The calendar says that the month of June has arrived. Hard to believe with this morning’s temperatures in the 50s! The weekend is approaching; a new month filled and overflowing is beginning.
I began this week in Catacamas, Honduras where on Sunday morning I preached at the El Colegio congregation. The opportunity to renew friendships was a special treat; the sermon which focused on God’s vision and purpose for the church seemed to touch the needs and hearts of God’s family there. I thought back to other visits at El Colegio, going back almost 20 years.
A quick stop at the bus station to buy my ticket for the return to Tegucigalpa left barely 30 minutes to grab a quick lunch (empanada de pollo) with the Tomkins at the SuperMercado snack bar. The bus ride was normal–again I was the only North American on the bus. Once in Tegucigalpa, I grabbed a taxi ride with Leo (good to have previous contacts and be friends with taxi drivers) who graciously helped me take care of final details–a stop at Baxter to drop luggage, to the mall for final purchases, and back to Baxter. Sunday evening I spent writing and reflecting, and also managed to Skype with Jan in the US.
Monday was Memorial Day, travel day to the US. After sharing a brief greeting with the students at Baxter at morning devotional, a greeting extended on behalf of the board of directors, it was off to the airport for what has become a well-known routine…check-in, pay the exit tax, go upstairs and work through four document checks, the security scanners, and one more security check–sometimes required of all and sometimes random. The three-hour layover in Houston became four hours with a maintenance delay, late arrival in Oklahoma City, and to the house early Tuesday morning about 12:30 AM.
I knew what Tuesday would hold–even before I arrived back in the US. The schedule included catching up in general, yard work (mowing, trimming, pruning, clean-up), missions accounting, and checking details for the next mission trip, only a week away.
Wednesday morning, after a night of storms and strong winds, we awoke to be greeted with the task of cutting up and temporarily piling the limbs in the backyard, and repositioning and resecuring the hot tub cover. The winds overnight were near 70 mph, but fortunately we had no damage other than the broken limbs. I had scheduled Wednesday for office work–the June mission report, write and post a new home page for the website, write and send a chairman’s report to the Baxter board, along with other mini-projects and details too numerous to mention.
Wednesday night at Park Plaza was the last night of the spring class series and we enjoyed a final study from the Psalms by Charles Rix, Old Testament professor at Oklahoma Christian. I enjoyed time after class to visit with Charles and renew our acquaintance in Christ, and also to meet his son. At Park Plaza, we are enjoying interacting with those we have known for many years. We are also enjoying meeting many new friends in Christ at the “Park.”
Yesterday (Thursday) we made a quick trip to Arkansas to visit my stepmother and help celebrate her 80th birthday.
Today and tomorrow are already filled with projects–website work, missions contacts, Baxter and Amicus Association activities, writing more leadership development and teacher training materials, and getting ready for what will be a very busy month.
(More on June’s activities tomorrow.)