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Its costly to leave the island, and in light of the recent conference I found that the cheapest plane tickets afforded me the chance to spend a few days back home in Wisconsin. It has been about a year since I left Eleuthera, and that is a long time on such a small piece of land. I really enjoyed my time back with mom and dad, however I admit that it would have been nice to have Emily and Micah there too.
One thing that I knew I was going to encounter and yet still didn’t plan for was the cold. It was stinking cold! And I know, I’m totally complaining because its really not even that cold yet. After five layers of warmth I had no problem with the cold, then after a couple of days, I really loved the cold. I was actually surprised how fast I reacclimatized to my roots. It was wonderful being home.
My dad and I basically worked 2 straight days on adding on a piece to the shed. It would serve as a covering for when the heavy snows come next month. We had a lot of fun, mixing cement for the footers, measuring out the dimensions and basically putting the project together in our minds and then executing it into the real world.
I got to speak at church on Saturday and Sunday during my time home. It was precious reminder of my home church’s affect on the calling on my life. From when I was only a boy to now when I’ve got a little boy of my own, my pastor and church have been a beacon of encouragement. I was thankful to have the opportunity to once again report back what God has been doing with our mission at Windermere and at our church here on Eleuthera. There also more talk in the church about sending another team down over spring break, so we’ll be looking forward to that.
The real reason for my trip back to the US was the conference in Iowa, and during my trip I stopped in the city of Des Moines and met with one of the churches that comes to Windermere every summer. It was a total surprise blessing to see everyone (almost everyone) who came down on the the summer team in their home setting. You never really know the context that folks come from when they arrive on the island, so it was really cool to see their church in action and watch how those same people who gave of their money and time to be a blessing to us over here are also the same people who really give of their money and time at the church to make ministry happen. I look forward to this coming summer as we continue to build our relationship with them.
Finally, my old college and seminary roommate and his wife, Mike and Annie Kibbe, live in Chicago. So on my way back to the rental car drop off, Mike picked me up and was so kind to give me a place to stay for the night and a ride back to the airport in the morning. I got to meet their baby boy Sean for the first time and it was such a treat to spend time with them.
All in all, this trip would have been amazing just in the conference, but all the additional blessings of seeing family and friends made it very special. Thank you to everyone who partners with us and is such a blessing to our family and ministry.