"If you put the federal government in charge of the Saharan Desert, in five years there would be a shortage of sand." - Milton Friedman

There's something both endearing and sad about this.

Frankly, the best part of this day was so good that everything else doesn't really matter.

Carmen and Dale and three of their four kids arrived about 11:00. They left about 2:00 and we all agreed that was too early. What a wonderful four hours.We laughed, we cried, we talked around the world, looked back, looked ahead, talked ministries, cars, family, and cultures.

Carmen was one of my students at the college.and I don't think she ever got anything less than an A on anything. But she wasn't one of those students who could memorize the content and spit it back; she was a critical thinker fully engaged with the content. A teacher's dream.

After graduation she married Dale whom she met when they both worked in the airline industry. They're now missionaries under the mission arm of the Evangelical Free Church. Dale does leadership development seminars and team building for missionaries and national leaders all over the world. All over! In a couple of days he's headed to Scotland. In the last few months he's been to Thailand and South Africa. Dale is uniquely gifted and doing exactly what he's good at. The outcomes testify to that and there's a reason the EFCA send him all over.

The oldest son is on a (very) full ride at the University of Alabama in aeronautical engineering. Apparently the U of A has THE aeronautical engineering school in the country and their biggest problem is keeping the students there for the full four years because so many of them get poached by Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, and the like before they've even graduated.
So today we just had Carina, Rebecca, and Greg here. Nobody should be allowed to have four kids like that. Each very different from the others but equally good, conversant, and fun to have in our home.

Carina has celiac disease so Pam made a lunch that was gluten free. Chili, corn muffins, and cookies. It was all very good! As they were preparing to leave Carina asked if she could have another cookie. We sent them all with her.
She's going to the U of New Mexico next fall to become a pediatric PT and an EMT.
Rebecca is super good at math (seems like a sweet girl despite that) but wouldn't agree to do our taxes for me.
Greg (10?) likes old cars, so you KNOW he's a good kid.

One of God's GREAT blessings in my life is the students I had. I have kids all over the world, some in ministry, some in business, some raising kids.... I love 'em all and love the opportunity to have contact with them and, too rarely, have face-to-face fellowship.

Thank you, Phillips, for coming to our home. MoHo was a warm, blessed place today, and I'm still basking in it.