Wednesday, May 28, 2008

My Summer in Airports


Memorial Day is considered by many to be the official start of summer. Last year I was able to do very little traveling over the summer and it was wonderful. I actually got to enjoy the summer. This year will be the exact opposite. By the time summer is over, I will have logged quite a few days in airports and miles in the air. Here are the travel details as they stand now:

June 18-21: Laura and I will be taking a trip to spend a little bit of time with one of our potential candidates for our Pastor of Connections position here at Grace as well as their spouse. This is not a formal interview but rather simply a time to get to know the couple and to get a gauge on what kind of chemistry we might have in ministry together and how they would interact with and fit into our current staff team.

June 24-27: Laura and I will make another trip just like the one above to spend time with another potential candidate for our Pastor of Connections position. Please be praying about these trips as it is a critical decision for the future direction of our church.

July 8-16: This will be our family vacation out in Colorado visiting with Laura’s side of the family. With the costs of flights skyrocketing due to fuel increases, we will be doing some “red-eye” traveling in order to get tickets that are somewhat reasonable in costs. I believe coming back we leave Denver at 12:30am and arrive in Philly at 6:30am.

July 24-31: I will be flying to Tampa, Florida for our Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches Adult Conference. The extra nice part about this is that my parents live in Lakeland, which is just about an hour from Tampa, so I will be able to visit with them. I really appreciate your prayers on Monday, July 28, as I have the opportunity to speak in the morning session of the conference. Pastor Willard, Pastor Tim, and Matt McElravy will also be attending this conference.

August 12-14: This will be the only summer trip that we will drive for as we take our duaghter, Joy, down to Lynchburg, VA to get her settled in for her first semester as a student at my alma mater, Liberty University. We will also appreciate your prayers as a family as we make this transition from having a High School daughter to a daughter in college.

October 29-November 12: I know this is beyond summer but this will be our 15-day trip to Egypt, Jordan and Israel. We will be with a group of 55 people (including both of our parents) led by Pastor Dan Travis of the Palmyra Grace Brethren Church. We will take a bus to the airport in Washington DC and from there we fly to JFK to catch our connecting flight which is a nonstop flight to Cairo, Egypt. We will then return out of Tel Aviv, Israel back to Washington DC through Atlanta.

So…American, Northwest, US Airways and Delta…I think we are going to become very good friends over these summer months. Thanks for your prayers, Grace Church, for a relaxing, yet ministry productive summer.

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