18 June 2007

affirmation and rejection

Yesterday marked another great passage. A church around the corner from me affirmed my friend Dan as their pastor of strategic leadership and teaching.

In addition, our friend Rik expounded on 2 Timothy to challenge Dan to always preach the word. And our friend Bill reminded Dan of the foundation of love, the richness in reformed (and reforming) theology, the beauty of diversity, and the necessity of team.
The church blessed Dan and his family by offering them gifts and by creatively welcoming them into this new family.

Later, as we shared a meal together and reminisced about the blessing of the day, and recalled some of journey over the last few months, we observed the peace settled on our brother.
The last six months have been good for his soul, mind, spirit and family, too.

I am grateful to attest to that.
I look forward to seeing what the next six months offer.


Today marked a significant day at work. We hosted a blood drive and cpr training. It was something we'd been planning since the beginning of my employment. We've been urging, encouraging, and all out begging people to give.
(Did you know the national statistic is that less than 5% of the population donates?)

I waited for a lull before jumping in line. I enjoy giving blood regularly but have not donated since January. As I sat there answering the familiar questions, the nurse did the finger prick, splashed a few drops of my blood into the solution, and promptly watched the blood not drop. And i knew it. I'd be rejected for low iron.

For me, successfully giving blood is a high. It is more than satisfying to realize that "my" donated unit of blood can help save life somewhere. I was anticipating this rush today.
Rejection and lack of success utterly annihilates enthusiasm. Especially when I consider pre-knowledge that my iron is sometimes low thus I could have boosted it this last week in preparation. (I did have a big ol' wonderful steak this past weekend after swimming in Lake Michigan for the first time this season!! Unfortunately, it was not enough.)

Despite my "failure," we did contribute 51 units.
I'll try again some other day. sigh.

3 comments:

Evergreen Covenant Admin said...

yay dan! congratulations!
also, where did you go swimming/tubing/skiing? i want to go!

Jewels said...

Great job trying to give blood, Diana. Sometimes, it's the thought that counts.

Anonymous said...

i miss dan, dan the preacher man! so glad he has found something that gives him great joy. tell him i said "hi" the next time you see him.