Whirlwind Missions

Friday, March 31, 2017

Podcast! Family! Penelope! Tree!

Tim A. Cummins @ 11:49 pm  

Massive storm last night. Power went out for about 15 minutes. Lots of branches down. About1/4″ of rain.


I have a dead tree in my back yard. The storm just about blew it over. I had to get my tree guy over to cut it down.

Blew my trash can way down the hill.

Recorded a new podcast this morning! WOOT!

Here’s the view from the Mobile Studio.

A terrific counterpoint to my last podcast. This one will get you thinking in the right direction. Experience Verbal Surgery -440- “MEditation.”

Uploaded to server.

Link on Facebook.

Just click on the title and GROOVE!

Had lunch with the whole family today! What a blessing.

Penelope and I went on Walkabout to the video game store.

We all went for ice cream after lunch.

I watched Penelope as Ashley went to see her OBGYN.

Kathy washed out the garage. Got the rug soaked. Put stuff under it to try and dry it out.

Eventually, Penelope took a nap. Her shirt was a little short. She’s growing so fast!

Jesse was working upstairs.

I like his swarthy look.

Around 5pm, my tree guy Arturo Arroyo gave me a call.

He checked out the tree and gave me a price of $750. I thought that was reasonable since it was dead and leaning like it could hit the neighbor’s house! He brought it down safely. Amen.

I was inside the house trying to get the new gimbal for my iPhone to work. I should have been outside shooting video. Oh, well.

Cleaned out and refilled the hummingbird feeders.

I saw my first hummingbird today! The Mama has been coming to that window feeder for years.

There were two that were hardly touched.

Vacuumed the house.

Blew the porches and driveways.

There are still some sticks to pick up. Got a lot of them.

Watched part of “Arrival” with K this evening. I’m liking it.

K and I did research on where we want to go next week. Beach prices are really high due to Spring Break. We are thinking maybe Rome, GA.

Admin duties now.

Disappointed that I couldn’t get the Gimbal to work. I couldn’t get the servo motors to activate. Lights came on.

I contacted Amazon and got the return labels.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

iPhone 7 Plus Transition! Run! Traffic!

Tim A. Cummins @ 10:14 pm  

Stayed up very late last night researching apps on my new iPhone 7 Plus. It is an amazing piece of hardware.

It’s a big day for me. I’ve carried a camera with me for over 20 years. Today, I left the Canon Elph Powershot at home and just took my phone. All the pictures from now on I intend to be from my iPhone. I want to upload and edit videos directly from my phone to my servers at Smugmug and YouTube. Bypass doing it at home at all. We’ll see. I may prefer the big screen at home.

I still need to practice with my phone in order to be able to shoot things rapidly. I may still keep my Canon in the car, just in case I need to shoot something without taking my phone out of its holder.

This morning I went on a 2.65 mile run. Absolutely gorgeous!










English Ivy is bad for trees.


The Dogwoods look fantastic.

Lots of pollen in the air. Glad to see it gets washed away. Big storm tonight will help that as well.

Enjoyed lunch with Ashley and Penelope! Baby ate great! Always makes me super happy.

I like the view from Ashley’s porch.

SUPER bad traffic on 78. Took me an hour to get to Ashley’s house. We bundled up into the car with the baby but the traffic was so bad that after an hour we just turned back and went home. Took me over an hour to get back from 285. Ouch.

All the pictures today were from the iPhone 7 Plus. Uploaded to Smugmug. Video was uploaded to YouTube and then embedded with the YouTube app directly onto the WordPress blog. Just in case you were interested.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Podcast! Mission! iPhone 7 Plus!

Tim A. Cummins @ 11:34 pm  

This morning I had fun: RECORDING!

I can never hear to much of me talking.

I love this episode designed to get you fired up! Experience Verbal Surgery -439- “Peppy Upper!”

Just click on the title and GROOVE!

Uploaded to server.

Link on Facebook.

Went to Walmart to pick up some supplies.

Got stamps for the newsletters.

Gassed up my car.

Ashley, Penelope and I had a fun lunch with our friends Liz and Ben Birdsong. They’ve been great supporters of our ministry.

Came home to work on admin duties and rest.

Went to the Atlanta Metro Baptist Association to pick up our newsletters.

Back to Chamblee to work at the mission with the kids.


Also worked on our newsletter.

The girls love to do “stickers.”

Got them in the mail. Good to have that done!

Went to the Chamblee Walmart to pick up groceries.
I was in the Stone Mountain Walmart this morning.
Stopped by the AT&T store this evening. Went through the process of upgrading my iPhone 6S to the iPhone 7 Plus.

She’s bigger than my other phones. I doubt it will take me long to get used to.

This is the first picture I took with my new iPhone 7 Plus.

I uploaded it straight from my phone to our Photo Sharing site–SMUGMUG. Not exactly sure what will be the best way to upload the video to my computer from the phone. I’m trying to go with just one device. So maybe I should edit the video on the phone and then send it to YouTube!

What does this mean?

I liked this old Beetle.

Couldn’t figure out what kind of bug was crawling on the side of the house.

I liked the clouds today.

Winter is over when you see trees like this!

I’m not sure what to make of this.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Labels! Letters! Penelope! Mission!

Tim A. Cummins @ 8:52 pm  

This morning I printed up the labels for the newsletter.

Worked on the next set of 20 churches on the Research List. I believe that makes 740 so far. That’s a lot of Baptist Churches.

I put all the packets together.


I liked the eye stamp.

Our prayer is that many of these will come to work with us. One thing’s for sure: they won’t come if they don’t know who we are!

Ashley brought Penelope over this morning. She’s always so much fun!

Went to eat with Kathy and Jesse and P. Penelope liked playing. We like that it’s safe for her, although not really her size. We ate at Chic-Fil-A. I was impressed that they provide their employees with sun tan lotion.

She loved her big cup.

Penelope and I went on walkabout. She had a fall and skinned her nose. She was so sad. She got over it very quickly.


She didn’t want to stay in the stroller very long. She wants to walk, or me to carry her. Carrying her is becoming less of an option because my shoulder starts to bother me. Hard to stop doing something when you love them so much.

Lots of pollen in the air. Rain really helps clean it up.

Went to Azalea to meet up with Ashley to work with the kids.


Hard to believe what happened, but it’s true! On the way to the mission, I was near the church when I smelled this burning odor. The pick up in front of me swerved to the right and stopped at the curve. Suddenly, I see movement out of the corner of my left eye. There is a TIRE ROLLING down the road all on it’s own!

Apparently, the whole wheel just broke off. Crazy talk. I was in a car in Kenya one time when that happened.

We got the new prayer cards in today. They look really good.

We stopped at Taco Veloz on the way home.

I also went by ATT to check the iPhone7Plus. I’m on the NEXT plan, which basically means I turn my old phone in and the new model every year. Even though I’m getting a much better phone, my bill only goes up about $3/month. Worth it.

It’s kind of a big deal to me, because with this new phone, I am moving towards only shooting with my phone. Video and stills as well. I’ve been using Canon cameras for 15 years. Kind of weird to think about not getting a new one. I usually wear them out about every two years or so.

I also got a gimbal for the new phone. It’s like having a steadycam for your video camera. This iPhone7 actually shoots 4K video. The Plus edition actually has TWO main cameras, one dedicated for telephoto shots. Pretty incredible really.

Israel was the first time that I actually shot extensively with my phone. I then followed up and shot with my Canon Elph as well. I thought that both looked great.

If all goes well, I’ll get the new phone in a couple of days. I’ve already ordered the screen protector, new case and the holster. Still waiting for the holster to arrive.

Admin duties now.

New bloom coming on this aloe. Never seen what it looks like before.

I bet the hummingbirds would like it.

Monday, March 27, 2017

Podcast! Newsletter! Mission!

Tim A. Cummins @ 8:09 pm  

RECORDING! I so dearly love to hear myself talk.

A terrific edition of Verbal Surgery -438- “Stuff Love.” Do material things bring happiness? The answer may surprise you!

Did the shopping after recording. Put the food up.

Uploaded to my server.

Link on Facebook.

Added more data to the folder for the Research List: Granular List Green — GA.

Had a fun lunch with the Girls and Jesse!


She was looking right in the camera!

Came home to work on the newsletter.

Produced this month’s edition and sent a PDF to our friend Joel Harrison at the Atlanta Metro Baptist Association.

Went to Clarkston to pick up Ashley and Penelope. Went to the mission to work with the kids.

I enjoy Penelope time.

Also worked with Minhaz on his geography project.

Came home to put food in the feeders and clean out the water for the birds and other animals.

Admin duties now.

The Dogwoods are so beautiful now.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Research! Westside!

Tim A. Cummins @ 5:26 pm  

Saturday night I edited video.

This morning I worked on the Research List GRG-GA.

Then met up with Kathy at Westside BC.


Pastor Ben spoke on prayer.

After the service, we had a short meeting of the outreach team for local events.

Came home to work on updating social media.

Burned DVD for the team from N. Gwinnett.

Uploaded to YouTube.

Sent thank you email to team with list of galleries for pictures and video.

Worked on the Research List.

Enjoyed playing Battlefront.

Did research on the new iPhone 7 Plus. This large phone actually has two cameras facing forward. Pretty impressive specs.

I also decided on a gimbal for my new phone, which I haven’t gotten yet. I looked at multiple options, DSLR like the Canon Rebel, Videocamcorders and using iPhone 7+. Since I’m on the plan to get the new phone anyway, decided to get the gimbal for the iPhone. A gimbal is a device that grips the iPhone and has image stabilization.

The video is completely smoothed out. But the main thing is security. I never felt comfortable shooting with an iPhone. I always felt like I was going to drop it. With a gimbal I think I’ll feel secure.

My right elbow has been bothering me today. Not sure what I did to aggravate that.

Admin duties now.

I like my keyboard.

I saw this little nest outside the church doors.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

N. Gwinnett Church! BHFM! Missions!

Tim A. Cummins @ 5:52 pm  

Lots of pollen in the air!

This was good news.

Ashley, Penelope and I had fun working with our team from N. Gwinnett Church today! We gave them a briefing on how to round up the kids as well as how to act at the Buford Highway Farmers Market.

Took them on Safari to the Buford Highway Farmers Market.

Penelope is always a perfect little partner.

She put about eight Hello Kitty bags in the cart.

Then to the missions!






Came home to work on admin duties and edit/post video.

Amen!

I just read this in Time magazine.

Friday, March 24, 2017

Podcast! Girls!

Tim A. Cummins @ 9:15 pm  

This morning I recorded! WOOT!

I love this edition of Verbal Surgery -437- “Otto Pilot!”

Who is really in control? How can we communicate with that part? Click on the title and GROOVE!

Uploaded to server.

Link on Facebook.

Had lunch with Ashley, Penelope, Kathy and Jesse at Al Madina. Good times!

Then Ashley, the baby and I went to Goodwill to look for shirts and clothes for Jesse, Miles and the girls.

We always have fun looking! I can’t help but buy her stuff. She’s just so cute!

Repaired a hat for Kathy.


Sorted her pills for another month.

Found her phone under the seat in m car.

Admin duties now.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Research! Mission!

Tim A. Cummins @ 8:06 pm  

I got some new wireless Ear Buds yesterday. Wow. They are super good. It’s cool to walk around away from my phone and still get music.

Spent time working on the Research List, in particular the Granular List Green–GA.

I finished two cards today. Many of these little towns have no church that fulfills our criteria: have a website, with a youth director, who has an email.

I go through hundreds of web sites.

Paid bills.

Ate lunch with my whole family today. Such a blessing. Penelope’s first molar is coming in!

Came home to rest. Then went to Clarkston to pick up Ashley to work at the mission. I’ve been working on my Spanish with the kids. The Pre-K children don’t speak any English. I talk to them in Spanish and Penelope talks to them in her own language.

She is always thinking and knows exactly what she wants.

Her favorite was the Barbie car.

Admin duties now.

The pollen is starting to come. I like Penelope’s hand prints the best! It was fun to get Jesse and Kathy to play, too.

Mixed message?

I love my Pink Magnolias!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Podcast! Girls! Mission!

Tim A. Cummins @ 8:13 pm  

I worked on the Granular List Green till late last night.

Had fun this morning: RECORDING!

I could listen to myself talk for hours. A jumbo edition of Verbal Surgery -436- “Mini MAXIMUM!.”

Just click on the title and GROOVE!

Uploaded to server.

Link on Facebook.

Enjoyed lunch with the girls. We are teaching Penelope the colors. I bought different colored bags to put stuff in.

The power blinked out at my house. Had to reset the clocks.

Worked on a letter for one of the ladies at the mission.

Picked up Ashley and Penelope later and took them to the mission. Enjoyed working with the kids. I’ve been steadily going through Macbeth with one of the Bengali students.

The girls were playing school.

Stopped on the way home to pick up Miles’ old cell phone which had a badly shattered screen. Brian, the repairman, said the damage wasn’t even all that bad. Wow.

I got news from London today. Looks like I’m in to speak at the UK Hypnosis Conference in November. Language changes people!

Admin duties now.

Next Page »