The Link
The Weekly E-Newsletter of Disciples Christian Church
July 30, 2009
In This Issue
- Updated Prayer Requests
- A Message from Rev. David
- Men’s Bible Study
- Special Invitation to All!
- Disciples Men’s Breakfast
- Summer Reading Group
- DCC
- A Note of Thanks
- Music Notes
- CPR Class
- August Young at Heart
Updated
Prayer Requests
- S.W. Christie had surgery earlier in the week and is home
recuperating.
- Daniel Gonzalez is taking his neuroscience state board exam
this Saturday, August 1. Good luck
Daniel!
- Prayers for the daughter and grandchildren of Lottie
Jackson who passed away last week.
- Online prayers are asked for Albert Edwards and Elaine Merrett
who have cancer.
- Online prayers are asked for Vanessa Tressie who needs a job
and wants a good Christian husband who will be a good father to her son.
The prayer requests in The Link each week are recent
updates. A list of ongoing prayer requests appears in our worship bulletin each
Sunday.
A
Message from Rev. David
“Pay Attention”
It’s easy to miss things in our fast paced culture, but God
uses a myriad of ways and situations to teach us a lot about life and love and,
in this case, the pursuit of patience.
The idea here is that we have to “pay attention” -- if we don’t then
we’re going to miss something. As for
patience I wish I could say it’s a virtue of mine. Maybe it is and I just don’t know it or maybe
it manifests itself in different ways.
At any rate it often seems to be tested, especially when trying to seek
answers to technical questions and having to go through some automated maze
before finally connecting with a “real” person, but as you’ll read even that’s
no guarantee.
About two weeks ago Kristina and I
decided to switch phone services (first problem) and go with a different
company offering “competitive” rates on local, long-distance and high-speed
Internet. By doing this we could save at
least $25.00 per month and keep our phone number and other features like voice
mail. It seemed like a no-brainer. Kristina and I spent an afternoon setting up
this new service with a sales person from a local store. We thought everything was a go. Within two days our high-speed computer modem
arrived and by last Wednesday our phone and Internet were up and running…or so
we thought (second problem).
So last Friday evening around 9:30
we began to set up our computer with this new DSL high-speed Internet. We got everything out the box and I plugged
the blue cord into the blue input and the yellow into the yellow input and the
gray, well you get the idea. After
setting everything up we inserted the CD startup. After a few minutes though it became apparent
that something wasn’t working. So like
many people who have gone before us, we re-traced all the cords to make certain
they were plugged into the right input, after all color coding is great as long
as the person doing the work isn’t color blind, oops! I might be color blind, but not that
bad! Everything was where it should have
been. I tried to start up the installation
software again it said, “testing connection…wait 49
seconds…sorry, unable to find connection.”
After multiple attempts and increasingly frustrated I finally called
customer service (third problem). When I
called the toll free number I was given multiple choices via an automated
voice, but I like to press “0” it’s a little trick I learned long ago that
usually gets you to a person. After
several minutes on hold I finally I spoke with a “real” person who tested the
line and determined there was a problem, they then put me on hold again so that
I could speak with someone else for service.
My patience was beginning to wear thin but I pressed ahead. We were set to have a repairperson come fix
the problem the next week (this week).
However on Monday I had to call and make a change to the appointment
time (fourth problem). Again with the automated voice and about 30 minutes on and off of
hold before finally changing the appointment time. Well, at least we had phone service, not!
As it turns we only had half of our phone service. After making multiple attempts to call our
house Tuesday night my mom finally called our cell and said she’d been trying
to reach us but couldn’t get through.
Why did this not surprise me? We
discovered we could only dial out. So
beginning about 7:45 PM I once again I called the toll
free support number but this time when the automated voice began my “0” trick
didn’t work. In fact the automated voice
became irritated with me (I didn’t know it could do that) and informed that if
I wanted to receive help I would need to listen carefully to the following menu
options and select the right one. I’m
sure I was thinking, “Lord, please give me patience.” Over the next hour being put on and off of
hold and shuffled around the country talking with people from the Pennsylvania
to Chicago to Tucson to who knows where, I discovered we were sold the wrong
phone and internet package, however the good news was that our phone would be
working by Wednesday afternoon (yesterday).
Unfortunately Wednesday morning we received a message from
the repair tech that he couldn’t work at our apartment complex because it was
under contract with another phone service provider and further explained that
we should have never been sold service in the first place. So, once again I called the toll free support
number and explained the whole story for the umpteenth time. Two people, a supervisor and 30 minutes later
I was finally told that our service would be shut off and that we would not
have to pay for any charges and that they were very sorry for the
miscommunication.
I know that our story is not unique. Truth is we’ve all experienced similar
situations requiring patience, sometimes, extreme patience! Not only do we have to have patience with the
situation but also with those whom we’re working with. Chances are, they’re
as frustrated as we are. What I
discovered is no one person was at fault but rather it was miscommunication
among divisions within the same company, which then spilled over to
misinformation to the consumer.
Although this was just phone service it doesn’t mean that
God wasn’t using this situation to teach me a lesson in patience. Sometimes God’s greatest lessons come in ways
we least expect. Therefore we have to be
careful that we don’t miss the opportunities to learn and grow that God put
before us. If we don’t “pay attention”
we may miss out on some great opportunities to learn and grow.
In Christ,
David
P.S. Since
we no longer have phone service call my cell or email me if you need something.
417-699-3281
Men’s
Bible Study
Calling
all men! Come join us at IHOP (
Disciples Men’s Breakfast
Even though I will not be able to attend this area function
due to out-of-town family visiting us that weekend, I encourage DCC men to
attend the NTA Quarterly Disciples Men’s
Breakfast on Saturday, August 8,
at First Christian Church,
Rev. David
Summer Reading Group
The Disciples Women's Group will be gathering on Wednesday,
August 19, at 7:00 pm to discuss the next book
selection THE HELP by Kathryn
Stockett. Looking ahead, the September selection is 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN by Don Piper and October's is THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant. If any of these books
sound interesting to you, plan to join us for our discussion and
fellowship. Any questions, contact Dixie Deen at 972-867-1614.
Special Invitation to All
DCC
Rev. David and Jan Carter will be
out of the DCC office a bit this summer for some R & R.
Jan is taking Monday, August 3rd
off; David will be out of the office on Wednesday and Thursday, August 5th and
6th.
Jan will be out of the office on vacation
to attend her niece’s wedding in
Rev. David is also planning on
being out of the office for a few days in September. Those dates will be published when they are
confirmed.
A Note of Thanks
Words
cannot express how I feel about your generosity to a family in need in our
Relief
Nursery of Collin County that our own Laura Young works for is moving mountains
for this family, dealing with CPS for funds for grandparents raising children, legal custody issues and much needed respite care.
They are truly a gift to this family in
direr straights.
The
celebration of the life of Lottie Jackson was held on Tuesday, so now the long
journey of healing begins. But thanks to
your generosity, some of the worries are gone. Others remain and funeral expenses still need
to be covered but with your continued prayers, God will continue to provide for
this family. I know this, for God’s hand
has been present since the moment I received the call to be with this family.
Jan
Sullivan
Music
Notes
By Laura Young
Music Notes
Chancel
Choir will resume on Wednesday, August 26th! Mark your calendars.
New members (adults and youth sixth grade or above) are welcome! For more
information, please talk to Laura Young or any choir member. Handbell
Choir will resume in September.
CPR
Class Available
On Wednesday, August 19, a CPR
training class will be taking place in the Atrium from
6 – 8 pm.
The cost for the class is $25. If
you are interested in attending, please let Linda Gulick, BBPS director, know
at 214-770-0854.
August Young at Heart
Next month’s Young at Heart dinner will take place at Tia
Juanita's, which is located at the southwest corner of Parker and Alma next
to Super Cuts hair salon. The event
starts at 6:30 pm. Please let John
Prewitt know if you’ll be attending at 972-612-7301.
The
In order to follow Jesus and worship God, we will serve our neighbors. We will minister to our fellow Christians. We will live and tell the good news of Jesus
Christ in all we do.
Disciples Christian Church Staff
Rev. David Nordyke, Senior Pastor
Laura Young, Music Director
Linda Gulick, Preschool Director
Julie Chen, Pianist
Jan Carter, Administrative Assistant
Dave Gillen, Webmaster
Email: theoffice@dccplano.com
Phone: 972-398-2240