Dumpster full of bear

Michael called me last night - "If you want to see a bear, now is your chance."  When I asked him what was going on, he said that Brian had gone out behind the diner to throw the trash into the dumpster.  He threw in the bag and locked the dumpster - and an almighty racket broke out inside.  Apparently,  a young black bear had climbed into the dumpster and was enjoying a quiet evening snack when he was hit on the head with a bag full of garbage and then locked inside.  The guys had already called Animal Control to come and release the bear - since they weren't too interested in opening the dumpster when they heard the noise and saw the claws poking out of the opening.  I jumped in my car, hoping to catch "The Big Release" on film - and I arrived only 30 seconds after the bear managed to squeeze itself out and escaped.  Too bad.  A little excitement to end the day.

Today is the day off for our church team, and I'm off on an adventure of my own.  I've got the ATV loaded into the back of the pickup, and in about an hour I'm heading off to meet my friend Bob to go 4-wheeling for the morning.  I've wanted to take the quad out onto a trail ever since we got here, but this will be my first opportunity - and probably the last for the season, since the snow could start soon.

Last week I conducted my first crisis management training, in Wimberley Texas.  This was the first and and only contract that I had for Storm Guides.  The training went well  - we were hoping for 14 participants, but only had 9 in the end.  We had a good time, and I learned a lot in the process.  There
are definitely several things I would change for next time - things that you can only see when you're actually leading a training.  On the morning of my flight I was getting ready to leave home, and I turned to Daphne and said, "Doesn't it seem strange for me to be taking off for a trip?"  We both agreed that we don't miss the frequent trips and me being gone from home so much of the time.  This is probably the last time I will benefit from the advantages of being an "Elite" member with United's frequent flyer program - and I couldn't care less.  It used to be such an important thing to maintain the gold card status - just shows how our lives have changed this past year. 

This past weekend we had 40 visitors at church - all three services combined.  I have never been a part of a church that is growing so fast, or where we can sense such a movement of God's Spirit.  People who've never darkened the door of a church or who've been away for years are coming in just to check it out.  A couple of weeks ago Mike challenged everyone in the church to look for opportunities to do  random acts of kindness for someone each day.  We have bowls full of marbles next to the exits of the church, and the idea is for each of us to take several marbles each week as we leave as a reminder - and the following Sunday to put one marble for every act of kindness we did into a large 5 gallon container.  The goal is to fill up the large container by the end of the year . . . fill it up with love and kindness.  Several people have come to church the past two weeks simply because they were so touched by the kindness someone showed to them.  One funny story:  a couple of the guys on our church staff went to the grocery store late one evening, and they decided to help the young man who was gathering up all the stray shopping carts for the night.  He was so grateful for their help he offered to share his marijuana with them!  What a hoot.