Friday, December 4, 2020
9:20 pm
Ouch, no journal entry for three days. Schedules change as responsibilities change. On Tuesday evening I had tithing settlement and a counseling interview. I also got to do the baptismal interview for Kiana Tabarez which was nice. She has a good understanding of what baptism represents and why she wants to be baptized. Her parents are divorced, and dad will perform the baptism. They have a good relationship, and it was nice to visit with them.
Wednesday I had some meetings at work, including a Quantum Group conference call with colleagues from other credit unions. Someone asked about Courtesy Pay programs, and I'm afraid I got on my soapbox and preached. I feel very strongly about those programs and think we should not offer them. They take advantage of those who can least afford to pay the fees, and I feel like the way they are promoted is not really ethical. In hindsight I may have gotten a little too passionate, and I sent a follow up email the next day to the leadership at the Association asking if they got any negative feedback from my rant. They hadn't, and I'm not sorry for what I said, but maybe next time I can say it a little better.
In the evening we had bishopric meeting until 10:15 pm, taking all my journal time. I was really happy with our meeting and felt like we discussed things that mattered and made some good decisions. I'm grateful for that.
Yesterday morning I joined a webinar to learn more about a reporting program we have at work. It is amazingly powerful and I don't even scratch the surface of what it can do. I'd like to get better at using it, and make time to find good questions I can ask that it can help me answer. In the evening I tried to figure out how to configure the new Roomba robot vacuum I got as a thank you gift from the Association. Our plan is to make it the upstairs vacuum – if the kids will keep their rooms picked up it can clean the entire upstairs every day. That would be SO NICE.
Today was really productive at work. We are getting ready to implement video banking to enable us to video chat with people. That will be really helpful during Covid, and once we get the Springville branch open we plan to use it between offices to facilitate language needs. I am glad for everything I got done today.
Tonight we enjoyed a visit with Mark. Actually, Julie is visiting with him with Jessie and Spencer; I'm on guard duty outside the bedrooms where the little kids aren't sleeping yet. It has been fun watching Nathaniel get much better at walking this week. He gets better so quickly! He has a sound for "gross," which is what he says when he throws away his diapers. He also participates in singing Popcorn Popping, which I have designated the diaper-changing song.
Thankful: I'm very grateful for so many things. For feeling good after getting enough sleep. For the ability to be and do better today than I did yesterday, and to make tomorrow even better. I'm thankful for a good job and for cars that work well and for our prosperous circumstances. I'm thankful for my great counselors and for their desire to do good. And I'm thankful that the Lord helps me in my efforts to help others.
Ministering: I've visited with several people in my Bishopric responsibilities, trying to remember people who have needs and help them feel God's love. One other thing I'm trying that I identified in my coaching call this week – when I get home I am parking my cell phone before dinner, and I leave it there for 90 minutes so I can focus on people, and not checking texts, headlines, email, etc. I can still see via my phone if a call comes in or something is urgent, but it helps me be more focused at home. I think that is a combination thankful/ministering item.
More later…
You can make up your own caption for this picture! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment