Have you seen the movie "RV"?

With just our limited exposure to the RV lifestyle, we laughed our way through Robin Williams' antics in "RV"...what a lot of laughs! We were out this past weekend in Sweete Mille (our RV), camping at Westminster Woods Presbyterian Camp which belongs to the Presbytery of Southern Kansas. What a great time we had - just reading, relaxing, a bit of fishing, swatting mosquitoes, swearing at gnats, and plenty of quiet. That was a far cry from the 50,000 folks who packed into Cheney Reservoir, or the 48,000 at El Dorado Lake, our two nearest campgrounds! We are grateful for WW and their camping facilities! The few days made us realize how much we had missed our RV lifestyle, and we are eager to return to it - once again, fall in the Ozarks! Carla and her friends, Rich and Lesa, were down a week ago to speak to our Senior Adult Ministry on their American Red Cross experience. They presented an incredible slide show of their work as well as the devastation, and the hope for the future of the area. Rich and Lesa join Carla this Saturday to take the Senior Highs from Pine Ridge Pres back to the same area on a mission/work camp trip, and hopefully to see signs of progress in the last six months. Please pray for their health and safety during that week. We are off to Kansas City this evening - Carla has her Dad lined up for a couple of days of "daddy-do's" projects, mostly in the yard, while Mom will be doing some cooking and freezing of some low-sodium dishes to help Carla out. We look forward to seeing two of the young men who came to Midland on their mission trip a couple of years ago as well as to "Faces of Children" in Washington DC, who are coming to lend a hand tomorrow as well. AND we get to spend an evening at the Dinner Theatre, which is a favorite of ours...so it will be a fun couple of days. Take care, and God bless each of you. For your prayers, I am happy to report that I had lunch yesterday with our AP's wife, Carol, fighting breast cancer. It was a good day - today she is back for here chemo, mid-point through that now..please continue to lift her up. Our friend Ralph had his surgery this morning and is resting, perhaps not very comfortably - so remember him, please...and Carla and her mission trip.

Graduations are momentous occasions!

Today is graduation day for many - for us, we are thinking of one special young man who is graduating from Memorial High School in Edmond OK - our friend, David Bingham. We rejoice for David and his family - brother Grant, parents Barbara and Keith - and we are sad for ourselves because we are not there to share in his special day. When Jerry was called to Eastminster Church last year, we put David's graduation date on the calendar because now we would be close enough to attend - but that turned out not to be in God's plan. I got sick a week ago today, and it has been a very rough week..but I am happy to say that I am better and stronger, just not strong enough to make the trip to Oklahoma City this weekend. Whether we are there or not is just our loss, for David will be a high school graduate! The family photo was taken on Jerry's retirement weekend, when the Bingham family came to Midland for the celebration. Keith was chairman of the Pastor Nominating Committee that called us to FPC Midland - so I hope you can imagine just how special he is to us! At our welcoming reception in early 1993, David was 5 and brother Grant was crawling around the fellowship hall! So it has been our joy and treat to watch these young men grow and mature. We are proud of both of them. But today is truly David's day--and this is one surrogate grandmother who is very sad to be at home instead of watching him walk across the platform to receive his diploma! There is great excitement in our lives, as we know that the PNC is calling for a congregational meeting to extend a call to the candidate. By the next time I write, I will probably be able to give you definite dates. We are looking forward to being at home in Midland (alley cats again, however, as our house is rented!) We just had a phone visit from very dear old friends, Dave and Carol Carter - Dave and Jerry were both pastors in Hobart OK, both on their first pastorates. They are from Wellington KS, so we are looking forward to seeing them for a good visit over the Memorial Day weekend. However - I don't want Jerry spending too much time with Dave--he on his seventh (I think) interim, and its a poor example to set for Jerry, don't you think? Summer is here - its very hot in Wichita - the apartment pool is opened - Jerry teaches his last Bible Study class on Monday morning - Carla and colleagues will be here on Tuesday to do a program for the Senior Adults at our church on their American Red Cross experience last winter - and Jerry and I will celebrate our 43 years of marriage (how can that be?) All our love and prayers to each of you! Love, Mary

Reunion time!

Remember the old camp song "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold." How true! Over the years we have been blessed with multitudes of new friends..but this is a blog about the old ones! In 1955, I graduated from Pierre High School in Pierre SD. Three of us went on to the University of South Dakota and pledged our sorority together. I moved from South Dakota in the spring of 1957, and did not return for any of our high school reunions (including the 50th, which unfortunately was held just as Jerry was beginning his ministry in Wichita, so we could not get away.) All that changed this past weekend!!! Seven of us gathered in Yankton SD for a Spring Fling weekend at Mary Ellen's townhouse--two came from Pierre; and the others gathered from St. Paul MN, Sioux Falls SD, Oklahoma City, and Wichita. It was a marvelous weekend - the conversation was non-stop, as we caught up on each other's lives over the past fifty years (HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?), shared about our families, our jobs, our journeys, caught up on other classmates, and mostly played "Remember when..." and off we would go. It was interesting to me that my memory had to be jogged to bring some things back into focus. There is only one of you reading my blog who was a part of my life back then (unless my brother should happen to be reading it, which isn't likely!)..and our life has been such an exciting adventure filled with countless numbers of dear and special people in our five pastorates that sometimes I found I had to do some serious digging to pull up any recollections! (It wouldn't be my age, would it?) I know this photo is meaningless to you - but at least you could glance at it and say "why, none of you has changed one bit!" "Are you sure its been fifty years?" It was interesting to me that six of us were married to the same husbands all our lives...the 7th one has been married 25 years to her second husband...and two of the group were widowed. One was really a special reunion for me, because our families were close friends all during high school (and our parents' friendship went well beyond those days, as they used to get together when they wintered in the Scottsdale area in later years.) So - the reunion was marvelous, and I am so glad I attended. Further, the drive from Wichita to Yankton, which is straight up US 81, is a beautiful drive and a great road - the scenery was just magnificent. I look forward to Jerry and me making that trip in our RV one of these days. Also, Yankton College was a Congregational school that I seriously considered attending - and while it has gone the way of many small liberal-arts colleges and closed, the campus NEVER looked better as it is part of the SD Penal system! The grounds and buildings are immaculate! Our children are all out-and-about on adventures this week. Jo and Scott are back in their old stomping grounds of Chicago to celebrate Scott's Grandmother's 100 birthday. When Jo and Scott were married, the reception was held in Gram's huge backyard of her family home-a very special lady. Jo will also turn 41 on the same day, and they have tickets for a Cubs game on Friday, so life is good. Carla is at our beautiful conference grounds in Montreat NC attending the Annual Recreation Workshop (ARW) which has a great reputation and has been going on for many many years--I have some wonderful memories of attending ARW when I was in seminary. So - all my love to those of you who qualify as silver and/or gold friends!