June 3; a quick note

Two nights of three of poor sleep. A rare occurrence in my world. I know that Friday night was my own fault and was due to too much evening caffeine. Last night was mostly due to allergies that kept interrupting my rest. The good news is that I feel rested enough and since I didn't have to get up for anything (either morning), sleep in a little later worked out well.

Now, on with the day (and week).

Most of what would normally be free time (breaks at work, baseball watching time at home) will be devoted to getting ready for Kids' Camp. Messages are outlined, some written, but some with work to be done.
And the rest of life goes on as well...grass to be cut, walks to be taken (my new daily exercise), etc., etc.
Busy week.

So, in keeping with a small resolve to write, I've written. Now to finish my coffee and attack the lawn before heading into the tower for another day of ATC.

John <><

Read More

June 2

Sunday mornings always provide a few quiet moments to read my favorite blogs and make a check on Facebook. I'm usually able to enjoy a nice cup of coffee, review my Sunday School lesson and keep up with my daily Bible reading.

This morning I'm also taking a little time to force myself to to write--even if it's only for a brief moment.

After returning from a vacation in Mexico, I shaved off my beard and mustache. I was going to shave it before we left, but opted to wait since my passport photo (and every other photo for the past decade+) has facial hair and I already seem to get "randomized" more than usual by TSA.

I've been asked why I decided to go clean shaven and have avoided sharing the vanity of the truthful answer. A month ago I had an encounter with an old family friend that I hadn't seen in quite some time. The comment was made about how much white was in my beard.

I've always known that the white was there, and that it did make me look older than I feel. I've thought about shaving it off before but always hesitated because I felt like the beard tended to hide an otherwise fat face. So now the facial hair is gone, the fat face looks back at me from the mirror and I have an added incentive to  get a little exercise and eat a little less to drop some of this weight.

So, along with writing more often, I'm also going to make the time to get a little bit of exercise everyday--a walk, the stairs, the exercise bike, something. I even bought a new pair of walking/running shoes even though it appears that the running part will be somewhat down the road (so to speak).

Have a great Sunday!
I'm off to meet with my church family at Hopedale. You're invited to come and worship with us!

John <><

Read More

June 1

June first seems like as a good a day as any to get back to blogging.
Truthfully, I think about writing often, but usually just don't feel like taking the time to think out a good post. I need to get back to my original intent of this blog and just write to write. It's much easier to write for self and share than to try to write what others might want to read.

Since Out of My Hat began about seven years ago, I've followed a number of blogs that have faded into oblivion. I know how life circumstance, desires and demands change and alter our daily habits. I've never been a regular writer that sticks to a disciplined schedule of time at the keyboard, but I'm not ready to give it up yet, either.

Maybe it's time to be more disciplined about writing. I have to admit that I've tried that from time to time and only stick to it for a short time. I'm not really a very disciplined person.

While I'm not ready to quit blogging, neither am I ready to commit to a daily habit of posting. Over the past few weeks, even my daily reading of the blogs I follow has become irregular. I think I need to re-evaluate some of the many blogs that find their way into my reader. There are a few that I no longer read even when they post; I just skip ahead to the ones that I look forward to reading as often as they might post.

Somehow, I think that the step up to a smart phone has played a part in my blogging less. I am easily able to access and read the blogs I follow by phone, yet I don't really care to write and post via phone. That translates into not using my computer as often as I used to and less time on the computer equals less time for blogging.

I'll apologize in advance if this turns into more of a diary of life events and less of what you are used to seeing here. That may not be much of a change, but it may be enough to push a few readers to move Out of My Hat from their regular blog feed. So be it.

John <><

Read More

Quick Note...

I've been working on spending less time on the computer or online via my phone.  I am keeping up with fewer blogs and reading less in the way of polarizing news stories. I am continuing to read educational articles and articles that are of interest to me.

And I've also been writing less. Of course, the writing less is more a lack of discipline rather than by design. This week's morning computer time has been given over to preparation for Sunday morning's message.

I am really looking forward to Sunday. If you are in the area, I invite you to come and worship with us at Hopedale at 8:30 or 11. If you are not in the area or are unable to attend, you can worship with us via our online feed at Hopedale.org for the 11 o'clock (1600 UTC for my overseas friends) service. (I'd link for you but I'm on my phone and haven't figured that out yet.)

I hope that you'll join us.

For tonight, I'm looking forward to meeting Aaron for the Blues hockey game.

I have a good life. God has blessed me greatly.

John <><

Read More

Some will win, some will lose...

...some were born to sing the blues.

These lyrics from Journey's Don't Stop Believing are going to prove true for all of the government agencies and for all of the people that are affected by the sequester cuts.

After the week of delays that resulted from the FAA cuts that caused air traffic controllers to be furloughed, our Congress has instructed the Department of Transportation (DOT) to find the money someplace else. So here's the deal in a nut shell. The FAA cuts it programs back as far as it can and still needs to furlough ATC one day per pay period (original talks were one day per week). They've cut back training (for new hires in the system), placed a freeze on hiring (in spite of nearly half of the current controller workforce being eligible to retire), and scaled back on the upgrades to the National Airspace System (NAS).

The short term impact (delays) is felt immediately but isn't even the real danger in the "across the board" cuts of sequestration. The long term consequences will have a far greater impact. But to take care of the immediate pain, Congress has instructed the DOT to find the money (from other areas) to put the controllers back to work. One Congressman said that the bill is unnecessary because the DOT already had that authority. I say it's unnecessary because Congress has the authority and responsibility to fund the FAA.

And I wonder--where are they getting the money? Are other programs being gutted (think other transportation programs)? Are other employees being laid off?

This band-aid fix might address the immediate pain, but it really doesn't do anything to address the irresponsibility of "across the board" cuts and non-management of our nation's funds or to address the gradual replacement of an aging workforce. If a third of the eligible controllers retired, the impact would be far greater than the 10% furlough that we've been facing; but we're still in a hiring freeze and the Academy is still shut down for training.

Sure, I want to go back to work. But where is the outrage over the other programs that are being cut? Is Congress only going to address the cuts that create massive social and corporate outrage? And what of the bogus fix that tells the DOT to rob one of the other agencies to keep air traffic on the job? What can you do with a Congress that refuses to govern and with an electorate that keeps putting them back in office?

AARRRRRGGGGHHH!!!

That's it for today's rant.
(Ugly John is wanting out.)

John

Read More

A Personal Tribute

It has been several days since I've posted. Everyday I think I should write something but rarely feel like sitting long enough to formulate my thoughts into words and then put them in some kind of cohesive order that will make sense to anybody that might stop by to read them.

Today is a little bit different.
Today, I feel like I need to force myself to write.
Today, I feel like I owe it to this man that I write about.

Last Sunday morning, my Uncle "Spud" passed away. He was 89 years old.

I just want to share a few thoughts about my uncle. I know that most of you don't know him, but you probably know somebody that has some of his characteristics.

As kids, we spent a lot of Sunday afternoons at their house. Even as a little kid, I could tell that my dad really looked up to his big sister. The guy that she married affirmed his thoughts that she was a pretty bright lady. I believe that Spud has been one of my dad's closest friends for far more than half a century. In spite of the fact that my uncle always threatened to take up a collection to send my mom back to the Philippines, I think that it was his constant joking with her (and everybody else) that made her feel welcome in her new home and with her new family.

Until my aunt died more than twenty years ago, I always thought that she was the real joker in the Rohman family. Since then, I'm not so sure. And God help us all because they raised their five kids to have the sense of humor that could only come from such a devilish combination!

Our Sunday afternoons where spent playing outside (what kids did back in the day) while the big guys played cards. The game of choice was usually pinochle, but I think that other games made their way onto the table from time to time.

I was never "John" to my uncle; I was Julius. "There's old Julius," he would say when I walked in. Julius Jackson Johnson Jones if you need to know the full name he had given me. After a while, I began to wonder if he knew that Julius wasn't really my name.

He took me to a ballgame at Wrigley when I spent a week there in the summertime. He also took me golfing with his buddies. That day, I provided the humor as it was my first time golfing.

These few words cannot come close to describing my uncle. The simple reality is that pages of words could not do it. I wish that you all could have known him; could have experienced him. I'm pretty sure that you would have walked away from such an experience with a smile on your face and a happy feeling on the inside.

I know that many of my evangelical friends hold fast to the belief that each person has to come to know Jesus as Savior in the the manner that they did--a moment in time when they asked Jesus to forgive their sins and received him as their Savior. In Paul's letter to the Church in Rome, he writes that if you can confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. He goes on to explain that it is with the heart that we believe and are justified, but it is with the mouth that we profess it and are saved.

I know that Spud believed that Jesus died for his sin and confessed Him as Lord. I know that he believed that God raised him from the dead. And I know that there will be many Catholics (much to the surprise of some of my Baptist friends) that will be in heaven, never having prayed "the sinners prayer" or walked an aisle during a revival meeting.

I know that for those of us that share this belief, there is a grand reunion awaiting! When this life--this human life--comes to an end, we will see Jesus face to face. We will stand with those that have gone before us and together we will honor Him as Lord and Savior. The hope that we have is not a "wish for" kind of hope. It is the hope of a person that looks forward to an expected future--a future with Jesus in heaven.

While I do write this to pay a small tribute to Bertram "Spud" Rohman, I also have to ask--Who is Jesus to you?
How will you enter into the life after death?
What is there at the end of this life?

If these are not things that you've thought about, I encourage you to do so. As always, if you have questions or need to discuss these matters you can contact me.

To my parents, my cousins and all of the family that shares my sorrow, I wish you peace and comfort...

...and hope.

Julius Jackson Johnson Jones <><

Read More

Moved by their generosity...

Maybe I'm just getting a little bit sentimental or soft as I age, but tonight I was fighting back tears as the generosity of the people of Hopedale overwhelmed me.

It was a simple event; a fund raiser for our kids' camp. Last year we held our first ever "pie auction" and had our most successful fund raiser ever. This year's event (dessert auction) was so much better! I was especially moved by our senior adults that greatly supported our kids and their families by spending hundreds of dollars on cakes and pies! I know that several families bought desserts that they will end up giving away. One woman offered me a piece of pie that they bought for $90 (I think) because it was made with sugar and they can't eat it! Another man out bid our pastor for a cake by topping a $90 bid and then gave the cake to him! These are just a couple of the stories from the evening.

All-in-all, 43 desserts brought over $2000 to help pay the way for our adult volunteers and reduce the cost for kids and their friends to go to camp.

I wonder if these generous people realize the eternal implications of their giving. Every year, there are kids and adults that have their lives changed by events at camp. Over the past decade+, I've had the opportunity to serve as camp pastor at a number of camps. I've also attended many camps for a one night event.
Yes, I know that I am from Hopedale and little bit biased. Even so, I believe that Hopedale does children's camp better than anybody else.

Do we have better programs? Not necessarily.
Better worship time? Maybe; Maybe not.
Do our kids have more fun? Probably, but that doesn't make our camp better.
Do we love our kids more than other camps? We do love our kids; and God loves our kids, but He loves your kids, too. And I know that all of the camps love their kids.

So what is the difference?

I believe that our people--the people working at camp, the parents that send their kids to camp, the church that prays for camp, and the generous people that support our camp--all have a faithful expectation of the Holy Spirit of God moving at our camp.

We all know that it is not by our efforts that life changing decisions are made. Though we prepare for camp and for each day's events, it is only by Divine intervention that our lives and the lives of our young charges can be changed.

Why do have great camps with great results?
Because we fully expect God to show up and glorify His name through His Son Jesus.

To everybody that brought a dessert; to everybody that bought a dessert; and to all of the people that helped during the evening -- THANK YOU!

Thanks from me, from the camp staff and from all of the kids and parents! You are the best.
May God bless you greatly for your service.

John <><

Read More