Vacation

The blog has been quiet for the past few days because we've been on a family vacation. Last Friday we packed up the kids in the van and headed up to Cincinnati. We spent the weekend with the Marshalls and some other friends and then left for Minnesota on Monday morning. After a stop-over in Chicago to see Amber's relatives, we arrived at my brother's house yesterday afternoon. You might think 1900 miles with three kids would leave us on the border of insanity, but it was actually a fairly pleasant trip. How? Plenty of stops, videos, ipod, and manageable distances each day.

Our time in Cincinnati was enjoyable as usual. The Marshall's hospitality was superb and we got some extended hangout time with Amy Palmer and Micah, the Beans, and the Johnsons. On Sunday night, I sat in on the house church Chris leads with some of his former students. We talked about the kingdom. Enough said. Actually, I will say that Chris Marshall is one guy I really admire for being willing to take a lot of heat for preaching the message of God's kingdom. Not fun stuff, but what is fun is seeing the life and energy being released by those kids as they "get it". What "it" is, is laying aside the religious baggage their school or some of their parents have laid on them and learning that being a Christian means following Jesus. Chris' example has been a big part of their transformation.

Tomorrow I hop on a plane and head back to SoFla. Amber and the kids will stay here for a few weeks and then I'll fly back on the 21st to drive them home. During my time in "solitude", I plan to do some writing and give a lot of attention to what God has been doing with me internally lately. Between that and work, I shouldn't get too lonely, but I will miss the family. Pray for Amber and Alison (my sister in law) if you think about it that they have a smooth time with the kids.