I'm baaack ... again

I just got back into town this afternoon at about 3:30 after a couple of days in Dothan helping Mom and Dad out. When were there over Spring Break in April, it became apparent to us that Mom is still working on getting things back in order after the fire. So while the boys were away at World Changers, the lovely wife (the organization expert) and I decided to take a couple of days (which was about all we had) to go down and see what we could do to support her in the process.

We left Clinton as soon after lunch on Sunday as we could (which is why we weren’t at the Sunday Nights in the Neighborhood thing), and drove the 7+ hours to Dothan. On Monday and Tuesday, while the lovely wife helped Mom with the office, I attacked a short list of stuff that I could do around the house (all one has to do is to look at my office to know that I wouldn’t be much help in the organizational process … except maybe to lift heavy things). The two of them working together made some significant progress, but there were several things that time did not allow them to get to. Meanwhile, I repaired a light fixture, hung a picture on a brick wall, and completely rerouted all the power and data cables for the computer in the office. Wires are one thing I CAN organize and make very neat. In addition, there were still some final things (photos, etc.) from my grandparents’ house to deal with.

In the last few years of her almost 98-year life, Grandmother repeatedly admonished us all not to allow the house to sit unoccupied. “Get what you want, get rid of the rest, then sell the house so that someone can use it,” she said. It has taken longer than we expected for the scattered-all-over-the-place family to claim and remove the heirlooms we wanted. That process can be filled with incredible friction and can spark generational resentment in some families. I’m grateful that’s not the case in mine. I think something my sister said explains why: “I already have the things I really want from my grandparents, and no one can take those things away from me. The rest is nice to have, but it’s really just stuff.” That's not exactly how she said it, but it’s close enough; and it reminds me of something else Grandmother said when my Dad was reluctant to sell the 1973 Oldsmobile station wagon that was the vehicle for so many wonderful family trips when I was growing up: “Keep the memories. Get rid of the stuff.” All 4 of my grandparents left us great memories.

The estate sale was completed over the weekend and we were asked to do a walk-through on Tuesday. The walk through the now empty house was bittersweet and strange. I could almost hear the memories saying, “We can’t stay here much longer. You have to take us with you.” So that's what we're doing. The stuff is gone, but what really matters can never be taken away from us.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.

I'm baaaack ... sort of

OK, so I’m only partially back. I’m still trying to remember what it is that I actually do around here.

So many people have asked me if we had a good vacation, and the answer to that is: in a word, YES. We definitely had a very good vacation. We put close to 5,500 miles on the van, and irritated the stuffing out of each other (some of the time) while doing it. I don’t care how much you like other people, you get in a small space with 3 of your favorite people in the world (which is what we did) and stay with them for hours on end for 4 straight days, somebody’s going to get on somebody else’s nerves. It just happens. But we did it because this was the last summer in our lifetimes that we could really count on being able to go somewhere for an extended period of time as a family … and that’s a sobering thought we’re still trying to wrap our brains around.

I’m trying not to be too terribly obnoxious about this, but we were away from Clinton for 18 nights and only had to pay for lodging for 4 of them. The first and third nights of our trip, we stayed with my cousin Calvin in Franklin, TN, then with my cousin (in-law) Patty’s 101-year-old mother in Laramie. Frank and Patty’s house in Jackson, WY was our home base for some 9 days, punctuated by one overnight in Yellowstone National Park. I lived with them during the summer of 1982 and worked as a van driver for Barker-Ewing Whitewater. It was so good to reconnect with them and for Dawn and the boys to get to know them. Frank (Ewing, in case you’re wondering) pioneered whitewater rafting on the Snake River back in the early 1960’s.

Our return trip took us through South Dakota where we saw Mount Rushmore and the Badlands National Park … and Wall Drug … before stopping in Burnsville, MN where we stayed with one of our teenagers from our youth group in Ohio and her family. She's now in her 30s, so I feel old. I performed their wedding 12 years ago. We had lunch in Minneapolis with 2 sisters (now in their early 20s) from a family that was in our North Carolina church, then drove to Madison, WI and stayed overnight with their parents. From Madison we drove to Indianapolis (actually, Westfield) and stayed with a couple who were also in my Ohio church. She was our publications secretary. How incredible it was to reconnect with dear, dear friends some of whom we haven't seen for 20 years or so.

I’m extremely grateful for the time away and for all who filled in for me while I was gone. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Tara and to Mary Ann who took the reins of First Light and the Sanctuary Choir and led each service well. I didn’t worry about things with y’all in charge. Huge thanks!

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.