You may not be able to tell, but I painted and got my office settled and organized…well almost. Still have to give some kind of order to my bookshelves…the books are just thrown on the shelves. They won’t last that way long…I can’t stand to look over and see a commentary on John sitting next to a marketing book by Seth Godin.
So here it is…my new & improved office at RCC!
They closed this morning on our house on Elmont Road. We are so glad to have that portion of things done…it was becoming one headache after another…a fire inspection, a new CO detector up even though we already had two in the house, another fire inspection, a change in the closing process that caused confusion…the list could go on. But now it’s done. And we can look forward to our closing here next week!
So last night I was at apple.com checking the next day’s iPhone availability…and low and behold, St Louis was going to have them in stock! I immediately thought, this is my opportunity to use my Apple gift card from the Harbor worship team and get that iPhone I have wanted for so long!
This morning, at the crack of dawn (not because I set my alarm but because Ethan decided that he was going to talk in his pack-n-play from 4:30 – 5:15 AM), I got up and made my way down interstate 55 to St Louis. It’s a 100 mile drive, but I had some good music and was able to run through our weekend service and make some mental notes of things I need to do this week in the office.
I made it to the St Louis Galleria at about 7:30 after a crazy detour because the Interstate is completely closed and no road is visible at all. The Apple Store is located upstairs and as I made my way around the corner, I found about 35 people already in line. The store opens at 8:00 for iPhone purchases so I thought I had made it there in plenty of time. The line continued…probably another 75 people behind me…and that made me glad I got there when I did.
At 8:00 they begin. At 9:00, I still have not gotten to the front of the line. 9:15 rolls around and my bright-blue-t-shirt-wearing Apple guy says I’m next. I give him my driver’s license (still Massachusetts) and my at&t phone number (still Massachusetts), and he begins the process. He pulls up my account. And then I get the bad news.
Because Lynda is an RN and a member of the medical community, at&t has for the past 5 years given us a 12% discount on our monthly bill. No discount for being clergy…but I’ll take the RN discount, thank you! Well Mr bright-blue-t-shirt-wearing Apple dude tells me, “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can’t buy an iPhone at the Apple store. You have to go the at&t store.”
What?!?! They won’t let me what? After waiting in line for over an hour and a half…what?!
Because of the blessed discount, I can’t get an iPhone at the Apple store. We are only about 6 months into our new contract with at&t so we’re stuck there. I can’t use my Apple gift card (he tells me I could use it to buy accessories!) and I don’t WANT to pay full price for a iPhone at the at&t store. So I’m stuck. Stuck with my Palm Centro…which in the past week has not be functioning properly.
I was completely bummed…to say the least. Not to mention that I then had to walk the sidewalk of shame on the other side of the 75+ people still waiting for an iPhone. I think they had pity on me…my fellow iPhone admirers. Of course, they were also excited because that meant one more iPhone for the masses.
And then to top it all off, I still had to drive home 100 miles. Oh well…I stopped and got a Diet Coke on the way.
Brian Jones is taking a look at the spiritual disciplines, and as only Brian can do, he’s challenging the common thought on each of them. Today he tackles the discipline of reading your Bible. It’s worth a read…and can provide lots of discussion!
One of the blogs I read regularly, Ragamuffin Soul, is written by a guy named Carlos Whitaker. He’s the main worship dude at Buckhead Church outside Atlanta. I had the chance to meet him when I was at the Whiteboard Seminar back in May. Great guy.
Today he’s had some great discussion taking place on his web in regards to worship. It’s worth taking a look at.
Original post: I Hate It When My Worship Leader…
Follow-up post: Look Out Below
Enjoy!
This made us laugh…but it’s nice at the same time!
We are so thankful to have a great home to be staying in while we wait to close on our house in early August. Josh and Ann Winans and their girls are on a mission trip and have given their house to us to live in for the next several weeks. And to top it off…it’s right next door to the church. I can walk to work!!!
What a wonderful gift. Thanks guys!
Yesterday was my first ‘official’ Sunday at RCC as I led worship. The week started with a little stress as I struggled to find out if I had any musicians or vocalists arranged. But in the end, the teams came together and did a great job. It was a lot of fun to work with new people…the team did an amazing job. And Nash Propst, who has been leading over the past few months, helped out in a big way by pulling the team together.
After four services (I’m not used to THAT many in a weekend!), I was spent. All I could do after eating lunch was lay on the couch and sneak in a nap. The nap didn’t last too long…kids were crawling all over me. That’s life at the Bortmess home.
We made an offer on a house and after a couple rounds of negotiations, we have entered into an agreement! It’s nice to know that we’ll soon have a place to get settled into and call our own. And to top it all off, it comes with a hot tub!
Got my daily Diet Coke at Circle K this morning…only 69¢!!! Already putting that gift card from Harbor of Hope to good use!
