy for me.

Fortunately we got to Delta 3 hours before our flight. After 2.5 hours calling and texting the clinic, I still did NOT have a neat, completed, typed form. We praise the Delta agent, Ava, because she called personally and her success was no better than mine. In an act of mercy, Ava gave us boarding passes and sent us through screening.

We got to Atlanta airport and they screened us again, noticing that my form was not properly filled-out. Fortunately she trusted Ava, so we made it through that screening also.

Whew!

So much stress and frustration even BEFORE boarding a 9-hour flight.

But G^d is good and we made it through the rest of the flight in without any difficulties.

But, word to the wise--look very carefully at your COVID paperwork and make absolutely sure it is completely filled out correctly. I wish someone had told me this.

Blessings,

How NOT to visit Europe during Pandemic

As this posts, we are back in  the USA, but this was written in our AirBnB, Casa Dolce (Sweet house). Getting here was none too simple. Setting up the AirBnb took 3x loner than usual. Our host speaks no English. Fortunately, he does on a restaurant next door, so by asking around we found him.

But, we also had to reserve a hotel room at the airport for our departure. That was likewise challenging for such a simple task, but we got it done. Speaking of hotels, we had to fill out a "EU Personal Locator Form" listing every place we would be in Italy. Oh, and they don't write addresses as we do. The form took a while, but that's not the worst.

Our BIG challenge was getting a COVID negative test within 72 hours of ARRIVING in Italy. We arrived at 0940 local time on a TUESDAY. That meant we had to acquire a negative test on Saturday or Sunday. That wouldn't be hard in a big city, but was very hard in Tuscaloosa, where we live. We could get a test on early Saturday, but we wouldn't get results for 24-48 hours later. That meant we would NOT know the results until as late as Monday AM--the day of departure.

BUT, G^d provided. We met with a young CRU missionary who told us about a Med clinic in Birmingham that could give us 15-min results. Well, their closest clinic was about 50 miles, so we made an appointment on 15 Sept. On 26 Sept., we headed out.  We got there only a few minutes after the clinic opened Sunday afternoon. The desk lady gave us instructions which we followed, but she also advised us that their staff who take and process COVID tests was unexplainably NOT there yet.

Hmm, so what to do? We had an appointment at that location, so I was hesitant to go to the other clinic only about 15 minutes away.  Bad decision.

More on that next post.

A Different Perspective

 Yesterday I got to chat with a long-time friend, Pete G. In the course of our conversation, he mentioned that Christians in some countries put their lives and livelihood at risk by following the Christ. This reminded me of our bold brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. Some Christian Afghanis identify themselves as Christians on their national identity cards. In so doing, they risk death and certainly discrimination.

Pete's purpose in mentioning this was to contrast it with how we, and particularly Christians in Higher Education, are so often fearful of being persecuted for our Christianity.  We both asked, "What is the worst thing we could face in following the Christ?" Well, our status might drop, in a worst case we might be denied tenure. Now compare that with death.

As I have mentioned before, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus tells us that if we suffer for His sake, our reward in heaven will be great. Our problem is that we have doubts about those rewards. We are confident of the benefits of status now, and clearly earning tenure is a big deal.

And, of course it is easy for Pete and I to be brave, because tenure is not at stake for us. Likewise we are not worried about our status. But, what do we Christians have to fear? Our biggest problem has already been solved by Jesus the Christ.

"Fear not!" is a common command in Scripture.  "Fear G^d!" is also a common command in Scripture.

Let's put these two commands together and let us be bold in proclaiming the Christ/

A tool from the Trash

 As most readers know, I get a  lot of stuff out of the trash. A couple of three months back, I stumbled on a tool in a big pile of garbage. I thought, I'll see if it is useful, and if not, I can always throw it away.

Throw it away?  I'd have to be crazy.  Take a look at this iron baby:

The shoe is included to show you how long the pry bar is. The bottom is excellent for pulling stuff apart. You get super leverage. I needed to lift something really heavy last week, and slipped the tapered in under and voila, it was easily lifted. The length of the bar combined with the length of the prying fulcrum makes this thing powerful!

And, the price was great!

Still Freaked Out

 I am a bit surprised. I have still not gotten used to being retired. It hit me again yesterday.  A check shows up, and I didn't do anything (lately) to earn it.  Freaky!

I do miss the students and colleagues. Each term I got a new group of students, and got to start over as a teacher. The students were young, with much to learn about life and about the course material. Some were excited, and some had to be "won over". It was a continual challenge, but I wanted to serve them well and to have an eternal impact on them, so I gave it a full effort.

I do enjoy the great freedom that comes with retirement. Now instead of working 50+ hours per week, I can work on things around home. I can get caught up with the chores and look for new things to do. I have the freedom to accept invites to minister, regardless of where, when or how long it takes. These aspects are great.

I can see how many retirees could struggle with a lack of purpose. If all you are doing is indulging your own fancies, it could get pretty old, pretty quick. Plus with a fairly free schedule, it is much harder--yes it is--to workout regularly and do the things that formerly simply held a place in the weekly schedule.

I even think, on occasion, about going back to teaching somewhere. But, I do realize that working as a missionary is first place in my working life, and I would be much restricted if I went back to the job. So, if you hear me mention it, remind me of the positives of a free schedule.

Oh, and a check shows up each month, without me doing anything but staying alive. Freaky! Did I mention that?

Pointing Fingers

 I was recently in a discussion with one of my pastor friends, who is African American. My friend was citing Scriptures against rich people oppressing poor people. There is NO shortage of Scriptures warning the rich of the perils of riches. Likewise, Jesus tells us not to seek riches here on earth, and when talking about salvation with the rich young ruler (Lk 18 and Mk 10), sends the young may away "grieved" for he had much wealth.

I admitted to my friend that I considered myself to be rich, and that the majority of people in the USA (implying him too) are rich by worldwide standards. I also mentioned that as I have talked to people around the world, the aspiration to wealth was extremely common.

He said he was well aware of aspirations but that was irrelevant, we needed to condemn the rich like Scripture does. I then pointed out that we are always quick to condemn the sins we think are beneath us. We want others to "straighten up".

But when I point my finger at others, I have 3 pointing back at me. I am a rich sinner, saved by grace alone. I haven't earned this, I just rest in it.

Thank you L^rd, that even a rich guy like me (and a great many friends, including pastors) can enjoy your grace and mercy!

Bested by a Beaver

 Last night (9-10) as I was docking my canoe in the backyard after fishing, I thought sure I heard a beaver slap its tail against the water's surface. They do that if they are alarmed. I hadn't seen a beaver, but within a couple of minutes, here he swam.

Back in June, we had a terrific rainstorm that flooded the creek below our house. A week or a little more later, Andrew and I spotted a lone beaver, that had likely sought refuge from the flood in our lake. I later noticed that a small cherry tree in our backyard had been gnawed down by a beaver.

I contacted the head of our homeowner's association, my next-door neighbor, Walter, and told him what I had seen. I told Walter that I would try to remove the beaver. He agreed.

I started trying in mid-July, with NO success. Today, Brenda and I saw not one beaver, but two! I was NOT happy to see the beautiful, hard-working creatures. Today, my limited efforts were replaced by those of a professional hired at a pretty high price.

I hope he succeeds where I failed.

Running the Old Route(s)

 Today (8 Sept) I ran on campus for the first time since about Feb 2020. I knew it would be hot to run later in the day, but really wanted to run on some of the old paths of yesteryear.

It was neat to see how much things had changed, and how much they had stayed the same in the preceding 19 or so months. There were some things I hadn't expected. But all in all it was nice to be back in the old haunts. It was slow and very sweaty, but nice.

And yes, I picked up a lot of trash. One of the older guys on campus, a student I think, maybe a grad student, thanked me.  He offered, "If I had my wallet I take out some money for you." Lucky day to not have your wallet, I guess. But I appreciated his appreciation, nonetheless.

I ran some familiar ground, but over the years at UA, I covered a lot of routes multiple times. I did a little chunk today, but there's a lot more to be done. I hope the COVID situation continues to improve and that I can get back to some of these other routes. Of course my body has to cooperate also.

We shall see.  Stay tuned.

Blessings,