Middle of the night - only hours away

How can it take so long to pack, and get a house ready, and get a yard ready, and say all the good-byes, and ....

It's 2:49 am, Monday morning, and time to pack the computer - so this is farewell until I log on again. We fly shortly after 11 am.

First Day! Packing.

Thanks to my incredible Primary Camp Meeting team, both of pastors and volunteers, it's over. The last "hurdle" is past; the supplies put away; the farewells made. I want to especially thank Pastors Bumgardner, Guldhammer, Knight, Stafford, Johnson, and Kilgore for overseeing SO MUCH of the work of preparation and direct work with the children. Wow! And also for Milton members, Millers, Jenkins and Denise Carr, who shared their dogs and birds with the children. (Poor Ken Devereaux - Get well soon!)
Our dear friends John and Ruby Stafford leave for mission service in Sri Lanka next month, so it was especially poignant to work with them, and even have a farewell lunch in the WWU cafeteria! 44 years of friendship!
Saying good-bye to Ryan and Jenn was hard, too. Putting three months of church pastoring on Ryan's shoulders - and knowing that Jenn will feel the pressures right along with him - ... well, they will continue to need everyone's prayers and support. And they also need you to share the joys of life! Pastoring is a privilege when two congregations love you :-).
(I loved the thunderstorm and rain storm last night! But I wasn't trying to get any cherry harvest in. I hope most of the cherrys were picked and even our orchardists could rejoice.)
So today we focus on four things: Grandson Teo's 14th birthday party, final prep of the house for Tom & Sandy, final purchases of sabbatical supplies, and packing.

T -4 Days - Camp Meeting tomorrow

This Thursday is almost impossible to describe properly. Full to the brim, but not with what I imagined. How does one say that an "emergency" was scheduled, and took up more of the day than expected? Suffice it to say that the emergency is now in the past, the office at church looks cleaner than it has for months, my laptop has a loaner harddrive much bigger than my own, (so it doesn't fill up and run slowly while overseas - thanks Mark!). My piece is written for a July newsletter. And my daughter Heather has started me on Blogspot in hopes that it can help family and friends "join us" on our sabbatical.

Tomorrow is Camp Meeting preparation with the first meeting in the evening - in addition to singing with the Valley Men's Chorus at the start.

Will we ever get time enough to pack? :-)