"The great question is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure." - Laurence J. Peter

I got moved to a new office at church. OK, it's technically a closet, but most of the stuff being stored there has been relocated. They wanted my old office for the youth guy who needs space to meet with kids and adult volunteers, and I'm fine with that. He's full time, I'm part time, plus, he's young and good looking. I think some of the other staff feel bad for me 'cause they keep asking me if I wouldn't rather have the rest of the stuff stored there moved out. It's mostly a row along one wall filled with bookcases and books nobody will ever use but seem too nice to toss. Aly, our most excellent Kids Ministries director, is our resident decorator and thinks the space needs some personality, some pizazz. So I gave her permission to decorate the space while I'm gone, with my only direction that it should be a bit quirky (I chose that word because she said they think I'm quirky), not boring traditional. So I'm eager to see what she does.

My Facebook feed is filling up with "back to school" pics and I enjoy seeing the offspring of friends and former parishioners as they grow up. But none give me the grins like these two pics of my four favorite students.

Caedon and Megan belong to Josh and Aubri. Megan will be a H.S. senior and Caedon is going into 8th grade. So yes, he's almost 4 years younger and taller. You see two kids but I see two gifted, fun, hard working young people on their way to becoming the kind of adults we all hope our kids and grands will become. Megan is a budding artist with a growing and impressive portfolio, and Caedon is a generalist who is learning what he gets at their charter school but also mastering a wide range of skills including soccer, welding, and physical fitness.

Emily and Jason are Steve & Michelle's young-uns. Emily has preschool nailed and Jason is entering 1st grade. They are as impressive on the inside as they are adorable on the outside. Their "I want to be a _____ when I grow up" undoubtedly have nothing to do with their future reality but they are both very bright and full of personality.

Pround grandad!

I'm not sure when I'll next post here. I leave from the Eugene airport tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. for LAX. After a few hours there I board a COPA flight (the national airlines of Panama) for a flight to Panama City. I spend about 13 hours there before another COPA flight to Recife. From early afternoon Wednesday to the wee hours of Friday morning. I looked online and learned that I get two hours of free internet in the Panama City airport so if there's anything interesting to write I'll post there. My first few days in Brazil will be a case of jet lag and getting started on a pretty aggressive schedule of meetings.

Pam will be here running things on Baker Rd. for two weeks. I think I have enough hay, grain, and Chicken feed so she won't have to worry about getting more.
She's a good farmer's wife!
And God is our provider and protector.