Hard to believe that it’s been almost a week since my last post. Let me try to bring things up to speed…
- After a few days with a runny nose and some congestion, Ben is doing great. He’s off the antibiotics and pain medication (except a little Tylenol when needed). Through it all, it didn’t slow him down much. Once in a while he was a bit clingy (probably when his nose/ear hurt a little), but it didn’t last long.
- On Saturday our music guru, Tom Ayer, and the pastor of Christus Victor here in Athens, Greg Michael, and I attended a great conference at Faith Lutheran Church in Marietta, GA. Pastor Gerry Coleman (renowned in the LC-MS and beyond as both a pastor and musician) led us in a discussion on “contemporary” worship, and all that those words carry with them. Some really good stuff there.
- On Sunday, we dedicated an outdoor worship area at Trinity after each service. It is a beautiful little area that currently seats 40, with room to grow. I look forward to putting it to use.
- On Tuesday, Pastor Greg Michael and I drove to Living Hope Lutheran in Kennesaw, GA. (It’s just past Marietta where we were Saturday.) We had a tri-circuit meeting with only two circuits really showing up. But it was good to gather anyway. With about 6.5 hours of driving within four days of each other, Pastor Michael is probably getting sick of me!
- Jen tells me not to read too much into this (and I know I shouldn’t), but we had only 18 at worship tonight (including me). Last week it was 21. Jen reminded me that May is a tough month with school schedules and all the end of the school year stuff going on. I wish I could say I thought it was just that. Anyway, “where two or three are gathered in His name…” right?
- Tomorrow we will be spending a great deal of time putting together the packet for our Special Voters’ Meeting this Sunday. We have some budget changes to make and we will be talking about the particulars of the possibility (probability?!) of having Tom on full time. There is a potential that this meeting could go very well or very poorly. Personally I think there will be some serious discussions (which there should be) but overall, it will pass fairly strongly.
- Speaking of Sunday, I have an interesting schedule that day. – In fact, the week will be busy. Right after 2nd service (a service I will have to cut fairly short) at 12noon we will begin the Voters’ Meeting. Then I will drive straight from the church to the airport to catch a 3:30pm flight (1.5 hour drive from Athens to the Atlanta airport + time to check in at the busiest airport in the country…TIGHT!) to Milwaulkee, WI. I get a rent car and drive the hour to Watertown, arriving after the 5pm meal but (hopefully) making it to the 3 hour meeting beginning at 6:00pm. I will have meetings through Tuesday for Bethesda. I’ll get back into Athens late Tuesday night. Wednesday morning is Daniel’s “graduation” from Kindergarten and, of course, worship that night. The next day Ben is scheduled for a follow-up to his procedures from last week (though we are trying to get this appointment rescheduled) and I have an out-patient procedure that afternoon that will take me out of commission for a couple of days. (Don’t ask.) — Whew!
- Jen is getting her ducks in a row as she applies to UGA, seeking a doctorate in Social Work. The biggest challenge right now is that she’s been out of that profession for several years now and needs to get recommendations. So she’s trying to track down some people for that. In addition, when she got her M.S.W. from Wash.U. in St. Louis, she did not need to take the GRE. Now she does. An easy process but a challenge to go back now after several years out of school to do it. I know she can, though, and she will be great at all this. More importantly (in my mind) is that she will really make a difference in people’s lives through her studies.
I guess this will do for now.
Pax!