day late

Sorry for those of you who follow my blog - didn't get to it yesterday...better late than never. The last 48 hours (almost) since church was over on sunday have been a whirlwind for Sara and i. We spent most of Sunday afternoon and evening in the air or in the Atlanta airport making our way to Phoenix AZ. Aside from a storm that delayed us in ATL we had a pretty good flying day (got to read most of a book on preaching that I brought along and looked over my sermons for the retreat). Our good ministry friends Cal and Lisa Jernigan picked us up at the luggage carousel and took us to their home in Mesa. It was 10:00 west coast time (which means it was way past my bed time in central zone) but we caught our second wind talking and sharing ministry and family. I found myself sitting under palm trees and a clear sky in 85 degree weather thinking how blessed I am. We were in bed by midnight but because we never seem to sleep right when we travel (what am i saying? I haven't slept right since mikey was born 20 years ago) and so we were up by 6:00...back to the back yard porch for morning Bible reading.

We spent all of Monday heading north with Cal (after starbucks of course:-) to see the place he and lisa are building in a place called Happy Jack AZ. their cabin is in the middle of a cool national forest and has great views. We will spend many happy times with them in this retreat place in the future. Then we headed to prescott AZ where i was to speak at this pastor's conference. (Is this getting boring to you yet?) Anyway, arrived in this old western frontier town famous for it's whisky row - lots of quaint shops and buildings and stuff - and made our way to the camp. We arrived by 3:30 and i was preaching by 4:00 - then to supper and back at it by 7:00. This is a great chance to hang out with other pastors and church leaders/staff members. I've tried to renew them in their love and passion for the Word of God! It is a hard thing to preach to preachers....they've heard it all before. All the more reason to hear it again in a fresh way! Anyway the preaching has gone well and Sara and I have had a chance to reconnect with lots of old friends. Talked to Danny Dodson, Karl (always forget his last name, but hey I know his first name which as you know is rare), some guys from old youth ministry days, Don Wilson, etc... Good to hear what God is doing in his church in AZ! Always humbled. Always blessed and honored to be a part of this preaching fraternity.

One great blessing in coming to Prescott is to hang out with our good friends Dave and Lori Coyne. We go back 21 years where he was my first intern at hill n dale christian church in lexington KY. What a great couple who are serving at this camp here (think they've been here for 8 years or something). Anyway again late last night we were sitting in their living room sharing life, parenting, ministry, laughing (mostly at Lori's ADD conversations which i easily follow) and loving one another in Christ.

Now, it's around 7:30 here and I'm sweeping by Prescott Starbucks (even cowboys drink $4 coffee) and heading to one last session before heading back down to the valley. Gonna be out here for the week, so maybe you'll get another blog out of me... by the way...it's supposed to be 99 degrees today (but it's a dry heat- like some sock in the clothes dryer)