Tenacious Heritage: In Christ Alone

Tenacious Heritage: In Christ Alone: Not quite sure what it was today that set the tone for my heart to be overwhelmed with the feeling of emptiness, and sorrow. But there I was...

In Christ Alone

Not quite sure what it was today that set the tone for my heart to be overwhelmed with the feeling of emptiness, and sorrow. But there I was sitting in Church this morning between my daughter and my daughter's best friend's boyfriend. I looked both directions down the row of chairs, there were 2 couples on either side of me holding hands with their counterpart. Suddenly I had this overwhelming feeling of loss, of realizing I was alone, and very likely to be alone for the rest of my life. At that moment I missed my husband more than I have missed him since he had passed away nearly 13 years ago. 
I guess you might wonder how the feeling of loss could be so fresh after 13 years, all I can say is that I loved my husband, he was my other half, my counterpart, my best friend. We were only married for 6 1/2 years but we shared a commonality, a friendship and a deep desire to please God. We thought we would grow old together, that we would rock grand-babies on our knees. Never in a thousand years would I have imagined that the dream of the future would never come to fruition. 

1 Peter 2:21

21 For zto this you have been called, ybecause Christ also suffered for you, aleaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Today's Sunday School lesson was good,  It brought home and verified some of the scripture that I studied when Jim was sick. Looking back at that time I have to say, I don't think that the experience was really suffering, because God saw after all our needs. The loss of a loved one is always difficult and who am I to say that my experience would be considered "suffering" when I know there are so many more out there who has it much worse than I did. 

1 Peter 4:19

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will lentrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

 The start of the feelings began there and then exasperated during the church service. That's when I looked down the row of chairs and looked at the hands clasped in affection. Then we began to sing "In Christ Alone" ~ I was a goner. 

In Christ Alone lyrics

Songwriters: Getty, Julian Keith; Townend, Stuart Richard;

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save

'Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live, I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
'Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand

The tears began to well up inside my eyes by the end of the first verse. No guilt in life, no fear of death... that's how my husband lived. He set an example, by implementing Christ. Never complained, never was angry, never was worried. He totally trusted had unshakable faith that God would take care of things. 

I feel a great loss in the fact that I don't have my best friend here to grow old with, and enjoy. I'm not angry at God under any circumstances. 

1 Peter 5:7

7 ycasting all your anxieties on him, because zhe cares for you.

I desire to be a servant of God, to have the light of Christ shine in me~ to give Him glory in works and deeds and Praise His Holy name in all that I do. I may be destined to live out the rest of my life with out a partner but I have a promise that my Lord will be my husband and will see after all my needs.  So pardon my pity party today, this too will end and the sooner the better. I'm sure I'll revisit this particular emotion again and maybe, just maybe it won't blind side me next time. 

My Life as an Election Board Secretary

So, I’ve said this blog was going to be about my granny and how I plan on learning from her example and how what I’ve learned affects my life. I’ve started and believe me I think about how Granny might have handled my situation if she were me. She would handle it with perseverance and prayer. She might have even pulled her hair down around her ears. Realistically I know that Granny would never have found herself in this situation because she only had an elementary education. I however can hear her encouraging me to take it one step at a time. All the time telling me “you can do it sissy” “I have faith in you”.  

These last few weeks have been the most stressful, aggravating and riveting that I have experienced in my job. I am an Election Board Secretary; (My pay does not reflect the responsibilities, but we’ll discuss this on another day). don’t get me wrong, I am blessed with an amazing staff that if it weren’t for their diligence nothing would get done.  I’ve only been here since May 1, so I rely on their expertise. The title might seem all up there and all but I assure you it is a position that requires my perseverance and an attitude that reflects Christ in order to accomplish the daily tasks ~ all because of changes…the biggest is the re-districting. Can I hear an AMEN from the crowd?

The largest task I’ve had to complete since taking the reins in May has been the momentous task of re-districting.  The task is huge because of the booming in population; My County has grown over 23% in the last decade.  In 2000 the population came in at 70,641 in 2010 the population grew to a whopping 86,905 and continues to add new homes every month. This means that My County has gone from a rural county to a suburban county. Thus when the Oklahoma Legislators finished dividing up the county in equal population segments for the Congressional, House and Senate as well as Judicial, and the County Commissioners doing the same, Our County ended up looking like a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle. A puzzle that I had to make look organized and the only picture I had was an outline of the county.

The first part of the task was redrawing the lines. This was accomplished with the help and assistance of CSA—Center for Spatial Analysis located in Norman at the Oklahoma University Campus. (I’m a huge OU fan). The precinct lines were redrawn only where they had to be drawn. Precincts cannot cross any of those lines that were drawn for Congressional, Judicial, State Senate and House or Commission. This left me with few choices; I made only those changes that had to be made.  This part of the task I knew all along was going to make some people un-happy campers, but it was out of my hands, I had to follow the state statutes and complete the task.

The second part of the task was accomplished after the state completed the transition from the old to the new lines. This took place after the 15^th of December.  Once we ran the report we found that several thousand voters were not correctly transferred and adjustments to the mapping had to be made. Our first report showed that 32 thousand voters would need to be notified. After we finished the adjustments somewhere around December 22, we were happy to see that only around 15 thousand were affected.

In attempting to take care of the second part of the task (notification of voters) we ran into a few obstacles. The Election Board Budget did not allow for such a large mailing. (Budget was cut $26k) The comment from my commissioners was “we know you’ll work within your budget”. Sure thing, I can rub two pennies together with the best of ‘em, but give a girl a break! Not only is it a Presidential election, we have new voting machines, new computer programs, and last but not least the re-districting. Can anyone else see that there might be an issue where more money could be an essential part of getting the job done?  I’m good at finding creative solutions and I’m as frugal as they come but I’m seeing a huge problem here. To top it off I’m still learning the county process (which let me say will drive a sane person to jump). I have these 15 thousand pieces of mail, I need printed envelopes, printed letters, printed labels, printed voter ID cards, envelopes need hand labeled, them to be stuffed and last but not least postage. If I have a company do it for me I need the cost to be under $10 thousand, because if it isn’t then I have to send out for bids. (there was not time for the bidding process we are in a time continuum).

A metro mail house, once hearing our dilemma offered a solution by printing the letter, voter ID cards and the letter. We sent the information to them and then found out everything was a PDF and not a data file, more headaches.  Finally, everything was printed and ready to be delivered to the USPS. I paid the postage by getting a PO for the post office the Monday before the Wednesday that they had to be mailed. (All notifications had to be in Voters hands by January 14)

Growing pains is a given whenever there is substantial growth in a relatively short period of time. In My County one of those growing pains is the 911 address system. Some residences have experienced up to five address changes in the last six years. Thus we have our next obstacle. Remember that 15thousand piece mailing; as of today over 3000 have been returned because of addressing issues. Now we have the task of trying to notify voters of the changes and the need for them to fill out a new voter registration.

I keep hearing my Granny cheering me on saying “You can do it!” I am doing my level best to keep the smile on my face with an attitude that reflects the love of Christ. Yes, I can do this but the only reason is because God is at my side reminding me that if my Granny could overcome the obstacles placed in her path and survive that I would survive as well.