Sometimes being a pigeon (aka flying rat) has its advantages.It sure rains a lot here. In Phoenix we got less than 3" in all of 2009. I think we've had that much since I arrived here last Friday. I'd forgotten how much rain the sky can drop. It just keeps coming!
I had coffee this morning with Gary, a former student now on staff at Berean. I always enjoy talking shop, and doing it with one of my students-turned-colleague brings special joy.
About the same time I got home the folks were leaving for a Dr. appointment. While they were gone Scott & I got 1/2" cut off the bottom of the bathroom door so it clears the throw rug and allows for adequate air flow under the door when the fan is on. They had tile put down on the floor several months ago, raising the floor height and making the adjustment necessary. After that task I fired up dad's pressure washer and went to work getting the moss off the front walk and the steps up to the front door.
LUNCH (too much food, again).
My younger brother showed up a little after we finished eating and the five of us had a family meeting to discuss my folks' living situation. This is a beautiful home with an incredible view but their health and safety make living here a dangerous proposition. Their kids have worried for some time that the next call would tell of a fall down a flight of stairs. My dad reached a point of readiness some time ago but my mother has, somewhat understandably, resisted any change.
We had prayed earnestly about today's meeting, and if you asked any of their sons for an assessment they would each say the outcome was beyond surprising. A clear answer to those prayers. There was none of the resistance and tension we had every reason to expect. Instead, we have an action plan and a timetable that the sons all feel good about. It won't be easy; change is difficult, especially change of this magnitude, and there are lots of things to be done and emotions to deal with. But by mid-year they will, Deo volente, be in a place where they will be safer now and well cared for in the future.
T'ank you, Fadder!!!
Tonight we went out for dinner - very good seafood at a place just down the hill - but as I type this my mother is out in the kitchen preparing yet MORE food and dessert to follow it. My father eats like this all the time. The only explanation is a tape worm, because he is what most would consider unusually thin.
I'm booked on a 3:15 flight home tomorrow but the flight is overbooked. When I went through the online check-in I agreed to be on the bump list because it would mean a voucher for future air travel. I'll need to make a trip or two up here to help with the tasks associated with the move and a free ticket would come in handy. So as soon as I get to the airport tomorrow I'll ask what I can do to move to the top of that list.
I always benefit from getting away. I'm not sure it makes any sense but there's something about the geographical separation that helps me see the forest instead of the trees. I go back to Pathway with sharpened focus and a few personal course corrections. Part of that comes from kibitzing with others in the ministry - Jim & Gary in this case. Some of it is just different scenery and the freedom to think about things in general instead of the tasks on the to-do list.
Another effect of this particular trip is an even greater sense of the blessing that is Pathway Bible Church. Yes, we're small and we can't do some of the things we'd like. But the people of Pathway - their attitude, their commitment, their hunger and flexibility - most pastors would kill to have a congregation like this. I have been given a great privilege by God to be the shepherd of this flock and I dare not fail him, or them.
I had coffee this morning with Gary, a former student now on staff at Berean. I always enjoy talking shop, and doing it with one of my students-turned-colleague brings special joy.
About the same time I got home the folks were leaving for a Dr. appointment. While they were gone Scott & I got 1/2" cut off the bottom of the bathroom door so it clears the throw rug and allows for adequate air flow under the door when the fan is on. They had tile put down on the floor several months ago, raising the floor height and making the adjustment necessary. After that task I fired up dad's pressure washer and went to work getting the moss off the front walk and the steps up to the front door.
LUNCH (too much food, again).
My younger brother showed up a little after we finished eating and the five of us had a family meeting to discuss my folks' living situation. This is a beautiful home with an incredible view but their health and safety make living here a dangerous proposition. Their kids have worried for some time that the next call would tell of a fall down a flight of stairs. My dad reached a point of readiness some time ago but my mother has, somewhat understandably, resisted any change.
We had prayed earnestly about today's meeting, and if you asked any of their sons for an assessment they would each say the outcome was beyond surprising. A clear answer to those prayers. There was none of the resistance and tension we had every reason to expect. Instead, we have an action plan and a timetable that the sons all feel good about. It won't be easy; change is difficult, especially change of this magnitude, and there are lots of things to be done and emotions to deal with. But by mid-year they will, Deo volente, be in a place where they will be safer now and well cared for in the future.
T'ank you, Fadder!!!
Tonight we went out for dinner - very good seafood at a place just down the hill - but as I type this my mother is out in the kitchen preparing yet MORE food and dessert to follow it. My father eats like this all the time. The only explanation is a tape worm, because he is what most would consider unusually thin.
I'm booked on a 3:15 flight home tomorrow but the flight is overbooked. When I went through the online check-in I agreed to be on the bump list because it would mean a voucher for future air travel. I'll need to make a trip or two up here to help with the tasks associated with the move and a free ticket would come in handy. So as soon as I get to the airport tomorrow I'll ask what I can do to move to the top of that list.
I always benefit from getting away. I'm not sure it makes any sense but there's something about the geographical separation that helps me see the forest instead of the trees. I go back to Pathway with sharpened focus and a few personal course corrections. Part of that comes from kibitzing with others in the ministry - Jim & Gary in this case. Some of it is just different scenery and the freedom to think about things in general instead of the tasks on the to-do list.
Another effect of this particular trip is an even greater sense of the blessing that is Pathway Bible Church. Yes, we're small and we can't do some of the things we'd like. But the people of Pathway - their attitude, their commitment, their hunger and flexibility - most pastors would kill to have a congregation like this. I have been given a great privilege by God to be the shepherd of this flock and I dare not fail him, or them.
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