Having Myself a Merry Little Christmas

In a few short days we’ll take down the 2012 calendar and put up a new one. We’ll look at 365 long days stretching before us and wonder what 2013 will bring, ‘cause we sure had no clue that 2012 would end up like it has! When Bill and I ushered in the New Year, I was still gainfully employed and he was actively seeking a job. We started making friends with boaters who were here for the winter season, and joined a not-so-nearby Lutheran church, where I recently accepted the position of council recording secretary.

In late February we adopted a young cat, Alfie, who promptly battled a chronic urinary tract infection for the next six months. I didn't like having to put him on antibiotics every 4-5 weeks, so I did some research on homeopathic remedies. A combination of a daily dose of a cranberry powder plus three eye droppers full of water every day seems to be doing the trick as he's been "clean" now since September. Alfie’s a character and has quite a range of snorts, chirps, wheezes and grunts, especially when he’s sleeping.

At the end of March my sisters Beth and Patti and brother-in-law Daryl came to Florida for spring break, and we enjoyed a week at a luxury condo in Ponte Vedra Beach (courtesy of Beth’s employer) with several forays into Old St. Augustine and the outlet malls. I also joined a fitness club that month and started a lunch hour workout four days a week. In September I added a 3.5 mile walk every other day and finally started to lose weight in October, dropping 13 pounds and a size and a half in eight weeks.

In April Bill got hired by the marina as a handyman, for whom no project is too large or too complex to tackle. He started by power-washing the docks, of which there are four, but barely finished the first one when he was re-directed to other projects. It took nearly six months before Docks A, C and D were clean and the fourth (ours) is still waiting for a lull in his projects.

Summer in Jacksonville was quite unrelentingly hot, which Bill enjoys, me not so much. [We did make use of the pool, which is where I got to know the publisher of the local community newspaper.] I think Bill lost 20 pounds through sweating as he built a pergola, a garbage corral, a bicycle parking lot and tackled numerous repairs inside and out of the condo units that were on the market. [Aside: the marina has an 8-unit condo which was built in 2007 and never completely finished. As buyers were found, Bill got punch lists a yard long that needed to be addressed before closings.] Here Bill is painting the deck posts for Unit 301; he also had to replace a window in the front of the unit.

Shortly after Labor Day, my boss of 24 years flew down with the unhappy task of having to lay me off. The company had lost some major business and as a remote employee, I was easy pickings. I immediately created Pure Grace Consulting, registering it in Florida as a limited liability company. A former co-worker, Kris Praskovich, designed my logo. I've done a few small jobs here and there for my former company and for a Lexus dealership, and applied for almost a dozen jobs in marketing and communications here in Jacksonville, to no avail.

Fortunately my connection with The Resident News resulted in working as a stringer (aka freelance reporter), picking up several assignments each week. Getting back into reporting, writing and editing to use my journalism degree has been great fun, plus I’ve been getting to know the city very well. Many of the assignments were business profiles (aka  paid advertorials) for hair salons, gift shops, jewelers, bakeries and restaurants, an electrical engineering firm and a builder. I also covered social register events, and got to meet the former owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars, J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver.

Right before Thanksgiving the paper’s editor took another job and I was offered a full-time position on the editorial staff. I start on January 2nd as copy editor / reporter with a flexible schedule that will allow me to continue my morning walks and noon workouts. We are both so thankful that we have jobs we love!

Thanksgiving was a traditional turkey dinner with all the sides, as a potluck. Nineteen boaters came together to enjoy the day. Bill made his famous apple crumb pie and I assisted with setup and cleanup. On Black Friday Bill started the chore of putting up over 7,000 lights on the marina clubhouse for the holidays, and setting up trees in the clubhouse and in the condo lobby. Somehow I got roped into decorating both trees!

We are celebrating our second Christmas on Pure Grace; it’s hard to believe we’ve been full-time live-a-boards for 18 months now. Every now and then I’ll wish I had a kitchen item that’s still in storage in Pittsburgh but mostly we’ve made do with what we have. One of these days we’ll have it all moved down here and put into storage after culling out those items we can absolutely live without for the rest of our lives.

Be sure to look us up if you’re ever in northeast Florida. Jacksonville is every bit as lovely, interesting and historical as Pittsburgh! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's Outrageous!

Grace is very important to me. You probably think I fixate on it. But without grace, we would be miserable creatures now, and doomed for eternity later. Following is a great message from our senior pastor, Rick Engel, who shares why grace is so outrageous:

It is commonly said that Christianity is supremely a religion of grace. And that is certainly true. We sing about grace … we write poems about grace … we name our churches and sometimes our children after grace. If you ask us … we certainly believe in grace. But outside our worship services … the word is rarely on our lips. Think about it.

Part of our problem is in the nature of grace itself. Grace is hard to accept … hard to believe … and hard to receive. We all have certain skepticism when a telemarketer tells us, “I’m not trying to sell you anything. I just want to offer you a free trip to Hawaii.” Automatically we wonder, “What’s the catch?” … because we have all been taught that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.”

The truth is grace shocks us in what it offers. It is truly not of this world. It frightens us with what it does for sinners.

Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the not-so-bad. God starts with prostitutes and then works downward from there. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it … barely recognize it … and hardly appreciate it.

It doesn’t take me long to realize … God is a lot more gracious than I am!

You know how I know that? Because He saves people I wouldn’t save if I were God. He blesses people I wouldn’t bless if I were God. He uses people in His service I wouldn’t use if I were God. Is that true of you, too?

Which is why I’m glad He’s God and I’m not. The Bible says that He is “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,” [Exodus 34:6] … and that is good news for sinners like me. VERY good news!

The doctrine of grace may be the hardest doctrine in the Bible to accept. It’s not that grace is hard to understand. We know what the word means. Our problem comes in the application. Grace asks us to accept two things we don’t want to accept:

First … there is nothing we can do to save ourselves.

And second … if God doesn’t save us, we will never be saved.

Nothing more clearly summarizes the true meaning of grace than the simple phrase found in Jonah 2:9, “Salvation is of the Lord.”  There it is … right out in the open.

That statement is both striking and humorous because it comes from the world’s worst missionary. But that’s the beauty of the story of Jonah … because he is not the hero of the story. God is! At the beginning Jonah is running from God; at the end he is arguing with God. In between he is praying and preaching. That’s no hero! But it is a man of grace!

This book of Jonah is about God. It’s obvious when you realize the great fish is mentioned four times … the city of Nineveh is mentioned nine times … Jonah is mentioned 18 times … and God is mentioned 38 times. This book is really about God and how great His heart is toward prodigal sons and daughters who run away from Him. God never gives up on Jonah … not when he runs away … and not when he sits under a vine and pouts.

Here is the take-away lesson for all of us: We are so much like Jonah that it’s scary. There’s a little Jonah in all of us … and a whole lot of Jonah in most of us. That’s why we need … not just grace … but outrageous grace!

Have a great weekend in the Lord … basking in the sunshine of God’s outrageous grace!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” [Ephesians 2:8-9]

Signing Up for Another Year

I actually meant to post a blog on November 2, the first anniversary of our arrival at the Marina at Ortega Landing, but I've been a little busy lately. How the tables have been turned from our respective statuses a year ago!

Then: I was telecommuting full-time, and Bill was taking care of everything: laundry, grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, cleaning (inside and out), and getting to know the area. I barely stepped out of the boat each day, and evenings often found me still at work. Bill was looking for work and not at all sure whether he would find anything.

Now: Bill is working full-time for the marina -- an lovin' it -- and I'm the one looking for full-time employment (maybe), and taking care of almost everything (I still resist waxing and washing the boat). I also spend a lot of time getting to know the area through my part-time reporting job and the long walks I take almost daily through the neighborhoods. And with some free time, I've been available to take on a project at our church and now serve as council recording secretary.

Who'd a thunk?

I ponder that had I lost my job much earlier in the year I would not have yet made friends with the newspaper's publisher that would result in this opportunity. The assignments range from photo coverage of 5K races, celebrity readings at the zoo, wine and food tastings at an art studio, an outdoor dinner in a park to business profiles (advertorials) of restaurants, jewelers, gift shops and salons. Most of the readership for this community paper are in the wealthier areas of Jacksonville. In Pittsburgh, it would be places like Fox Chapel, Sewickley, Edgeworth, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair. Although my reporting gigs barely pay for my monthly COBRA health insurance payments, I'm creating a new network here. I guess you could say I'm putting down roots and the branches are starting to bud.

On the advice of our accountant I created a limited liability corporation and a former co-worker designed an elegant logo for me. Pure Grace Consulting is open for business -- anything that has to do with words. Writing, editing, proofreading, fact checking. Check out the Facebook page, where I post writing samples.

So, I've signed up for another year of river living and waiting to see what new and exciting things God will put in my path. Who'd a thunk?

Do or Done

One of my favorite hymns is one that a lot of people don’t care for, but it’s usually only sung once a year so I make the most of it with gusto. Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” is particularly rousing when sung with a lot of male voices, as it was at my grandfather the Rev. Dr. Herbert J.A. Bouman’s funeral in 1981. I don’t choke up as much as I used to, but the hymn never fails to make me think of him.

I like the observance of The Reformation of the Church, which falls on the last Sunday in October. It can be a majestic worship service, especially if the parish is lucky enough to have a pipe organ and a skilled organist. This past Sunday one of our two pastors preached on Sola Fide (Faith Alone), which Luther felt was the doctrine by which the Church will fall or stand. I really enjoy Pastor Rick’s messages as he has a style and sense of humor that reminds me very much of my father and grandfather. Pastor Rick has a gentle “tell it like it is” approach that provokes thought even while making you squirm. I usually get a lot of notes from his homilies and this Sunday was no different. 

I want to share some of his points because I care about you, the reader of this blog. (Disclosure: If you don’t believe there’s a heaven and a hell and that you’ll be in one place or the other eventually, then you probably don’t need to bother reading further.)

Did you know that basically we human beings are “good works” people? Despite what seems to be a lot of bad news and evil in the world, most people prefer to try to treat others fairly, with kindness, and to be helpful. Unfortunately, all those good works can’t save us.

Good works cannot save us because:

* Good works can’t cancel our sin, but sin will ruin our good works. Rottenness ruins goodness every time. Any farmer will tell you about that one bad apple…

* God doesn’t grade on the curve. He demands absolute perfection. Because our sins are so many, no amount of good works will cancel that sin to make us perfect in God’s sight. Let’s say we each only commit three sins a day and live to 75. That’s over 82,000 sins per person jotted down in the Book of Life. We could, perhaps, try to cancel that liability with an equivalent of three good works every day but a) we already know we sin much more than three times a day and b) it’s far harder to consciously do a good work than it is to commit a sin.

* We can never be good enough long enough. It’s physically and mentally impossible to never, ever think, say or do something mean or wrong. Refer back to the point above.

* We can never be sure we’ve done enough or are good enough. Because God’s holiness is the standard, we will always fall short of meeting it. Because we’re human.

* We wouldn’t have needed Jesus to die on the cross. Salvation is either won all by Jesus or all by ourselves, there is no in-between. Refer back to points one through four if you think you can do it by yourself.

So, are you pretty depressed right now? Or have you simply rolled your eyes and thought “your truth is not my truth, Kate”?

The good news…no, the Good News… is that our salvation is completely outside of our doing. As Pastor Rick said, “we’re going to heaven on the back of a crucified man.” Christ’s suffering and death, and resurrection, changed our F grade to an A grade forever. When Martin Luther realized this, it became a game changer for him. He was so passionate about sharing this news that he posted a list of 95 statements on the cathedral doors in Wittenburg, Germany on All Hallows’ Eve to let people know that they didn’t need to buy their way into heaven.

Sidebar: There is a published thought about why Luther chose to make the posting on October 31^st. He did so for maximum exposure when crowds would come to the city to worship and observe All Saints Day the next day and to purchase indulgences from the church to guarantee a place in heaven.

Anyway, one last take-away from Sunday’s sermon. The difference between religion and Christianity is just two letters. Religion is D-O – things we think we have to do to be saved. But Christianity is D-O-N-E – salvation is based on what was already done for us. We just have to believe and trust in what Jesus did for us.

God is fully satisfied with what Jesus has done for us, even if we doubt. When we believe, He takes us just the way we are – washed clean by Jesus’ blood – and given an A. It’s that simple.

My Energizer Bunny

On the recommendation of a friend, another boater here at the marina, I just finished reading a "self-help" book called Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy--Until You're 80 and Beyond. It's co-authored by a former lawyer (now in his 70s) and his forty-something internist. The primary premise is that exercise -- daily exercise -- will help reverse the decay of aging. There are a lot of common sense statements about nutrition, work/play balance and social life that are boiled down to seven "rules":

1. Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.
2. Do serious aerobic exercise (at least 45 minutes) four days a week for the rest of your life.
3. Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.
4. Spend less than you make.
5. Quit eating crap!
6. Care.
7. Connect and commit.

The authors also prescribe a heavy dose of having fun, in work or play, and it occurred to me that my husband has found a retirement lifestyle that does both. Many post-retirement 66-year-old men (and women) might feel they've earned a life of leisure at this point. Not Bill! Who else looks forward to hot, sweaty, manual labor day after day at that age? Other than the occasional cuts, scrapes and bruises (well, okay, almost daily), his job as marina handyman has been good for him physically and mentally. He's lost quite a bit of weight, has a terrifically positive outlook, and has made some good friends.

Here's a little gallery of some of his projects:

Powerwashing all the docks, slip fingers and sidewalks on the property.

Painting all the wood around the clubhouse.

Preparing the site for and constructing the garbage corral for the more distant docks.

Constructing this roofed pergola also for the more distant docks.

Foundation for the new bicycle corral.
Bill removed all the shrubs and bark mulch, leveled the plot with a screed, and added sand prior to putting in the paving blocks.

The finished corral, very much appreciated!

Along for the Ride

It’s been a while since I’ve felt inspired to blog. I suppose part of the reason is the time I’m spending coming to grips with a sudden lack of full-time employment and adjusting to a slower pace by filling my time with morning walks. I’ve been very fortunate to find freelance work reporting for our local community newspaper and the assignments have been varied, from sports (sailing, tennis, gymnastics and running) to hair salons, home décor trunk shows and adoptions. My first bylined article ran in October (along with a business profile and two photo ops) and the typo under my name in the article is not mine!

Whee! Whee-whee-whee! This weekend I had a little passenger on my car, who hitched a ride on the windshield wipers from the marina to the grocery store to the bank and back to the marina. At each stop the tiny lizard would peer up over the wiper, look around and decide “Nope, not home!” 

After over an hour of patiently waiting as I ran my errands, this little guy hopped off once safely back at the marina.

Sometimes in life we’re just along for the ride; other times we get to steer the course. At a time when most people would be looking forward to retirement I feel like I can finally take the wheel. I’m hoping to parlay this freelance business (Pure Grace Consulting) into enough work that I won’t have to let another company again do the driving. Last night at a party at our marina office manager’s home I met a woman who will be helpful in getting me contacts for editing and proofing work for Ph.D. candidates.

In the meantime, I'm letting go ... and letting God!

The Long Way Around

Statistics indicate that 60% of college graduates cannot find a full-time job in their chosen profession, according to Forbes. Armed with a journalism degree in 1977 I found myself working in public relations, a second cousin to journalism. At that time Mizzou only offered one course in PR and that was my one C grade. Now I believe you can get a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in public relations.

But while I “settled” for jobs in PR and marketing, my love was always for reporting and news writing. I didn’t go through the broadcast sequence because I didn’t think I was attractive enough to be on air, but I enjoyed the challenge of good old fashioned straight journalism. I took the reporting class during a summer semester when there were fewer students to compete with for the bylines. One of my most memorable interviews included a group of nudists at a local quarry swimming hole who were lobbying to make that spot a nudist camp. Yes, they were nude. No, I was not. The other interview that had me shaking in my shoes before I got there was one with a convicted felon who had been paroled and was earning a living repairing billiards tables. He turned out to be a nice, quiet guy.

Another course I took was for magazine publishing, where the articles were much longer, included more photos and we were also responsible for designing the layout. My highest grade was for the long article on the St. Louis Arch and Museum of Westward Expansion. A roommate worked as a park ranger at the Arch during the summer and was instrumental in getting me the contacts for the interviews. My “human interest” sidebar focused on the rangers’ overnights at the top of the Arch. They would forgo the cable cars and hike up 630 feet to the top inside one leg with their sleeping bags and backpacks. Of course, there were no restrooms up there, so “that” had to be taken back down in the morning.

 At my first job I learned how to write press releases, set up interviews for our company executives with industry publications, and publish the company’s monthly employee newsletter. After I left that job in aviation there was a two-year dry spell before I got back into newsletter editing and publishing, and for the next 28 years I wrote for and edited at least one and up to four newsletters at a time. All volunteer outside of my full-time job in marketing.

Now, unemployed for the first time after 35 years I am excited to have an opportunity to get paid for working at my first love. After the company I helped start 24 years ago decided to use “remote employee status” as a convenient reason to reduce force I contacted the publisher of the suburban monthly newspaper here in Jacksonville. Within one week I was given two story assignments, two photo assignments and proofing/editing of the next issue … all as a freelance “stringer”. I’m hopeful that this will work into something steady but in the meantime, I’m having a whale of a time!