My dear wife and I are concluding a wonderful time in Tennessee and regions thereabouts. As soon as I post this I'll dive into washing up, packing up, and moving out. Then it's back to California.
The last ten days have provided rich fodder for thought and action, and I plan to filter it through here and my own blog as soon as I can. A few highlights:
- The last two Sundays we had the great joy of ministering to and fellowshipping with the good folks of Calvary Community Church in Louisville, Tennessee. What a great bunch of folks, alive and enthused about the Word. It was a pleasure beginning to get to know them and our good brother (their pastor) Ted Steen.
- What a beautiful state Tennessee is, simply gorgeous. And we
were overrun with neither scorpions nor bears, contrary to reports! - I don't understand why everyone isn't 400 pounds plus, given the abundant and superb eateries. We did miss the chance to get some alligator in Kentucky, however, to my disappointment. Just didn't work out. Maybe next time?
- Together for the Gospel was a rich feast of another kind. We're still discussing, and re-listening to the addresses.
- Seeing the Johnsons and the Turks was delightful as always, and it gave me a lot of joy for my dear wife to get to know them some, and vice-versa.
- Of course I loved spending more time with my dear wife, apart from the hustle, the bustle, the busyness. No matter how much we love things we do at home, we still need those times apart and alone together. And now here I sit, inwardly stammering to express what a great lady my wife is and how I love her and marvel at her and thank God for her. But I think I'll leave it at that, for the moment.
- It was a pleasure to meet so many readers, from our beloved lurkers to fellow-bloggers. (It was encouraging to find that some lurkers have names you all would know!)
15 comments:
Are including Waffle House in the "superb eatery" category?
Unfortunately, most folks back there are 400 pounds plus. Fried stuff tends to do that to you, and believe me, I am a man who has yet to meet a fried food I don't like.
Fred
How often does one visit both Louisville, Kentucky and Louisville, Tennessee on the same trip? That's one for the trivia books.
Dan,
Thanks for the update. Thanks especially for stammering through being grateful and thanking God for your wife. It's something that all Christian men need to see modeled so we are exhorted to do the same. It's especially helpful to me since I'll be getting married in 3 months, and as I pray to be able to learn to "dwell with understanding."
I wish I could have made it down to T4G to finally meet you guys! Maybe next time.
Darlene told me how wonderful it was to meet your wife.
I wish I had been there, too!
"They said Californy is the place you ought to be, so Dan loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly..."
I never heard of scorpions in Tennessee. However, you might meet up with a humongous water moccasin. Southern Arkansas has a few gators, too.
Hey Dan, come to Columbus Nebraska. We have a restaurant here that serves gator tail. Probably imported, I'm guessing.
Honest to pete, I was going to order it once but first asked the not-so-bright waitress what it was like. She said, "It tastes kinda like chicken."
Gators schmators. As Daryl and the other Canadians here can attest, we wrestle grizzly bears with our bare hands up here—and that's just for breakfast.
Oh yeah? Well, Davy Crockett (from TN) once kil't 'im a bar when he was only three.
That's cool. The Steens are good friends. I'm up here in Wisconsin for school, but I can't wait to get back to the Southern hills of Tennessee.
Johnny — Are [you] including Waffle House in the "superb eatery" category?
No, but now that you mention it, I did notice an awful lot of them.
Did I miss something special?
(c;
Fred Butler — Unfortunately, most folks back there are 400 pounds plus
I would have expected that, but not so much at Calvary, where I preached. Which is all the more surprising, since we got to enjoy two of their potlucks. Those people do know how to put on a feed! Yet they're slim. The mystery deepens....
Mike Riccardi — Dude, that is the second-greatest transfiguration you'll ever know, and likely to be both the second-greatest blessing, and the second-greatest challenge! God bless you both.
Kim — Darlene told me how wonderful it was to meet your wife
That's nice to hear, thanks. Valerie and I were traveling with the Turks, and I was just taking joy in listening to our wives chat about homeschooling and all. I asked Frank if one of his greatest delights in life isn't just listening to his wife talk with other people, and enjoying that they're getting to see how great she is — as it is mine. He enthusiastically concurred.
The Steens are wonderful folks. I have had the privilege of speaking at Calvary a couple of times too, and thoroughly enjoyed my time with the church and the Steens. We are thankful to be a part of their ministry in Russia. Lord willing, Rick (my former roommate at TMS) will be home soon.
I assume you flew, but if not, have you planned your route for driving back?
We flew, we're back.
Knoxville to Denver, Denver to Sacto. Got home at about 9 PST, finally got to sleep 10:30ish, got up a few hours later, went to work.
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