Freezing Friends: The We-Wu for January 20-24, 2025

Hello, my little popsicles!

I hope all your bits are still attached and plenty warm. I think pretty much anywhere in the U.S. this week was more than a little chilly. (Except in California. I think they’d like things to be a little cooler.) Here in Indiana, I hunkered down when possible and actually dragged my office heater out from its storage area. At one point, I managed to raise the temp in my office from 69 degrees to 75, so I consider that a job well done.

This has been a mish-mash week, with one steady project punctuated by several smaller projects throughout. Lists are back in style, baby!

On Monday, I led the team through James 1:13-27. I really like James. He’s a fascinating character to me. But I also found myself entranced with one particular verse.

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” James 1:25

Please don’t misunderstand me. Of course I appreciated the verse for its message. How could you not? But mostly, I just really wanted to diagram it.

Did you get to diagram sentences in school? Do they even still teach it? I love diagramming sentences! I used to diagram some of Paul’s bangers back in the day, which always impressed my high school English teacher.

Trouble is, I don’t remember what all the shapes do now. I have memorized every preposition, but I don’t remember which squiggly bit goes where. I need to brush up on that. I did, however, find a great website that let’s you diagram to your heart’s content online. You’ll probably want to bookmark that for later.

Confession time: I watched the entire inauguration on Monday. I streamed it on my second monitor while I was working. I don’t normally watch political stuff. I can’t stand politicians. But this one has been so contentious for people that I felt I needed to bear witness. Also, I was a little bit terrified someone would do something rash.

The winds have shifted in America. Whether they portend fair weather or foul, only future historians can judge. I don’t have much faith in men. But, as ever, I pray for those who lead this country and others to make wise and godly choices.

One huge thing I have coming down the pike is the Church Multiplication Conference in April. As Tech Lead, I have a lot of things that need to be done in sequence between now and then. I have my target dates written down (lists!), so that should be helpful.

Another meeting this week was regarding the French translation of the latest issue of OMS Outreach. Do we normally translate our magazine into French? No. Do we normally translate it into any language? No. But my team has a process, and hopefully it will be the best one, so that will be another thing I get to format once the translation is done.

We have a new professional development course going right now called Experience God’s Word Afresh. I’m excited about this one, though I seriously doubt my storytelling abilities. I’m great in writing, but speaking is not my forte. I know how important it is for oral learners, though.

We’re moving ahead on our new African languages. I had to create three new directories in our FTP, so that was fun.

My ongoing project this week was, of course, art swaps and library creation. I continue to work my way through Spanish booklets to change out the European figures for the more universal art we have. I am now nearly halfway through the booklets. This pace will likely continue as long as these other projects interject.

Speaking of…

Yeah, I made that. Why? Because the door doesn’t shut properly, and it lets in all the cold air. Will it work? Maybe. We had one up there before, but it got more and more wrecked because people kept using the door.

…

But this one is laminated!

I think that wraps up the week nicely. I do, though, want to share another little picture of something I picked up lately.

That is indeed a necklace with a pendant that reminds us to ‘do small things with great love.’

Obviously, I think that’s a great message. I wasn’t looking for it, but when I found it, I knew it was coming home with me.

What small things have you been doing lately? How can you do them with great love in the future?

Stay warm, my frosty friends! Bye!