Parts and Teeth

I haven’t written much late…about life that is. This week I wrote a small group study related to the text for Pastor’s sermon on Sunday. I also prepared Sunday school lessons for this week and next. I’m really quite excited about the opportunity I have to teach for two weeks.

Nelson had his appointment on Friday with the ankle doctor and the Rehab/Vocational caseworker. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the accident. At this visit he talked to the doctor about some restricted movement in his toes. The doc did an x-ray and some of the wires that were put in there last July are pushing against his tendon---so we’re looking at another surgery and soon (as soon as BWC approves it). The good news is that the Rehab/Vocational worker was there and things are definitely going to move ahead. She assured him that she would now be at all his appointments and make sure that things keep moving. He’s even going to get a raise!!!

Asher got his first tooth!!! He had a really rough day on Wednesday---fussy to the nth degree. And voila! There it was and the really cool thing was that Beth was the one who found it. Beth just came home---Asher has his second tooth, now!

On a personal note…I just don’t know. I get up. I work. I go home physically exhausted. I play with the baby, rock him to sleep. And I go to bed. Then I start all over the next day. I feel as emotionally exhausted as I am physically exhausted.

We were packaging this week. It was rough at first. I was tentative. The peacemaker/people pleaser came out in full force. It was unnerving. The thing that really made it hard was a major misunderstanding that I had with D. She was fighting hurt feelings at feeling replaced. I gave her some space and she took that all wrong. We finally talked it out on Thursday. She understands that we’re a team. There are strengths that we both bring to this position. I will lead at some times and then she’ll have her turn.

There were some things that then happened that helped me lose that tentative feeling. I was able to fix a few problems and answer some questions. We’ve been approved to manufacture a new part and there are orders in excess of 14K for July and August. I researched the situation and realized that we didn’t have a box to package it in on the one hand, or that we would be packaging it in a box that is like pulling teeth to get enough of. I become pro-active and made some calls to start the process to ensure that we would have enough boxes. It felt really good.

Wednesday through today I was back on line. D and I worked out a really good system for gaging and packing the parts. The guys we have worked with at the end look at the “positions” and work one position at a time. D and I anticipate each other’s moves and work in concert with each other completing the entire process as one movement. The whole end is our responsibility, not one position. Consequently, we were able to put out 1191 parts one day and today in only 6 hours we put out 827. Our numbers were good, but better than that was the feeling of accomplishment.

Sunday morning:
This morning I taught our Sunday school class. I used the book “The Red Sea Rules 10 God Given Strategies for Difficult Times.” We got through the first 3 and addressed the next. I got some really positive feedback and encouragement. One lady told me that she finally felt like someone understood her. Another said that she wished I taught her Bible study. And yet another just cornered me with some questions that she didn’t feel comfortable asking in front of the larger class. I was so hyped when it was over. I’m excited beyond words to have the chance to teach again next Sunday!

This week is crunch time at work. We have several large orders due for July 10 so we’ll be going in at 5am until further notice. Ten hour days! It’s going to be a financial blessing—I’ll keep reminding myself of that when my arms feel like they’re going to fall off and my legs are all bruised up. It’s all good.

Well, it’s time to feed the baby. Until later.