Another Weekend, Another Track Meet

Saturday Wesley competed at the Legends of Alachua County Meet in Gainesville. He jumped the long jump for the first time in a meet. His first jump was his best at 6.18m - this put him in the top 9 and qualified him for the finals. 

He jumped in the finals and finished up 6/9 for the day. So impressed with his first efforts in this event!

And Lydia came up to surprise him. We all went out to lunch afterwards to celebrate. 

 

All Around the Conference

I started the week at Wesley Memorial UMC in Fort Myers for worship and a church meeting. 

Then I drove to camp for time with the Board of Ordained Ministry. We did interviews on Monday and Tuesday in person. 

Kaylee Vida from our SW district was approved for ordination as an elder. 

Always glad to hang out with Roy Terry and Mike Weaver from the SW district at our board meetings. 

Such a privilege to serve in BOM Leadership with these amazing women (left to right: Carrie Mac our BOM secretary, Emily Hotho our Cabinet liaison, Latricia Scriven our BOM Chair, Susan Gray our BOM vice-chair and Holly Finley our OCE Manager) 

Super grateful for these folks who sered as our hospitality hosts: Elizabeth Flynn our BOM registrar, and Rev. David and Nancy McEntire. 

I made sure to get in lots of labyrinth time. 

I spent Wednesday in Lakeland at meetings in the conference office. Before I went home, I swung by to get a hug from the big boy at his apartment. 

 

Time at Camp

Back in Fruitland Park this week for Board of Ordained Ministry interviews. Praying for those clergy interviewing this week for provisional and full connection status. And praying for our board members for wisdom and discernment. 

 

Random Slices of Life

Sweet snuggle babies. Bella has finally learned to sleep in the large bed, which means Caspian and Fergus share the small one now. 

Some of my plants are blooming so pretty. 

 

Friday Fun

Daryl and I went on a nice long four mile walk on the Legacy Trail on Friday. 

We also took Bella and Fergus to the vet for their routine checkups. Everything was good. Bella loves the car ride and the vet and their chicken treats! She always astounds the vet office for old she is vs her puppylike attitude and how good her weight is. 

Fergus is never impressed by the vet's office. 

 

The Week In Review

For the last four years I have had a dedicated parking space at the District Office. But soon that parking lot will be reduced to accommodate a new playground at the church. When the construction is done, I have relinquished the need for a dedicated parking space since I travel so much. I'll be hiking over from the parking garage a couple of blocks away. 

This week I signed all the letters to thank the district churches for their 100% apportionment giving. 

This week I also was the featured author in the conference's daily devotional guide, Awakened to Grace. I wrote about the spiritual practice of Scripture reading. 

And today, we hosted our first district clergy gathering of the year at Grace UMC in Venice, where I got to preach. We also had presentations about dealing with adults with cognitive decline. 

It was a busy and good week! 

Tree Transformation

All the Christmas decor is down and instead we've put up Valentine's and Lunar New Year.  That means we still get the decorated tree up for the next month. Lunar New Year is the Year of the Horse and it starts on February 17.