On Ceilings, Chili and Dreaming

Worked at the church for a bit today. The exciting task of changing stained ceiling tiles. Strangely - although I used the word "exciting" facetiously (look it up Jack), it can be kind of exciting. In an old building (Centenary was completed in the 1920s) you never know what might be above there. Of course there is dirt and sometimes rubble from the deteriorating ceiling above...but then there is the "huh?" factor. Today there was twine from when someone ran communication cables up there. "Sure guys, just leave it there...nobody will see it" and on more than one occasion surplus stained ceiling tiles! What? Sure - I appreciate whoever decided to replace the stained one...but take your trash with you, k? (rabbit trail - once upon a time when my sister Karen managed a store in River Ridge Mall I was helping add an extra row of rack in the storeroom. She needed more space to hang more prom dresses. I needed to be able to push up the ceiling tile to get the rack in place and I couldn't understand why I couldn't lift one. Kept moving the ladder and pushing another...until I finally got to one that would move. Curious as to what was holding the others down I poked my head up through the hole. Oh my. A previous manager or tenant had stored old rounders up there (rounders are those round things that clothes hang on in a store). HUNDREDS of pounds of metal sitting on drop ceiling. That has a weight limit of...pretty much TILES!! They were just lucky no one died in that stockroom. Rabbit trail ended.)

The most exciting tile of the day? In the library annex there was one badly stained tile and I even sent nephew Jack to get a couple of tiles from the ground floor storage. We had actually finished the areas we were working on today - but I HAD to go find a couple more spotty ones. Standing on a desk (ladder was heavy) I pushed up on this tile and realized it was damp. That's when it started disintegrating around my hand. Denise ran amok and found a trash can while I tried to keep the one in my hand from collapsing. Water dripping on my head and chunks of ceiling tile and plaster in my hair. I love my church. The building - not as much. Add the leaky radiator above to the list of repairs.

More fun activity of the day? I'm making chili for tomorrow's Centenary Chili Cook Off! Mom and I always make separate chilis (chilies? spell check tells me the plural of chili isn't chilis. I know that it isn't chili's because the chili is not possessing anything.) We've gone head to head and pretend to have this great serious rivalry. Mine is never the same twice...I can't cook anything the same twice. But I know it is going to be good. And she'll still place higher than me - pity vote I believe. All I want is Clif Coleman's vote. There's a man who knows chili.

If you're in the area come to the fellowship hall after church on Sunday (noonish) and tell us whose is best. I just would like to point out that it is sinful to lie in church. Mine is best.

One more interesting thing tomorrow is going to be the discussion in our Senior High Sunday school class. (yeah...I'm not in high school...I'm the teacher) We are taking on a challenge from the district superintendent to answer the questions: How big is your dream? How good is your team? I specifically asked the youth to think about what dreams they have for our church. Last week we dreamed big - I asked what they would suggest if Centenary suddenly had 10 million dollars. The back field was going to be a giant trampoline and there was going to be a gondola ride from the steeple to the river complex on Treasure Island (YMCA Island, Liberty University's Island...however you know it). And we talked about things that don't cost money. But for the week I asked them to think about a program or activity or mission with a smaller budget. $10,000. I'm hoping for some dreams. Because with God as our leader - our team is good. We just need to start dreaming bigger!!