And now for something completely different...

Not an anniversary to celebrate

We are going through a video series Wednesday nights at our church entitled "The Journey Through Grief". It is designed especially for those who have suffered the death of a loved one but I have found it to be very good for anyone who has suffered any kind of loss. Part of the healing process involves talking about the person or even writing them a letter saying goodbye. It has been very good for me in my divorce. I only wish I had seen it sooner. So, as part of my own journey I would like to say goodbye to her. It was 3 years ago today that she left me and I still have a hard time believing it sometime. I am having a hard time right now just writing her name. I don't want her back but I miss her every day. I also don't need anybody's comments. I just need to say goodbye. It is not what I want to do. It never was. Goodbye Rhonda.

Kohls Schmolls

Here's the deal: since June 2011 I have been receiving mailers from Kohl's Department Store to my address with my ex-wife's name on them. She has never lived at this address and I don't want to get them anymore. So, since June '11 I have been sending emails, letters and phone calls over and over again and I always get the same response. So I told the last lady who responded to me that I would share with all my friends on Facebook, Twitter and blog how this tells me a lot about their company. So, you don't have to read all of it. I just wanted to do as I said I would do and share with y'all some of the correspondence. It may not seem like a big deal to anybody else...and evidently that's the problem. Thanks for reading. Here's the last email: Dear Mr. Blair, Your e-mail was forwarded to my attention in the Executive Office of Kohl's for follow up and resolution. As it is my intent to provide our customers with quality service, I appreciate the opportunity to review your concerns. I regret your disappointment with receiving your ex-wife's mailers. I understand how frustrating this may be. As requested, I have forwarded your information to the Marketing Department for processing. Our mailers are printed and addressed six to eight weeks in advance and held with the US Postal Service until the delivery dates printed on the mailers. Due to these lead times required as part of the marketing process, it may take 12 to 16 weeks to stop receiving your ex-wife's mailers. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Mr. Blair, you are a valued customer, please do not hesitate to contact me at 1-262-704-9154 with any further questions or concerns. We look forward to serving you again. Sincerely, Tameya Tarkington Executive Correspondence Advisor Kohl's Department Stores Me: Thank you Ms. Tarkington. Unfortunately this is the same response I have gotten month after month. Everybody passes it on and nobody ever takes care of it. How hard could it be!? Nobody will take responsibility and just click "delete" over the name. Disgusting. It tells me a lot about your company. Somebody put in the effort to connect my address with her name but nobody will undo it. Prove me wrong.

I should be so eloquent...

As pastor of Christ Fellowship (http://christfellowshipchurch.blogspot.com/) in Wise County, I often tell people they should come to our church, if for no other reason than the view. Our back deck looks out onto Lake Bridgeport and the sunsets are usually pretty incredible. Our church is right next to the dam and that, of course, was brought up when we were debating on a name change. Thankfully we settled on Christ Fellowship instead of the Dam Church or something similar. Our church has a great relationship with the Unchained Biker Church in Chico a few miles down the road and I got the opportunity to preach there last night. I have been going through a series on Heaven and Hell at our church and so I asked some of the congregation about what they thought I should preach. Should I give them Heaven or Hell? They overwhelmingly agreed that I should preach on Hell so I did. Leave it to Speedy, the pastor of the Biker Church, to bring it all together when he said last night afterward that they should have put a banner out advertising that the dam pastor was going to give them Hell.