A Beautiful Day!

I'm stuck in that rare, in-between moment of not having anything to do. It has been a very long time since I encountered such a moment.

Church this morning went pretty well, all things considered. Both Vince and I were a bit nervous about our sermons - it was pretty intense to preach on Biblical Authority! In preparation, I found myself more concerned with the precise words I chose than ever before, because it can be such a touchy topic! Ask me about it any time, and I'll have plenty to say about why Scripture is SO important and why we DO have to read even the most difficult passages that we don't know what to do with! But ask me to preach on it in 15 minutes? That was a LOT harder than anticipated! (unless, of course, you saw me last weekend... by then I had realized how difficult it was going to be!) If nothing else, I think it would be a great small group topic. I probably have enough to say on it to talk for a several-week session, but I bet even one night in the midst of others would be highly beneficial for any parties invovled.

Mike Kurtz, a friend from my home church in South Dakota, is in town this weekend for a work conference. It was great to have him with me in worship here this morning! Its a crazy thing when my very different, set-apart worlds collide with one another. That was the first time, I think (other than my sister) my home life of McCook ever collided with my lives elsewhere... at least, on my turf. I've taken people home, of course. But it was good, and I am glad for the opportunity to share a bit of what I'm doing here with someone who knew me and saw my gifts for ministry long before I would (verbally) acknowledge them - we were on SPRC together when I was in high school! It was good to catch up with Mike and hear a bit about the going-ons at McCook UMC (they're getting a new pastor! I think this will be a good thing!) over lunch.

In a hurry to leave the house this morning, I grabbed only my computer and no books for work to do this afternoon. I'm still at church, as I feel I need (want) to go to women's group tonight, and I decided it probably wouldn't be worth it to go all the way home only to turn around 2 hours later. I thought the amount of work I had to do on my computer would be sufficient, but it turns out I'm done earlier than anticipated! This is good news, and also a bit disappointed because I am usually quite productive while here! Alas, it has been good to finish the little work I did bring, catch up on emails, chat with my mother and, of course, update here. Now I've got just under an hour before the group meets, so I think I'll go grab a cup of coffee and actually read the newspaper for the first time in a long, long time. (I usually read it online)