Daily Faithfulness

As I've been participating with the Ambassadors Choir in their program at Mason Christian Village this week, I've been thinking about longevity and faithfulness. Loren Swedburg, (above, left) is 93 years old. He's been serving the Lord his whole life; he retired to Mason Christian Village after the death of his wife. The two of them taught with distinction at Nebraska Christian College. His son Tom (above, right) and Tom's wife, Bonnell, were two of the first people we met when we went to serve First Christian Church in Longmont, Colorado, in 1976, and they've continued to serve in a variety of roles through one or the other of the Christian churches there every year since then. They were in town this week to visit Loren, and I got them to pose for this picture.
As I stood in the back and listened to the chorus sing, I thought about Loren's faithfulness, and that of so many others on the platform who have lived for Christ for many decades. I thought of all the concerts, programs, worship services, solos, quartets, recording sessions, camp choirs, and more that my friend Dave Lautzenheiser has led year after year, and this program is just a part of the ministry he's performing in Mason this year.  Joanne Hopton who served with unfailing energy for years as the publisher's secretary at Standard Publishing, and for a short while as mine, was on the platform. I wish I could have interviewed all the three dozen or so members to learn more about classes taught, choir rehearsals attended, funeral dinners cooked, money given, and on and on represented in the lives of this chorus.
Much that's accomplished in this world happens because folks get up, get out, and get on with it--faithfully day after day. We can't all do something great or newsworthy every day, maybe not every year, maybe not ever. Very few get their name in lights. But people like some I've been enjoying this week are examples to all of us just to keep at the tasks at hand, because the sum total of daily faithfulness can make a big difference.

Older and Richer

My adventure with the Ambassadors Choir at Mason Christian Village this week has got me to thinking. One thing I've been thinking about is ageism. Of course all of us think older people are those just older than ourselves. I think older people are maybe 75-80. I'm guessing my kids think older people are about my age.
In any case, we tend to think that older people can't do what we do or don't feel what we feel or don't understand what we have figured out.

And as I've watched these lovely people sing all the medleys of Hollywood hits this week, I realize it isn't always true. In some senses it isn't true at all.
My picture doesn't adequately portray the effort and concern for excellence that these folks demonstrate in their approach to their program. Nor can it show the sweet expressions on so many of their faces when they sing love songs or the way they've embraced and mastered difficult syncopation or harmonies.
"Thanks for the Memory" was one of the selections, and I can tell that so many memories are infusing song after song as these folks sing them. Maybe that's the difference between young people and older people; the layers of memory are so much deeper for the older. Deeper, and richer.
It's fun to do this little program with the Ambassadors choir. It's creating memories for me that are making my life richer.

They're Magic!

This is a snapshot of the Ambassadors Choir, a musical group made up mostly of residents at Mason Christian Village, at the end of their rehearsal today. Their big spring program is this week, and Dave Lautzenheiser asked me to be the narrator. It's called "Cinemagic." I've been memorizing like a madman since last week--there are really only a few little spots for narration. although Dave has a way of throwing things in at the last minute. But, typical for me, I just couldn't get to it ahead of time.
I was surprised, frankly, at how good the choir is. I enjoyed hearing them sing, and it will be fun to do the little bit of schtick that's a part of the narration.
We have dress rehearsal tomorrow afternoon and then "performances" Thursday afternoon and evening and Saturday evening.
The trips to MCV three afternoons this week are making a very full work week even fuller. It will be fun--if I remember all my lines!
Evelyn and I mowed this evening, and I chopped down all the suckers around the crabapple tree in the backyard. We had a nice shower this morning, so nothing needed to be watered.

Our Holiday with Friends

We picked a great way to enjoy a 95-degree holiday. We went to see an Imax film called To the Arctic at the Cincinnati Museum Center. It was the first leg of a late-afternoon/early evening outing with Dan and Cindi Cooper and Dave and Mary Lautzenheiser. The film is beautiful, with narration by Meryl Streep and music by Paul McCartney. The photography of a mother polar bear and her cubs is wonderful.

After the flick, we drove to Hyde Park and enjoyed an early dinner at Indigo Cafe. We had a great time catching up with each other and having a wonderful meal. After dinner we window shopped through Hyde Park Square and ended up at Graeter's, where I treated for ice cream. Then we drove to Ault Park and enjoyed the overlook down to Lunken Airport before walking up to see the marble pavilion that dominates this lush, landscaped park. Then Evelyn and Dave and I walked around the massive lawn at the foot of the pavilion and saw the lovely volunteer-tended gardens around an adjacent lawn.

Sweating in the 90-degree evening, we had forgotten the glaciers we saw in the Arctic movie. But we really enjoyed our outing.

I had worked outside again, this time from about 8 a.m. till noon. Got my tomatoes and zucchini planted by the side of the house and fertilized the lawn. Cleaned my fountain on the deck and got both fountains hooked up to the extension cords so we can enjoy them. 

There's still stuff to do outside, but the major planting etc. is done, and hopefully it will be cooler to finish it up next weekend.

Church and Work

For some reason I woke up before 6:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up and wrote a blog post, which made me sleepy enough to take a little nap before Evelyn got up at 7:30. We ate a scone (she made a batch of them yesterday) and some strawberries and got ready for church. I played through the songs planned for the Classic Praise service, where I played piano this morning. We got ready and ended up getting to church later than we should have, because this was our Sunday to stand at the Welcome Center.
We made a couple of stops and ate lunch on the way home, didn't get home till almost 2:00.
I decided to do some Christian Standard work inside during the heat of the day, but not long into the first article I was editing, I decided I needed to make up for some of the sleep I lost last night.
I took a nap for about 45 minutes at 3:00. Then I got up and worked till almost 7:00, getting a whole issue plus one article edited.
Then I puttered around outside a little, but mainly spent over an hour cleaning off and organizing the shelves in the garage.
Evelyn and I watched TV and ate supper and dessert for the rest of the evening.

Before supper I snapped this picture of my deck garden. The pots are all planted and in place on the deck that was power washed and resealed and stained while we were traveling last weekend. I've posted a picture of the pots empty. I'll show them again in another month or so, and I'm hoping the garden will be in verdant bloom by then.

Out With the Crew

After working in the yard and the heat all morning and into the afternoon yesterday, I met Bill and Donovan Weber and Tom Thatcher at 4:00 p.m. to drive to Columbus and catch a professional soccer game pitting the Columbus Crew against the Chicago Fire. 

The Crew prevailed 2-1 in an exciting game on a warm evening made pleasant by a prevailing cool breeze. It was a great night to be "out with the guys."

The Hooligans were in a shouting/drumming/chanting match with a similar crowd of drum beaters from Chicago
outside the stadium before the game started. Throughout the game they stir up the crowd from a section
reserved just for them.

A big attraction of the night was a post-game concert by an Irish Celtic rock band called Flogging Molly. We decided to stay for about 30 minutes of their 90-minute concert. It's the first time I've ever seen a live mosh pit. :-)  Actually, Bill Weber and I both agreed we liked the band better than we thought we would. 

But staying for the concert made it a late night. I got home after midnight, which meant I couldn't record yesterday's blog post yesterday.

Our Beginning of the Weekend

It was a big night for Evelyn and me. A light dinner at O'Charley's and then a trip to Lebanon to look for vintage  plates to use at Jennifer's wedding reception at the new Goodwill store just outside of town.
We scored--nabbed 12 white, silver-rimmed plates that will hold delectable treats on the afternoon of June 30.
We rounded out our high-class evening
with a run through Costco just before they closed. Stocked up on bath soap, grape juice, razors, and a great supply of Omprezole at a bargain price.
As I write this, we're watching a Masterpiece Classic production of Great Expectations that we recorded when it was first broadcast in April.  It is different, even odd, but far more compelling than I would have imagined. Like most programs we've watched produced in the Masterpiece series, it is beautifully photographed and excellently acted.
Tomorrow is yard work in the morning and a Columbus Crew soccer game in the evening.

A Special Lunch, a Productive Dinner

Today we had a retirement lunch for Tom Riehle who has worked at Standard Publishing since he got out of high school, more than 40 years. He started as valet to the company president! I've worked with him through the years in his service as a job operator and a procurement specialist, and all of us wish him well for a retirement well earned.
Tonight I met with Rafa Soares and Larry Travis to nail down details about our trip to Brazil for the World Convention. Rafa will be our host in Brazil, as well as the man finding the hotels, renting the buses, planning the itinerary, and buying our in-country plane tickets. We're going to have a wonderful time there. I'm starting to get really excited after our conversation tonight at Olive Garden.

Home Today, Remembering Seth

We left Nashville about 10:00 central time and drove into our driveway about 5:15 Eastern. We stopped once for gas and stopped longer than we planned for lunch/dinner in Louisville. We were south of Cincinnati just as the traffic report was describing stop-and-go conditions along much of I-75 through the city, so we took I-275 around past the airport and on up to home.  Evelyn called the Vineyard to say she'd probably be a few minutes late for her volunteer floor monitor duty at the Healing Center, and, after checking, they told her she didn't have to come in. She was delighted! Me too!
We were able to sort mail, cut the grass, and settle in for the rest of the week during the evening and ate pop corn while watching the "60 Minutes" we had recorded while we were out of town Sunday night.
None of this created any scenes really worth photographing, so I'm posting a couple of pictures from our outing Monday night in Nashville.

We went to a dairy bar for dinner with two of Jennifer's best friends, Greg and Jana Perry. We love Greg and Jana, but the most smiles come in interacting with their 2-1/2-year-old, Seth.

We had a big time with  Seth, and he had a big time at the dairy bar. Not only did he get to eat his own grilled cheese sandwich and enjoy spoonfuls of chocolate soft serve from his mom's banana boat, but he also got to greet and jabber with another toddler who came for ice cream that night, and play with two puppies who enjoyed his hugs and pats.

We had lots of fun connecting with his folks, and playing with Seth. Greg and Jana plan to come to Jen's wedding next month, but we'll probably have to enjoy seeing Seth grow up as Jana posts pictures on Facebook.

Workday in Nashville

Today was work day at Jennifer's Nashville home. We worked a couple of hours this morning and several hours this afternoon turning her house into a warehouse. Actually, we started yesterday afternoon, and by suppertime today we had packed all her books (and that's a lot of books!), her office, and most of her kitchen. I snapped a couple pictures of the boxes stacked in her living room and her kitchen. There are more in the sun room. (Jen packed all her nice china herself.)

We have a trunk full of stuff either for the wedding reception or items Jennifer offered to us on their way to Goodwill. We'll head home tomorrow by 10:00. This will have been our last visit to Jennifer in Nashville.

 We celebrated this evening with dinner at Jack's barbecue, a great little place tucked between the honky-tonks downtown. Tasty pulled pork and green beans and macaroni and cheese.

Relationships Rekindled and Savored

After 108 days, I broke my record for daily posts this weekend. It was for a good cause, though. We spent Friday through Sunday nights with good friends Jim and Norma Pierson in their comfortable home in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Norma and Evelyn relaxed in a shady spot in their yard.

As usual, Jim hosted us with flair. Everywhere we went, Jim knew someone who gave him and usually us special attention—the car dealership (we were checking on a service light that popped on while we were headed to Knoxville Friday evening), the Walgreen's, the Blount Mansion where he gave us a tour, the restaurants we visited, the soccer field where his grandson was playing, and of course the church. Norma is a most gracious hostess and a wonderful cook. I don't think we've ever eaten more in three days! Jim and Norma are both avid gardeners, and touring or just sitting in their lush, green yard is a relaxing treat. We ate dinner one evening on their shaded deck, overlooking their beautiful back yard. It was wonderful.

Sunday morning we were surprised to see Jana Stiles at the Pierson's church, Woodlawn Christian. She's attending there now and playing piano for their traditional worship service, which we were blessed to attend Sunday morning.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Johnson City and spent the afternoon and early evening with Dick Morris, who is associate minister at Boone's Creek Christian Church. I discovered when I met him last fall that he has a varied career in broadcasting and has done a lot of voice over work. I wrote him this winter and asked if we could come visit with him so I could learn how he does the voice over work from his home. He was a most gracious host, telling me everything he could about how to get started in this business and protesting when I told him we wanted to take him to dinner.  It was a great visit.

Sunday afternoon Jim Pierson's sister, Peggy Doty, came to visit the Piersons, and she was there when we got back to their house Sunday evening. We had a delightful time visiting with her and posed for pictures before leaving for Jennifer's house this morning.
We got here about lunch time and spent the afternoon packing books and some clothes. We filled several boxes, but not as many as we hope to polish off tomorrow.

Time Off Tomorrow!

They say you should work every day like it's the last day before a two-week vacation, because those pre-vacation days are some of the most productive of the year.

Well, we're not taking two weeks of vacation, just several days. And I've been in full production mode since Monday morning. It's nice to see the list of what's getting done. It's difficult to think of all the things I could get done here if I wasn't taking off tomorrow afternoon through next Wednesday.
But I've always said, "There's never time to take a vacation," so I proceed with plans for time off without guilt.

Occasionally I notice a blurb in the newspaper where a columnist's weekly or daily column usually appear. "Sally So-and-So is on vacation. Her column will return next week." And I think, "I wonder what would happen if we just didn't publish an edition of Christian Standard because we all went on vacation!"

But I'm not complaining. We're making progress toward our plan of introducing a new monthly version of Christian Standard in September, and I'm pleased with the way the content is shaping up. So that's very gratifying.

I bought these vining impatiens to give to Jim and Norma
Pierson. He's more of a gardener than I am, but
maybe this will be something new they'll enjoy. 

Tomorrow we head to Knoxville, TN to visit with Jim and Norma Pierson over the weekend. Sunday afternoon we're driving from their place over to Johnson City to visit with Dick Morris whose varied career has included more than one ministry stint as well as disc jockeying and quite a career as a part-time voice over artist. He told me a little about that last fall when I was at his church for a seniors rally. I asked him if he could tell me some more if we'd come visit him this spring. Sunday is the day.

Sunday night we'll stay with Piersons and then drive to Jennifer's Monday morning/afternoon with our car full of empty boxes to help her pack. We'll work Monday afternoon and evening and all day Tuesday and then drive home Wednesday morning/afternoon in time for Evelyn to volunteer at the Healing Center next Wednesday evening. It's supposed to be pretty weather here the next couple of days; I haven't checked the longterm forecasts for Tennessee, but I'm not worried about it. We're looking forward to happy days.

100 Years of Ministry

I asked longtime preacher Glen Wheeler to pose with me after the minister's meeting in Worthington this morning. He figures between the two of us this picture represents about 100 years of ministry! Glen is now a resident of Worthington Christian Village, but he still has a heart for ministry. "I've taught many new residents here from other religious groups about the meaning of the Lord's Supper," he said during our discussion time. He has a goal of writing a book a year, and he volunteered to help lead this minister's meeting next year!

Their attendance was low, by their own estimate, and their attendance has been waning for the last several years. Meanwhile, Kingdom Synergy Partners meets every other month at the Worthington Christian Church, and its meetings are thriving with large attendances of leaders from all over the state. This is indicative of something, but I'm not sure what.

My work this week has been dominated by planning, meeting, arranging, discussing, and resolving conflict surrounding our plan to convert Christian Standard to a monthly publication, beginning with its September issue. The good news is that folks are accepting the writing assignments and the systems issues are closer to being resolved. Tomorrow we address marketing.

All that, plus preparing for this workshop today, plus doing some recruiting for the Stone-Campbell Dialogue meeting next fall, has kept my very busy--moving from one e-mail to the next meeting to the next phone call with no slack time in between. But it's satisfying to see a lot accomplished.

Tomorrow I have a full day at the office, and then only a half day till we take off for visits in three Tennessee spots that will keep us out till next Wednesday. Of course, getting normal weekly CS production done in the midst of all this adds further pressure.

But I'm not complaining. By and large, it is a good week.

A few have commented, on Facebook and here at the blog, on yesterday's post: "What's the Future of the Restoration Movement?" More comments are welcome.

What's the Future of the Restoration Movement?

How would you answer the question I'm supposed to address at a minister's meeting tomorrow in Worthington? "What is the future of the Restoration Movement?"
If I'd thought about it, I would have posted this a week ago and let some Facebook and Twitter friends weigh-in on the question.
Actually, I plan to offer more questions than prophecies. Among the elements of my presentation will be quotes from three different writers who spoke to the question in the pages (and on the website) of Christian Standard:

• Paul Williams wrote in his column: "Young leaders suggest our movement will be held together through relationships I hope they're right. The question then becomes, 'How do we leverage relationships to continue the plea for unity that brought this movement into being?'"

• A couple of years ago, Roy Lawson wrote, "We have outlived our enemies--and as a result have a dimmed sense of identity. Some of 'us' have trouble figuring out who 'we' are.  We once were energized and scrappy and sure of ourselves when we were fighting--Baptists, denominations in general, erring fellow Restorationists, and more. But without a fight, who are we?"

• In that same issue, Dick Alexander reminded us, "Movements last a generation or two at most. The Campbell-Stone Movement played itself out on the American frontier in the middle of the 19th century. And then in the first quarter of the 20th century this once great unity moment fractured into three distinct groups.
"In looking at our present and future, we would benefit from laying aside Restoration Movement terminology except as an historical reference, and developing a new vocabulary that is descriptive, and also capable of motivating future generations."

All three of these writers believe we need the tribe that has provided our heritage, our understanding of the Scripture, our ideals about the church, and our fellowship with each other. I'll be interested to see what the Ohio ministers think about this when I visit with a few of them tomorrow.

A Busy Day, a Pleasant Evening

I'm not the only one who planted flowers this weekend. I came to work today to see the flower beds around our office planted with begonias and vinca. Those daylilies behind this bed of begonias will be in bloom in another few days. Someday I won't work at this office again, but I'll always remember how attractive the whole complex is. New flowers in the beds every season. In nice weather, I park outside this courtyard and walk past this fountain and under trees into our office. At lunchtime, sometimes I walk through the courtyard and around two buildings, just to get a little fresh air and a stretch in the middle of the day.

Today I really needed it. I went from one e-mail to the next literally all day long and got through a long list of assignments, correspondence, and recruiting. Much of it was stuff that needed to be done several weeks ago; this is the situation in which I always move mountains. There's a theory about two styles of getting work done: there's the marathon runner (that's Evelyn and Jennifer) and the sprinter (that's me). Today I sprinted.

This evening was relaxing. Piddled around outside: trimmed a bush, sprayed Round-Up on weeds, transplanted a miniature rose from Valentine's Day into a planter for the patio. Swept off the deck. Stood in the driveway and savored dusk, my favorite time of the day.

Evelyn and I watched one of her favorite TV shows, "Bones." We recorded it at 8:00 and started watching it before 9:00. Since we zoomed through the commercials, it was finished by 9:45, and after channel surfing I came across the last 10 minutes of "Father of the Bride." It's a sentimental, nostalgic, warm movie which I've seen at least twice before. I wasn't ready for the way it made me puddle up. Oh boy, it's going to be a great six weeks! :-)

What Did You Do for Mother's Day?

Here's what WE did:
Went to church.
Ate breakfast for lunch. (Even Marie's Scrambler was packed with a Mother's Day crowd. I sometimes cook for Mother's Day lunch to avoid the lines and the wait, but this weekend there just wasn't time to shop and prepare.)
Cleaned the garage amid a steady rain outside, which required moving stuff from one side of the garage to the other or taking the stuff outside to sit in the rain while we cleaned the inside.
Used the neighbor's power-washing machine to hose off the floor. ("Power" and "washing" are two words that, when put together make Evelyn weak in the knees.) The contraption made me weak in the arm. (I had forgotten that you have to turn the fuel knob from "off" to "on" before pulling the cord to get the motor running. I had worked up quite a sweat and stripped off my rain slicker before I read the fine print on the little sticker on the engine and remembered the neighbor had told me about the red knob.)
Batted at a small bird that had enough sense to fly into the garage out of the rain, but not enough sense to fly back out through the open garage door or windows we opened to entice him with the wet wonders of the great outdoors. It was a little entertaining to see him ride the chain on the electric garage door opener pulley from the front of the garage to the opener, the first couple of times he did it. We madly opened and shut the door hoping he'd get flustered enough to fly out. But he just perched on the garage door rigging or fluttered around at the white walls and ceiling or sat on the open garage door in the small space it created beneath the ceiling.
Left the garage door open, hoping he'd fly out.
Went to the grocery store to get tomato soup for supper and spaghetti sauce for Monday's dinner. Picked up some bird seed while I was there.
Put away groceries while Evelyn talked to Jennifer on the phone. Shut and opened garage door to see if bird was still there. He fluttered around the ceiling but didn't bother to ride the door-opener pulley.

Snapped these pictures of Mother's Day helium balloons
crowded at the ceiling above the floral department
at Kroger's. Even at 3:00 in in the afternoon, confused
fathers and grade school daughters were mulling through
a bounty of flowers (and balloons!) trying to redeem the
day. I didn't buy a flower or a balloon.

Rigged up the bird feeder on a shepherd's crook (usually used for a hanging basket) at the edge of the driveway straight in front of the open garage door. Figured our visitor must be getting tired and maybe a little hungry.
Heard Evelyn's report from her Internet research. "Just leave the garage door open for two or three hours. The bird doesn't want to be in the garage any more than you want him there." Didn't bother to ask how this web poster knows that.
Retreated to the inside in frustration. Tried to concentrate on the Christian Standard proof I was reading while wondering if we'd need to re-clean the garage floor after a nervous, frustrated bird had been roosting in the rafters for the whole afternoon.
Talked with Geoff on the phone.
Checked outside, after two or three hours. The bird had either left or found a place to hide from us overnight.
Did some Christian Standard editing with a clear mind.
Apologized to Evelyn for being grumpy much of the afternoon.
Made little crostini to eat with our tomato soup.
Enjoyed "Sixty Minutes," supper, and the knowledge that this is a Mother's Day we probably won't forget.

It Happens Just Once Each Year

Christmas comes but once a year, and generally we anticipate it from one December till the next. It's an annual happening to look forward to.
I look forward to planning and planting the garden each year too. But not so much with one annual task that always comes in the spring: mulching the flower beds.
This year I'm not doing as much as some years. But nevertheless, this weekend I've bought 19 bags of Scott's Nature Scape black mulch, and last night and today, I opened and spread 18 of 'em. My back is sore. My hands are stained black. The front flower beds look pretty nice, and the side one by the air conditioner too.
We ate dinner with Bill and Verna Weber at Bronte Bistro at Joseph-Beth this evening; they wanted to get together before Verna leaves for New Zealand tomorrow for a 17-day trip. (This is to make up for the trip she aborted earlier this year when her mom went to the hospital while Verna was en route to LAX on the first leg of her journey.) So I was racing against the clock to reach my goals today, and I did pretty well. Even got the pots on the patio planted. I'll see what I think of them when I look again in the morning.
It's supposed to rain tomorrow, but Evelyn borrowed the neighbor's power washer for us to use to clean the garage. Happy Mother's Day!

I bought this beautiful caladium this week when I was Garden Galloping with the group from church. (Read all about it here.) I've put it in a hanging basket outside our dining room window under the birch clump in the front of the house. We'll enjoy watching it grow in the shade.

60 and Counting

Friday's the perfect day for a party, and today at work we celebrated publishing 60 editions of Standard Lesson Commentary. We gathered in our conference room, Inspiration Station, for trivia questions, prizes, "Happy Birthday," and cake (above), cupcakes, and other snacks. Standard Lesson Commentary is the most popular annual Bible commentary in the world; it's continued success is really something to celebrate!

Before we cut the cake, the current staff producing our Standard Lesson Commentary materials posed for a picture: Jon Underwood, Margaret Williams, and Ron Nickelson.

After work, I stopped by Home Depot and bought mulch and compost. Then this evening, I spaded, tilled, planted, and mulched the front flower bed at the left of the front door. Evelyn was at Seminary graduation at CCU. Tomorrow she'll be at graduation for the college, and I'll be doing more digging, mulching, planting, and trimming. I've got about a week's worth of yard work to do. We'll see how much I get done during the day tomorrow! Watch for pictures.

Catching the Vibe

Something different for lunch today. A healthy shake at Vibe Nutrition in Loveland. Robb Faust took us after Sarah Mitchell had invited him to have the Vibe experience several weeks ago. The shakes are good--available in about 10 or 12 different flavors, full of protein, and only  225--or is it 250?--calories. It was tasty and filling. And it was a great day to stand in the sun on the Loveland Bike Trail and sip our shakes.

Robb took me, Sheryl Overstreet, and Abby Haynes (a new employee at CFM), and as you can see, we had fun!

Garden Gallop

Garden Gallop. That's what our seniors minister, Dave Lautzenheiser, calls the annual event I enjoyed with about 14 others today. It's simple. The church provides two vans and drivers and hauls seniors from the church to various garden centers in the area. The backs of the vans hold all the plants and other garden goodies the seniors buy. They get to see several places, some of which they might not have been to before. They don't have to drive. And they have fellowship along the way.
We visited at least 5 different spots today, maybe more. Stopped for lunch at a wonderful restaurant, Parker's Blue Ash Grill and Tavern, and ended the day at Graeter's in Mason.
I've gone with the group before because
a) I love to go to garden centers in the spring,
b) Dave's a buddy, and it's fun to go with him (and he likes me to come along in a largely female crowd), and
c) after all, I AM a senior citizen!  :-)
Usually, though, I look and look and don't do much buying. But I'm feeling the pressure of time this year, with some May travel and a June wedding in the future (accompanied by a LOT of company around that time), so I decided to buy as much as I could today. I came home with many plants. Interestingly, I stopped by Meijer on the way home to pick up something we needed, and I couldn't resist their garden center. I found several things to augment what I'd already bought--they had the same quality and much lower prices than several places we had visited.

Here's everything I bought, huddled on the back of the deck, ready to be planted in the next several days.

And here's the empty pots on my deck that will hold SOME of this blooming bounty. I'll certainly be showing this scene again, once the deck garden is complete.

While I was at it, I couldn't resist taking this picture of my lettuce garden, sprouting in a planter on the deck. Evelyn laughs at me every year when I try this. It's not like this will ever make a meal. But it IS fun to grow something we can eat!

I Never Had an English Teacher . . .

I never had an English teacher who brought peanut butter/peanut-butter-cup cookies on the last day of class, but my wife's students are a lot luckier than I was! 'Course, I'm pretty lucky, too, because a) she made extras for us (for me!), and b) she has more dough in the fridge to make another batch soon. Maybe you could call me the teacher's pet! (These are especially yummy, because there's a miniature peanut butter cup melted in the center of each one.)

Tomorrow is the final for Evelyn's 8:00 English class. Maybe the goodies will help them remember the good things of the whole semester.

The Standards of the Future

This is the week we give four issues of Christian Standard to the printer: June 3, 10, 17, and 24. Our managing editor, Jim Nieman, spreads the color page proofs out on a countertop for one last check before uploading them. There was room there for three of the four issues today. The fourth issue was getting corrections and layout changes on the computer. He'll print the final proof for that issue tomorrow.

We have some good things coming in June:

June 3: advice for fitness from Dale Holzbauer (he has quite a testimony).

June 10: encouragement from Wayne Smith in his classic message, "Playing Hurt."

June 17 and 24: two issues helping us confront the question of immigration. Two essays offering different points of view on what the Bible says plus testimonies from Christian leaders involved with immigrants and portraits of undocumented immigrants and their experience in the United States. We hope the issues will stimulate healthy conversations among concerned Christians in many places.

Actually there's more than all that in these four issues, and I'm looking forward to reading the comments from our readers.

A Good Day

"Isn't it interesting," Tom Moll said in his sermon this morning, "that the first church received no instruction to meet on the first day of the week. But from the earliest days of the church, they consistently met on Sunday to commemorate the resurrection of the Lord."
I'd never thought of it that way; I think it's a good point to realize that for 2,000 years Christians have consistently met on Sunday to worship the Lord, primarily because of the example of those in the first church and in the generation before them.
My wife and I go to church every Sunday. Once every so often business  or even pleasure travel keeps us away from church, and  I can miss without feeling guilty in those situations.
But it never occurs to either of us NOT to go to church on a typical Sunday--here or on the road. I know most readers of this blog are of the same mind. But I remember a Christian Standard column Paul Williams wrote some time ago reporting that church leaders now call those who come a couple of times a month "regular attenders." Ethan Magness told me about an interview with a new Christian at his church:
"So how often do you figure a person should come to church?" the new Christian asked Ethan.
"Well, we think people should come every week," Ethan said.
"R-e-a-l-l-y!" the guy responded. He was shocked.
I wasn't shocked at church today. I was blessed, though. And I usually am, even when I'm not expecting it. Besides the thought Tom's sermon stimulated, at church today we had meaningful, sometimes fun, conversations with several people we saw there--folks involved in our lives in many different ways, several of them for many years.
We stayed for the beginning of the Classic Praise Service to hear the special four pianos, eight hands prelude several friends played as the prelude to the service. "Special." Yes. But in a way typical too. There's too much too good at our church to risk attending only once or twice a month.
And of course, this is more special than just come club or group of acquaintances whose company I can't miss. The fellowship factor is important, but God is at work at church in ways that don't impact me in other settings.
Sunday. It's a good day. It's the Lord's Day. It's when we go to church.

Shower of Blessings

Ken and Susan came in yesterday evening so Susan could attend a wedding shower for Jennifer at Christ's Church at Mason today. Just as they arrived, our Internet went out, and I spent an hour on the phone with Cincinnati Bell trying to solve the problem before giving up and yielding to hunger pangs and going to dinner. Finally last night about 11:30, I checked one more time and the Internet popped on. I quickly posted yesterday's blog post, which I had written but not published before the Internet went down. Whew! I thought for a minute there I was going to miss my goal of one post per day.

Ken and I went to lunch with Sam Stone while Gwen joined 15 or 20 other ladies for Jennifer's shower. All reports afterwards were more than positive. Laughter, almost some tears, wonderful gifts, great visiting and catching up--just a foretaste of all the fun we'll have at Jennifer's wedding reception (which somebody reminded me today is NEXT MONTH!). 

"Maybe it's because it was yours," Evelyn said to Jennifer on the way home, "but I think that's the most fun I've had at a shower in a long time."

We piled the gifts on the dining room table so Jennifer could look at them again and show them to me. There's leftover carrot cake in the kitchen, and we're going to enjoy some soon!

Mary Lautzenheiser and Cindi Cooper planned and hosted the shower. What a nice thing they did!

Evelyn, Carol Ray, Joan Maxell, Susan Aulen, and Jennifer let me snap their picture as they arrived for the party.

Mary made the centerpiece, a tower of towels and cloths and other
kitchen necessities, all atop a nifty over-the-sink cutting board
and colander combination thingy.

It's All About Choices

Took time away from work today to attend the Chick-fil-A Leadercast, hosted by Prasco in Mason, Ohio. They had an overflow crowd at the beautiful Prasco facility, part of 125,000 nationwide who viewed the sessions via uplink satellite as well as several thousand who attended live in Atlanta.

There were many inspiring and helpful sessions. The theme of the day was choices. "All choices lead you somewhere. Where they lead is up to you." The first session, led by Andy Stanley, was probably the best one.

He said a leader is the one not intimidated by the uncertainty he's facing. An effective leader, he said, acknowledges, "I may be in charge, but I don't have all the answers."

In the face of uncertainty, effective leaders ask themselves three questions, he said:

1. "What would my replacement do?"

This brings remarkable objectivity to the decision-making process. And "losing objectivity can sink you."

2. "What would a GREAT leader do?" This question takes you out of the smallness of your personality and your environment. It leads you to consider the right course of action driven by the mission and vision of the organization and away from your concerns about self, income, or the reactions of the board.

Bill Baumgardner and I posed during
one of the breaks.

3. "What story do I want to tell?" "Every time you make a decision," Stanley said, "ask yourself, 'When I'm sittin' around talkin' about this later, what do I want to tell?' Don't choose anything that will make you a liar in the future. Make decisions that create a story you're proud to tell. Money comes; money goes. Your story is with you forever."

The program featured Tim Tebow, Soledad O'Brien, John Maxwell, Marcus Buckingham, Patrick Lencioni, plus others. A couple of the speeches were summaries of new books, but the content was good, and I'm guessing I ought to read the books!

I'm glad I attended.

Got to see Ed and Angie Carl, Dale Reeves, Lindsay Black, Scott Gibson, Larry Travis, and Bill Baumgardner, among others. It was a good day. I made a good choice by deciding to be there instead of behind my desk at work.

First Visit of the Season to the Cone!