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!

This Weekend, and Last

The road to blog oblivion is paved with good intentions. I have pictures for my blog, but I haven't been

Isn't this a beautiful pie Cindi made for us?

posting them or writing descriptions. Here's a little make-up with a rundown of last weekend and this weekend.
Last Friday we planned to go the Reds game; they were promoting a special buy-four ticket offer in addition to Friday night fireworks. But when we got closer to the day and realized we'd be sitting in about 55 degrees with a breeze, we decided we weren't that big of fans.
We had the plans with Dan and Cindi Cooper, but Cindi offered to bring dinner to our place, and Evelyn and she decided we'd rent Captain Phillips, the Tom Hanks movie about the ship boarded by pirates off the Somali coast. We had seen it at the theater, but the Coopers hadn't, and we were game to see it again.
Cindi brought a wonderful homemade chicken pot pie and a tasty apple salad, and Evelyn bought some Graeter's to go with her homemade cookies (peanut butter with mini Reese's cups melted inside).
What a nice evening, and I enjoyed the movie as much the second time a the first!
Saturday I got up early to get a haircut at 8:30, and then we met Bill and Verna Weber at 10:45 for brunch at Bob Evans. (They were in town celebrating Ruby Weber's birthday with Donovan and Jocelyn and Nora.) From there we drove to Hamersville, Ohio where we attended the memorial service for Tom Friskney at the Church of Christ there.
Mr. Friskney had been our professor at CBS in undergraduate school. I learned much of what I know about page layout from the yearbook class he led and I attended three semesters. His son Paul was Evelyn's supervisor and colleague all the years she taught English, and we're friends with Paul and his wife, Sev. It was a wonderful service. Jon Weatherly's tribute, as so often happens at funerals, taught us aspects of Professor Friskney's life we hadn't known and challenged us with his qualities that we had known but might have forgotten.
The Hamersville church building was packed (we stood at the back); at least half of the congregation were Hamersville locals who had known the Friskneys through the decades they've lived there. Perhaps the most memorable part of the service was the singing: "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" and Mr. Friskney's favorite hymn, "I Know Whom I Have Believed." The room reverberated with the voices of the enthusiastic singers. It's been awhile since I've been in congregational singing like that; it was thrilling.

 Saturday night we fired up the grill for the first time this year: chicken and vegetables, so good.

Sunday morning I heard the same sermon twice; Mark Sullivan preached it in the first service in the

Mark Sullivan preaching in the 9:00 service.

auditorium, and Trevor preached in the Classic service at 10:30. I was hosting there and chose to attend that whole service too. The message centering on the tragic lives of Rehoboam and Jeroboam told the story of the division of the kingdom of Israel. One quote to remember, referring to the effects of Solomon's sin toward the end of his life: "We make decisions, and those decisions turn around and make us."
This weekend on Friday we tried to eat dinner at Dewey's in West Chester, but by the time we got there at 6:10, they were already standing outside waiting to get a seat. So we slipped over to Friday's and had a nice meal splitting a side salad and sharing three small appetizers. We drove up to the outlet mall one exit north on 75 to pick up at item Evelyn needs and then back down to Kohl's to spend Kohl's cash, a $5 reward coupon, and to use a 20% discount coupon. We bought a couple of picture frames, and believe it or not, even with all those discounts, we still owed a little money.
Saturday was rainy much of the day. I paid bills and managed finances in the morning and then went to

the grocery store. Later in the afternoon, when the skies cleared, I drove to Home Depot for mulch and some bags of top soil (it was about the third trunkful of the week) and came home to spread the top soil and trim one of our hydrangea bushes before coming in to take a shower. I grilled a second time, a variation on the chicken and vegetables theme. This time the meat had a fajita marinade, and we ate it in soft tacos with grilled peppers and onions. It was very good!
Terry and Shirley arrived at our place about 8:30 to spend the night. They'd been on vacation all week at the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan (all their stories and descriptions and pictures made me want to go some year!). They brought us a pie they'd bought at a bakery up there: chocolate pecan. Oh my goodness!
We all rode to church together this morning (Trevor's challenging sermon to put our "issue" on the altar

and pray for God to consume it like he did with Elijah's offering), and then returned home to enjoy Mother's Day brunch together. I had said I would cook, but the longer Evelyn and I talked about it, the more we decided she should fix her favorite Amish Breakfast Casserole and her wonderful cinnamon biscuits. I made the fruit salad and poured the orange juice!
Terry and Shirley left early in the afternoon, and I spent much of the rest of the day spreading mulch in the courtyard in front of the house. Jennifer called in the middle of the work, which gave me a welcome break, and later I drove to Home Depot since I was about one bag short for completing that section. I got another trunkful (8 bags), which should take me around the side of the house whenever I get to that.
I took a shower and Evelyn made nachos for supper--we were still pretty full from lunch! Geoff called while we were eating. It's always a good day when we get to talk to both of the kids.
Two good weekends, too good to forget, which is why I wanted to make these notes while I could grab the moments to do so.

The tulips I planted in this pot last fall made a beautiful display on our deck this week.

A Nice Weekend

Pictures of the Day:
A highlight of the weekend was the concert by the Purdue Glee Club at Christ's Church at Mason Saturday night. More than 500 made a nice crowd in our auditorium to see the uniquely energetic and entertaining show/concert performed by this stage full of young men singing in tuxes. Their repertoire covered the gamut: sacred, classical, Broadway, gospel, pop, and patriotic. Always with strong voices, sometimes with complex harmonies, varying their stage presence from formal rows to seemingly unchoreographed interactions with each other and the audience, their performance was a joy to watch as well as hear.

We made an evening of the outing by inviting the Webers and the Friskneys to join us for supper at

The singers filled the aisles with song more than once, this time
to serenade ladies they chose from the audience.

5:00 and then go to the concert with us. We enjoyed the meal and the laughter at Mimi's and got to the church by 6:15 or 6:30 to get good seats for the 7:00 concert. Afterwards, Evelyn was one of the volunteers serving trays of homemade cookies to the crowd that lingered in the large lobby area outside the auditorium. Several of the singers had nice reunions with family members made more pleasurable by our church's hospitality.
Bill and Verna stayed overnight with us and left about 10:00 Sunday morning to worship at Lifespring Christian Church and spend the day with the Webers 2.0. We decided to go to second service at Mason Sunday morning; the net effect was two long, hashing-out-life visits with the Webers: Saturday night till almost midnight and then again over a leisurely breakfast Sunday morning. (Evelyn had made our favorite coffee cake--yum!)
Friday night was a typical Big Night Out for Evelyn and me: dinner out (Macaroni Grill --and that was special!) and a shopping trip at Costco's followed by Evelyn snagging this quarter's sale at the Clinique counter at Macy's.
Sunday we sat with our friend Alan Guttman in the Classic Service at 10:30, ate lunch quickly at McAllister's, and then returned home for a productive afternoon. Evelyn graded papers, and I worked a couple hours in the yard (trimmed all the rose bushes). It was a sunny 60-degree day, and I went with Evelyn on her walk after my yard work. Then I came in and did something I haven't done for a long time on a Sunday afternoon. I took a nap--a long nap! Evelyn was afraid I wouldn't sleep that night, but I managed to quit waking to see the alarm clock by about 11:00 p.m.

Quote of the Day:
"We think obedience is fine for kids and dogs. But we don't celebrate obedience in our culture. . . . Obedience puts us in our place. It's God's wisdom and strength we can't outgrow."
—Trevor DeVage in his excellent sermon in our The Story series, this week on King Saul's sorry pattern of disobedience.

Drying Out and Digging In

Pictures of the Day (Yesterday):

 Above are the two industrial fans that have been running in our hallway nonstop since Wednesday. to the right is the giant humidifier thats been running along with them. We turned the fans off for a few hours Friday night while we had company for dinner, but that's the only time they've been off. We're able to mask the constant roar by closing the door to the stairway. But we've been staying upstairs and watching the small, tabletop TV that is usually in the kitchen. Those skiers are not nearly as impressive o this tiny screen.
The men came Saturday and decided the fans needed to blow for a couple more days. So we've listened to them all weekend, but hopefully they'll be gone by tomorrow.
After that comes the insurance adjuster and all the work of tearing down sheetrock, resealing the seams, and repainting. We see if that patch of carpet at the bottom of the steps needs to be replaced.
When Paul and Sev Friskney were here for dinner Friday night, we got to talking about the Oscars. Paul is a real film buff and tries to see all the best-picture nominees every year. We decided on the spur of the moment to meet them Saturday to see Nebraska starring Bruce Dern.
We met them for the 5:00 showing at the Esquire theater in Clifton. The black-and-white movie is a gray story depicting brokenness, dysfunction, lost dreams, and limited horizons. "I'm sorry the movie was so depressing," Sev wrote Evelyn on Facebook today, but we weren't depressed by the movie. We were glad to see the remarkable performances, especially, of course, by Bruce Dern. The movie is not a musical, but it has some good music. It is not a comedy, although we did laugh out loud more than once. It ends on a positive note, but I couldn't help but think of the thousands of folks all around us whose lives are as bleak as those portrayed in the film.
Afterwards, Sev and Paul took us to one of their favorite spots, a new restaurant for us, Jason's Deli in Rookwood Exchange.
"Deli" doesn't describe this huge restaurant with "the best salad bar in the city," and a menu full of homemade soups (try our choice, the chicken pot pie soup) as well as sandwiches and main dishes. And every meal includes free soft serve in a cone or a cup!
It was a wonderful meal, and we enjoyed debriefing the film with Paul and Sev.

This morning Terry and Shirley Wuske visited Christ's Church as Mason again, and we went to Bob Evans to grab brunch before heading home. Evelyn and I stopped at Kroger's and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at home. My sore throat had progressed into a nasty cough wracking my chest. I wrote a draft of my column for Tuesday and then rested in the recliner for an hour, or was it two?

Quote of the Day:
"God says, 'I am bigger than your situation, your problem, your need.'"
—Trevor DeVage, sharing the Moses story in this week's service in The Story series.

A Fine Friday

Quote of the Day:
Jesus: Come with me.
Peter: What are we gonna do?
Jesus: Change the world!
—Dialogue in Son of God, showing in theaters starting February 28.

Picture of the Day:
A bouquet of tulips from the Kroger garden seemed a fitting way to celebrate temps in the 50s and the
disappearance of all the snow (save for melting mountains in the corners of parking lots across town). We're going to have highs in the 20s next week, they say, but this brief respite reminds us that our hope is not out of line. Spring is coming!

Highlight of the Day:
Yesterday (Friday) there were two. First, reconnecting with John Turner at lunchtime. Second, enjoying dinner at our place with Paul and Sev Friskney. They had missed the Christmas dinner we planned with them and the Webers, and I don't remember when we had seen them before that.  (Paul's dad was in the hospital suddenly then, an episode not connected to the car crash and hospitalization in January, from which he did not survive.) Evelyn made a wonderful supper including some old favorites (the wonderful chicken and stuffing casserole first introduced to us by Virginia Beddow when Geoff was born!) and applesauce Jello. Dessert was angel food cake with fresh strawberries and raspberries and whipped cream. We retreated to the living room after awhile, turned on the fire (it was normally chilly outside after dark), and chatted till almost 10:00. A nice way to end the week.

Weekends Are Made for This . . .

• Eating out (at a new Mexican place, Blue Agave beside LaRosa's in Tri-County for supper last night, [new for us, that is] and Bronte Bistro at Joseph-Beth Bookstore for brunch today).
• Running errands: Visits to Costco, Home Depot, Lowe's, the Apple Store, Staple's, and of course my favorite, Kroger's.
• Good times with friends: the Wuskes last night and Bill and Verna Weber and Paul and Sev Friskney today at brunch.
• Doing stuff we love: After Costco last night we picked up the Wuskes and drove to Newport on the Levee to hang out and see the fireworks after the Reds game. We stumbled into a big Oktoberfest celebration on the river bank below the stores at the Levee. We'd already eaten, so we passed up the goetta balls, brats with sauerkraut, and funnel cakes (although that last one really tempted me).
• Doing something on a lark: In addition to trying the Mexican restaurant when we'd really driven over there to eat at LaRosa's, we and the Wuskes decided to try the giant ferris wheel set up at the edge of Oktoberfest. It was a beautiful evening to see all the lights at the riverfront and feel the cool breeze.
• Laughing: with the Wuskes, and always with Sev Friskney and Verna Weber. The Webers, Friskneys, and Taylors used to get together every six weeks or so, but we hadn't been together since before school was out last spring. It was great to reconnect. And laugh. We sat at Bronte for at least 2 hours together.

On the way home, Evelyn and I decided just to stop at the Apple store and see what they're saying about iPhone 5s availability. The guy said a) they're getting new stock every evening, b) the online "order and pick up at the store" option had been disabled; maybe it would be reinstated this week, and c) if you show up at the store when they open, at 10 a.m. weekdays and Saturday, you'll have a pretty good chance of getting the phone you want. That's encouraging, because I thought with the hot interest in the new iPhones (9 million sold in the first weekend), maybe they'd be out of stock till next month or something. Also discouraging, though, because taking two hours on a work morning to drive down there, wait in line, and get the phones set up before driving back to work is almost impossible. We're thinking we'll be there when the store opens NEXT Saturday.

I Was the Spouse in the Corner—It Was Evelyn's Day

Today was the faculty and staff reception to congratulate Evelyn on her upcoming retirement, and I decided to come share in the party.
It was very nice. The cake was VERY good. A nice crowd of Evelyn's colleagues came to wish her well. Paul Friskney hosted and said that, although they had found someone to teach Evelyn's classes, no one could replace Evelyn.
And two former students, Mackenzie Fordyce and Rachel Sinclair, gave brief, sometimes tearful testimonies about the influence of Evelyn on their lives and their gratitude for her example as well as her teaching. I'm so proud of her!
She had a bowl full of cards with well wishes, and her colleagues had contributed to buy a $100 gift card to Playhouse in the Park (that will be fun!).
It was a very nice afternoon, and I'm glad I got to share it.

Mackenzie Fordyce couldn't finish her tribute without crying.

Rachel Sinclair used to grade papers for Evelyn and claims she drank her weight in coffee.

Evelyn's fellow English teachers, Paul Friskney (left) and Brian Derico planned the party.

Weekend Update

"April prepares her green traffic light, and the world thinks Go." I heard that quote from Christopher Morley Sunday, and I knew it couldn't have been more perfect for the beautiful, sunny day we were having. This is the time of the year when every lawn is green, and the flowering trees surrounded by daffodils and forsythia make every turn, every suburban neighborhood, another garden show.
To recap the weekend:
Saturday we Skyped with Wendy, and I paid bills. We decided to mow the lawn (for the record: mowing number 3), and Evelyn and I finished it just in time to get our showers and meet Bill and Verna Weber

Sev had a greeting for us
as we arrived Saturday.

to drive over to Paul and Sev Friskney's for a late afternoon meal. I think we're getting together now that the Webers are out of town more than we ever did when they were here! But it's good for all of us, and Bill and Verna come regularly to see Verna's mother at Mason Christian Village. And Verna was teaching a parenting class at White Oak Christian Church Sunday, so it worked out well for them to be here.
Sunday I hosted at the 9:00 service and was blessed by the worship and the sermon. We spent a lot of time after church talking with friends in the hallway. John and Mary Jane Burgess were visiting, and so were Bill and Joni Baker. John and Heather Turner have decided to remake Christ's Church their church home, and we got to see them for a few minutes Sunday too.
We grabbed breakfast at Bob Evans and were home and at work by 12:30.
Evelyn graded papers; I read through/edited the 40 profiles for our July "40 Leaders Under 40" issue and took some stabs at improving an editorial/column draft that I had started Friday. All of it together took me more than 3 hours.
We took our walk, had a nice long phone visit with Jennifer, and ate leftover ham and bean soup while we watched TV. 
Today I was busy finishing up the copy for that "40 Under 40" section to hand off to a designer, dealing with some web issues/problems, approving/tweaking an e-mail that's going out to 344 churches tomorrow, writing an e-mail number 2 that's going to about 150 churches to invite them to a special web seminar this week, writing a letter to those I've recruited to join our group for our cruise/tour this summer, and a couple of other things.

I decided at lunchtime to try to snap a picture of the beautiful blooming trees in the courtyard formed by my office building and the one next to it.

This Saturday's Small Group

Today we had our get-together with the Friskneys and the Webers that we had planned for last Saturday. We were going to meet in Shelbyville last Saturday, but the snow kept us home. Today we used the gift certificates Friskneys gave us for Christmas to meet for lunch/dinner in Mason, since Webers were already in town this weekend to celebrate granddaughter Nora's 2nd birthday.
We sat at the restaurant (Applebee's) for probably a couple of hours and then adjourned to our house for birthday cake from Kroger's and decaf and ice cream. It was a belated celebration for Sev and Bill whose birthdays happened at the end of January.

We laughed and caught up on each other's family and talked about everything from our various work situations to why bars are better places for genuine bonding than what so many people experience through their churches. We decided that much of what people say SHOULD happen in a small group happens among longtime Christian friends like us--without programming or a curriculum.
We hope to meet again soon--we've put March 16 on our calendars (although I have a tentative trip that needs to happen sometime in March but isn't scheduled yet. We'll see.).

I snapped this picture of our table setting before we left for the
restaurant. We used some of the vintage plates that we had gathered
for Jennifer's wedding.

Stockin' Up

Evelyn and I both laughed out loud as I arranged our groceries
on the kitchen table so I could take a picture.

The weatherman says we're having one-to-three inches of snow tomorrow, a warning that has sent the whole city to the grocery store.
"You guys are pretty busy tonight," I said to the checkout gal when WE were at Kroger's after dinner, about 8:00.
"You should have seen it sooner," she said. "We had to open every checkout lane."
We probably have enough food in the house already to be snowed in for a day. But we bought the stuff to make a big pot of minestrone soup, using a new recipe Evelyn found. And if we're snowed in tomorrow, we're going to invite the neighbors to come share supper with us. Our PLAN, though, is to meet Bill and Verna Weber with Paul and Sev Friskney in Shelbyville. It is to be a reunion planned by Sev before Christmas, to help soften the good-bye to the Webers who moved to Indianapolis right after Christmas. We're really looking forward to seeing them, but if the trip seems risky, we'll put it off a week and make soup instead.

Christmas with Friends

"This is my favorite day of Christmas," Sev Friskney said when they arrived for dinner Sunday night. The day before the day before Christmas. It was a good--although a busy--day for us.

The choir wore their formals and tuxes to help lead
our Christmas Sunday worship service.

Evelyn and I did a brief narration as part of the worship services at 9:30 and 11:00 at church in the morning. (I had written it in response to an e-mail from Dave Lautzenheiser asking for ideas to connect two parts of the service.) And this was our Welcome Center Sunday too, so we got to church about 9:00 and stayed till almost 12:30.
John and Mary Jane Burgess came to worship with the church at Mason, and we had a nice visit with them as well as happy "Merry Christmas" greetings with many others in all the time we had to spend in the church lobby Sunday morning.
We grabbed lunch at LaRosa's and I took Evelyn home before heading out to run a couple of errands--last-minute grocery run and a visit to the Honey Baked Ham store.
Then I worked with Evelyn to complete preparations for the Christmas dinner we hosted with friends that evening: roast beef, green beans, Waldorf salad, twice baked potatoes; Evelyn's traditional cheese ball and fresh shrimp for appetizers, along with the cranberry apple hot punch we enjoy making at Christmastime. Since all our Christmas with family will be after "the day" this year, we decided to host this Christmas dinner on the weekend before Christmas.
Sev and Paul Friskney and Verna and Bill Weber came after 5:30 and stayed till almost 11:00. We laughed (even though Bill said it hurt to laugh after gall bladder surgery Thursday) and talked and snapped a couple of pictures before they left.

Good Friends, Good Day

It's late, and I'm tired after a long day with good friends.

This morning we were at Terry and Shirley Wuske's place  by 9:00 to help them with their move. They decided not to move furniture today, since rain was predicted. (A good decision. It POURED, off and on, all morning and afternoon.) But the kitchen had not yet been packed. So we packed dishes and gadgets and silverware and the pantry into boxes that we drove a few doors down the street and then unloaded and unpacked and put away into drawers and cabinets at their new home. A friend brought pizza for them and their helpers at 1:00, and we were there till about 3:00.

Then we hurried home to get ready to go to dinner at Sev and Paul Friskney's place; Bill and Verna Weber were there too. 

Wonderful food. Lots and lots of laughter. A relaxing and memorable evening with good people. Evelyn had baked a chocolate pound cake, and she served it with strawberries and whipped cream after everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It's nice when a birthday doesn't end in one day!

I snapped this picture of the Friskneys, Evelyn, and the Webers before we ate dinner.
 The smiles continued all evening.

Home and Garden

Rode home from St. Louis with Sev and Paul Friskney after a leisurely breakfast at the Renaissance Hotel where they stayed for the conference. It was a beautiful day to zoom along through the flatlands of central Illinois and Indiana. We'd eaten so much for breakfast we didn't need any lunch, especially with a stop at Dairy Queen in Batesville  for Blizzards and sundaes.

Arrived home at about 7 to find the lawn had grown maybe six inches since Evelyn finished cutting it THIS Tuesday. So I jumped into some old pants and went at it for more than 30 minutes, and then Evelyn came out and cut for 30 minutes more. The lawn was so wet and long that we were clearing out the caked-up grass from the bottom of the mower every couple of swaths. So we didn't finish. Evelyn hopes to cut the rest (mainly the front) tomorrow night while I'm at a meeting at church.

The same sun and rain that made our lawn grow (and the trees and bushes in our yard bloom) created magnificent displays at the Missouri Botanical Garden, which we visited yesterday afternoon with the Friskneys. I posted 20+ pictures on Facebook, but I'll choose a few here to give an idea of the beauty of this place. I really hope we can go there again.

After visiting the Garden from 2:00-5:00 (when they closed), we drove up to The Hill, the Italian neighborhood of St. Louis with a wonderful restaurant on every corner. We chose a place called Zia's and had a sumptuous feast of breaded artichoke hearts, stuffed mushrooms, delightful salads with a sweet vinaigrette and fresh-grated mozzarella and parmesan, grilled chicken, pasta with shrimp, and cannelloni. (We didn't all have all of that, but you get the idea.) It was early when we got back downtown, so we changed into walking shoes and browsed up and down Washington Avenue, a happenin' couple of blocks with restaurants and clubs and interesting people to see. We stopped for coffee and a little something sweet at the 12th Street Diner before calling it a night. Really, it was a wonderful time.

Met Them in St. Louis

Began the day with a sumptuous breakfast at the headquarters hotel for the CCCC conference, with Paul and Sev Friskney. Then we got an overview of downtown by riding the Downtown Trolley for its whole route. Sev, who's been playing the role of tour host for our travels, posed at the front of the bus to firm up her image.
Evelyn and Paul went to workshops all afternoon, and Sev and I decided to check out Union Station to see if it's a site all of us needed to see. Verdict: We didn't all need to see it.

Sev and I rode the Downtown Trolley to get close to Union Station and then walked all the way back to the convention center afterwards, with a pretty good view of the arch and passing flower beds full of beautiful blooming tulips.

This evening the four of us went to the City Museum, an eclectic mix of salvaged architectural wonders with mazes, caves, and tunnels perfect for 12-year-olds to climb on, hide in, and crawl through--all accompanied by hollers, laughs, and general loudness.
Before and after the museum we ate at the 12th Street Diner. Great burgers for dinner and yummy desserts before we returned to our rooms.

OK, blog readers, you can guess WHAT this dessert is . . . and WHO ordered it!

Teachers Conference

These are apartments, just a couple of
blocks from the convention center. 

This is conference week for Evelyn and me. Monday through Wednesday I was at the NEXT Conference in California. Now I'm in St. Louis with Evelyn who's attending the Conference on College Composition and Communication, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.
The morning and early afternoon were chilly and rainy. First task: buy an umbrella. Second task: find the room for Evelyn's first workshop. Third task: find a deli to grab some lunch for Evelyn and me to eat in the 30 minutes between her first workshop and her second workshop.
I spent the afternoon in our hotel room: did some editing, played on Facebook, answered e-mails. Evelyn was in and out between workshops, and then we met Paul and Sev Friskney to enjoy a very nice dinner together. (Paul's attending the conference too.)

"We're going to be in
Taylor Made," Sev said after
agreeing to pose with Paul
for a picture.

I haven't seen all of downtown St. Louis, but the area around the convention center and its headquarters hotel, the Renaissance, is kind of cool. Restaurants, a few (very few) shops, and a Whole Foods-type grocery, Culinaria, where Evelyn and I grabbed some granola packets and a banana for her breakfasts and two cookies for a bedtime snack.
A nice day. An important discussion may happen at work tomorrow that I may wish I was there for. But, on the other hand, maybe it's good that I'm not. I'll weigh in on that after I know how it turns out.

What's NEXT?

Paul Williams was one of
two facilitators for the
NEXT conference.

Greg Nettle led our group
half of the time.

The NEXT conference for emerging leaders,  a blessing and challenging time for all of us who attended, ended today at noon.

My take-aways: We have an emerging generation of young leaders more innovative in ministry, more down-to-earth in their approach to sinners, and more willing honestly to examine their own lives than any generation of leaders I've known during my ministry.

Today we went around the circle, and each person shared "best

Caleb Kaltenbach and Brian Jobe

practices" from his or her ministry.  The result was a smorgasbord of creative ideas for personal productivity, community outreach, leadership development, technology usage, stewardship, and personal accountability.

The personal accountability theme continued in the final session, led by Greg Nettle, who challenged each of us to end our ministries well. Group members shared steps they have taken to establish healthy boundaries and vulnerability with a group of close friends, their staffs, and their spouses. It was a rich and helpful time.

So what's next for our movement? Seems to me the integrity, passion, and creativity of those assembled in California this week all bode well for the health of our church in the next decade.

I'm writing this at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, where I'm waiting for a flight to St. Louis via Denver. I'll spend the rest of the week there with Evelyn, and Paul and Sev Friskney. Evelyn and Paul will be attending a conference for college English teachers, and I'll be reading, editing, and maybe doing a little exploring in the city with the big arch.

It's a good week away.

Jodi Hickerson and Danny Schaffner

Headed to Irvine

This is a quick post just before I leave for the airport and a trip that will take me through Chicago to the Santa Ana (Orange County), California airport. Headed there for the NEXT Conference, which will convene tomorrow evening. Sponsored by Provision Ministry Group, with a little help from Orchard Church Planting and Christian Standard, the conference is an attempt to listen to and learn from emerging younger leaders among the Christian churches and churches of Christ. It lasts through Wednesday at noon, and then I'm flying to St. Louis to meet Evelyn who is attending a conference for college English teachers Thursday through Saturday. I'm riding home with her and her colleague Paul Friskney and his wife, Sev.
More about all of this in this space as the week goes on.

Two Different Evenings

Last night we welcomed Sev and Paul Friskney (right) and Shirley and Terry Wuske (below) for our Valentine's dinner party. The evening was full of laughter--and good food!

But we were sorry our other invited guests, Verna and Bill Weber, had to cancel at the last minute because they were tending to Verna's mom, Mildred Holmes, who had been sick all week. They ended up following the ambulance to Jewish Hospital where Mildred spent the night. Verna and Bill waited in the emergency room and admitting room of the hospital till 10:00 p.m. while we were relaxing and eating and enjoying ourselves.

We ran up to Jewish after church this morning and were able to visit with Mildred (she's our friend, too!) who smiled weakly at us as we tried to make jokes and small talk with her and Verna, who arrived shortly after we did. Mildred is a remarkable woman, 95 years old, still spunky and strong, which is why she has survived this week of serious illness. We're praying for her and the Webers.