The Blue Church

Hi everyone,

I am on vacation this week so I am taking some time to be renewed by The
Lord and run at a slower pace (I may even be walking now!).

It never fails. When I tell people that I work in a prison they say, “That
must be interesting.” Interesting really isn’t the word for it. I think
words that better hit the mark are “incredible” or “unbelievable” or
“ridiculous” or “amazing”.

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while you may recall me
mentioning my knockout rose bushes. I have seven of them and most of them
surpass ten feet in height. They are all gathered together in a menacing
conglomeration in one corner of my lawn, waiting for battle.

Hello. My name is Robert. The name Robert is a German baby name. In German
the meaning of the name Robert is: Famed, bright; shining. Wow! I had no
idea!! Wait a minute…….that is a lot to live up to! It makes me wonder
if this is what my parents had in mind when they named me. Imagine….

When I was a child one of the things that excited me was the prospect of
getting a little plastic toy out of a vending machine. Years ago it was more
common to enter a store and be greeted by a row of machines where you could
put a coin in with the hopes of retrieving the “treasure” that you wanted.

As believers, I can imagine nothing other than expressions of gratitude
pouring from our lips when we first see Jesus in heaven.

Quick note of praise: I believe I have been writing this blog for close to
three years (if not longer). That means well over one hundred writings. It
is often the case that I have no idea what I am going to write about.

After almost nineteen years of working in a prison there is still one thing
I am not used to. Can you guess what it is? It’s imprisoning people. You
would think that after all this time I would have gotten used to the idea of
seeing a human being in a cell.