All's Well That Ends Well

Everyone was on time to load the van this morning at 10:30, and the van was there, too. Just one problem. There was no way all the luggage for 15 people would fit in the small luggage space below the van. So we made phone calls, we waited, we made more phone calls, and finally had the promise that an extension for the van (a little trailer to hold luggage) would be there--in two hours. This was 11:00, and Rafa wasn't promising that they'd bring it as soon as they promised. "This is Brazil."
So, while we waited, we had a worship service with hymns, prayers, a meditation led by Bob Wetzel, and Communion--in the bar of the hotel!
The restaurant opened for lunch at 12:30, so I decided to buy lunch for our patient travelers while we waited. Rafa rushed in after we ordered to say the van with the trailer was there. But now he waited while we had a fine lunch at the hotel.
We were finally on our way after 2:00; maybe it was 2:30, and we were at our hotel after 5:00. We checked in and met in the lobby by 6:00 to take a tour of the city, guided by Rafa.

We took pictures outside the beautiful national cathedral while we waited for mass to be finished so we could walk around inside the remarkable building. Then we drove to make several stops outside the government buildings that are centered in the capitol city.

We all took lots of pictures, and I posed before this statue honoring the man who planned Brasilia and persevered until it was built.
Then we went to an experience unlike any we'd had before, the pizza buffet restaurant. But "buffet" doesn't describe the experience of responding to roving waiters offering every variety of pizza you can imagine--all you can eat--vegetable pizzas, garlic pizzas, meat pizzas, mozzarella pizzas, gorgonzola pizzas, guava and cheese pizzas, mushrooms, palmetto, fruit (coconut, bananas royale), ice cream pizzas (with hot fudge sauce), and the coup de grace, strawberries on dark chocolate. We ate and laughed and made fun at how much each  of us was eating. It was a great evening, and the day ended much, much better than it had begun.

The People Are the Best Part

Computer connections have been inconvenient or unavailable, and time to sit and write has been limited, so this is the first post to this blog since I wrote Tuesday afternoon from the Cincinnati airport. The trip itself to Brazil was relatively without stress—except for the fact that four of our 12 tour members, departing from Johnson City, TN did not make it on the plane Tuesday night. They had been scheduled with only a one-hour connection time in Charlotte, NC, departure point for our flight to Rio. Their flight was severely delayed and had not even taken off for Charlotte when our flight FROM Charlotte took off for Brazil.
US Air accommodated them nicely, putting them in first class for their delayed flight the next day! But because we had booked the Brazil leg of the trip separately, getting them on new flights one day later wasn't easy, or without expense.
But they had good flights one day later; we were able to meet them at the airport and get them to their rooms relatively easy, and the major stress for me was relieved.
The worship services at the convention are long and loud, and listening to Third World-style shotgun preaching with phrase-by-phrase (sometimes word-by-word) translations into English can actually be exhausting. But there have been high spots and moving moments.
High spots: Fellowship! We've spent time with folks we wouldn't have enjoyed if we weren't here together with them. Some from the U.S., some from points around the world.

We first met New Zealanders Lyndsay and Lorraine Jacobs when they were directing the World Convention ministry. They served as international ambassadors for the cause of Christ and Christian unity. And their exuberant greetings and warm hugs were typical of what we always experienced from them. What a joy to visit with them on our first morning here.
High spots: the people.

At the end of yesterday's morning service, the leader asked us to form in groups, Brazilians with international visitors, to pray together. We found ourselves in a circle with a sweet lady and her children (grandchildren?) and a young man about 30. As soon as we joined hands, both she and he began praying in Portugese. The intent expression on her face and the passion in their voices were so moving to us, especially accompanied by the hum of prayers being raised from a hundred circles across the auditorium. We could not communicate with them with our words, but her warm handshake and his hug both before and after we prayed confirmed that this was a simple, brief experience that we won't forget.

Yesterday we met a group of happy children who were moving from one American to another to practice their English.  They were like beautiful, well-adjusted kids anywhere, and their enthusiasm and smiles brightened the day for all of us. We met Nathan (whose picture I didn't get), a well-spoken young man who does youth and worship ministry at his church. These were "his kids," he said, and I'm not sure if that meant from his family or from his church, or both. In either case, it was good to know that these happy children are growing up with the influence of Christ in their lives.

On the Way to Rio

This will be a quick pot from the departure gate at CVG, first leg of our 24-hour trip to our final destination of Goiania, Brazil, site of the World Convention that begins tomorrow night. We depart for Charlotte, NC in about an hour and then have about 3 hours there before an overnight flight (10 hours!) to Rio de Janeiro. Then an all day wait till we board the final short flight through the country to Goiania. Boy, will I be glad to see the smiling face of Rafael Soares, our Brazilian guide, when we get to  Goiania! This week we'll spend there, taking in sessions of the World Convention, including its closing session Saturday night. Then the touring begins, first to Brasilia overnight, and then to Rio for the most beautiful part of the trip.
I took off work today, and I was glad! Of course the day started with maybe 2 hours of computer work, writing, etc., that I didn't get finished yesterday. Then tending to a raft of details, thinking through everything I wanted to pack (I've already thought of a couple things I intended to bring but didn't), meeting with the fellow who's watering our plants, making a phone call or two, and actually PACKING.

Evelyn and I got it all in two checked bags for the two of us and a carry-on plus my brief case and her big blue satchel full of I surely don't know what!
We've been experimenting with various potions to help guarantee that we actually sleep many of those 10 hours we'll be flying overnight.
Tomorrow . . . if possible I'll post about how that went!
We got here EARLY, so after a Starbucks and a shared muffin, Evelyn decided to walk the terminal (a revamped Terminal A at CVG) while I wrote this post. I snapped her after one circle, with one more to go. That smile PROVES how EXCITED she is about getting on three airplanes in the next 24 hours.

On the Day Before Nine Days out of the Office

Some time ago I mentioned that old cliche about getting a week's worth of work done on the day before  vacation. Well, I'm not sure if that quite fits today because

a) the trip I'm taking isn't all vacation,

b) I didn't get a week's worth of work done, and

c) I still have an hour or two of it to do in the morning.

But, no problem. We're not leaving home before 2:30 tomorrow, and, even though I haven't packed yet, I'll still have a little time to be productive at the computer in the morning. 

Tomorrow this time (after 10:00 p.m.), if all proceeds according to schedule, we'll be in a jet reaching for its altitude after taking off from the airport in Charlotte, bound for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Evelyn and I are just hoping we can sleep overnight before getting off that plane about 10 hours later. If we have Wi-Fi in Brazil, I'll let you know!

I did get a fair amount done today: made two scheduled phone calls, wrote copy for two e-newsletters, checked through correspondence from writers meeting assignments for our October and November issues, submitted my expense report for July, touched base with Diane Jones-Dunham about items to be handled or checked or monitored while I'm gone, submitted the vacation form (for the second half of this trip), did the "out of office" messages for my voice mail and e-mail, and drove to Kenwood to pick up a travel wallet that hooks to my belt but can be hidden under my waistband. 

Tonight we had our "small group" at our house. Evelyn fixed a recipe she'd never cooked but that Jennifer had fixed for us: yummy lemony chicken skewers. And then we watched "The Closer" with Dan and Cindi Cooper.

Tomorrow we'll be up early, checking off items from a long to-do list.

Reflections on Being Blessed

Any weekend in which you can talk with both of your long-distance kids is a good one. We had a nice, long talk with Geoff yesterday, and the same with Jennifer today. It was the first time we had spoken with either of them since the wedding, which is mainly a reflection of how busy we all have been since then. (Jennifer did try on two consecutive Saturdays, but each day one of us wasn't home, and Geoff had tried on Friday evening before he reached us this Saturday.)
Geoff shared details of the weekend-long 10th anniversary celebration he and Lisa enjoyed: fun restaurants, a movie on its premiere weekend, a picnic at the beach. Jennifer was full of updates on her week of teaching preschoolers at VBS, their wonderful vacation/honeymoon at Martha's Vineyard, and the challenges of getting fully unpacked and moved into a new house. It's all good.
It's SO good to have two kids so devoted to their spouses who have so fully integrated their lives into those of the ones they've married. As I've told each of them more than once, but probably not often enough, "When I hear some parents talk about their heartache over their young adult children, I realize how very wonderful you are." They've given me many reasons to be proud of them. Their commitment to a healthy marriage is just one of them.
Today was a productive day: Welcome Center at church, happy conversations with friends (and some newcomers there), a couple of hours of work for work this afternoon, and a casual dinner (brats on the grill, baked beans, potato salad) with Bill and Verna Weber.

We ate dessert on the deck at dusk, and after dark I tried to get a picture of one of the citronella candles that cast a warm glow on our faces and our conversation.
Tomorrow brings a long list of tasks to finish before we leave Tuesday evening for the World Convention.

Here Was My Saturday

Here was my Saturday:
Up before 7:30, which for me is sleeping in.
Sorted mail. Paid bills. Skimmed Facebook. Read the headlines (the front page was full of details about the mass shooting at an Aurora theater Thursday night/Friday morning). Decided about supper with Evelyn, and she made a grocery list.
Went to the grocery and stopped at the bank to a) get some cash for the trip next week and b) inform them that I might be using my debit card at an ATM in Brazil.
Went to get my haircut.
Got a phone call from Marshall Hayden on my way to the Cincinnati Bell store and sat in their parking lot for several minutes talking with him about some Publishing Committee business and the cruise we're hosting with him next summer.
Talked to the helpful fella at the Cincinnati Bell store about how to use my cell phone while we're in Brazil (not a bad deal: $1.99/minute for international calling; 100 texts for $9.99).
Picked up some shirts at the dry cleaners.
Home for lunch (Evelyn made egg salad).
Talked with Geoff on the phone.
By then it was 2:00 p.m. and HOT outside (but not nearly as hot as is HAS been). But I still proceeded with checking the next item off my list: cut the grass. About half of the yard is yellow, but there are significant green spots, in the shade and where we've watered the trees. Evelyn came out to finish the job after I was a little more than half done and I moved on to watering plants and chopping down some overgrown perennials. Then I cleaned out the downspouts on the front of the house.
Dashed inside to get my shower and then stretched out on the recliner for a 10-minute nap before helping to get supper ready.
We fixed chicken and vegetables on the grill for Dave Lautzenheiser for supper. We had invited him when we learned he was spending the weekend alone (because Mary was visiting Laura and her husband in Tennessee).
I got the vegetables ready while Evelyn cleaned the chicken and made potato salad.
Dave arrived a little after 6:00 while I was cooking on the grill, and we had a great time visiting with him and enjoying a great dinner. He left around 9:00 after we talked garden and I gave him some plants from our wedding center pieces that I hadn't been able to find a home for in our yard.
As we loaded his car, the air was pleasant, and the sunset was beautiful. It had been a good and productive day.

Evelyn cleaned up the kitchen, and we retreated to the family room to watch a show she had recorded: "30 Top NBC Olympic Moments."

Livin' Large and Livin' Free--Almost

This evening Evelyn and I had a budget night out.
First we ate at Dos Amigos, a little Mexican restaurant down by Tri-County Mall for which I had bought a Groupon some time ago. I figured we'd have a night sometime to try it, and this evening was the perfect opportunity. The $12 Groupon paid the first $25 of our enchiladas and taco and really good guacamole. Total tab was only $26.10 plus tip, so we did pretty well.
Then we went to Target to spend two $25 gift cards we had received from the friendly folks at Engagement Health. At the beginning of the year they randomly arranged everyone in our company into teams and then challenged the teams to compete with each other in losing weight. All of this was anonymous--I have no idea who else was on our team, but evidently they were some big losers, because we received these two gift cards in the mail to congratulate us for being on the team that had lost the most weight! Way to lose, guys! (I guess not many of them are eating chicken enchiladas and a PILE of taco chips like we did tonight.)

We bought an Oxo Salad Spinner. Cool, huh? We've hated the cheapie salad spinner we've been struggling with for years, but we were too cheap to spend the $35 this baby costs. But tonight, due to our success at weight loss, we got it free! After that we found two red pillows to adorn the white futon we inherited from Jennifer and that is sitting in our red and white and black family room. They were only $16. So for less than two bucks we made two significant improvements to our home atmosphere.
Maybe if we eat lots of salads and don't spend TOO much time on that futon, we'll be on the winning weight loss team again!

I'm Tired, but Not Weary

It's not easy to get a whole monthly issue together in one week. Of course managing editor Jim Nieman will be working the next two weeks to create the layout for the issue. But I've spent most of my time this week copy editing and thinking about art and layout. We had a productive meeting with Standard's creative director who helps us with art selection and design. I think our first monthly edition is going to be solid.
The to-do list was interrupted by a nice lunch and shower for Harry and Carla who will be married August 18. Food, food, food and lots of smiles.
Worked at Healing Center seeing Benefit Bank clients this evening. After the first two (one appointment), I checked and saw that no more were scheduled, so I was free to go at 8:20 instead of 9:00. As I was shutting down the computer, one of the counselors introduced me to his client who is pregnant and trying to break free of her life as an exotic dancer. Would I have time to see if she could get help through the Benefit Bank application process?
Sure, I said. And we were able to file her application for food stamps and a number of programs for mothers with young children.

I feel as if I've spent most of the day in front of the computer, and I'm very tired. But it's nice to think I participated in helping some people today.

What About Short-Term Missions?

Today I tripped across three excellent articles that deserve a wide reading. I'm too tired and it's too late to organize my thoughts into a cohesive post today, so I'll hope to do that later. But for now, let me share the links, and maybe some readers of this blog will come up with a cogent summary before I do. I'm convinced this is a complicated issue, so I'll look forward to reading comments. Several good ones have already been posted on the web in response to the first of these pieces.

It's from Huffington Post, a secular view that nevertheless has something to say to us in the church. Thanks to Christie Clayton, from whom I saw this first:

"Voluntourism: We Have to Stop Making This About Your Niece"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leila-de-bruyne/volunteer-africa-program_b_1676091.html

When she saw my "share" of this on Facebook, my daughter-in-law, Lisa, shared a link from a Christian writer urging his readers to reconsider mission trips. Darren Carlson wrote, "Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short-Term Mission Trips."

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/06/18/why-you-should-consider-cancelling-your-short-term-mission-trips/

And then I discovered that he wrote a follow-up piece, "Toward Better Short-Term Missions."

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/06/27/toward-better-short-term-missions/

Clearly, this is not a black-and-white issue. But also obviously, some of what happens under the banner of short-term missions is a waste if not downright harmful. So . . . dear readers, what is your experience, and what are your opinions on this subject? I'll share mine later this week.

Brazil This Summer, Italy and Greece Next Summer

Today I handled a few details related to the Brazil trip that begins next Tuesday. This evening I wrote a letter to go with a brochure I'm mailing to folks about a wonderful tour we're helping to host next summer.

This will be a really great experience, to Naples, Pompeii, Corinth, Athens, Ephesus, Crete, Venice, and that's just the beginning. It will be great to travel with Roy and Joy Lawson and Marshall and Judy Hayden. AND, I hope, some of the great people receiving this brochure.

(By the way, this is not a closed group. It's open to any reader of this blog . . . just ask for a brochure! I can only imagine who might be interested in this wonderful trip!)

I'm writing personal notes to folks, so I probably won't get the brochures in the mail till tomorrow. Meanwhile, I've been editing through all the material for our first monthly issue of Christian Standard, the September issue. It's a lot of material--64 printed pages worth! And some really good stuff, most of it around the theme of finances and money. I worked on it yesterday and today. Tomorrow morning I'll finish it, and Thursday we meet about art and design.

Took a break after supper and "piddled around" in the yard. In this temperature and humidity, you don't have to exert much energy before you come inside soaked with sweat!

Thank You, SO Much!

So, maybe this will add fuel to the fire of some of the Christian Standard detractors on Facebook: the editor is a fan of TNT's hit series, "The Closer." But he's not the only one. So is his wife, the English professor at Cincinnati Christian University (previous winner of the Teacher of the Year award, given by the faculty). And so are two of their fellow-members of Christ's Church at Mason, Dan and Cindi Cooper. In fact, last year the editor and his professor wife got together most weeks to eat dinner and watch "The Closer" together with the Coopers. (Rumor has it that the editor was going to give their names to the church office and register as one of the congregation's small groups!)
Well, the show is ending this summer, so this happy foursome is watching the final episodes together. It happened tonight. Coopers were the hosts. Chicken on the grill was the main dish, accompanied by Evelyn's famous potato salad and Cindi's incomparable 7-Layer Bar Cookies. Last week's episode was a little dark. This week's was back with funny moments that we're used to seeing from detectives Provenza and Flynn.
This quartet will be watching all summer to see how this ends. (They Taylors will record the episode airing while they're in Brazil.) With the Coopers and Taylors side by side, they'll take all comments with a smile and Brenda Leigh Johnson's typical Atlanta response, "Thank you, SO much!"

Sunday at Home (Mostly)

This morning we enjoyed a four-piano, eight-hands piano prelude--before the blended service, and (oddly enough, to some of us) before the second contemporary service as well. Actually, we had heard their playing several weeks ago when they played the quartet the first time as the prelude to the traditional worship service. I shot a video of the music, but I can't get the darn thing to upload to this blog. Maybe I'll succeed later.
Had a quiet Sunday at home. Quick lunch at Panera. Main activity was buying ink for the printer, installing ink in the printer, creating a mailing list of potential folks to accompany us on a Missionary Journeys of Paul cruise next summer, printing labels for said mailing (which will happen hopefully this week, if the tour company gets me my brochures). As I indicated via Twitter today, preparing the document and the labels took at least three times longer than it would have taken simply to address envelopes. But I keep thinking if I mail to this list twice, I will have redeemed the time.
Evelyn and I ate quesadillas and watched Dateline before taking a walk to the park and back, taking quick showers, and watching Masterpiece Mystery on PBS.
Tomorrow I begin a busy week at work before leaving for Brazil a week from Tuesday. I'm glad we have another weekend before that trip!

First Quiet Day in Quite Awhile

I was talking on the phone to a friend. It was close to noon already. "Evelyn's at Early Registration at CCU, and I'm still wearing my sleep shorts and T-shirt. I'm making it a goal to put my pants on before she gets home."
But that was one goal I didn't reach today!
Whenever I just relax--read Time magazine, talk on the phone to friends or family, linger over a second cup of coffee--I feel like surely I should be accomplishing something. But it dawned on me this morning that my life had been go-go-go for at least several weeks, and I decided just to hang out much of the day today.
Not that I accomplished nothing. Paid bills. Filed some receipts and other stuff. Talked on the phone with Susan Aulen who lost her father this week and I had to miss the funeral because I was at NACC. Caught up with Paul Williams. Called Verna Weber and talked with Bill Weber about getting together for dinner tonight. Went to the grocery store. Got some stuff ready for dinner.
But we didn't get to eat with the Webers at our house because Verna's mom, Mildred Holmes, had a bad spell at the hospital when they stopped by to see her on the way to our house. So they felt compelled to stay with her awhile and urged us to go ahead and eat.

So we did. But then, when Mildred was resting, we met them at the hospital and ran over to TGI Friday's so they could eat and we all could visit. (We ate too, of course, a wonderful strawberry shortcake Sunday.) Mildred will likely be in the hospital for a few more days, in our new West Chester Hospital, so we may still get to see Webers at our house before the week is out.
We had blessed rain overnight and a shower again this morning. That means grass cutting either tomorrow or Monday!

Heading home from NACC

I'm writing this in the Orlando airport while I wait for a flight that doesn't leave till after 5:00. As usual, I've thoroughly enjoyed the week at the NACC. For more reasons than I can report today, I have a feeling I'll always remember this convention. Reasons I can report: wonderful, truly refreshing worship; heart-to-heart talks about God's will and the future with the likes of Paul Williams, Roy Lawson, Marshall Hayden and more.

And fun: laughter, hugs, and catching up with Bob and Vicki Cherry, Cindi Willison, Dan Garrett, Brad Dupray, Tony Twist, Jeff Walling, Bart Stone, Glenn and Carolyn Kirby, Mike and Linda Sweeney, and probably that many more I've forgotten as I jot this down.

I ended up on the Mears Transport bus with Shan Caldwell and Seth Bryant from Indian Creek Christian Church outside Indianapolis. They wanted to eat lunch before going through the security line, and they invited me to join them. (Seth even bought my lunch! An unnecessary but very kind gesture.)

I persuaded them to pose before we ate.

We had Chinese from Panda Express, and the fortune in my cookie said, "A new challenge is near." Oh, Baby, I'm pretty sure THAT is going to happen! Stay tuned.

I need power and strength unlike that possessed and demonstrated by Spider Man, but I couldn't resist my own pose with him, nevertheless.

Find my summary of the closing sermon of the convention at the Christian Standard website.

Discussions Just Begun

"Wherever two or three are gathered together . . . someone's wrong!"

That was one of a hundred one-liners Chonda Pierce delivered during her alternately hilarious and heart-touching monologue during the Thursday-night evening session at the North American Christian Convention in Orlando, July 12. Chonda hadn't attended two special seminars I heard earlier that day. But each of them contained questions and ideas that at least someone in the church would call wrong. This is one more thing good about this year's North American Christian Convention. It stretched us by challenging us with ideas we may not have heard or taken to heart before.

One of these seminars was led by Reggie McNeal, from the Leadership Network. He offered a string of disturbing statistics to remind us that the church in America is in trouble. The fastest-growing religious affiliation in the U.S. is "nonaffiliated," he said, claimed by one out of six Americans, one out of five men, one out of four young adults under 25. "We've doubled the rate of the unaffiliated," he said, "while we've got the best church buildings ever!"

"Doing church better is not the way to reach our culture today," he added. "Doing church better is aimed at a smaller and smaller portion of the population that is open to being 'congregationalized.' They cannot match their life rhythms with the rhythms of congregational life."

His solution? The American church must "do better at being a missionary culture instead of a membership culture." He said the church is who not what. "It's a relationship, not a destination. All of life for the Christian is a mission trip. Everywhere you are, the church is."

We'll always have congregations, he said. All the talk about missional activity is simply "expanding the bandwidth, adding to the toolbox." He suggested that churches change their metrics, measuring people development,  not just participation. "Did something happen in the community because we are here?"

Earlier Paul Williams moderated a panel discussion with five church leaders who talked about "Sticky Conversations" that are happening now in our communities. Steve Larson addressed the problem of pornography, stressing that communication about porn is vital: "This is an issue that needs to see the light."

Tim Harlow considered whether Christians should drink alcohol. His conclusion: 87% of 18-35-year-olds think the church is judgmental. He believes this attitude is "keeping people from the kingdom," just as the legalism of Pharisees kept people from the kingdom in Jesus' day. For Tim, whether or not Christians drink alcohol is definitely a question that belongs in the realm of opinion, where there should be liberty.

Ben Merold addressed the question of eternal security, with a string of Scriptures that state that it is possible for the Christian to fall away from the faith.

Julie Gariss suggested three steps to help local churches deal with the issue of divorce and remarriage. "Jesus held up the model of marriage; we must too." She urged churches to consider carefully the Bible's criteria for leaders, that they must be "above reproach." And she urged older couples to invite younger couples into their homes, to form relationships that allow younger couples to see models of successful marriage.

The fifth topic, homosexuality, generated the most feedback from workshop attendees during the discussion time toward the end of the session. Perhaps this is because presenter Teresa Welch listed questions we must ask as we approach this issue, without suggesting answers to most of them, although she did list biblical texts that support the conclusion that homosexual activity is sin.

These workshops are just two examples of how this year's NACC fulfilled president Rick Rusaw's goal to offer a program that stretched those who attended. The discussions they started will continue in communities across America, continued by those who attended these sessions.

Just One Story

Meet Tyrone Benson, minister with the  Pontoon Beach (Illinois) Christian Church, not far from St. Louis Missouri. Tyrone graduated from St. Louis Christian College this spring, and this is his first ministry. This is his first North American Christian Convention too. He's at the event in Orlando, Florida, this year because of convention president Rick Rusaw's idea to honor new ministry graduates at a special service during the convention's closing session Friday morning. Tyrone is one of several dozen such ministers who will be singled out then.
I can't imagine a candidate more deserving of our encouragement. Tyrone is articulate, enthusiastic, and eager. He told me about an urban Vacation Bible School he wrote and led earlier this year. He had stopped me in the hallway because he recognized me from seeing my picture in Christian Standard. Since Tyrone doesn't exactly fit our stereotype of the typical Christian Standard reader, I was intrigued.
Not only does he read  Christian Standard, he wants to write for it, and I'm hoping someday he will.
Tyrone came to faith in Christ when he as a 15-year-old in St. Louis. As he approached his senior year in high school, teachers and advisors were encouraging him to go to college, but money was a problem. A Presbyterian minister he knew told him about the free tuition program at St. Louis Christian College; Tyrone inquired and was admitted.
"I didn't know anything about the Restoration Movement before I enrolled there," he says. He had never attended a North American Christian Convention before either.
Here's a young man to give us faith in the future and to remind us how ministries among us are making a difference and lifting up the church's mission. Because a college supported by Christian churches offers tuition to urban students who may not be from Christian churches, at least one fellow with promise is committed to a life of ministry. And, at least for now, his service is among those churches. Because the North American Christian Convention continues its ministry to connect and encourage and equip leaders in Christian churches, Tyrone will be helped down a path of service in a way that would not have been possible without the convention.
After visiting several minutes with Tyrone, I couldn't help but wonder how many other stories like his could be found in the hallways of this convention's meeting place. And I was glad, very glad, to be a part of this get-together again this year.

The Start of a Refreshing Week

All this week I'm posting here and at the Christian Standard website from the North American Christian Convention in Orlando, Florida. Some days I may write something here unique from what's at the Christian Standard site. But the following post will appear there as well.

“We’re inviting you to be refreshed by our amazing God,” said Tim Foot as he opened the first worship gathering of the 2011 North American Christian Convention in Orlando, Florida, Tuesday evening, July 10.

Several thousand had gathered at the Marriott Orlando World Center Resort in two expansive ballrooms that had been turned into a worship center. The worship was heartfelt and substantive. Foot’s team augmented their music with creative video that portrayed the spirit and the message of each song we sang. The music was a comfortable mix of newer and older worship choruses, highlighted by hymns. And occasionally the excellent musicians on the instruments quit playing altogether to allow the sound of our enthusiastic voices to fill the air.

Convention president Rick Rusaw set the tone for the week. “When I come to a conference, sometimes I come to be stretched. Sometimes I come to be inspired. Sometimes I come to be healed.” And he explained how different aspects of the convention this week would meet each of those needs.

“Lord, we all come from different circumstances,” he prayed to open the session. “Meet us in the middle of our needs. We’re inviting you to speak into our lives. We need you. We want to be refreshed.”

Mark Scott, one of the pastors at Mountainview Community Christian Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, invited us to come into the refreshing presence of God after reminding us that confrontations with God can be anything but refreshing. Adam hid from God in the Garden. Moses hid his face from God on the mountain. Isaiah said, “Woe is me; I am a man of unclean lips.” Peter, after seeing the bounty of fish that Jesus miraculously created in this nets, said, “Lord, depart from me, for I’m a sinful man.”

But, on the other hand, he added, “Coming into the presence of God may be the only thing to refresh us!”

He led us to Isaiah 55: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” Then he read through the chapter, commenting on the invitation of each section to offer refreshment to the spiritually weary.

As he reached the end of the chapter (“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace . . .”), he reminded us that living our future now may bring the Christian the greatest refreshment of all.

The convention center’s exhibit hall was filled with happy chatter after the main session, and all who attended experienced the “connecting” that makes the gathering a unique joy for all who attend year after year.

Life is hard. People are complex.

My boss for many years at Standard Publishing, Gene Wigginton, had a saying that my wife and I repeat to each other regularly. (She even makes it the answer to a test question in her human development class.)
"Life is hard; people are complex," he said, and we remember that every time we come up against something about someone that is sad or inexplicable or odd.

I thought of those words again this evening in the wake of some shocking news we heard this afternoon. Ray Henry, director of operations at Memorial Hall, died today after shooting a friend and himself Friday afternoon. The woman he shot is still alive in critical condition. His family isn't talking to  reporters. We may never know why this shocking tragedy happened.
For us this isn't just another news story. We had many contacts with Ray in the months before our wedding, because our reception was at Memorial Hall, and Ray was the person who arranged the details, recommended the caterer Jennifer chose, opened the building when we or others needed to check it out--for months before the event.
Carol and David Ray did most of the leg work and planning for the reception, and today David spoke of Ray's good nature, interesting stories, and cooperative spirit.
Responding to the news of the apparent murder-suicide, Jennifer described him as "kind (I thought)." The news story spoke of a police record that contained other violent incidents against women.
One of her friends responded on Facebook, "Often things are not as they appear."
All this underscores for me the truth of Wigginton's proverb. It's the "people are complex" part that strikes me. Because we didn't just think Ray was kind; he was kind! It's not that things are not as they appear; it's that things are often more than they appear.
Who is the preacher who loses his temper at a staff person without warning? He is the man who preaches the gospel faithfully and brings comfort to the bereft and besieged. He is both. It's not that he's a fake when he stands in the pulpit; it's just that he's more frail and fallen than he appears.
Who is the man who can't keep his eyes off the young women dressed in garments too low, too tight, and too high on city streets in the summertime? He is the man who loves his wife, sacrifices for his kids, and follows the rules at work. Is he a good man? Yes. Is he broken and beset by temptation? Yes. He's both.
Who is the woman who's jealous of the attention her pretty daughter receives? She is the mother who would give her very life to see her daughter healthy and happy.
Who is the elder who jokes about homosexuals? Who is the deacon who harbors racial prejudice? Who is the Christian consumed by consumerism? They are leaders of our churches, people who love God and his Word, folks who give to good causes and work toward good ends.
Another phrase I remember and repeat is from an old hymn: "O to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be." I have not committed crimes of record like Ray Henry did, but I am more than I appear. All the good some folks know about me is true. But God knows dark corners of my heart they have not seen.
Ray Henry's tragedy reminds me again how utterly grateful I am to have discovered the God of amazing grace . . . and how sorry I am I didn't have the chance to tell Ray about him. And I can't help but wonder how much pain or confusion or fear or heartbreak lies hidden behind the smiling faces of so  many people I meet regularly. They are kind and bright and intelligent and productive. And they are more.

A Birthday and the Bee

Evelyn and I were up after 7:00 this morning, to do our 30-minute walk in the coolest part of the day. As it turns out, perhaps dusk would have been almost as cool, because a few rain drops fell from a sky that had been overcast since late in the afternoon. But by then we were out of the house at Cindi Cooper's 60th birthday party for Dan.

Happy 60th Birthday, Dan!

It was a great evening--wonderful food from City Barbecue, plus add-ons from Cindi's kitchen. Texas sheet cake (two kinds!) and ice cream for dessert. And then Minute to Win It games in the family room (60 seconds to perform each trick, appropriate for a 60th birthday party. And the winners of each round each got baggies with 60 M&M's). Cindi really did a lot of work to prepare a fun evening--all the food plus all the props for the games plus counting out those groups of 60 M&M's!
Evelyn and I went to first service and were home shortly after noon--after brunch at Bob Evans and a quick stop at Meijer's for a newspaper and some odds and ends. I moved hoses from tree to tree and watered all the plants in pots outside. It was not as oppressive today as yesterday--that's good!
This afternoon I read a proof and wrote a draft of an editorial for that issue--the last issue in August and our last weekly issue! (Back at the office, we're beginning to discover a routine for creating a monthly instead of the weekly issues that Christian Standard has published since 1866.)
Last night we watched a video I had bought and thought we'd send to Wendy in Africa. "Bee Season," according to my quick read of the cover, was about a dad and his daughter and her quest to be a winner at the spelling bee. It starred Richard Gere, and I thought it would be something Wendy would enjoy watching. But since you have to open the videos and repackage them so they don't look new before you mail 'em to Africa, I decided we'd watch it before sending it on to her.
Well, let me tell you, "Bee Season" is one weird movie. I can't really explain what it was about, except to say that the young girl's progression through higher and higher levels of spelling bee competition was a backdrop for profound family dysfunctions, a mother who ends up in a mental hospital, a son who joins Hare Krishna, and a dad dabbling in mysticism characterized by gibberish about truly hearing God speak to you. All this, plus a disturbing scene that was supposed to depict what happens when God finally breaks through.
"We'll not be sending this to Wendy," Evelyn said. Really, Wendy, I don't think you'd enjoy it. And if any other dear blog reader sees "Bee Season" for $5 at Kroger's, spend your money instead on a good magazine!

For the Record . . . It's HOT Here Today!

As always, there are several things I could say about today, but for the sake of keeping a history of my life, let me talk about the history-making event of today:

We broke the all-time high temperature reading for this date. The official high was 104 degrees, and I really think it was hotter than that in my backyard this afternoon. I know the temperature reading recorded by my car was closer to 110 when I drove it a bit this afternoon.

The heat lays on you like an electric blanket you can't turn off.

It blows on you as if all the grills in the neighborhood were burning full-force at the edge of your yard, just in front of a giant fan.

Plants in flower pots in my yard wilt, even though the soil is moist because they've been well watered.

It's oppressive to be outside. Do anything--carry vegetable clippings to the compost bin, move the hose from one thirsty tree to another, sweep spilled potting soil out of the garage--and you come inside sweating. 

They say we're getting relief tomorrow, highs in the 90s and highs in the 80s next week. We'll take it.

BUT, I am NOT complaining! 

I've always felt that it's bad form to complain about the weather. Especially when you have the luxury of air conditioning (or heat in the winter, or a dry ceiling in the rainy spring), and water for your plants--your plants!--and a clean shower whenever you want one.

A friend, Christy Clayton, who has served several stints in Haiti, wrote on Facebook that she was watching some children play in a water fountain on a hot day in Indianapolis. And she mused on the fact that she had encountered so many dozens, hundreds, of people who had to carry all the water they use, and they live in sweltering temperatures year-round, and the only cooler place they can find is a patch of shade that may not have any breeze. And of course they don't know about air conditioning.

More of the world lives that way than as I live in the luxury of my comfortable house. So I'm not complaining about the weather.

But . . . I'll still be happy when my flowers don't wilt just because they can't stand up to the oven-like heat that has been beating down every afternoon for too many days.

How Old People Celebrate Their Anniversary

I'm not sure what Evelyn and I were doing 39 years ago today. Thirty-nine years ago on June 22 we were married; it was a Friday night that year too, and we went to the exotic destination of Gatlinburg for our honeymoon, via Cumberland Falls State Park and Knoxville. By July 6, I'm guessing we had jumped into what would become a challenging year of too many part-time occupations that added up to more than full-time busyness: I had three jobs; that fall Evelyn was going to school and teaching school; we led a Bible study and attended a Bible study every week. It was crazy. Our lives felt as frenetic as that jumping animation I've posted above for today's entry.
I chose the Spiderman graphic because we're going to go see the new Spiderman movie tonight, for a belated anniversary celebration. Evelyn heard a good review of the movie. I just read a negative review of it in Wall Street Journal. But, in an uncharacteristically organized move for me, we already purchased tickets on Fandango, so we're committed. I'm sure it will be diverting.
We went to Ferrari's Little Italy a couple weeks ago, and Evelyn loved it so much she said she wanted to go there again when we celebrated our anniversary. So we're headed there at 6:30, which ought to give us plenty of time to eat and make the 8:20 movie at Newport on the Levee. It's a long movie, though, so I'm stealing a few minutes at work today for this post, because I expect to be too tired to write something coherent by the time we get home this evening. I'll post OUR review tomorrow.
By the way, speaking of movie reviews, I mentioned a couple of days ago that we watched The Vow on DVD. We enjoyed it, but I'm glad I didn't spend $20 to watch it. I hope I don't regret the ticket price to see Spiderman.  :-)

Perfect Except for a Pear Tree

This is the pear tree at the corner of our house. Maybe I mentioned that in the storm Friday night, about one-third of it broke off in the wind.
I'm recording this for the sake of my memory, because by next week this time, the tree, all its branches, and its trunk will be gone. Well, it may take a bit longer than that for them to get the stump out of the ground, but the man  who came to look at the situation this evening said he'd take it all after the trunk has time to rot a little.
I'm not happy to have to spend the money to take it down and out, but Evelyn and I have said to each other and to others, more than once, we are SO GLAD we did not lose power last Friday. So many in Mason did. I'm not sure how we would have gotten a house full of people coiffed and made up in the dark Saturday morning, without power for blow dryers and other appliances (coffee pot!). This will just be a memory to mark the occasion, another reminder that no occasion on this side of eternity can be completely perfect, as well as an occasion to thank God once more for his goodness to us.

Red, White, and Blast Furnace

The almost-100-degree heat continued today, but it was cool enough outside at 8:00 this morning for Evelyn and me to enjoy our breakfast on the deck, looking over the yard and my little flower pot garden. It was quiet, there was an occasional wisp of breeze, and we pulled our chairs into some shade from the morning sun, created by our trees and the neighbor's roof line. It as a nice way to start the holiday.

This was our view as we ate our breakfast this morning on the deck.

The day felt a lot like a Saturday: odd jobs in the yard, a run to the grocery store, bringing the check book up to date. perusing Facebook. I did a lot of hauling the hose to water trees and bushes.

I think the nicest part of the day was receiving a call from Nettie Dunlap, my cousin John's wife, who called to ask all about our wedding and to tell me how very sorry she was that they didn't get to make it. They were planning to come till the last minute, when a power outage caused them to need to stay home to take care of John's mom, my Aunt Louise. It was fun reliving the wedding with her and catching up on their lives. I told her we'd invite them for dinner when we get our video and pictures of the big day.

And the other nicest part of the day was a phone call from Jim Pierson who wanted to know all about the wedding, too. More reliving, more repeating my pride at how special Jennifer and Matt (and Geoff and Lisa) had made the ceremony and the reception. 

This evening Bill and Verna Weber and Terry and Shirley Wuske came for hamburgers on the grill. We heated up the baked potato appetizers left over from the wedding and had ice cream sundaes for dessert. Lots of laughter, a little more reminiscing about the wedding, quite a bit of catching up on Webers' and Wuskes' latest family developments (moving Verna's mom; Jonathan's moving to California!).

They left after 10:00, with the sounds of fireworks all around us, but the neighbors didn't come through with the displays we've seen in previous years. Mostly all we had were kabooms in the distance. But I know there will be other opportunities for fireworks before the summer is over!

A Day at Work Between Two Days Off

How's this for a movie choice in the week after our wedding?! Evelyn and I have our second evening alone in a row, and I decided I'm too tired to go find some fireworks--although I was tempted! :-)
So when I stopped through Kroger's on the way home, I picked up "The Vow" from Redbox. We're going to watch it as soon as I finish this blog post. I'll give my review tomorrow.
I was surprised at how tired I was at work today. But I guess I shouldn't have been. The past few days were virtually non-stop movement and thinking about what's next and how it, whatever "it" was, was going to get done.
I spent quite a bit of time this morning cleaning out e-mails. Dealt with details for our Brazil trip. Looked at the final proof for the fourth of four issues uploaded to the printer today. Chose web tags and the posting dates for two issues already in print.
On the way home returned unused plastic dessert plates to GFS (we had bought 500, at the caterer's recommendation, but we sure didn't need 'em all), deposited my pension check, and returned easels to the church (they held posters and props at the reception).
Just about everything from the wedding is cleaned up, put away, returned. Just about.
Tomorrow's the holiday! We're having Webers and Wuskes for hamburgers on the grill and left-over stuffed mini potatoes from the reception.

Memories of a Wedding

Dave Faust and I were exchanging e-mails last week, and he told me, "The wedding days of my daughters were the most exhilarating and exhausting of my life." The two words come close to my experience yesterday. But all the memories of the day will be positive.
Miles rode home with me from the reception, and he said, "I think my favorite part of the ceremony was the vows."
"Really. Why was that your favorite?"
"Well, they were so meaningful."
He's right. In addition to the traditional vows Jennifer and Matt exchanged, Matt and Miles and Nina had brainstormed together a list of family vows they would make to Jennifer.  They included promises to try everything she cooked, to be quiet in the morning and not bother Jen till she'd had her first cup of coffee. They spoke of their anticipation of their life together: concerts and ball games and graduations and grandchildren.
And Jennifer wrote her own vows to the family she was joining. One line sticks in the memory: "Miles and Nina, I wasn't there to see your first steps, but I will be with you for every future step in our life together."
Jennifer's quivering lip as she read her vows, and as our "adopted daughter," Wendy Wagoner, read the Scripture ("Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!") and the big tears rolling down sweet Nina's cheek at the end of the ceremony--those were moments that touched everyone's heartstrings.
Afterwards, I pondered what we all know, that marriage is not to be entered lightly, and tears are appropriate for a commitment as big as all of them were making. But so was the laughter that punctuated lighter moments in the ceremony and the happy banter--the mood of celebration--that echoed through the rooms of Memorial Hall during our happy reception.
There will be much better pictures than mine posted here. I imagine some have popped up on Facebook already, and believe me, the photographer captured every moment 15 times. But here are a few more I snapped for this diary/blog. Each is simply a reminder of a day whose memories will be exhilarating for the rest of our lives.