What, August already?

OK, so it doesn't officially come until tomorrow, but the summer is flying by. What a grand time with our friends from Argentina during the month of July. We wanted them to feel the gracious hosting they gave us during our tens years of service there, and I think they were impressed. We drank all kinds of different wines from Leelanau County, Michigan, we visited Niagara Falls, both from the Canadian and the US side, we showed them a bit of Michigan beauty and history when we visited Mackinaw Island, and they saw all of the mid-belt of the US when we traveled from Miami to Michigan. They got to see the Cincinnati Reds play St. Louis in Cincy, they watched the Traverse City Beach Bums on artificial turf, they climbed the sand dunes of Sleeping Bear Dunes, and we watched the sun set over Lake Michigan from the heights of Peterson Park in Northport. Quite a ride I must say. One of the highlights was the Argentina asado we put on with their help for the NW Lower Michigan Synod Global Mission Committee, early in July. Everyone, including the bishop, was impressed with the food, the graciousness of our friends, and the wine (oh yes, always the wine).

But, good things come to an end, only to open the door for other good things. I returned to the task of painting the caboose, which will be ready for the open house on August 7th. I will be including pictures of the caboose next week. Mary and I both returned to our diets, that are going quite well, and now we are preparing some goodies for the Church's bake sale at the Suttons Bay Art Fair this Saturday and Sunday, August 1-2. The Global Mission Committee has asked me to represent them before the national assembly of the Lutheran Church in Honduras in November. I am hoping that Mary can go as well. It will be a fun time, even with all the problems that are happening there. Our anniversary is coming up soon, and Mary and I have agreed that we need to get away more often. Maybe we can take off to some interesting spot this year.

Angela is back at work with a nice bonus and raise, looking to make some changes in her life. David is doing what David usually does, work, music, and spending time on the computer. Allison is getting ready to begin a new year at Ferris State University in the program she has longed to complete. She will enter in August, go for a whole year, and then spend an unpaid year of internship. After that she is guaranteed a job, unless Government Health Care ruins what we have (sorry for the political commentary).
Mary and I are reflecting on retirement. I will be taking a course at Luther Seminary, Minneapolis, in September to train me for interim ministries. We are thinking seriously about retiring in or around Suttons Bay. At least that is the thought of the week. Been looking at houses in the area and thinking about what to do during winters up here.

Wait a minute, does August begin tomorrow? Oh my! How the summer has gone by, and still so many things yet to build.

The shock is beginning to fade

Turning 60 is bad, that goes without saying, but the shock does begin to wear off, at times. One day later and I am still bothered by my age, but there are so many other things that take up my time that I cannot always dwell on it. that's good. Nonetheless, it will take some time to get over it, like maybe ten more years when I enter a real shocker, the 70's (sorry Betty Lou).
For now, I will just do what I have to do, like continue helping pay my kids bills, fix their cars, and pull them out of financial woes, work till the cows come home, and try to convince Mary that she needs to make a decision about where we might live after retirement. That last one takes more time and patience then the other concerns. There are still things God has in mind, and I guess I need to be about doing those things as well.
In the mean time, I will pray that God continue to help me get used to this "getting older" stuff and remind me that Easter was not just a one time thing.

Paul Joins the 60 Club

Today I join that club that seemed so far away just a few years or decades ago. I don't know how it came oupon me so fast. I thought I would be prepared, but here it is, July 22, 2009, and I turn 60. As I look back, there are so many things I wished I could have done, and yet I know so many things must now remain undone. I look ahead at a shorter future than when I was thirty, but probably filled with new and exciting things. There will just be fewer of those things than before.
Others have crossed this path before me. Many of them are friends and family. I guess I just enter as another member of an important group, and be satisfied that the alternative may be worse. After a great deal of prayer last night, I came to see a bit more clearly that each day, and each year, brings me that much closer to returning to my real home. Though I may not be remembered much after I am gone, I know that in the eyes and heart of God, I will be remembered, cherished and love for eternity.
In that case, it's not so bad to be 60.