We Will Soon Be Leaving Bill's Botanical Gardens For Paris

Foxgloves ....I love foxgloves....

Good Night from Pleasant Chapel!!

Welcome Back to Softball

Meg reconnecting with Cheryl at Zoe's softball game.

Zoe takes a moment from the action........

......prepares to swing.......

........and barely gits beat at a bang bang play at first.

Happy Father's Day

..........so out of the blue while sitting in the living room Meg delivers a box and a card to my lap......... The card was titled "With Love And Gratitude From Your Daughter." I read the beautiful card and then proceeded to open the gift.....

.........what could it be.......??????? (actual...not simulated picture!)

.......would you believe a brand new.....FAST......Toshiba laptop computer.....on which I can clearly Skype my kids and grandkids and on which I am entering this blog. I'm speechless! I know....hard tobelieve.......

Pressing On......

SSSSSooooo.....Megan's back.....and guess who joined us for our work out this morning...... we did our usual workout to one of the songs Bob Dillon wrote after becoming a Christian called Pressing On. Here we are working out to the rousing music and words Dillon wrote, "Pressing on....pressing on to a higher calling of my Lord."

..........needless to say Heather, our inspirational leader, enthusiastically lead us through the paces as the words "you got to keep pressing...you got to keep pushing....." blared in our ears.............

..........and Megan "danced" to the words, "so shake the dust....off your feet....don't look back.....nothing can hold you down...nothing you lack....."

...........and heather barked, "bend those arms you two!" It was both an inspirational and killer workout! Look out Kirby......I'm coming after you in another sports challenge. I'm preparing to clean your clock in a 5 K by October!

Habit 1......Begin With The End in Mind.....So How Do You Think This Workout Ended??? Pick an Ending....

At the end of our workout we ran a mile......that's right WE ran a mile!

And how did that mile run end??? Well...you get to pick which of these endings to the mile run was the actual real (although simulated) ending..... Was it the picture above.......all three of us in a dead heat ending.............

OR................the girls ending first and cheering on the "old man"...................

........OR...........THE AGED ONE PASSING THE GIRLS TO PUSH FIRST PAST THE FINISH LINE................

...........

...........OR.............the girls blowing the old man out of the water.........

.............and not caring a fig about the condition of the aged one............OR.........you suggest your own ending...............................

Bringing Megan Home

Monday I flew to Virginia Beach to help Meg load her already packed worldly possessions into a UHaul to come home to Newark and enter a new phase of her life.

All of this stuff............

.............and this stuff..............

..........went into here.............

The Loading Process....

Lifting.......

Carrying.......

We manly men .................

.......are together a MOVING FORCE to be reckoned with.......!!!

...and finally......

.........after a flurry of activity the load....a masterpiece in packing proficiency.........is ready to head North East to Ohio early in the morning.......and the crew kicks back for some time of reflection and conversation.

..........and again I've made a batch of new friends. These guys are great, defend our nation.......and have gone way out of their way to help Meg move.
THANKS GUYS AND WIVES!

What Stuff Really Matters In Our Lives Anyway?

"Others...Lord,.....yes others....Let this our motto be. Help us to live for others...that we may live like thee..."

It's the only song my wife and I have ever sung together in a public setting .....years ago! The song captures the essence of one of the stongest values we hold and last night it was lived out again in yet another setting. Our church rescued an old delapadated building in the worst part of Newark to carry on a ministry to some of the needest folks of our community. A young man and his wife fresh out of college took on the responsibility of pastoring this work. Last night the house was packed for a "good by" to him and his wife as they move on to becoming a chaplain in the army. The place was packed with those we have served from this now lively congregation.

This picture shows Pat leading the serving line with Newark Naz Pastor Wes and his wife Lenore as they "fed the multitude" with loaves and Olive Garden!

At the end of the evening I witnessed this scene. The gal on the left is Tracy thanking Melanie, the Pastor's wife. Tracy broke into tears as she described to me what this church has meant to her. She and her husband have lived next door to the church and by her own description were "bad...real bad!" She described in some detail their "wild" ways and how bad they were to the Pastor and his wife. As they indulged in drunkenness and lawlessness next door they would yell and taunt and threaten Chris and Melaine. Then something gradually happened. I remember the first time I walked into the church and saw her there. She has continued coming and described last night to me the monumental changes in her life. ........and what's the value of a life so changed? We will continue serving God and others and letting Him manage the results.