We spent the afternoon and a good part of the evening at Gray's beach yesterday. A totally relaxed time. fished later in the day, and caught 6 Croaker and 2 catfish. Shocked myself by catching one of the catfish and two of the Croakers. Oh, and one 18-inch log! (and man, did it put up a fight!) ;-)  

fishing pole: $15.00
swimming trunks: $10.00
swimming shoes: $ 5.00
baja: $15.00 (14 years ago)
A genuinely thrilled 7-year-old sitting by your side and carrying on a quiet conversation about nothing in particular: priceless.

The Royal Ambassadors group from Beulah Church, UP the road from us (about 10 minutes in the opposite direction from White Stone, which is ... oh, 30 minutes to the southeast of us ... so Danny Maupin and these guys and their leader drove for nearly an HOUR to get to the gathering. it was great having them join us. Hopefully they'll do it more often -- and won't have to drive too far!  

Usually someone will volunteer to read scripture. Sunday I ended up reading, which was fine ... it's nice though, when there is broader participation. 

Cecilia, finding the passage for the day - Matthew 28:16-20 (The Great Commission) 

Paty and ... hoo boy, i'm drawin' a blank on his name ... free time, then the meal, then the devotional...  

the communion table at White Stone 

this past sunday we had a gathering at White Stone Church. Caleb took this picture at some point in the afternoon. i thought the composition was pretty cool for a six year old. 

Team members and respective spouses: Doug (and Lea), Carolyn (and David), Leslie (and I), Sandra (and Gary)

Here they are: Carolyn, Doug, Leslie and Sandra.

the kids ... and there are ... 5 others total from the families that couldn't make it ... that means there are 2 families with 4, two families with 3, two families with 2, and one family with one child each ... i THINK that was the math ... let's see ... from left to right, front to back: Joshua Redden, Emily Redden, Garrett Stanley, Karen Coppage, Hannah Park, Micah Redden, Abigail Stanley, Caleb & Judson Park, and Sam Redden (with his Mom Caroline) ...  

Abigail, AKA the bandida, and her evil sidekick, ... panchita ... aka judson ... funny, kids never met a stranger ... :-)  

Sandra and Carolyn ...

this weekend we're hosting MOST of the original GodSpeed Summer Missions Team from 1984. A couple of them couldn't make it, but the remaining 4, with their families, have spent last night, today, and will be here through tomorrow afternoon just BEING together and enjoying each other's company. it's been a blast to watch the old jokes fly, and to hear the memories and the laughter. It's one of those things where you REALLY wish the WHOLE crew could be together. There's incredible meaning in reunions like this, just like there was when the Center Street gang got together at Christmas of '03 in Louisville (see archives) ... but there's always a sense of something missing when it isn't everyone. so for that, we send our love and best wishes to Martha and Bekers. (or however you spell that!) :-)

it's been an interesting week.

mother's day went fine ... had the encuentro sunday evening with a visiting pastor from costa rica bringing the devotional, and it turned out to be something more than what folks were used to hearing from me. it was much more evangelistic, much more emotional, much more animated than i usually am.

three women responded. one just had her baby boy prematurely, and he is still in the NICU in richmond, she developed severe preaclampsia, and her mother went up with her. she'll be dealing with high blood pressure for the rest of her life. the other woman is also pregnant and has developed gestational diabetes. they are all dealing with huge life events ... so there were lots of tears.

after it was over, i took 4 of the guys who came back to their workplace in white stone, 45 minutes away, and we had a chance to debrief from the evening. the concensus with them was that it was a little too much, a little too forced ... even confusing at times (the pastor did some jumping around in scripture, something that most of the folks who come to the gatherings are not accustomed to doing), and in reviewing his points and going on to the next, it ended up being a little repetitive for them.

today, i took the one who is due in june to a couple of dr's appointments in richmond, and we talked about the evening on the way over and some on the way back. she said it was an amazing experience for her. the pastor and his wife came out to her where she was sitting and prayed over her. she said she'd WANTED to go forward, but couldn't. she came away feeling ... not so alone, not so isolated, she felt like she was safe ... with the people who were there. it was about as diametrically an opposed reaction to the preaching as it could be from what the men experienced.

we're having the floors redone on the lower level over at church, and i went to look at them and they look GREAT.

cancelled the two meetings that were scheduled for tonight in part due to probable low turnout (a committee meeting (of which more than half the members are ill or were not going to be able to attend) and children's choir practice), so we have an evening to just be a familiy.

and maybe, just maybe, do a little straightening up of the house in preparation for the crowd that is coming to spend the weekend with us (Leslie's teammates from her summer missions team in college ... way back in 1984)

grace & peace

Kenny

ps: did i mention that i took one of our hispanic women to the hospital in fredericksburg friday morning? she called at 1 AM to tell me her water broke, she'd been having contractions since 7, and the man she was hoping would be able to take her was not going to be able to? i got to her place and picked her and her cousin up and we got to the hospital about 20 minutes before 3, and her son was born at 3 on the dot.

that's 3 for Leslie, 1 for me.

sheesh!

In the interest of brevity ... there's a post by Martin Tiller (Thoughts of a Minister) that puts into words what I've been feeling as I've been watching and hearing the Judicial Filibuster issue discussed in the news ...

I am seriously mystified ... I get the impression that a majority of Christians in this nation are following the religious right leadership ... like sheep to the slaughter. I KNOW these are thinking, feeeling people who understand the complexities of the democratic process ...

or at least i HOPE they are.

I KNOW there are multitudes of people of faith who DISAGREE with what is being done.

I can't help but hear echoes of what happened in the beginning days of the Fundamentalist takeover of the SBC ...

http://matthew61.blogspot.com/2005/04/judges-2-attack-of-phantom-religious.html#comments