The title of this blog post isn't original to me. I actually stole it from Anita Renfroe. If you've never heard of Anita Renfroe then you'll just have to "google" her to learn more about her. She's hilarious. Anyway, once again, for I guess the 6th?? year in a row Lindy let me preach on a Sunday morning. That's right, the not your average pastor's wife was actually allowed to speak to everyone again on Mother's Day. The title of my message was the title of this blog post and you'll have to listen to it or watch it to get it.
I've had several people ask me where to access the audio or video of my Mother's Day message so rather than continuing to send out texts or individual emails I thought I would just post the info on here and then link it to Facebook.
If you want to watch it--that's right, Restoration Church entered the 21st century quite a while ago--you can go to our ustream site. You can find it at our ustream channel
If you would prefer to listen to it then you can simply go to http://www.myrestorationchurch.org/ and click on the Podcast link at the right. Select the sermon you want and listen away. (Jac and I listened to it on my iPhone on our recent road trip. I used a lot of "Jac" illustrations so he was excited to hear it since he was working in Kids' Church that morning).
Lastly, if you were actually present at church that morning and heard my opening about the various "Lindys" then I must apologize for missing one of the best ones--"Game Lindy." Our worship pastor, Russell, brought it to my attention immediately. Game Lindy is very competitive and I learned early on--even before we got married--that I had better get thicker skin or always play on his team. Jose came up with a new Lindy known as Indy Lindy. Indy Lindy gets where he's going quickly and is a nicer version of Traffic Lindy.
That's all I'll share for now. If you want the rest of the story then watch or listen.
Summer 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
My Journey to Israel and Jordan--A Trip of a Lifetime...Or Was It
When I told friends and family that I was planning to go to Israel I heard many times, "Wow! That will be a trip of a lifetime." At first I agreed with them, but even before I left to travel overseas my feeling about the whole "trip of a lifetime" thing changed. Once I had actually been in the Middle East for a couple days I realized that the reason my feelings changed was that I knew that this would NOT be a trip of a lifetime for me. Instead, I am hopeful that this will only mark my FIRST trip to Israel and Jordan. It was a wonderful, life-changing, expensive trip but I was only there a few days before I realized that every dollar spent would be well worth it. For all we experienced including the wonderful hotels we stayed in, the food we ate, the awe-inspiring sights we took in, the organization and leadership of the trip; it was a worthwhile investment of our money.
When Lindy traveled to Israel and Jordan four years ago I wasn't so hip to the idea at first. In fact I think I told him he was out of his mind for even considering it. Security was my primary concern, but I got to see firsthand that Israel is probably the safest place to travel in the world. And guess what!! They don't even make you succumb to the ridiculous task of taking off your shoes in the airport. More on that later. But, just know for now, that if security and safety are concerns for you in traveling to Israel..don't be; concerned, that is.
Lindy and I were part of a group of 24 people who traveled together. Six of us were from our church, six were from another church in St. Louis, ten were from Tulsa, and two from Arizona. I have to say first off, and I said it several times while on the trip, that one of my favorite parts of the whole trip was getting to know this group of people. We were with this group of people for 16 days from sun up to sun down. We ate our meals with them, traveled on a bus with them for hours and hours, walked miles and miles with them; and I loved every minute of it. I thoroughly enjoy getting to know new people and talking about their lives so this complete traveling entrenchment in each others' lives for this brief period in time was a delight to me. It was interesting that we had two nurses, one nurse practitioner, one pharmacist, and one retired eye surgeon on the trip. (I'm counting myself as one of the nurses for those of you who don't think of me as a real nurse).
One couple, Richard and Shirley, have traveled all over the world. Richard told us that this trip marked the 65th country that he has visited. Wow!! He retired from the national park system and he had wonderful pieces of information to share with us. For all you St. Louisans, you'll be interested to know that when he worked in St. Louis and was in charge of the formerly known "VP Fair" they learned that if they covered all the mirrors in the women's restrooms it eliminated the lines. Hilarious and ingenious. His wife, Shirley, is an amazing cancer survivor and I really enjoyed the time spent with her hearing about all of her volunteer work. Richard is a serious bird watcher and spent the month of February in Ethiopia watching birds. Wow!! That's serious.
One of the couples from Tulsa were Tony and Denise. Sometimes...oftentimes...when I'm learning people's names I will make up a nickname for them so that I can learn their names. Tony became "Tony Long Lens" to me because of his camera with the enormous zoom lens that he carried everywhere we went. Literally, I don't think I saw Tony Long Lens without his camera, except at dinner. Long about the last day I asked him if I could feel how heavy it was and the thing had to weigh all of 10 pounds or more. I'm thankful he carried it though because he took some amazing pictures. I did recommend a chiropractic adjustment for him upon his return home. His wife, Denise, works at the QuikTrip corporate office and has for 25 years. She was on a mandatory four-week sabbatical that is required for all employees after 25 years. That is seriously cool and I hope she is enjoying her last two weeks of sabbatical.
Tony's Dad, Al, and his wife, Stephanie, were also on the trip. Al is retired from the QuikTrip corporation. I really enjoyed seeing Al and Stephanie holding hands and being so loving with each other throughout the trip. It was their second trip to Israel and I enjoyed hearing about their previous trip. Denise and Stephanie served as the free Wifi scouts which was much appreciated by the rest of us.
Dick and Diane were a couple from Tulsa as well. Dick is a retired eye surgeon and Lindy had great fun quizzing him endlessly at dinner one night. Dick is a quiet guy but has a great sense of humor and was also lending a helping hand to the ladies. Diane was a woman after my own heart as she would get this little gleam in her eye anytime the word "shopping" was mentioned. One afternoon when part of the group was shopping in the Old City of Jerusalem it was told to me that Diane would see something she wanted and say, "Dick, five dollars!" "Dick, five dollars!" He dutifully forked over the cash and she had a great time shopping for souvenirs. I loved her.
David and Pam were also from Tulsa and were not new to overseas travel. I would LOVE to go on the three-week trip to Aruba that they took. They have traveled a lot and more than once I told Lindy that I want us to be like them when we retire--jetting all over the world. Pam also had serious fashion sense and I think I complimented her every day on her outfits.
Nancy and Leann left their husbands behind in Tulsa and had a great time with the group. Turns out Nancy is a good friend of one of my nursing classmates at ORU. It was so nice to hear about Jenny and have a connection with Nancy on the other side of the world. Leann was truly one of the kindest people I have ever met. She was always thanking someone for something and she had such a calm and soothing presence about her. Those two were quite a pair and I gathered along the way that they must have promised their husbands that they wouldn't let the other out of their sight because they were never far from each other.
Cho and Theo were two ladies from St. Louis who go to church together, work out at the Y together, and generally are wonderful friends and fun people to be around. Cho left her husband at home and Theo is widowed so the two of them roomed together and gave all of us a lot of laughs. Theo proudly told us that she was the oldest person on the trip and you honestly never would have known it. I attribute it to her good Greek genes and her time spent consistently at the Y. She didn't just keep up with us, she could have led the pack without a problem. Cho was a delight to be around and it was really exciting when we ran into groups from Korea because she is a Korean-American. Cho will also be traveling to Korea later this year.
Sue was the brave lady who stayed by herself in a room but this was the only solitude she got. :) We traveled like a pack of wolves together. It was fun to talk to Sue as she is an oncology nurse practitioner and has worked for the same employer for 24 years. Amazing!! Sue just has a calming presence about her and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and spending time with her.
Herb is a pharmacist and has worked for his employer for 15 years. Herb has a lot of spiritual insight and it was interesting hearing about his upbringing in the far reaches of Missouri where they still have party lines in operation. Herb had a touch of heat exhaustion one day but after hours of sleep he was raring to go the next day.
Roberto, Teresa, Sue, and Shirley are from our church so we already knew them fairly well but it was nice to get to spend time with them and get acquainted with them on a deeper level. Sue had some problems with her foot and didn't get to go out with us each day, but we were thankful for the times she did get to see all of the sights. She always had a positive outlook though.
Roberto and Teresa could always be found together, except when we thought we had lost Roberto in the market area in Jerusalem. He was just having a good old time shopping, but I'm sure Teresa was already trying to form the words she would use when she talked to Susie and Mickie. "Well, your father was at this open-air market in Jerusalem on the afternoon of the Sabbath where it was shoulder-to shoulder people and...." Fortunately, Roberto materialized with souvenirs in hand.
Shirley was an absolute riot on this trip and I know it wouldn't have been the same for me without her. She kept up with us and shared a lot of memories from her last trip to Israel with her dearly departed husband, Everett. More on Shirley later.
John and Connie were the leaders of our trip. This was John's 32nd trip to Israel and I believe it was Connie's 12th trip. Let me just say that I was so impressed with the planning of this trip and how each day was organized. I know it had much to do with John's experience and his planning of this trip. I'm sure much of it also had to do with Connie's input as well. The eventual plan is for Lindy to start leading trips to Israel so I was so grateful to see such a well-planned, organized trip. That doesn't happen by accident. I also got to see Connie's role in the trip and I asked a lot of questions. No big surprise there. Lindy and I left a day earlier than the rest of the group so that Lindy wouldn't miss a third Sunday at church and I wore it as a badge of honor when John told me that I was a "good traveler." Now that may not seem like a big deal to you, but when it's coming from a man who's lead 32 trips I'm going to accept the compliment like it's a big deal. Trust me. There are pastors' wives who I would not want to try to lead across the street, much less around the world. We can be a challenging bunch, but that's a blog post for another day. Connie said I was a "lot of fun." I was proud of that too. I try to bring the fun wherever I go so I enjoyed hearing that. John made the entire trip look effortless, and I know it wasn't, but I look forward to trying to emulate the success they have had in leading trips.
Now that you know a little about the people I was traveling with, and I hope they enjoy reading little tidbits about themselves, I'll share with you about the trip...in my next post. Once I started writing I realized I had too much to say for one post. Check back for Part 2.
When Lindy traveled to Israel and Jordan four years ago I wasn't so hip to the idea at first. In fact I think I told him he was out of his mind for even considering it. Security was my primary concern, but I got to see firsthand that Israel is probably the safest place to travel in the world. And guess what!! They don't even make you succumb to the ridiculous task of taking off your shoes in the airport. More on that later. But, just know for now, that if security and safety are concerns for you in traveling to Israel..don't be; concerned, that is.
Lindy and I were part of a group of 24 people who traveled together. Six of us were from our church, six were from another church in St. Louis, ten were from Tulsa, and two from Arizona. I have to say first off, and I said it several times while on the trip, that one of my favorite parts of the whole trip was getting to know this group of people. We were with this group of people for 16 days from sun up to sun down. We ate our meals with them, traveled on a bus with them for hours and hours, walked miles and miles with them; and I loved every minute of it. I thoroughly enjoy getting to know new people and talking about their lives so this complete traveling entrenchment in each others' lives for this brief period in time was a delight to me. It was interesting that we had two nurses, one nurse practitioner, one pharmacist, and one retired eye surgeon on the trip. (I'm counting myself as one of the nurses for those of you who don't think of me as a real nurse).
One couple, Richard and Shirley, have traveled all over the world. Richard told us that this trip marked the 65th country that he has visited. Wow!! He retired from the national park system and he had wonderful pieces of information to share with us. For all you St. Louisans, you'll be interested to know that when he worked in St. Louis and was in charge of the formerly known "VP Fair" they learned that if they covered all the mirrors in the women's restrooms it eliminated the lines. Hilarious and ingenious. His wife, Shirley, is an amazing cancer survivor and I really enjoyed the time spent with her hearing about all of her volunteer work. Richard is a serious bird watcher and spent the month of February in Ethiopia watching birds. Wow!! That's serious.
One of the couples from Tulsa were Tony and Denise. Sometimes...oftentimes...when I'm learning people's names I will make up a nickname for them so that I can learn their names. Tony became "Tony Long Lens" to me because of his camera with the enormous zoom lens that he carried everywhere we went. Literally, I don't think I saw Tony Long Lens without his camera, except at dinner. Long about the last day I asked him if I could feel how heavy it was and the thing had to weigh all of 10 pounds or more. I'm thankful he carried it though because he took some amazing pictures. I did recommend a chiropractic adjustment for him upon his return home. His wife, Denise, works at the QuikTrip corporate office and has for 25 years. She was on a mandatory four-week sabbatical that is required for all employees after 25 years. That is seriously cool and I hope she is enjoying her last two weeks of sabbatical.
Tony's Dad, Al, and his wife, Stephanie, were also on the trip. Al is retired from the QuikTrip corporation. I really enjoyed seeing Al and Stephanie holding hands and being so loving with each other throughout the trip. It was their second trip to Israel and I enjoyed hearing about their previous trip. Denise and Stephanie served as the free Wifi scouts which was much appreciated by the rest of us.
Dick and Diane were a couple from Tulsa as well. Dick is a retired eye surgeon and Lindy had great fun quizzing him endlessly at dinner one night. Dick is a quiet guy but has a great sense of humor and was also lending a helping hand to the ladies. Diane was a woman after my own heart as she would get this little gleam in her eye anytime the word "shopping" was mentioned. One afternoon when part of the group was shopping in the Old City of Jerusalem it was told to me that Diane would see something she wanted and say, "Dick, five dollars!" "Dick, five dollars!" He dutifully forked over the cash and she had a great time shopping for souvenirs. I loved her.
David and Pam were also from Tulsa and were not new to overseas travel. I would LOVE to go on the three-week trip to Aruba that they took. They have traveled a lot and more than once I told Lindy that I want us to be like them when we retire--jetting all over the world. Pam also had serious fashion sense and I think I complimented her every day on her outfits.
Nancy and Leann left their husbands behind in Tulsa and had a great time with the group. Turns out Nancy is a good friend of one of my nursing classmates at ORU. It was so nice to hear about Jenny and have a connection with Nancy on the other side of the world. Leann was truly one of the kindest people I have ever met. She was always thanking someone for something and she had such a calm and soothing presence about her. Those two were quite a pair and I gathered along the way that they must have promised their husbands that they wouldn't let the other out of their sight because they were never far from each other.
Cho and Theo were two ladies from St. Louis who go to church together, work out at the Y together, and generally are wonderful friends and fun people to be around. Cho left her husband at home and Theo is widowed so the two of them roomed together and gave all of us a lot of laughs. Theo proudly told us that she was the oldest person on the trip and you honestly never would have known it. I attribute it to her good Greek genes and her time spent consistently at the Y. She didn't just keep up with us, she could have led the pack without a problem. Cho was a delight to be around and it was really exciting when we ran into groups from Korea because she is a Korean-American. Cho will also be traveling to Korea later this year.
Sue was the brave lady who stayed by herself in a room but this was the only solitude she got. :) We traveled like a pack of wolves together. It was fun to talk to Sue as she is an oncology nurse practitioner and has worked for the same employer for 24 years. Amazing!! Sue just has a calming presence about her and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and spending time with her.
Herb is a pharmacist and has worked for his employer for 15 years. Herb has a lot of spiritual insight and it was interesting hearing about his upbringing in the far reaches of Missouri where they still have party lines in operation. Herb had a touch of heat exhaustion one day but after hours of sleep he was raring to go the next day.
Roberto, Teresa, Sue, and Shirley are from our church so we already knew them fairly well but it was nice to get to spend time with them and get acquainted with them on a deeper level. Sue had some problems with her foot and didn't get to go out with us each day, but we were thankful for the times she did get to see all of the sights. She always had a positive outlook though.
Roberto and Teresa could always be found together, except when we thought we had lost Roberto in the market area in Jerusalem. He was just having a good old time shopping, but I'm sure Teresa was already trying to form the words she would use when she talked to Susie and Mickie. "Well, your father was at this open-air market in Jerusalem on the afternoon of the Sabbath where it was shoulder-to shoulder people and...." Fortunately, Roberto materialized with souvenirs in hand.
Shirley was an absolute riot on this trip and I know it wouldn't have been the same for me without her. She kept up with us and shared a lot of memories from her last trip to Israel with her dearly departed husband, Everett. More on Shirley later.
John and Connie were the leaders of our trip. This was John's 32nd trip to Israel and I believe it was Connie's 12th trip. Let me just say that I was so impressed with the planning of this trip and how each day was organized. I know it had much to do with John's experience and his planning of this trip. I'm sure much of it also had to do with Connie's input as well. The eventual plan is for Lindy to start leading trips to Israel so I was so grateful to see such a well-planned, organized trip. That doesn't happen by accident. I also got to see Connie's role in the trip and I asked a lot of questions. No big surprise there. Lindy and I left a day earlier than the rest of the group so that Lindy wouldn't miss a third Sunday at church and I wore it as a badge of honor when John told me that I was a "good traveler." Now that may not seem like a big deal to you, but when it's coming from a man who's lead 32 trips I'm going to accept the compliment like it's a big deal. Trust me. There are pastors' wives who I would not want to try to lead across the street, much less around the world. We can be a challenging bunch, but that's a blog post for another day. Connie said I was a "lot of fun." I was proud of that too. I try to bring the fun wherever I go so I enjoyed hearing that. John made the entire trip look effortless, and I know it wasn't, but I look forward to trying to emulate the success they have had in leading trips.
Now that you know a little about the people I was traveling with, and I hope they enjoy reading little tidbits about themselves, I'll share with you about the trip...in my next post. Once I started writing I realized I had too much to say for one post. Check back for Part 2.
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