Home Again, Home Again

Since it was such an unusually cool day in Mesa today, I've been taking credit for bringing the nice weather. Hey, I'll take what I can get!

Cynthia and I will be flying back to Chicago in the morning. We had an outstanding camp in California. The trip over consisted of a four car caravan and a 6+ hour drive, but in the van with grandkids it was loads of fun (at least while they slept the first two hours!). The only hitch was the winding road up into the San Jacinto mountains above Palm Springs. The camp is at aprox. 6,000 feet so it was both a beautiful and stomach-churning drive for those on the back seat. We made it, however, and by the time for the first meeting we already had a larger than expected crowd. In fact, more than twice as many joined us as last year. Several folks brought friends they are introducing to the message of grace; numbers of "old timers" were back; and the young people were in abundance.

One new couple asked me to explain the right division wall chart a bit more thoroughly after the first session. He said, "The first time I ever heard anything like this was at John's church a few months ago. I've been hungry to learn more ever since. That's why I came." He didn't go away disappointed. In fact, by the end of the week he was a full participant in the program.

John and Rick did great jobs in the morning session--their messages were clear and yet profound, as they dealt with our completeness in Christ and the rest it brings into our daily lives. You will want to listen to the studies which will soon be up on John's site. The evening studies were also well received, for which I am grateful. That site will also have some pictures of the camp activities--at least the ones that are fit for public consumption.

One thing that these trips do is provide an opportunity for rich eating experiences. Camp food was better than expected (the really skinny cook has retired!). On our trip home we made a special stop in Banning at the Farm House Restaurant for a wonderful "home-style" meal. This is a favorite of Dave and Lisa Gerhart and we were delighted they invited us to experience it with them.

This evening, back in Mesa, Cynthia and I took Rick, Linda and the grandkids to my wife's favorite Mesa restaurant, the Landmark. Rick and I had lunch with Doug Blaheta at Rick and Doug's favorite BBQ spot; and it was great. But supper was very special, all the more so as a family outing. Everyone knows I like cloth napkins and real china and silverware. Cynthia likes nice (make that elegant) settings. Landmark has both, along with excellent food. We have eaten well all week!

So tomorrow we return home. There is much work waiting to be done. I checked email yesterday and only had 408 for the time I was out of touch. I've answered over half of them already, so was busy some today. The rest will be waiting when we get home. There were some genuinely touching responses to the rightly divided Word that I'll try to share with you soon. Two of the brothers out here also are helping get our new school website going, so we've also worked on that some.

Anyway, this catches you up a bit on what has been transpiring, so you can "know our affairs." I also wanted to send a shout-out to Tony S. He was at camp and told me he checks my blog regularly to see what is going one. He represents a growing number of folks that tell me they are reading this. I hope to soon make a way for you to register on a "friends" page so I'll know who to shout at!

Maranatha!