Could it be that I am finally seeing the light of day? Have I dug my way out from under the pile of things that built up while I was away? It seems that I may have caught up and can now take a brief breath. That would explain my absence from these rather one-sided conversation for the past week (Sheesh!!!). At least, that is the excuse that I am using. We all know about excuses...they are like rear-ends; everyone has one and they are all full of ________(Go ahead, fill in the blank). Anyway, I am back in the saddle and ready to reach out into the blogosphere.
Let me fill you in on what has been happening since we last communicated. Last Friday at noon I jumped into the car, leaving the cloistered world of the Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne for the city life of Chicago. The trip was very routine and uneventful except for the machine at the end of the Indiana Tollroad the ate my debit card. I really hope that it choked and puked (was that a Christian thing to say? Its a machine for goodness sake!) I arrived in downtown Chicago just before 3pm, and headed straight for the tavern. Where else could I go as Kay and her sister were riding a water taxi and there was no restroom in my rented Ford Focus. They soon caught up with me, in more ways than one, and we spent a rather subdued evening at Kay's sister Ann's condo. The weather was nice so we were out on the patio for awhile. On Saturday the weather changed. The wind was howling, the temperatures chilly, and the rain was falling on an occasional basis. After going out for brunch it was time to head for the airport. What was most interesting about the flight(s) from Chicago to Spokane was the fact that we set foot in all 4 time zones of the continental United States that afternoon and evening. We left Chicago (Central), flew to Indianapolis (Eastern) where we made an unscheduled plane change, went on to Denver (Mountain) and then home to Spokane (Pacific of course). We crossed the threshold of our house at about 9:00pm, which was midnight in the eastern time zone that I had grown accustomed to through the previous week.
There is no rest for the wicked, so of course I was on duty at the church on Sunday morning. We got up early to head down the hill, and get ready for service and Bible class. Things went about as well as they could have. I drove up to the north end of the Spokane area, almost to Canada, in the afternoon to pick up the dog. While we were gone she seems to have worn out her "barker" and has pretty much been asleep since returning home. Monday brought the Inland Empire Pastors Conference to town, and of course being that we have a new church, the worship service was scheduled her on Monday evening. After returning early to the classroom to teach aviation weather to budding airline pilots, and then the tennis court to resume my regular battles with my "Lay Posse" (Surprisingly...it went rather well) it was time to head for the church to make all things ready for the evening service. It can be a bit unnerving to have about 50 preachers and their wives in the house critiquing everything that you do. The evening did come off without a hitch, so another hurdle was cleared. These last couple of days have been consumed with catching up on last week's work, preparing for this weekend, and grading research papers from the meteorology class.
Looking ahead there is a mountain in that direction as well. On Saturday about 100 Lutheran ladies (The Lutheran Women's Missionary League) will be gathering at our church for their fall "Zone Rally". Again, when you have a new building everyone wants to see it. I will be involved in giving the invocation at the beginning of the day, doing the installation of their new officers, and then providing a presentation on the educational program that I am involved in. Once that is finished I am heading to the northside of the city, to Joe Albi Stadium, to serve as the public address announcer for the Inland Northwest Marching Band Championships. There will be 14 high school bands from this part of the country competing, so if the event starts at 3:30 in the afternoon I am hoping to be home by 10. I've done this for the past few years, and really enjoy it, but there are always a few bands that I really don't need to see and hear...if you know what I mean. They all work hard, and perform as best they can, its just that some a little more "musically challenged". Of course there will be church again on Sunday, and all that goes with it. I'm not complaining mind you...just embellishing my excuse!
See you soon...I hope.
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