Feeding a Visitor

This little guy visited our deck, climbed up on the railing, and had some supper from our pot of parsley. I didn't know squirrels ATE parsley! Such taste!
We're having the first real heat wave of the summer, and it's late in the summer for it, seems to me. We're at the stage of the year when the annuals are looking leggy or heading toward death and I'm tired of watering and feeding and killing bugs. The heat doesn't make it any more pleasant or the health of the plants any more likely.
But we ARE getting a good crop of tomatoes this year; we've been eating them every night and usually at lunch too. And the last big holiday before Thanksgiving is coming this weekend. Those are all good things.
The progress I'm making at work is a good thing too. Spent quite a bit of time today working on
marketing or sales initiatives for Christian Standard or the Christian Standard app. That and correspondence and a long phone call with Roy Lawson (who has been one my most faithful counselors throughout much of my career) filled the day. I started a more complicated than usual editing project last thing Monday and left it spread out on my desk to finish first thing this morning. Didn't get to it all day.
Took a first look at the whole proof of our October issue, which goes to the printer next week. With the holiday Monday, I have quite a bit to accomplish the next three days.

This Week at a Glance

This is becoming my weekly instead of my daily diary, but I'm determined not to just let it go. A few things to record from this week:

Made some progress at work: planning/editing the November issue, consulting with Jim Nieman about layout and design options for the October issue. Spent quite a bit of time emailing and on the phone to nail down plans for the Stone-Campbell Dialogue meeting that will happen this year in Abilene in October. (Evelyn and I are planning a nice dinner out the weekend before her birthday, because I'll be in Texas on her birthday.) Did some work toward further marketing of the Christian Standard app and its digital editions. As of today, close to 1,300 people have downloaded the app and close to 100 have actually paid to read the magazine via the app. That's gratifying; the numbers grow every day. But the progress seems slow to me.

Thursday Paul Williams was in the office for our last official meeting together. His contract as consultant with Christian Standard ends in August. It was a productive meeting, a nostalgic meeting, a meeting with blessings (Paul has always shed light on my path), ultimately a difficult meeting. I will truly miss all the insight and ideas he's shared to help make Christian Standard what it has become.

Friday I had a great lunch with Dave Lautzenheiser; talked over my plan for the worship service August 31. He asked me to lead in the Classic service, because he plans to be out of town that weekend.

The weather has been hot and dry, at least it was till the end of the week when we had a couple of rip-roarin' thunderstorms overnight a couple of nights. I had thought maybe I'd come home from work Friday to cut grass, but Evelyn decided (and I agreed) it was just too hot! So on an impulse we called Terry and Shirley Wuske and invited them to share dinner with us at LaRosa's (our treat)—just for the fun of it and to celebrate the new half-time development position Terry began with Grundy Mountain Mission last week. He'll do a fine job, and he can do it from Cincinnati! So they won't have to move, and we won't have to tell them good-bye. We adjourned to our place after spaghetti and hoagies to finish off a peach pie Evelyn had baked earlier in the week (with peaches we had bought in Amish country). We really enjoyed the spontaneous evening together.

Saturday night Paul and Sev Friskney came for dinner. We hadn't visited with them all summer, and it was good to laugh and catch up. We had typical picnic fare: hamburgers on the grill, baked beans, cole slaw, and Evelyn's potato salad. She made a Rice Chex ice cream dessert that we used to serve every summer but hadn't had for years. It was a fine evening.

Brian preached in the gym, and those of us in the auditorium
enjoyed his sermon via the video feed.

We enjoyed being at church this morning. This was our regular Welcome Center Sunday, so we were there about 8:30. I had some contacts to make regarding that worship service next Sunday, and we enjoyed all the chatting and laughing we always enjoy with the extended time to see folks. Trevor had asked Brian Jobe to be guest preacher, and he had a fine sermon. I'm thinking I'll use his points as the jumping off point for my men's group Bible Study Thursday.

 After church Evelyn and I each had separate meetings to attend. Mark Senseman led a training meeting for people who have been serving at the Welcome Center; he announced and explained some exciting innovations and renovations coming to that whole ministry. Evelyn attended Mark's meeting while I attended training led by Dale Reeves for "tribe" leaders in anticipation of a new series kicking off September 7. Dale has done an excellent job getting all that ready. Evelyn attended training for women's Bible study leaders last Sunday at lunchtime, and she's at a women's kick-off event this evening (Sunday) for that whole emphasis. It's really great to see strategic plans, training, and fresh ideas from those leading the ministries we're involved in!

Summer's Winding Down

Spent quite a bit of time today thinking about, handling some correspondence for, preparing for, and then participating in a 90-minute conference call about the Stone-Campbell Dialogue that will meet in Abilene the first weekend of October.
The Dialogue meets each year to foster unity by bringing together folks from Christian churches/churches of Christ, a cappella churches of Christ, and Disciples of Christ for a couple days of talk, mutual sharing, and worship. I've attended it for several years and became the coordinator for the 4C's churches at least a couple of years ago.
It's always an enjoyable time; I've appreciated friends I've made in the process. It's always a fair amount of work to gather attendees and plan or help facilitate a program. And I always wonder if it's really worth it--could the same amount of time, energy, and money accomplish more for the sake of Christian unity? I dunno.
As usual, every evening I watered plants outside, and although several of them are still beautiful, some of them just seem tired of blooming, growing, and trying to be spectacular. (Could it be that I'm just tired of watering, weeding, and killing bugs?) There's a parallel here to life in general, I think, but I'll have to save the teasing out of the analogy for another day.
As I said yesterday, I took a bunch of pictures in the garden Saturday, and the pictures of the individual plants are prettier than the yard in general. Here's another of those shots; I want to post all of them, maybe tonight, on Facebook.

I was finished with the yard and packing my lunch by 8:00, so I decided to sit on the deck and read awhile. I had to quit by 8:30, because it was getting dark. Not too dark to be outside, but too dark to read. The days are getting shorter; summer's winding down.

Now for something I said I was going to do every day but haven't kept up.

Quote of the Day:
I cannot remember in my lifetime when there has been so much foaming blind hatred and mindless rage going on in the world, America, and even my state (Missouri) as there is right now. We need genuine peacemakers, not religious terrorists, race baiters, and political opportunists.
—Victor Knowles II on Facebook today.

A Weekend in August

We ate dinner Saturday night with Bill and Verna Weber, Donovan and Jocelyn and Ruby and Nora, and the Webers' friends from South Africa, Phil and Irene Hughes.
The Hugheses had been visiting the Webers as a part of their four-month visit to the U.S. this summer. We had wanted to connect with Webers--we hadn't seen them since a couple of brief hellos at the NACC. They suggested we meet them on their way out of town (they had come to visit with Donovan's family for the day) and back home to Indy. So we drove over to the Bob Evans on North Bend Road and enjoyed a nice early supper with them.

"Thanks for coming over here to eat dinner with us," Verna said as we were breaking up.
"Hey, this is the high spot of our weekend," I said.
"Oh, I hope not!" Bill replied.
Well, maybe it was. But the whole weekend has been pleasant.
Friday we had a big night out with a Groupon-discounted dinner at Mimi's followed by frame shopping at Hobby Lobby.
Saturday I spent a couple hours weeding, trimming, and watering outside. I decided to take some flower pictures while I was working.. The pictures look better than the yard. We haven't had rain for quite awhile, and the grass is pretty brown.

Then I got a good start on my final batch of notes to folks to tell them about the Alaska trip we're helping host next summer.
After we got home from supper, we watched the latest Muppets movie via Movies on Demand from Time Warner.
Evelyn and I worked the Welcome Center at church, and she and I each had meetings at church at noon.
I went to the grocery on the way home and bought a can of soup to eat for lunch. Then I finished my Alaska invitations and took 'em to the post office late in the afternoon.
We had a nice talk with Jen on the phone after supper.
A simple weekend. A pleasant weekend.

Look What Was Waiting for Us When We Got Home . . .

We got home today from our visit to Amish country, and while I was filling the sprinkling cans to water the plants on the deck (they really needed the water), my eyes fell on our four tomato plants, laden with ripening fruit.
I picked the ripest. There's more out there waiting for us. Evelyn and I ate one of them for supper, and I'm taking some cherry tomatoes in my lunch tomorrow. The one we ate tonight tastes homegrown--I think we'll be tasting them every day for the next couple of weeks.
This morning up in Berlin we went food shopping--first at a country store where we picked up some South Carolina peaches (had one of those for supper too) and some Amish-made jelly. Then on to Heini's Cheese Castle. (Go ahead and make jokes about the name--we did!) We got some cheese spread and a few small blocks of cheese and threw it all in a cooler we had brought anticipating some food purchases.
We stopped for a late lunch in Grove City, OH and were home before 4:30. I (we) had plenty of time to tend to the yard, unpack, go through the mail, bring the checkbook up-to-date, clear out some of my work emails, and pay bills.
It was nice to be away. I'm ready to get back at the work ahead of me.

Visiting the Amish . . . and Other Folks

Today was our full day in Amish country, and we enjoyed it. But our only contact with Amish folks was one nice man with whom we discussed the weather on the porch of his store; about two dozen nice ladies taking money and waiting on customers at the craft, furniture, linens, antiques, and other doodads stores we visited; and several horse-drawn carriages clip-clopping down the tourist-crowded main street of Berlin, Ohio.
We're staying at the Inn at Honey Run, a remarkable hotel  about 3 or 4 miles outside Berlin. I bought a  Groupon to this place on a whim this winter, and Evelyn and I picked this weekend to come use it. I don't know if we'll ever be able to afford the place without taking advantage of a special, but we'd love to come back. Everything about the place is perfect for the location. It's nestled into a woodland environment, surrounded by five-story-tall trees, with an elegant but comfortable atmosphere and friendly service.
Part of our package was breakfast served in the room this morning, and it was wonderful--elegantly presented and every bite tasty--far more than we would normally eat for breakfast. In fact, we wrapped up the scones to enjoy later.

It has been raining or threatening rain all day, but we did pretty well at dodging the raindrops during our browsing/shopping binge. We were back to the lodge by about 4:00 or so. We took books to the overstuffed chairs in the lobby and enjoyed a cup of coffee while we read for about an hour. Then back to the room to relax and get ready for dinner at 7:00.
I had decided we'd have one really nice meal on our trip, so I made a reservation at the lodge's
restaurant. We weren't disappointed. Not only was the food served with a gourmet flair, but the setting was beautiful. We were seated by two six-foot-tall corner windows looking out on the woods surrounding the lodge. By the time we were finished, the rain was coming in torrents, and it was beautiful to sit inside with dessert and watch it pelting the leaves of the maples and pines.

We'll Always Remember Mentor

We'll always remember our day in Mentor . . . and we liked it enough to consider coming back someday.
Had a nice breakfast at the Residence Inn and then drove to the James Garfield Home just after it opened at 10 a.m. We were there for at least a couple of hours. The home is beautiful. His heirs donated it and its furnishings to the local historical society, so most of the items we saw were originals, not reproductions. It is a huge, beautiful home, made larger by Garfield's widow after his assassination. He had lived there himself, of course, managing the huge farm where it sat and also running his campaign for president from there.

The James Garfield home

We learned a lot about him. "He is a forgotten man," our excellent guide told us. It seems certain he would have been a great president had he lived. He knew six languages and had fluency in five of them (English, German, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew--the last was the one he knew least).
He was the first (and, I think, only) president to be elected from the House of Representatives.
He was the first presidential candidate to conduct his campaign by going directly to the people instead of working through spokesmen. He greeted scores of students and other citizens who came to hear him speak from the front porch of the house we visited.
His wife created a presidential library with all his papers and books here after his death. It was the first such presidential library.
He was a brilliant man, an accomplished and competitive student. In his lifetime he worked as a farmer, professor, preacher, politician, and more. The house and grounds surrounding it are shaded, cool, and beautiful, and we really are glad we made the visit.

The naturalist pointed out the swallowtail butterfly and
encouraged me to get a picture of it.

In the afternoon we went to Holden Arboretum, a 3600+ acre spot a short drive away. We were led in a
tour through the butterfly garden and then took a walking tour through many of the trails surrounding the visitors center. We saw fields of blooming perennials and many bushes and trees that were new to us. It was an absolutely beautiful day, sunny but not too hot--the perfect day to spend so much time outside. We were there from about noon till almost 3:30.
Then we drove to a state park on the shore of Lake Erie and walked across the sandy beach to stick our feet in the water. We spent more time cleaning the wet sand off our feet back at the car than we spent on the beach, but at least we could say we had sampled Lake Erie.
From there we drove a few minutes to Brennan's Seafood House, a restaurant I had researched ahead of time. It's certainly not a fancy place--all wood paneling and sailing kitsch. But it is a local and tourist favorite, and we enjoyed it. We split the Fisherman's Platter--shrimp, scallops, perch, whitefish, and a crab cake--and then split a piece of key lime pie to finish it off. It was a huge amount of food, and we were glad we shared it.
We had done all of that by 5:30, so I suggested we catch the first evening showing of Helen Mirren's new movie, The Hundred-Foot Journey. We really enjoyed it. In spite of a few implausibilities in the plot, the acting was wonderful, as was all the attention to food! We'd recommend it.

Our Minivacation

Evelyn and I are taking a little long-weekend trip, starting this afternoon. I'm writing from Mentor, Ohio. Tomorrow we're gong to visit the James A. Garfield home, a National Historic Site. Garfield, before he was president, was one of the Christian leaders who worked together to start Christian Standard, and when he died, the Standard's first editor, Isaac Errett, preached his funeral. (Found this article about Garfield published in Christian Standard.) I've always thought I'd like to visit his home sometime, and when I purchased a Groupon for a stay at a bed and breakfast in Millersburg (Amish country), I decided to combine the two destinations into one trip.
We'll visit the Garfield home tomorrow and maybe visit the Holden Arboretum, try to see some sand beside Lake Erie, and do whatever else we can find to do around here. I'm looking forward to a Saturday in a place I've never visited before.
We left home about 2:30 and stopped at a Mansfield exit for supper at Der Dutchman, a place we used to stop on the way to or from Grove City, PA, when Jennifer was in college there.

Earlier this week (Tuesday) we got to spend the evening with Wendy Wagoner who came the spend overnight with us. She will be the missionary in residence at CCU first semester (starting August 18), and she was in town working out some details with them. It was great to visit with her and sense that she's doing well.
Wednesday night we had Dan and Cindi Cooper at our house for our weekly dinner and Major Crimes evening. We really enjoy the series, a spin-off from The Closer, and the weekly fellowship with the Coopers is something we always look forward to.

Wednesday at work we sent the September issue of Christian Standard to the printer, and Jim Nieman has been working since then to get the digital version ready to upload to the new Christian Standard app.

Our tomatoes are starting to come on. Evelyn gave a bunch a of the grape tomatoes to the neighbor before we left, and a few of the regular tomatoes will be ready when we get home.

Blooming Possibilities

Believe it or not, these are Knockout roses. I've discovered if you catch them in bud, they look almost like tea roses in a bouquet. Of course, they're not as pretty after they open fully, but hey, with Knockouts, there are almost always more to pick in a couple of days.
The flowers are in preparation for an overnight visit from Wendy Wagoner tomorrow evening. And because we'll be busy with her then and with Dan and Cindi Cooper Wednesday evening (our weekly shared dinner and viewing of our favorite TV show, Major Crimes), I needed to prepare my Thursday-morning Bible study this evening. That Serendipity New Testament for Groups was my ally in this week's preparation.
Two outstanding events of the day: had lunch with Mark Haas, former art director at Standard, to catch up, hear about his work with Rebel Pilgrim Productions, and talk about our long list of shared concerns, friends, and interests. Was proud to show him our new digital edition available on our new app. Was glad to hear how fulfilled and challenged he is by his current work.
Later talked with Dave Empson who graciously allowed me to have a table/display at the upcoming International Conference on Missions in exchange for a free ad in Christian Standard. Marketing budgets have been cut (again) at Standard, and the new marketing director had decided Standard wouldn't be going to ICOM this year. I can't blame her, but I'm very glad Dave and I worked out this deal so there can be at least some presence for Christian Standard at this large convention. We need to do whatever we can to keep this app in front of people.
The ICOM people want me to do some interviews, like those I did for NACC, with missionaries and others at ICOM. I'll enjoy that, and it will add to the video archive available to us for links from upcoming digital editions.

An Open Letter to Trevor DeVage and Benji Maurer

Before this morning's worship at Christ's Church at Mason was finished, I determined to write a thank-you note to Trevor DeVage and Benji Maurer for leading an experience that challenged and inspired me. And then I decided I'd just let anyone read what I have to say . . .

Dear Trevor and Benji . . .

Thank you, thank you for the blessing of this morning’s “Easter in August” worship service. It touched

me in ways I didn’t expect and can’t explain, but I can tell you several aspects of the service I thought were very special.

• I loved the way you worshipped with us, Trevor. When you came to the center of the platform to sing

“The Old Rugged Cross” with us, when you closed your eyes and raised your hand in worship, it was almost as if you were leading us. You were with us in a way that can’t happen when you come onto the stage after 30 minutes of singing. Today you were a fellow-worshipper, not just the presenter-preacher.

• I loved the way you used that hymn as the lead-in to the first point of your sermon, without introduction or interruption. We were right there with you, from the first word.

• Speaking of that old hymn, thanks for including it, as well as a couple verses of “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” later in the service. Everyone was singing along, younger people as well as older. I loved the new accompaniments and the way the old hymn was combined with a contemporary worship song.

• I loved the energy in the room. It was a blessing and a challenge to see 30-somethings around me, men as well as women, singing and engaged. What a future our church has when we’re developing Christians like these!

• It was wonderful to hear the congregation singing with me (or listening to them sing when I didn’t know a song). The instruments accompanied the words and the melodies to make a powerful testimony.

• Thanks for surprising us a little with how the songs and other elements of worship all fit together. A gentle dose of the unexpected kept our attention, kept us anticipating. I wasn’t really ready for the worship time to be over.

• Thanks for teaching us a new song, with the promise to use it several times in the next weeks. It has such a powerful message. I’m looking forward to learning it and hearing our voices lift together as it becomes part of our shared experience at CCM.

I’m also looking forward to the combined services we’ll enjoy in September. I know you’re working harder than we can understand to craft worship experiences that honor God and point us to his presence. You achieved that for this morning’s worship. And I just wanted to say thanks.

Back again . . .

I remember several years ago when I decided to visit the dentist after at least a couple of years not having regular checkups. "I'll come see him again if he promises not to holler at me," I remember telling my wife.
I did go back, no one hollered at me, my twice yearly checkup routine has been restored, and I haven't lost any teeth.
I feel sort of the same way about this diary. I'll start writing it again if no one hollers at me for skipping more than a month of posting. And if anyone will read it again. (I've always said I don't care if anyone reads it, but deep down, I like it when people comment.)
The only way to start over is just to jump in, without guilt for events not recorded or pictures not posted. I may be able to do some make-up, but I'm not going to take on that burden.
I will look back at least one weekend, though, to record that Evelyn's brother and his wife, Ken and Susan Aulen, came to visit last weekend. We had a great time. The Reds were in town, and we went to the game Friday night. Got there early enough to show Aulens the new park on the riverfront before the game. Ate supper in our seats at the game, and enjoyed a beautiful evening. The Reds lost, but it was still a great evening to be there, especially with Friday night fireworks and a first—the Cincinnati Pops was there to accompany the fireworks live! The fireworks were remarkably synchronized with the music, and our cheap seats were perfect to see them. It was fun!
Saturday we had a long time of chatting and coffee drinking at breakfast. Evelyn made a favorite we haven't enjoyed for a long time, Breakfast Dutch Babies. We went shopping in the afternoon and grabbed lunch at the food court at Kenwood Mall.
We went to Raja India for supper and then on to Mason Middle School where Mason Community Players were staging The King and I. My work colleague, Elise Kaplan, had the role of Anna, and I was eager to see her perform.
She has a beautiful voice, and we enjoyed the whole performance. I'm so glad we got to see it.

The sets and costumes were beautiful too.

Sunday we went to the 9:00 service and then on to Mimi's for brunch. Ken and Susan visited awhile longer after we got home, and then we relaxed (and I did a bit of work) in the afternoon and evening.
This weekend has been very good so far. Last night we grabbed supper at Chili's and then drove across the street to shop for an automatic dishwasher at Sears. When we moved into this house more than 11 years ago, Joy Norwood, our realtor, took one look at the dishwasher in the house and said, "You'll be getting rid of that."
Well, we haven't gotten rid of it, but now it's time. It's corroded in the bottom, and we suspect some small leaks. We found an excellent mid-priced model on sale, with a promotional discount on delivery and installation. The new one will be humming along (and I do hope humming instead of the roaring of our current model) Thursday evening.
This morning Evelyn went with me to the West Chester Farmer's Market, and we enjoyed some of our purchases for supper tonight--corn on the cob, lettuce greens with vinaigrette, fresh tomato, and breaded, fried zucchini. It was great.

Soon we'll adjourn to the family room to watch a live stream of the symphony's Lumenocity performance. We weren't lucky enough to get tickets for musical laser show, but at least we're not fighting the crowds to see it in person.