How did it get to be May 5th?

The Abbess is having a bit of a time-warp problem ... sigh. :^(

Part of the problem is that I was gone to Seattle for the Washington State PTA Convention from May 1-3, so I was not in my "normal" routine ... and April disappeared while I was distracted.

For those of you who don't know, The Abbess is the current President of her son's middle school PTSA ... and will be co-President next year as well. Convention is an important time for refocusing vision as well as taking advantage of educational and inspirational opportunities -- as well as conducting the business of the organization at this annual business meeting.

I am grateful for this educational process because it helps me understand how non-profit organizations are to be run ... and gives me tremendous insight into how most churches could benefit from intentional training of their executive officers. But not going to go any further into that territory today.

I am processing lots of the things I learned at convention, but especially two:

1. Vision that is not clear enough does not result in tangible goals that energize the local community. I am pondering how I might be able to cast a vision for our PTSA that will help explain what we are really about and, thereby, encourage greater membership as well as greater involvement. PTSA is really more than fundraising for projects....
2. The featured guest speaker was Darrell Scot, father of Rachel Joy Scot -- the first victim at the Columbine High School massacre. It was the first in-depth look I had at the work that he and the rest of the family have undertaken in the wake of Rachel's death -- and her amazing and unusual life. She wanted to start a chain reaction of kindness ... and she did! Rachel's Challenge is a program that has been implemented across the country to help schools foster an environment of kindness where there is no opportunity for bullies to terrorize because everyone looks out for each other ... a chain reaction of kindness. I urge you to follow the link if you don't know about Rachel's Challenge, or just want to know more.
   

I'm sure I'll have more to say about both of these as the days pass ... but I wanted to at least check in and let you know what I'm up to!

And ... I was honored to have links to my little Parable of the Jesus Creeders show up in Sunday Revival at Kingdom Grace as well as Brother Maynard's Random Acts of Linkage #59.

And ... while I'm thinking about links, this one from Scot McKnight's Weekly Meanderings made my day: Top 10 things you should know before arguing about Intelligent Design. I knew that there was someone out there who understood my position between the extremes on this topic!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!