Anyone up for a chat thread?

[RamiC]

Well we all got into the pool. Friend 1 is actually terrified, because she has disabilities and was raised and taught to swim at a time when everything was done very badly for people like her. She does want to be able to do it, and could get around her physical limitations, but we have agreed to ask Jesus to help with her fear, there is no way to enjoy swimming while you are afraid to get your face wet.

Friend 2 says that no one ever told him not to inhale when his face is under the water before, so I do not know who taught him in the first place, but I do know that the most helpful thing my Dad ever taught me about swimming was "do not try to breathe-in while your head is under the water". So, he is going to practice blowing bubbles at home in the bath.

We will get there. Thank you for listening.

 

[Paidiske]

That sounds like gentle progress. I hope it is an encouraging experience for all of you.

 

[Shane R]

I was invited to a pastor's luncheon at one of the old downtown churches. Not being familiar with the particular church I went a little early and found the police there. A man had been burglarizing churches last night. Rank amateur, it seems. He broke 2 of the windows. The first he couldn't manage to squirm through so he broke another. He cut himself up and left a bunch of blood in the floor at that location. He then tried to kick in the door to the office but was not strong enough. I would have expected he would at least make off with the silver altarware but he was apparently only looking for loose cash. He had hit the smaller of the 2 Catholic churches first and that's all he took from them. Now, most churches don't have more than maybe $50 of cash sitting around, if that. A lot have none. More and more those churches that do entertain the homeless and addict communities have a stock of gift cards for grocery stores and restaurants rather than loose cash.

The Catholic church had good cameras so the police had clear pictures of this chap. And of course they have blood samples from the mess he left in the Lutheran church to compare against. If he's cut up very bad I'm sure he'll appear at an urgent care clinic sometime soon and get caught. Anyhow, with all of that going on the lunch had never been prepared. So we reconvened at a local buffet.

 

[RileyG]

I was invited to a pastor's luncheon at one of the old downtown churches. Not being familiar with the particular church I went a little early and found the police there. A man had been burglarizing churches last night. Rank amateur, it seems. He broke 2 of the windows. The first he couldn't manage to squirm through so he broke another. He cut himself up and left a bunch of blood in the floor at that location. He then tried to kick in the door to the office but was not strong enough. I would have expected he would at least make off with the silver altarware but he was apparently only looking for loose cash. He had hit the smaller of the 2 Catholic churches first and that's all he took from them. Now, most churches don't have more than maybe $50 of cash sitting around, if that. A lot have none. More and more those churches that do entertain the homeless and addict communities have a stock of gift cards for grocery stores and restaurants rather than loose cash.

The Catholic church had good cameras so the police had clear pictures of this chap. And of course they have blood samples from the mess he left in the Lutheran church to compare against. If he's cut up very bad I'm sure he'll appear at an urgent care clinic sometime soon and get caught. Anyhow, with all of that going on the lunch had never been prepared. So we reconvened at a local buffet.

That reminds me of the (Catholic, female) monastery that was attached to my college.

Apparently, during my junior year of college (2016-2017) some people were stealing from the monastery, so the sisters were keeping it locked 24/7.

The town was less than ~15,000.

Really? I cannot wrap my head around it.

SMH

 

[RileyG]

That sounds like gentle progress. I hope it is an encouraging experience for all of you.

My mother, who was six out of ten children growing up on a farm, also never learned to swim. She would only put her legs in the pool, but never got into the water. She's (almost) 62.

 

[RamiC]

I was invited to a pastor's luncheon at one of the old downtown churches. Not being familiar with the particular church I went a little early and found the police there. A man had been burglarizing churches last night. Rank amateur, it seems. He broke 2 of the windows. The first he couldn't manage to squirm through so he broke another. He cut himself up and left a bunch of blood in the floor at that location. He then tried to kick in the door to the office but was not strong enough. I would have expected he would at least make off with the silver altarware but he was apparently only looking for loose cash. He had hit the smaller of the 2 Catholic churches first and that's all he took from them. Now, most churches don't have more than maybe $50 of cash sitting around, if that. A lot have none. More and more those churches that do entertain the homeless and addict communities have a stock of gift cards for grocery stores and restaurants rather than loose cash.

The Catholic church had good cameras so the police had clear pictures of this chap. And of course they have blood samples from the mess he left in the Lutheran church to compare against. If he's cut up very bad I'm sure he'll appear at an urgent care clinic sometime soon and get caught. Anyhow, with all of that going on the lunch had never been prepared. So we reconvened at a local buffet.

We have had similar problems locally, cash can buy drugs much faster than silverware, which a person has to sell to turn into cash. I hope that your church communities recover from the attack soon, and that the law can find the person, but also that if they need help with addiction, that they find it. I work with addicts in recovery, this story reads like this person really needs help, sorry if I sound like I am on the villain's side, but that is really dangerously desperate behaviour.

Please keep posting if there is any more news on this.

 

[RamiC]

My mother, who was six out of ten children growing up on a farm, also never learned to swim. She would only put her legs in the pool, but never got into the water. She's (almost) 62.

Bless her, I do not remember being unable to swim.

 

[Shane R]

We have had similar problems locally, cash can buy drugs much faster than silverware, which a person has to sell to turn into cash. I hope that your church communities recover from the attack soon, and that the law can find the person, but also that if they need help with addiction, that they find it. I work with addicts in recovery, this story reads like this person really needs help, sorry if I sound like I am on the villain's side, but that is really dangerously desperate behaviour.

Please keep posting if there is any more news on this.

He left so much evidence behind that the police had little trouble tracking him down the next day. His total rampage included 3 churches and 2 businesses: an auto repair place and some sort of metal fabrication shop. He didn't get much at all which will actually help him when he's brought to trial.

 

[RamiC]

He left so much evidence behind that the police had little trouble tracking him down the next day. His total rampage included 3 churches and 2 businesses: an auto repair place and some sort of metal fabrication shop. He didn't get much at all which will actually help him when he's brought to trial.

Hopefully they can keep him away from the rest of your community and he can get help with making better choices where ever they hold him. We know your churches are safe from him now, that is a winner.

 

[RamiC]

Friend 2 can now swim. I saw him do it this morning. He needs a bit more practice before he can make his target of getting into the sea and enjoying it, but he liked it a lot in the pool today, so he will practice. He is 69 years old.

Friend 1 is working on some self calming techniques, in her flat, not near any water for now. She is happy with that as a step towards being able to be calm near swimable water later.

Thank you Jesus and everyone in here who prayed, including anyone who reads this stuff but did not post. You are all ace.

 

[Shane R]

I've accepted an invitation to preach at the final service of a conference I am attending in Syracuse, New York in 2 weeks. To the best of my recollection, that will be the eighth US state I have preached in.

 

[Paidiske]

Australia doesn't even have eight states.

 

[Shane R]

Australia doesn't even have eight states.

Consults encyclopedia; finds 6. Wow. The Canadians 10 and NZ effectively 11. A different way of doing things, I suppose.

 

[Paidiske]

Different history, really. Also, great big desert in the middle of the island, meaning all of our cities of any real size are on the coast.

 

[RileyG]

Australia doesn't even have eight states.

The American mind cannot comprehend that

 

[Paidiske]

Yes, well... there's much in America that the Australian mind can't comprehend.

 

[seeking.IAM]

Yes, well... there's much in America that the Australian mind can't comprehend

You are not alone. There is much in America that Americans can't comprehend, either.

 

[RileyG]

Yes, well... there's much in America that the Australian mind can't comprehend.

I went to college with a young woman from Australia, I wonder how much was a culture shock I think she had 7 siblings and was born into a Lutheran family. Don't know how common that is in your neck of the woods.

 

[Paidiske]

I went to college with a young woman from Australia, I wonder how much was a culture shock

If the difference is as big in real life as it is online, I'd suspect a fair bit.

I think she had 7 siblings and was born into a Lutheran family. Don't know how common that is in your neck of the woods.

Being Lutheran? Not very. There's a significant concentration of Lutherans in a couple of places that had a lot of German immigration at one point, particularly South Australia, but in most places Lutheranism barely exists here.

 

[Shane R]

I received what I considered a compliment this week. I signed my daughters up for vacation Bible school at a neighborhood Church of the Nazarene. I figured maybe some kids they know from school would actually be at that one and I was partially successful. When I dropped them off on the second day, the organizational lady asked me if we go to church because, "Your girls seem to be fairly familiar with the Bible."