Furry Friends

Caspian and Fergus really love each other. 

 

Saturday Fun

After a conference in Orlando this weekend, I got to spend a couple of hours with Parker in Epcot. We enjoyed several great food stops at the Food and Wine booths. 

We got to see the drummers in Japan and catch a couple of rides - Figment and then Nemo. 

 

After I dropped him off, he headed to InterCo stadium to see Orlando City play. He got to hang out with his college roommate Eddie and his family at the game. And OC won! 

Port Charlotte to Sarasota to Bradenton

Sunday I visited Gulf Cove UMC in Port Charlotte for worship as they celebrated their 42 anniversary and the completion of their Hurricane Ian repairs this year. Their pastor is Mike Weaver, who went to seminary with Daryl; they also started candidacy together in the old Fort Myers district. 

In the afternoon I was back there as they hosted the Charlotte County Mission Field Charge Conference with five churches total. 

As I left, I discovered this bird perched on the fountain in their lake. 

During the rest of the week, Lynn and I made visits to three smaller churches in the district to have some growth planning conversations. First stop, Friendship UMC in Punta Gorda. 

And I discovered they had a labyrinth near their prayer garden out back. 

Then we spent a day in Bradenton. We started off visiting at Faith UMC in the western part of Manatee County. 

And we finished up the day meeting with the folks at Manatee Life UMC in the central part of Manatee County. 

And in between we stopped off at Trinity UMC for some lunch and planning time. And I filmed the next several reels for the district social media pages. They had this awesome chalkboard art in the hallway - this is a line from a contemporary worship song that I love. 

 

 

Rays PostSeason

Parker and Wesley both got to attend the 2nd game of the Rays post-season home stand on Monday night. Parker went with one of his old college roommates Will and Wesley went with Lydia and her family. 

Wesley got this awesome video as they won and it was SO loud in the stadium. 

They got a selfie together after the victory!!!! 

 

Saturday Fun

Daryl, Wesley and Davis worked on unloading pumpkins at Grace UMC Venice today. They were hot and sweaty up in the truck. 

Meanwhile Parker and I met up at Madeleine Hill's 18th birthday party in Auburndale. 

 

Bradenton to Sebring and Venice

I spent a day in Bradenton at Trinity this week meeting with all the East Manatee Mission Field pastors. 

Then I spent a day in Sebring at our Nuevo Pacto mission to connect with all the North East Corner Mission Field pastors. This is Dr. Luz, the senior pastor at Nuevo Pacto, the founding pastor of the mission. 

A couple other days I spent at the office with meetings and Zoom. And then on Friday I attended the funeral for a retired clergy spouse who was a member at Grace UMC Venice. 

 

O-H-I-O for the Weekend

I flew into Columbus, Ohio on Thursday. I was able to sneak in a sunset walk at the Columbus Park of Roses before getting dinner and settling in at my hotel. 

On Friday morning I got up and went to the Learning Gardens with a labyrinth at Ohio State University. And I traded in my usual Starbucks for a macchiato from Tim Horton's!

Then it was time to drive over to Camden, Ohio, and the real purpose of my visit. I was asked to officiate the wedding of one of the youth from Faith UMC in Hudson. Miss Rael was one of the first non-family babysitters for the boys and we attended a lot of her middle school basketball games. She and her fiance Wes live in Liberty Indiana but the wedding was at a venue called Timeless Charms just over the border in Ohio. 

We ended up at Wes' parents' house for the rehearsal dinner and it was a beautiful full moon night. After dinner we made s'mores out at the firepit. 

Then on Saturday, it was time for the wedding. I helped Rael's mom Leslie and her best friend Cory set up the reception space and hung out with the bride and the bridesmaids. We had all stayed at the venue the night before in a big rental house. The gorgeous arch here was welded by Wes' dad and decorated by his mom. They also made the doors that the bridal party entered through. 

It was so very special to be part of Rael's big day. 

Rael with her mom. 

Rael and Wesley had a great group of friends surrounding them and supporting them.

Leslie and I at the reception. 

Rael and Leslie had a sweet Mother/Daughter dance and Rael gave her bouquet to her mom for all of her support. 

And this was the star of the wedding. I didn't get a picture of him in his tuxedo, but Cooper came down the aisle at just the right time with the rings in a box on his collar. He is the very best behaved dog. 

Sunday morning I drove back to Columbus in time to hang out with some of my Larger family members. It's been 30 years since I've seen my Uncle Tom and Aunt Patty (and he is my godfather). 

We met up at their daughter Rebecca's house - I visited with Becca last year and it was so good to catch up with her and her boys again. These are her younger two David and Jacob - both in middle school and soon to be taller than me.