John and Kathy Deisher

One Call, One Harvest, 50 Teams

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Another Year Comes to a Close

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Photo by Eden Constantino on Unsplash

Another intern year comes to a close this week. For 27 years, my end of the year was defined by graduation. For the last five, year-end is determined when the intern class is released to their next assignment – missions ministry, vocational ministry, graduate school, etc.

That release comes this week. So, we are reflecting on the year and what we are taking with us, and what we are leaving behind. Sometimes it is just as important to know what you should leave behind as it is to know what you should take with you. I suppose this is a part of growing up, of maturing. The Bible tells us there comes a point when things we did as a child no longer have a place in our lives as someone growing up and answering the call to fulfill our purpose.

The day after the year closes, we begin our own evaluation of the year. We look at who is coming into the intern class, what their needs are, what worked well and what we want to keep, what did not work well and how to make it better, and what we will leave behind. “Done” always creates a new “To Do”.

Graduation 2021

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Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

This past weekend I attended four different graduation ceremonies at Oklahoma State. Considering they had five ceremonies, I was at a pretty good percentage of them. Some of the staff and students joined me at different ceremonies so we could celebrate the accomplishments of our friends.


I have attended graduation ceremonies for years. At Texas A&M, I had a certain section and a certain row I sat in. Students knew where to find me. There were years when I would only attend one ceremony, and other years when I would attend as many as six ceremonies. It makes for long days, but the accomplishments of the students that have been a part of my life while in college deserve to be honored.


The ceremonies are all different. Some have no commencement speaker. Some have the students walk in, while others already have them in their seats. Some receive their degrees in alphabetical order, while in other ceremonies the students are seated in random order by the college. Bagpipes and drums, bands, pre-recorded and live state songs, and the national anthem are also varied.


But the common denominator is that families come to see their student receive their degrees. Mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends all make the trip and sit in uncomfortable chairs in crowded arenas for two hours just to be able to cheer for two seconds for their graduate. Often I get a chance to meet them, and many times it is the first time I have met the family. I get to meet the people I know only by name for a brief moment before graduate and family head home.

I come away from the weekend exhausted many times. But it is worth the effort. It is worth being a part of what is probably our last shared experience. It is seeing the full cycle of wide-eyed freshman to hopefully wisdom-filled graduate. We will have shared many moments. I am glad I am here to share the final one.

Big Surprises Reveal Little Surprises

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Front Row (Left to Right): Tyger, Lane. Back Row (Left to Right): Eli, Dakota, Me, Warren, Patrick

Kathy surprised me this week with a surprise birthday party (I suppose that is somewhat redundant). Along with her and the staff, she invited the guys from my small group, The Vectors. My co-leader, Warren, was a math major (he just graduated!) and started the group, so I suppose he had naming rights. Not everyone could be there because we are in finals, but the surprise within the surprise is that these guys wanted to come and have a birthday lunch with me. Being with these guys this past year and doing life together will always be a highlight.

Tick-tock, am I on the Clock?

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Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Being self-employed means I feel like I am always on the clock. In truth, I am not, and have some fairly defined boundaries, but it still feels that way. So, it was no surprise when I pulled a list of all my saved-for-reading-later bookmarks and discovered a wealth of time-management and productivity tips. But, to be absolutely honest, each article may have a sentence or two that means something to me or gives me an idea I want to try.

Since January, I have been using Obsidian as both my task-management and personal knowledge management tool. It was a move born of necessity since I do not have the internet at my home and my freebie phone refuses to act as a hot spot (my phone is pretty much relegated to communication; everything else is in Obsidian). So, I have to do most of my work offline on my computer. I use Obsidian and a notebook to do most of my work (including printing out my notes for talks and lectures, which is pretty old school). I am still tweaking Obsidian, but I am committed to this process through 2022.

So, I need to go through these sites, pull the one or two things I want to retain, and then delete them. And maybe quit looking at so many articles on being productive and just go be productive.

A Deliberate Decision

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Photo by name_ gravity on Unsplash

Church is an appointed gathering of named people in particular places who practice a life of resurrection in a world in which death gets the biggest headlines: death of nations, death of civilization, death of marriage, death of careers, obituaries without end. Death by war, death by murder, death by accident, death by starvation. Death by electric chair, lethal injection, and hanging. The practice of resurrection is an intentional, deliberate decision to believe…

Eugene Peterson, “Practice Resurrection”

Resurrection tends to get the headlines at Easter, and rightly so. But the practice of resurrection is a daily, intentional, deliberate decision to be the people of life. That is not how we normally think of the church, but maybe we should. Church is not a place we go; it is a practice, a position, a belief that we come from in order to live and give life. It is the practice of resurrection.

What is the Reason?

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Wood fence in the country
Photo by Edan Cohen on Unsplash

“Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”

― G. K. Chesterton

I sometimes look at things and think, “Why in the world did someone do THAT?” something, whatever it is. You probably know what I mean. It tends to be something that I would have done differently or even not done at all. The trick is to stop, take a step back, and look at it from the other’s perspective. That means I change the question so that I can begin to see why someone would do it that way. Maybe the reason for doing it that way no longer exists, but at one time it did. Or maybe the reason still does exist but I need to look at it differently. Chesterton’s quote is a great reminder to stop and reflect before making changes just because you don’t see the reason for something.

Weary

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Man sitting in the water reading a book

weary

adjective

  1. Physically or mentally tired.
  2. Expressive of or prompted by tiredness.
  3. Having one’s interest, forbearance, or indulgence worn out.

Some weeks are simply longer than others. They are not necessarily busier; they are simply longer. For those weeks, the word “weary” works much better than “tired”. Or maybe it is that “weary” describes tired taken to a different place.

Weary weeks do not come around very often. Most of the time they are simply the result of an overload of accumulated tasks that have to be completed. I think most of those weeks are not anyone’s fault. They are the intersection of multiple calendars landing on your own. It happens.

So when I have had a weary week, I refresh by reading. The genre is less important than the act. Reading restores my spirit. That is what I will be doing in a couple of days when this weary week (actually about 10 days) comes to an end.

Had a weary week? Then read and refresh!

Working in the RV

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My desk in the Arv
My desk in the Arv

It is not easy creating a space to work in an RV. I am the type of person that needs a physical anchor for my work. I don’t mind working at a coffee shop or a library, at a kitchen table, or even sitting in the recliner and doing some work. But I prefer a desk, a place that is uniquely my own workspace.

Living in an RV right now means that space is limited. We had to make decisions about what furniture would be included and excluded. When we first moved in, we had a kitchen table for our meals and no dedicated desk. We soon realized that we mostly ate sitting in the recliners and rarely at the table. So, out went the table, and in came a very small desk for my workspace. It is big enough for most of my work and yet still fits into the scheme of the RV. I have windows for light and fresh air as well as for distracted contemplation (there is no one next to us right now, and the window looks out on woods and fields).

It may not be optimal, but it makes my working in the RV more productive for this season of life.