"We've had bad luck with our kids - they've all grown up." - Christopher Morley

This is technically incorrect because there's only one of them.

We got half an inch of rain today that came in intervals, with brief sunshine breaks between heavy rains. The seasons have officially changed in Oregon. We'll have a dry weekend, but once we get to Tuesday there's nothing but rain for as far out as the forecast extends.

Monday is Columbus Day. Is that a holiday for state workers? I'm hoping to burn the slash pile Monday but I have to call to get clearance before setting it afire, and if the offices are closed it looks like it may be a week or more before I get another opportunity.

Because of the weather I alternated between the inside of Chevonshire and the outside. The former included putting fence boards on the half wall between the goats' area and the storage area while the latter was digging the trench and laying the wire in conduit that will take power to the structure. I'll have a motion sensitive light outside, a light inside, and a single outlet. We've had mountain lion sightings just up the road, so maybe the motion triggered light will discourage a night-time attack. Or, the cat will say, "Hey, thanks for lighting things up so I can see your goats better."

I booked our flights to/from Grand Rapids for later this month. We're going back to visit Pam's mom and see some VIF's from the church I pastored there. I haven't been back in a couple of years, so it will be good to see everyone again.

I worked on my Sunday evening slides this morning at a new-to-me coffee shop in Eugene. Got a lot done, but probably won't go back there. The young gal working the counter was cold and inhospitable, the exact opposite of what should happen in a small coffee shop. And it was a bit more expensive that my usual. Oh well.

It seems we were typical, watching the first 30 minutes of the VP debate last night before deciding, "there's nothing to see here." My only observation is that Kaine seemed like the Trump of the duo and Pence the mild mannered one. Unfortunately, he's saddled with a crazy at the top of the ticket.

I'm exercised about my Seattle gig. My assigned (requested) topic is missions. It's something I feel strongly about, specifically that over the decades our definition of that word has grown to the point of including all kinds of things that are not, in fact, missions. It's gotten all fuzzy so that almost anything and anyone can come along and use that term to get support for work that may be "good" but isn't missions. Just 'cause you're doing something nice in an impoverished country half way around the world doesn't make it missions.

The first commandment of a guest speaker: do no harm!

Which is to say, it's not my place to criticize what they may be doing there. I want to challenge them to think critically about missions without the slightest hint of criticism.
That's a tricky balance and I'm concerned to get it right.

At this point my approach is to illustrate with examples of people getting it right and make no mention of those who are off the rails. I *hope* that works.