Retirement--again!

Today was our last Sunday at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita KS...it was a glorious day. Jerry preached from Philippians 4, on rejoicing - we were recognized at the close of each of the services, the congregations sang joyously on Jerry's favorite hymn "Because He Lives", we have a basket full of cards to read at our leisure, and we got lots of hugs. I received a beautiful large cross woven from Kansas wheat, which is truly a marvelous memento. Jerry was given an IPOD ("an 8-track for the 21st century")loaded with all his sermons from this past year, choral music, Elder training material, and anything else that was a reminder of our year here--what a great gift for him! If it had not been for Carla's presence on Friday, I don't believe we would have made it through the day! This was our day to have the rental furniture picked up, disconnect phone/cable/internet, get everything distributed either to the rv or the Spanns home (where we are presently staying) or loaded in the Escape for the trip to Midland, and a walk-thru by the apartment manager...and Jerry ended up having an burial first thing in the morning, followed by a memorial service, followed by a dental appointment for several fillings, followed by his last fiddle lesson (Oh, did I mention he has taken up the fiddle?) Without Carla, I could not have done it - so I will be forever grateful for all her help. We ended up the day at the Prairie Rose for a barbeque dinner followed by cowboy music entertainment with a group of friends from EPC--we enjoyed the food, laughed at all the jokes, and the music was just great--so tired though we were, and extremely hot from the hard days' work, it was a fun evening. We were so glad to be able to take Carla to it, for we have been out there before (to hear Roy Rogers Jr) and had talked about what a neat evening it was. We are about to finish up packing now--we leave in the morning for cool Colorado with Bev & Richard Spann, and you cannot begin to imagine how excited we are--the fish better beware! We are all four tired, so the prospect of cool weather, hungry fish, neat friends, and no agenda really sounds good right now. We will not realize we are really and truly retired until we get home to Midland--right now, its just a vacation to look forward to. We did not realize that in one year we would become so attached to our new church family. We have made so many very special new friends. Right now I am very grateful for our modern conveniences like email and cell phones so we can stay in touch! Our trip to Midland the first week of August will find us facing a house full of boxes which were moved by Atlas--I'm sure its absolute chaos, but like Scarlett - I'll think about that tomorrow. We'll appreciate your continued prayers for our friend Carol and her battle with breast cancer, and our upcoming travels. God bless you all!

The "Texas BBQ with a Kansas Accent" for our church family at Eastminster was a great evening, made even more special by having both Jo and Carla join us. Folks turned out in huge numbers, consumed lots of great food, and were magnificently entertained by the Home Rangers (a Wichita group that includes an Eastminster family)--their music is called "moograss" which is a blend of bluegrass and country! Just for us, they played "Waltz Across Texas With You"! There are a number of displaced Texans in our congregation and we all enjoyed it. The girls arrived on Friday night to enjoy a family dinner at Abuelo's - a favorite dining spot and one that Jo does NOT have in San Antonio, so it was her request to go there. After dinner, Jerry joined Gary Thompson, our volunteer pork cooker, at the church to tend to the pork shoulders that were in the smoker (and that was only the first batch). Gary, wife Jan, and Jerry rubbed and smoked this batch, and Gary had a volunteer team in at 6:30 a.m. to continue the process. Those folks are worth their weight in gold, let me tell you! The fruits of their labors were consumed by a most appreciative church family. On Saturday we were able to take the girls and our friend Pat Mundy (of Enid) over to the Buford's ranch in the Flint Hills near Cassoday. It was a picture perfect day. We absorbed too much sun, played in the pristine swimming pool, took a boat ride all around the lake, and watched the wild mustangs who live on the ranch, and were exceptionally close that day. (Unlike yesterday, when Jerry and I went back to the ranch to spend the day and saw very few horses near enough to photograph!) We are grateful for their cooperation, however, for our daughters and friend on the 24th. We have spent so many wonderful days at the ranch during the last year that it was very important to us to get to share that special spot with Jo and Carla. Sunday morning worship gave Jerry an opportunity to introduce his daughters to the congregation. After church we all pitched in to get the table decorations on in both the gym and the fellowship hall. The tables were decorated with cowboy boots filled with bluebonnets or sunflowers, or bud vases bearing bluebonnets. I would like to thank Susie Hitchcock-Hall of Susie's South Forty in Midland (the best pecan toffee in the world -- check out the website!) for her help in providing bluebonnets (you know you can't buy those in Kansas!) and bandana ribbon for our use in the decorations and wrapping silverware. Thank God for daughters who helped clean up! It didn't take long to get the whole church whipped back into shape and all the decorations put away. The kitchen crew was incredible--all volunteers--and we think everyone had a marvelous time. It was a great way to wrap up our year with this church family. We are really in countdown time now. Moving boxes are filling the garage and now taking over the dining room. Vacation is just around the corner--and speaking of that, one of our favorite places to fish is the Taylor River outside of Gunnison. An older gentleman in our church is an artist, had us for dinner this past week, and gave Jerry one of his paintings of his favorite fishing spot, which just happened to be the Taylor River! Now its July - and the 16th will be Jerry's last Sunday in the pulpit, so 3 more Sundays. He is already moved out of his office as the staff gets it in order for the new pastor, Steve, to move in on the 17th...its the Changing of the Guard, and we pray for this congregation as they enter a new phase in their journey. Have a safe and sane 4th of July, and we cherish your friendship.