Weekend update

It's been a while since my last post, mostly because I have been preoccupied with other things. So to catch up, here's the latest:

1. Last Friday and Saturday I went salmon fishing for the first time with some of the guys from church along with my brother-in-law Buddy and my Dad. I caught 7 fish between the two days (the limit is 5 per day) and I have 11 filets left in the freezer. The days were like a Sabbath rest for me. Between the sunshine, the camaraderie, the fishing, and rocking of the boat on the waves, it was restorative to my soul.
   
2. I spent Wednesday night and Thursday this week with some friends picking up their son from DuQuoin Impact Incarceration Program, a Dept. of Corrections "boot camp" for young men who have run afoul of the law that a judge believes might benefit from another chance. I am certainly prayerful and hopeful that this young man will triumph over his former life, especially now that he has re-dedicated his life to Christ.
   
3. School's out now for the summer, though you wouldn't know it's summer given that it's a balmy 47 degrees and rainy today and we've had frost at least one night within this past week. I must say, I could really do with a little more of Al Gore's much-heralded global warming these days, especially this cold spring has followed the longest, coldest winter in recent memory.
   
4. My girls, Sara and Ashley, are going to enter 2nd grade and 1st grade, respectively, this fall. Where did the years go? The days of parenting pass slowly, at times, but the years accumulate more quickly than they should somehow.
   
5. I'm reading a new book, called Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be). One of the authors is a fellow Taylor grad, from the same small town in Indiana as Karen, and an old friend from years ago when we used to live in Indy with whom I had lost touch. It's great to see Ted succeeding, but it does make me feel a bit old when people I know are now successfully published authors with major Christian publishing houses. When did my generation become the establishment?
6. I'm not preaching this week because this weekend is the farewell for our long-time youth pastor, who is preaching his farewell sermon after nine years in ministry here. A sad and yet celebratory day in the life of our church...
7. A week from Sunday will be my 12th anniversary, so I'm busy finding the ideal way to communicate to my dear wife how much she means to me and how completely lost and lonely I would be without her. There aren't really words adequate to describe that, and despite a career as a writer and speaker (aka pastor), I still get tongue tied most of the time when I try to talk from the depths of the heart with her. So those of you reading can pray for me.