Busy Work Day, Relaxing Evening

Spent most of the day working on art and illustrations for the February issue. Jim Nieman and I met with Mark Haas in two different hour-long meetings. Chose dates for web postings for the month of December (none too soon, since tomorrow is December!) and handled some correspondence. Evelyn and I decided to eat in and stay home this evening rather than our usual Friday night out. I stopped by Fresh Market and bought some food to heat in the microwave for supper. We needed a night just to be at home after a busy, busy week. Tomorrow we're up at 5:30 to be at church by 6:45 (that's a.m.!) for a daylong outing with Evergreen (our first!) to the Christmas show at Purdue University.  We're due to be home by 7:30 in the evening, which is earlier than I figured, and I'm sure it will be fun.

Our January issue goes to the printer Wednesday. It's in proof now.
Final tweaks and late copy happen next week.

It's All About the Rhythm

They've decorated all
the evergreens around
our offices with white
lights and red ribbons.

"Are you settling into the new rhythm of producing a monthly?"
My daughter-in-law asked me the question over Thanksgiving. I want to answer in the affirmative to all  questions about our new format, because I'm so pleased with it. But on a scale from completely yes to completely no, I do believe my answer to her question would fall past the halfway mark toward the "no" side of the scale.
Finally, today I finished editing all the copy for the February issue. It always takes me so much longer than I anticipate to edit a whole issue's copy. Meanwhile the proof for January is waiting to be written, along with incidental other copy on the proof, and MY COLUMN  for the issue. And it goes to the printer Wednesday, the same day Paul Williams will be in the office for our semiregular planning meeting (which I need to get ready for before then).
But the February issue is going to be a good one. It's all about spiritual formation. One quote from one article stood out to me, and I offer it here as a preview:

We want spiritual growth to be straight, predictable, and controllable, yet true growth is more circular than linear. It occurs in cycles where we move forward, then find ourselves moving backward. It's the old "three steps forward, two steps back" mantra. Much like a baby who is learning to walk, we develop spiritually through a process of forward momentum, followed by failure, pain, and stumbling. If we don't get discouraged and bail, but stay with the process, we will find that the backward loops often result in the greatest growth.

Encouraging words to me--I hope to our readers, too!

Robert and the Aulens

Enjoying a pleasant evening with Evelyn's brother, Ken Aulen, and his wife, Susan, and Robert Mwangala. As I mentioned yesterday, Robert is here as a part of his visit in the U.S. with friends and  supporters. Ken and Susan stopped by here on their way to their winter stay at the ski resort in Montana. They arrived about 6:00, and we went to P.F. Chang's for dinner. After visiting awhile in the living room in front of the fire, we retired to the kitchen to enjoy some of the fudge cake from Graeter's we had brought home last night for dessert.

Meetings and a House Guest

Spent the morning editing material for the February issue (not nearly done with it), ate lunch at my desk, and then drove over to Cinti Chr Univ for two meetings. Met at 2:00 with Steve Carr, Beth Rogers, and Chuck Abbott to talk about the school's desire to get out the message, "The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated." They have a clear vision of the school's direction and the message they want to convey to constituents and prospective students, and they think advertising with The Lookout and Christian Standard is a good way to help get the message out. I agree!
At 3:00 met with Rick Cherok about the Cane Ridge Tour he will lead Monday afternoon before the opening session of the NACC next summer. I'm going to help him with it by helping to publicize it and probably hosting the brief program we'll have there. It will be great to work with him.

Evelyn is watching a video of Robert's beautiful
little girl on his computer.

Then at 3:30 I met Robert Mwangala to drive him to our place to spend the night. We became acquainted with Robert when he was a student at the school several years ago. Evelyn had him in class, and we've been giving some support to the ministry he's established in his native Kenya since he returned home after graduation. He's back in the states for six weeks to attend ICOM, touch base with supporters, and contact potential new supporters.
Evelyn fixed her wonderful chicken and dressing casserole for dinner, and we enjoyed visiting with him and hearing about his work. He's going to spend the day here resting tomorrow while we're at work, and stay again tomorrow night. Ken and Susan (Evelyn's brother) are spending the night with us tomorrow on their way to their winter gig in Montana, and we're guessing they'll enjoy getting acquainted with Robert.

After Thanksgiving, Christmas

Back to work after most of last week out of the office. Sorted through a pile of e-mails. Waded through my envelopes full of receipts to complete my November expenses. Handled some other correspondence. And began editing material for the February issue.

I arrived at work Monday morning to find decorations in the office.

 

Everybody's thinking Christmas these days. Made reservations for our staff Christmas lunch. We're going to Ferrari's Little Italy next Wednesday. We're having our all-office Christmas party December 12. Sorted through Cyber Monday offers on the Internet to see if there are any I may want to take advantage of.
We're having overnight company at home tomorrow and Wednesday night, and I did a little to help  Evelyn get ready for them after supper. Also sorted through a mountain of direct mail, catalogs, magazines, and newspapers to throw out most of it in anticipation of trash day tomorrow.
Then I spent the rest of the evening uploading wedding pictures to Shutterfly, hoping to take advantage of their Cyber Monday discount offer for Christmas cards.

To the East and Back

This is another example of lots to write about/no time to write it. We left the Starbucks in Newtown, PA this morning at 7:30 and pulled into our driveway a little after 6:30 this evening. Not bad, considering a stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch and thick, can't-use-the-cruise-control traffic for a hundred miles east of Columbus till we got to I-270.  This post is going to be more pictures than words.

We saw snow on the ground at the higher elevations on the PA Turnpike today, but none on the roads, and the sun was shining by the time we got to Columbus.
To recap the week:
We arrived at Newtown Tuesday evening and spent Wednesday morning exploring the little shops in the village. Wednesday afternoon we visited and ran errands with Jennifer, and Evelyn did some food prep for the next day. Then we went with Jen and Matt to a diner for dinner Wednesday evening.
We returned from our hotel to Matt and Jen's place Thursday morning to watch the Macy's parade on television and await Miles and Nina's arrival from their mom's place at noon. Geoff and Lisa (and Frankie!) arrived about 1:30, and we enjoyed a walk with the dogs through the fine neighborhood next to the church. Dinner was about 4:00, and it was a sumptuous feast. My pictures give only a hint of how tasty and abundant was the food. I did not get a picture of the spatchcocked turkey! It was as good to eat as it was fun to say!

Miles and Matt and Geoff and I played Settlers of Catan after dessert (Lisa made the cherry pie pictured above as well as a wonderful pumpkin pie.) The ladies watched the dog show Jen had recorded earlier in the day.
Friday Jen and Matt and Evelyn and I took the train to New York and the subway to Long Island City  for 24 hours in the city with the New York Taylors. It was a great time. We walked down to the East River to see the expanding park along the riverfront and enjoy the always captivating views of the city.

Soon we took the subway to Tribeca and enjoyed a wonderful dinner and then took cabs to the movie theater to see a sold-out showing of Lincoln. I started with a head cold on Thanksgiving evening and was feeling a little ragged by Friday evening, and I'm afraid I even dozed off a couple of times during the movie. It is a bit wordy, but maybe I'll watch it again when it's available on DVD.
We stayed in Long Island City that night and enjoyed a gourmet brunch at Geoff and Lisa's favorite Long Island City breakfast spot, Cafe Henri. After 1:00 we took the train back to New Jersey and then drove back to Levittown. Matt had church work to do in the afternoon. I checked into our hotel, ran to the grocery store, and then took a nap on Jen's couch. We ate yummy Thanksgiving  leftovers for supper, and had a nice visit before we headed back to rest up before an early departure this morning.

Just 10 Hours

What can you do in 10 hours?
If I ever had 10 hours straight to work in the yard, I could mow the grass, do the edging, trim the bushes, clean the gutters, get rid of weeds, sweep the walks, and enjoy several breaks for big glasses of cold water.
At work I could proofread one whole 68-page issue of the Christian Standard in its new monthly format, proofread one weekly issue of The Lookout, enjoy a lunch out of the office with a colleague, handle some correspondence, and waste some time checking Facebook.
In 10 hours I could pull out and test the Christmas lights, go to the store to replace the strands not working, string 'em around the bushes in my front yard, come back inside to unpack and assemble our prelit living room tree, hang the ornaments, and take a few breaks to find my favorite Christmas CD's to enjoy while I'm decorating.

Obviously, I didn't drive every minute.
I couldn't resist playing with the camera
on my computer while Evelyn was driving.

In 10 hours I could drive to the airport, check bags, go through security, and fly to Europe with time to spare.

And in 10 hours, or maybe a little more, I can drive from 7056 Darcie Drive in Liberty Township, Ohio to the Brick Hotel in Newtown, Pennsylvania, having stopped three times: once for gas, once for a late lunch at Eat 'n Park, and once more to visit the restroom and snag a tall decaf mocha at a Service Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

We had a good trip yesterday. Left exactly at 9:00 a.m. as planned. Enjoyed perfect weather (off and on sunshine and clouds and 50+ degrees), reasonable traffic except for one stretch on I-276 toward the end of the trip, and a nice assortment of classical music and NPR news on the radio, mixed with two editions of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" I had downloaded to my computer from iTunes.

We checked in to the hotel and then got to Jen and Matt's by about 8:00 for a nice visit along with pumpkin cheesecake and decaf. We oooed and ahhhed over their latest round of renovations (a professional tile job on the kitchen floor by Matt, the amateur, and an amateur paint job in the living room and dining room by some workmen, the professionals) and visited till past 11:00.

This morning we're taking our time with showers, breakfast at the hotel, catching up on e-mails and some other work, and hopefully browsing the little shops in Newtown before heading over to Jen's by noon or so to run errands, start cooking for tomorrow, and enjoy more relaxing and reading.

Ten hours is a small investment for the chance to enjoy time with our family (Geoff and Lisa will be here tomorrow!). 

Between Trips

Thursday through Saturday Evelyn and I were at the International Conference on Missions in Indianapolis. I went up Thursday morning in time to present our new student subscription plan to the Christian college presidents meeting before the convention began. I'll need to do some serious follow-up with them, I believe, and that will start next week. Shawn McMullen and I set up and manned the 1-space-wide Standard Publishing booth, which received several comments for its modesty (small size and limited offerings). But I thought we made it look as nice as we could, and we DID get a lot of comments, talk with a lot of people, give away some door prizes, and distribute samplers for much of our curriculum, VBS, etc.

We put Lookouts and Christian Standards on all the main session seats before the Friday-night session. Four CCU students helped us, along with Todd and Lynn Dillon and Shawn's daughter, Kelsey. We treated all our workers to dinner as a thank-you. Evelyn posed with Kelsey after dinner before we returned to our respective booth duties and the main session.

Today I cleaned up details, handled correspondence, prepared copy for this week's e-newsletter, and wrote my column that will be posted at christianstandard.com Thursday. Tonight I paid bills. Tomorrow morning we'll be up and at 'em early, in time to pack and be on the road (hopefully) by 9 a.m. It's over the river and through the woods to the grandkids' house we'll go for a big Thanksgiving weekend back East.

Finding the "Good" in Good-bye

It's a word I hate. "Good-bye." We had to say it again today as Tom and Kay Moll ended their fourteen-plus years ministry with Christ's Church at Mason (Ohio).
I didn't think saying the word would bring me to tears like it usually does. After all, this good-bye is a gateway to many good things things in the future.
Soon we'll say "hello" to Trevor DeVage and a new chapter in the service of our church. "I think the church's best days are ahead," Tom said in his final sermon this morning. Many of us would agree.
But today was a day for thinking briefly about the past. Kay gave a sweet and moving testimony to Tom's 50 years of ministry in a video tribute that preceded his appearance on the platform for his Sunday-morning sermon. She mentioned the thousands of Saturdays he spent calling, the uncounted nights he left home to help someone facing crisis, the commitment to uncovering  the truth in passages he was preaching.  The video reminded us of our church's growth from 600 to more than 3,000 members in his years at Mason, the three building programs, the church's growth in service to others as well as attendance within our walls on the weekends.
Considering the consistent, week-in-week-out faithfulness of this couple was the trigger for my tears. Remembering their lifetime of good choices and sacrifices, realizing the uncounted hours they've spent studying, preparing, and traveling to speak and serve--it's an example and challenge to all of us who know them and have been served by their goodness.
It's not that Evelyn and I have been close friends of Tom and Kay. We won't miss them the way we miss friends who move away. But thinking today about all they've given, not as perfect people but as perfectly committed people, helped us realize what we will remember about them for years to come.
And that's the "good," the very good, in this  "good-bye."

I snapped this picture of Mary Jane Burgess and Kay Moll at the lovely reception for Tom
and Kay hosted by our elders and their wives this afternoon at the church.
Mary Jane and her husband John came to hear Tom's last sermon this morning.
We enjoyed brunch with them after the early service and a brief visit at our place after that,
and then we got to the church a little after the reception's starting time, 2:00,
and waited in line 30 minutes or longer
before we could tell Tom and Kay thank-you face-to-face.

Marking the Day, Measuring My Words

What can I say about Dale Reeves and Shawn Krumm? Many things, but the most timely thing to say is that they are two of six members of Standard Publishing's editorial and creative services departments laid off yesterday as we experienced yet another reduction in force. The other four—Ruth Frederick, Steve Clark, Bob Korth, and Marcy Levering—represent some of Standard's longest-term employees. Dale has been with us for 22 years, and at least three of the above four for much longer.
We received a letter explaining that since year over year sales continue to fall, there is just no choice but to cut back our number of employees. At least it didn't use the word that has been reported to have been uttered by some in upper management. Their category for editorial employees: "overhead."
"I'm sorry about yesterday," CEO Peter Esposito said to me in the hallway today. I hesitated, measuring my response, and said finally, "Well, we're all sorry about it, Peter," and then walked away.
That's all that was prudent to say to him or in this public forum. But since I'm writing a diary, I took Dale's and Shawn's picture today to mark the time when this, not the first disappointment at Standard, has happened. We're praying for wisdom, grace, and joy, and actually it was encouraging to see all three displayed by Shawn and Dale today as they packed up their offices for their last day to work for us.
Meanwhile, I'm not discouraged in my own work, because some positive developments for the future of the magazines seem in store. Shawn McMullen and I are standing at a booth space dedicated primarily to The Lookout and Christian Standard at the International Conference on Missions in Indianapolis this week. I spent time today finishing up preparations for the trip, including two presentations: a workshop Friday and a pitch to college presidents tomorrow for student subscriptions to Christian Standard.

Weekend Update: All About the Dialogue

I’m writing this Monday night at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, but I’m too cheap to pay the seven bucks to buy Wi-Fi access, so I won’t be able to post this till sometime Tuesday. I’m on my way home from attending the Stone-Campbell Journal Dialogue, which met this week in Grand Prairie, Texas, outside Dallas. My layover in Chicago is almost two hours; I could have flown nonstop on American, and for a lower fare. But at the time I was booking, American was suffering from sick-outs, cancelled flights, and threats of collapse because of bankruptcy. So I didn’t want to risk not getting to Dallas on time or not getting home today at all. So I’m living tonight with the decision I made. (By all accounts, American is flying without a flaw this week.)

The Dialogue was a good experience. I value the new friends I’ve made by attending these meetings for the last several years, and I’ve gained new perspectives on the faith as well as the convictions of those in the Disciples of Christ and the noninstrumental churches of Christ.

We began the retreat with an effort to extend the possibilities and the pursuit of unity beyond the circle of 15 or so members of the national Dialogue team. So we invited Dallas-area “young leaders” from all three streams of the movement to share with us in a spiritual formation retreat Friday night and all day Saturday. We met at a Catholic retreat center in Grand Prairie, a pleasant location—clean, comfortable, and they fixed us excellent meals. It was a good experience; I felt drawn closer to God, and I made several new friends.

One of them was Brandon Groome, who accepted the invitation of the Dialogue team to welcome a guest preacher for Sunday morning this weekend. He had invited me to speak at his congregation, Southwest Christian Church in Fort Worth, and I had a great experience there.

The worship music was wonderful—upbeat and contemporary, but so well sung and played, loud but not blasting your ears off, with variety both in tempo and volume and accompaniment. I preached one of my favorite sermons, on Daniel chapter 3, and I surely received as many blessings as anyone in the service that morning.

Newell Williams, president of Brite Divinity School and
member of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue, came to
hear me preach Sunday morning. Jean and Marshall
Leggett attend Southwest Christian every Sunday.

I had the chance to meet all the church’s staff—Brandon invited me to join them for lunch after the second service. And I enjoyed the serendipity of saying hello to Jean and Marshall Leggett who have located in Fort Worth and are faithful members of Southwest Christian. (Marshall has been a friend for years; he invited me to speak at Broadway Christian Church in Lexington one Sunday night when he was preaching there, before he became president of Milligan College.)

Sunday evening we had a unity Communion service at North Davis Church of Christ—an impressive congregation with a beautiful building. Dusty Rubeck preached, and I hope to persuade him to prepare a manuscript version of the sermon for Christian Standard.

The national team met alone today, reflecting on take-aways from the spiritual formation retreat and engaging in a lively discussion about which directions the Dialogue should take, specifically next year.

The group had nominated me to lead the closing Communion service. I used the old hymn, “Just As I Am” as a framework for the time, interspersed with responsive Scripture readings, a variety of types of prayers, a reading from Isaiah 53, and the partaking of the Communion.

Most members of the team view these simple efforts at expressing unity as only an example of other such efforts that are happening among many groups in many places in the world. The steps toward understanding and discovering areas of agreement that we are taking and urging others to take seem to be significant even though they are not making headlines or involving hundreds of people.

Sean Palmer from Temple, Texas, was my
roommate the first night of the retreat.

I’m very tired as I finish this little report in O’Hare’s drafty B concourse, but I’m glad I’ve had this experience with these people.

Now home to the challenges of the week: two days in the office; attending the International Conference on Missions in Indianapolis, leaving home at about 9:00 Thursday morning; and returning Saturday night so we can be present for Tom and Kay Moll’s last Sunday of their ministry with our church. And we need to figure out what was the scratching in the wall that Jennifer heard when she stayed over with Evelyn at our house Saturday night. I don’t have time to host the exterminator this week, but I probably don’t have a choice.

Knowing as We Are Known

Left home about 8:30 this morning to run an errand or two on the way to the Dayton airport for a 10:58 flight to Chicago. Connected to a flight for Dallas and arrived here after 2:30 Central time.  I was concerned about connecting through Chicago, but both flights departed and arrived without a hitch, and I had plenty of time to grab lunch at O'Hare before the second one.
Finished reading Soul Feast and skimmed through The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith by Hagberg and Guelich. The first was "required," and the second was recommended. I want to read the second one, though, because I think I might enjoy it more.

I've enjoyed renewing friendships with others on the Stone-Campbell Dialogue Team who are here this weekend and making new acquaintance with "younger" local leaders who are joining us just for the retreat. We spent the opening session sharing our spiritual journeys with each other in small groups and then ended the retreat with repeated readings of Psalm 139:1-10, with a different listening assignment for each reading. Quiet, directed, repeated reading of a familiar passage of Scripture does have an impact that we often miss by reading through it quickly without meditation.
I'm looking forward to our time together tomorrow.

Getting Ready for Travel, Getting Ready for Christmas

Today was a somewhat typical last day in the office before a trip away. I mentioned yesterday that I'm reading a book in preparation for attending a spiritual life retreat sponsored by the Stone-Campbell Dialogue. Well, I leave home about 8:30 tomorrow morning to catch a plane for Chicago connecting to Dallas, where the retreat will be held.
Today I spent checking items off my list, all of them items that really needed to be handled before I'm back in the office next week.
Had a productive couple of meetings settling on prices and procedures for a program I'll introduce to the Christian college presidents meeting before the ICOM next week. We're going to offer student subscriptions to Christian Standard, and I'm going to see how they like the idea, suggested by Matt Proctor, when I meet with them.
Did some planning with Diane Jones-Dunham and some last-minute consultation with Jim Nieman on the January issue of Christian Standard, whose layout he'll be designing starting tomorrow.
Meanwhile, our printed copies of the December issue arrived. We're thinking about the holiday as we send contributors' samples of our bright red, "Merry Christmas" cover.

A Book I'm Reading

This weekend I'm attending a spiritual life retreat as part of the annual meeting of the Stone-Campbell Dialogue. This year we're meeting at a retreat center outside of Dallas, Texas. The retreat leader asked us to read a book by Marjorie J. Thompson, Soul Feast: An Invitation to the Christian Spiritual Life. Below are some snippets I've underlined so far.

Although we  may be able to point to a single and decisive conversion experience, remaining faithful involves a journey of continual conversion. 

In prayer, we need to speak whatever truth is in us . . . . It takes practice to learn not to censor our prayer. But trying to keep secrets from God is like the three-year-old who covers her eyes and declares, "You can't see me." 

There is no substitute for giving time to the practice of prayer. Like most things, we learn best by doing it. 

Keeping the Sabbath means trusting God to be God, recognizing that we are not indispensable. When we refuse to take a single day a week for genuine refreshment and rest, we try to outdo even God! In the light of God's rest, our anxious, compulsive activities may be exposed as little more than efforts to stay in control, or to fabricate life's meaning out of constant activity. 

If we spend half an hour assessing our life before God, either Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, we will discover a natural bridge between our personal prayer and common worship. 

Personal prayer during the week is even more critical for church leaders than for other Christians. Without it, you are truly courting the sin of works-righteousness, not to mention hypocrisy and burnout. 

We can neither earn God's love nor achieve our own security and perfection. We cannot "fix" ourselves or anyone else the way we want to.

Election Night in Liberty Township

For some reason I woke up with Evelyn this morning, so I got up and got to work just after 7:00. So I left just before 5:00 this afternoon so I could get home early to vote. Evelyn and I decided to walk to our polling place at the school not far from us. About a 15-minute walk. The thermometer said 50 degrees, but my big ears were c-c-c-o-l-d by the time we got to the school.

Campaign signs filled this strip of lawn
beside the driveway leading to
the polling place's door.

Friends this morning waited an hour to vote, but we got right in. We were home before 6:30, but I resisted the urge to turn on the TV while we ate supper. Didn't tune in to the election results till after 7:30, and I'm trying to get some computer work done with the kitchen TV on in the background. I'm writing this long before anybody's ready to call the election (9:05 p.m. now). Not sure I'll be staying up till the results are sure. Not sure the results will be sure tonight!

A Busy, Wonderful Weekend

I've discovered a paradox about this "daily" blog/diary.  When there's the most to write about, there's the least time to write; and when there's plenty of time to sit and write, there may be nothing to write about!
This weekend was an illustration of the fact. I've already described our get-together Friday night and Saturday morning with college friends and collaborators from days past. But I didn't describe the alumni gathering we all attended together Friday afternoon and evening.
It was a combination alumni gathering and celebration of the CCU music faculty, all of whom have served there for 25 years or more. The evening featured a Concert Choir reunion with special music at the end of the evening provided by the mass choir. We had a nice dinner and sat with a few friends from the class of 1972, and former students of each of the three honored music faculty members gave testimonies about their impact on their lives. Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the song service led by the choir and the piano--simple songs that all of us knew, but a swelling of voices to create the most moving worship in song I have experienced for a very long time.

Ken Read, Brenda Lang, and Gary Gregory were the honored professors
at the alumni reunion Friday evening.

Saturday afternoon, after our brunch, Evelyn and I drove over to church to spend awhile at the reception where church members could meet Trevor DeVage. Trevor was the senior ministerial candidate. I say "was," because he received a 95% affirmative vote from the Easter-attendance crowd that came to hear his "trial sermon" Sunday morning. The air was electric on Sunday morning. Tom Moll said, "I believe the church's greatest days are ahead," and that anticipation seemed to fill the air. We're very excited.

We posed with Trevor DeVage Saturday afternoon.

The weekend was made rich by our visit with Byron and Katie Cartwright, who didn't leave for home till this morning. They took us out to eat at Teller's in Hyde Park on Saturday evening--a wonderful dinner. And then Joy Norwood and Shelley Hamann invited us for a spontaneous Kentucky Fried Chicken lunch after church Sunday.

We rested and visited Sunday afternoon till Shirley and Terry Wuske came for white chicken chili at about 5:30. And after they left we stayed up visiting some more with Byron and Katie till past our bedtime on a work night.

Evelyn and I are going to try to get to bed before 10:00 tonight, because the weekend wore us out! All of it was wonderful, but we're ready to rest!

Our Alumni Party

A big weekend, a quick post to share some fun pictures from just one pleasant two-and-a-half hours of it.
Byron and Katie Cartwright have been here since noon yesterday. We attended an alumni gathering at Cincinnati Christian University together, and they spent the night last night. We invited Cindy Willison and Beth Mays to come spend the night with them. We had a fun pajama party and stayed up till 1:00 in the morning laughing and catching up. This morning we invited Jon and Tammy Weatherly to join us for brunch today at 10:00, and they stayed till about 12:30. We snapped these pictures before everyone left.

Relentless

Proof sheets for our December
issue were spread out for
final checks before we sent it
to the printer yesterday.

When I first started with Christian Standard, one day Ruth Davis brought me a proof, and I looked up, surprised, and she said, "Relentless, isn't it?"
I might have thought the move to monthly from weekly would have relieved that a bit, but not really. Yesterday we sent the December issue to the printer, and I've spent every free minute this week editing the January issue. I'm still not finished, and I'm not sure I'll finish in the half day I'm working tomorrow.   This is the fifth monthly issue we will have done, and I've been surprised each time at how much material we're publishing in each one and how much time it takes to complete each step of the publishing process.
For a nice break today, I took Robb Faust to lunch to celebrate his 40th birthday. It's today, and I didn't know it till he sent around a note inviting us to have snacks. We went to one of his (and my) favorite places--Abuelo's. Oh, those enchiladas are good, and the guacamole too!
We're scurrying around getting ready for a weekend of company, all associated with the alumni weekend at CCU starting tomorrow. It will be fun!