The Month Ahead

I am not one to wish my life away, hoping for time to hurry past, but I am really looking forward to the month of June.

June begins with a much needed vacation in ... yeah, you guessed it -- Mexico!  Chris and I will be vacationing alone for the first time since we've had kids.  Aaron will be in Ozark for a friend's wedding. We'll miss seeing him, but we're glad that Hannah won't be home alone. (It's hard to stop being a concerned parent, even though your kids are young adults!)

As soon as we get back, I have an evening appointment at our Tri County Association Kid's Camp.  Even though I'll miss camp this year, I get to come in on Thursday evening and share the salvation story with the kids and their families.  Then mid-June finds me at our own Hopedale Baptist Kid's Camp for the weekend of June 17-20. I am incredibly blessed to get to be camp pastor for another year and am really looking forward to having the dads participate in our Sunday afternoon events on Father's Day. Dads will get to experience the water challenges that their kids keep coming back for, year after year! (I'm hoping that we'll have some of the dads wanting to come back next year as workers!)

Tuesday, June 21st, will find me in Branson MO for the MB125 Celebration. It is a conference/getaway for Missouri Baptist pastors (and their families) that pastor churches with Sunday morning attendance of 125 or less.  I think that I'm looking forward to this event as much as anything I've ever done.  What an honor to get to give a little something to these servants of our Lord and Savior!  I'll be entertaining them after Tuesday evening dinner.  This isn't an outreach event so it will be a little bit different than what I usually do. I'll get to relax and just have a great time of sharing some magic, having a few laughs, and thanking them for their Kingdom service.

The last Sunday evening of the month I'll make a return trip to the First Baptist Church of Laurie MO for their VBS kickoff. It's always a great feeling to be asked back to a church for a second time! VBS kickoff events are always full of energy and anticipation. What a grand way to end the month!

To top all of that off, each Sunday morning that I'm able to be at Hopedale, I get to teach the senior high school boys' Sunday School class.  These are great young men that are really maturing in their Christian faith.

I'll try to keep up with the blogging. I owe a book review to author Tom Blubaugh for his recently published Night of the Cossack (It's coming, Tom. I promise!), and there are a couple of other things on my list of things to blog about.   (btw, Night of the Cossack is available for download to your Nook or Kindle!)
All in due time.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. Remember the sacrifices that were made so that we can enjoy the freedoms (and responsibilities) that we enjoy in the US of A.
...And let's have a grand June!

John <><