Reconnecting with Wendy, Friends, and Former Church

I'm realizing I front-loaded the first half of sabbatical with a LOT of travel so we are quite ready to be home a little more.  Indiana, Alabama, Ohio and most recently Illinois with a couple days in between each trip makes us thankful to be sleeping in our own beds a little more consistently.

Our two most recent trips were Hocking Hills, Ohio and West Chicago Illinois.

Just Wendy and I were able to travel to Hocking Hills State Park in OH without kids for a few days last week.  We got a cute little Airbnb in the woods and did a lot of hiking.  It's absolutely beautiful and I definitely recommend it if you like hiking and being in God's creation.  What a blessing to have a few days for just me and Wendy to reconnect.

Psalm 95:1–4

[1] Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

[2] Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

[3] For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.

[4] In his hand are the depths of the earth;

the heights of the mountains are his also.

Last Sunday we worshiped at Trinity PCA here in town and celebrated Mother's Day with our whole family.  Then this past long weekend, we returned to West Chicago, IL which is where we did ministry and called home from 2005 to 2017.  We stayed with some close friends, had the god-timed privilege of attending a funeral of the wife of a long-time friend and were blessed to worship with our former small church of about 100 faithful saints. (Faith Community Church, PCA).

"And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." Colossians 1:18

A Week With Family

It's hard to believe one of our kids is married, one is engaged and our other two could be out of the house in 2 years which means empty nesting!  How did this happen so quickly?  I know it's a sign of old age when you start talking about how time flies but I want to be a person that says "Remember when..." much more often than saying, "I wish we would have..."

After a day of reading/study and an opportunity to meet a Pastor/friend for coffee last week, we packed up and drove to Gulf Shores for a week with "the littles" as we've referred to our younger boys. None of us had ever been to Alabama but thanks to one of my cousins, we were able to stay at their condo on the water at Orange Beach Alabama for a week.  We had beautiful weather and were able to enjoy some fun activities together. (Including a visit to see the Blue Angels practice!)

On Sunday we went to a "different" church which does contextual gospel ministry by meeting as a church in a famous bar called the "Flora-Bama" under a tent right on the beach. The bar graciously allows the church to meet there for free on Sundays.  Though it was different, I was able to speak with the pastor who loves the Lord and clearly preached the gospel that morning. They even have a Bible Study on Revelation beginning this week :)  (Normally, they have 300-500 in attendance but on Easter Sunday they had 6,000 people at two services... And HRC thought they had a challenge going to two services!). It's such a gift being able to see the variety of ways the Body of Christ gathers for worship in different places and in different contexts.

We returned home last night and plan to celebrate 4 family birthdays tonight with all 8 of us and hope to catch up on some much needed yard work!

"The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.  For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers."  Psalm 24:1-2