CHECK IN FROM VERGAS MINNESOTA

Vacation….aaaaahhhhh.   The day began with a trip to Walworth Cemetary where my father was laid to rest a year ago.    Serenity there in the middle of a wheat field boardered by lakes and shelter belts of maple trees.   From there we hit the Vergas bait shop and then the lake.   Three pike and a rock bass later I grabbed my suit and went for a swim.     I look forward to this week all year long.    With no family in Michigan other than my kids I take real joy in being surrounded by them for a week in the land of my birth.    Vergas is a town of 250 or so.   The talk is all about fishing and farming.   We stay up late and play cards savoring a dinner of fish and fried potatoes.    It feels like the Sabbath I have been skipping and it feels really good.

I take along some reading for these weeks….it just looks good alongside my bed.    I am rereading The Shaping of Things to Come and my latest National Geographic along with some Leslie Newbigin.     Ministry types often fail at the balance thing….so this week I work at bringing a correction.   Tomorrow I swim across the lake (always do it once a year) and then we go skiing one more time.    The books will have to wait…..and they will.    Next week we will be back with the battery charged and a reminder not to skip Sabbath.    Yes.