Ridgell's Originals

I love this time of year. Food, fun, family. I don't see how it can get much better. Mimi is out of school after tomorrow and we are looking forward to the next two weeks. I have so many comp days from traveling that i am off most of the next two weeks also.

We have a wedding rehearsal and wedding this weekend then it is all about down time.

Hope everyone has great holidays.

Not blogging again till after the first.

Wednesday morning: very productive. Lots of work on a manuscript, productive meeting and emails on a couple of HoT projects, couple of elder agenda items for night meeting.

Wed. lunch: out with Todd for his 50th b'day. Great Chile Rellanos. Nice. Barely get back to office. Have to stop at bathroom. Assume Rellanos not so great. Not feeling so good. Must be something ate. Not so productive. On very good terms with bathroom.

Wed. 5:00 Go to Grandpa's 81st birthday. Cake doesn't taste good. Decide to lay down in back room. Call Marsha on cell phone from back (she is in front room). Want her to tell me why I don't feel good. she explains. Cannot use her exact words. Cancel all my meetings.

Wed Nite and Thursday: Someone left air conditioner on at house. Must be why I am so cold. Take hot bath. Hot water not helping. Wife reminds me that the left is for hot right is for cold. Soap seems to be wrapped in sandpaper. Weird.

Can't sleep. Lying down in bathroom easier. No one has ever been this sick. Marsha leaves for school. Something wrong with clocks because I have been sick for several days already. Drinking Pepto from bottle. Easier than that stupid cup. Marsha suggests I don't have to call with updates every hour.

Thursday nite: I must have something really bad and she doesn't want to tell me. Maybe it's my heart, or cancer, or I have finally picked up some exotic disease on my travels. Probably dead by morning. Bet she will wish she was more sympathetic. I always am. I'm sure of it. On second thought, I really love her. Wake her up to tell her. Not one of my best ideas but I am delirious.

Friday: Feeling better. Maybe I can get some work done. Stupid. Have soup. Not bad.

Saturday: Much better. I have faced death and survived. Most men would have whined and cried like a baby. Very proud of myself. Tell Marsha so. I guess she didn't hear me.

Sunday: Getting stronger. Tell Marsha what would really help me get well. She says something about being out of my mind. Will not repeat other things thought I heard.

Monday: Back at work. Feel good. Realize how glad I am that I have Marsha to take care of me. Decide best thing was not medicine or rest but grandkids praying for me.

Have decided I will never be sick again. Having Chile Rellanos tonite I hope.

I have been thinking lately as an shepherd about what I should expect from my flock. Of course, the easy answer is I expect them to follow Jesus and become more like him. But I sense that I need to think more specifically than that. So here are three things I expect from my flock. And by the way, this is also what I expect from myself and from my own family.

Gather with the family for corporate worship. At Southern Hills, we have multiple worship services to choose from and I don't much care which ones my sheep attend. But I do want us all to be at a weekly church family gathering when we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is a statement of unity. This part of the assembly is more important than the praise or the preaching. Whether you like the style, the singing, the building, or the preaching is not the point. Be there.

I want each of my flock to be part of a small group. I don't care what structure that group takes. It just needs to be a place of sharing, accountability, and support for it's members. I am part of three functioning groups: our small group with three other couples, the eldership (which in many ways functions as a group), and our family group (Julie and her family, Granny and Grandpa, etc)). I don't care how you form your group, you just need to be in a close knit support group.

Get involved in at least one ministry. Teach a Bible class, get on First Impressions, Campus Ministry, Bridge Builders. I really don't care what ministry you get involved with, just do something to help further the work of the church.

More thoughts later.

OK -- everyone whines about the BCS at this time of year, and almost everyone has some reason to complain. But most are just whining.

Texas: yep, you got screwed this year. I think you are one of the two best teams in the country right now. Don't blame the BCS, blame the Big 12. Stupid tiebreaker rule kept you out.

Tech: I know it's tough, but Oklahoma killed you. Great year tho. Exciting times and sorry you are going to lose your coach.

Alabama: If you lose to Florida, you have no chance to play for all the marbles. Even a 1 point loss. Better to lose early than late.

Florida: You may be right that your conference championship should be the national championship.

USC: Get a conference championship. You should win it every year and that would help.

Penn State: see above. Have your champion not get killed every year in the championship game. And quit living off your old reputation. Big 10 is not one of the top conferences.

Utah: Get real. Be delighted you can even pretend to be upset. Get in a real conference and hope you break even.

Oklahoma: Never mind. No complaints. Great system. Worked just like it was supposed to.

Arkansas: You were only six or seven wins away from having a real shot. Sorry, it's just that I am a Razorback fan. Wait till next year. Or '10. Or '11. But one day soon.

By the way, I think Florida and Texas are the best two teams in the country and should play for the Championship. USC ,OK, and Alabama are right behind those two.

SEC is the best conference in the country year in and year out. This year Big 12 is really close and no other conference is close to those two.

I took Jake to the zoo the other day. It is something we like to do because ... well, he's about to be three and I'm a big kid at heart. We have the Grandparent family pass, so we go to the window, tell them my name, buy our crackers for the animals and off we go.

This time the lady at the window couldn't find my name. I told it to her, spelled it out, looked thru the window and told her it was at the end of page four. She couldn't get it. And she was rude about it. I don't know if she thought I was an impostor, or maybe I looked too old to be a granddad. Anyway, we were getting nowhere fast.

The other lady working came over, listened to me, took the papers, showed the first lady where my name was and backed away while giving me one of those "I am so sorry" looks.

By now, you are wondering if I was mad at the rude, incompetent lady who wouldn't listen, wouldn't help, and wouldn't let me in. But actually, I kept wondering what was going on in her life that made her so unhappy. I tried my best smile, told her to have a good day, and went out of my way to smile at her on the way out.

I wish she knew Jesus. I assume someone that unhappy is not a Christian. I haven't yet figured out how to communicate Jesus to her but I hope next time I can find an opportunity.

It also made me wonder... what if she is a Christian? What kind of witness did she make that day? What kind of witness am I every day? Do people assume I am a Christian when they cross my path?

Just things to think about from a random encounter.