HOME AGAIN...ALMOST FOR GOOD. We arrived home on Friday night about 9 PM after almost 2 weeks away and a total of 2600 miles traveled. We only have one more short trip this coming weekend for Ron's 50th high school reunion in Chetek, WI and we will be home for the summer...what's left of it:)
It always takes a few days to get reoriented to life here. Saturday was spent getting the laundry in order...including the ironing which is now all caught up:) We attended a 50th wedding anniversary celebration and the rest of the day, Ron prepared for Sunday. Monday was our day off to rest and further catch up. The only outside activity we did was to finally get over to visit our youth pastor and his wife to see their new baby girl born last Wednesday. She was 9 pounds 7 oz. and looks half grown. She even has a double chin! She is a sweet and calm baby though and that is what parents really like.
We also got to visit the wife's parents who are missionaries in India. I have no sense of time, but realized we stayed way too long. Ugh! I wish I could pay attention to the time. I hate to be checking my watch when I'm visiting and that is the only way I know how much time is passing. I hadn't had a chance to visit with the new mother for awhile because I've been out of town so much, so I was catching her up on some projects we have been talking about. When her mom got home from some errands, we got talking about quilting and... Her mom did start supper b/f we left and I washed dishes so I could assuage some of my guilt.
Our week at General Assembly in Atlanta, GA was great. There weren't as many activities as there often are, so we weren't running like crazy people and I didn't get as tired. There were less seminar periods. The down side was that a lot of the ones I wanted to attend were at the same time. The up side was that once I decided on what I was going to attend, I could go and enjoy it and remember the few I attended.
One of the highlights for me was in an affinity group (separate from the seminars) for pastors' wives, our small group included an assistant (now associate) pastor's wife who served with us in TX, Susan Hunt, Karen Grant, a former college acquaintance who worked with my mother later on and who I see each year plus others I haven't known before. Susan and Karen were especially encouraging in the Biblical sense toward many in the group encouraging us to stop and pray for one who had had a number of deaths in her family. They were wonderful models of encouragement and selflessness. I can't say I was surprised, but it was like drinking from a refreshing stream. That 45 min. or one hour flew.
The week is always a great one because we see so many people from different stages of our past. It was nice to catch up with some of them as well as have the elder and his wife from our present. This is their second year to attend and they seemed to find their way around real well!

Now I have to digest a lot of the material I received...especially in regards to our women's work. We are trying to broaden our church's ministry to women and want to do it wisely and well. That will start with a Bible study in the Fall (we hope). It will also need some other structure for future development. That is the part that will take wisdom. I'd better stop my update for now with that or the ramble will get bogged down. More on our trip later.