North American Christian Convention

I am now in Louisville, Kentucky and have internet access again. We spent the past two days at Lake Barkley, as guests of Frank and Linda Shelton. We enjoyed the restful and serene setting so much. While I was talking to my mother Tuesday morning, a deer ran across the hillside in front of me. The picture above is from the deck, and you may be able to detect the rainbow in the sky. In addition to the rest and reading, we had a wonderful visit with Cecil and Patti May, who live just an hour from where we were. They picked us up and we went to Grand Rivers, KY to eat at Patti's Settlement. We had a wonderful meal, which included their specialty: a 2 inch thick pork chop. I will confess that we all had dessert. I had the coconut cake, and they all laughed at me - it was a full fourth of a cake! No, I didn't get it all down, but what I did eat was very good! Cecil, Patti, Margaret, JR, and I laughed ourselves silly as we enjoyed each other's company. It was a night to remember. We were especially thankful on the way home that Cecil narrowly avoided running over a big ole skunk. The night ended much too soon. Today we traveled over to Louisville and checked in to our hotel. JR and I went on to the North American Christian Convention. As was the theme of Tulsa Workshop this year, there is a recognition of the division between the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ that has existed since 1906. The message that we heard tonight from David Stone was a healing and unifying message of trust in Jesus and hope for tomorrow. We also enjoyed a "Welcome to Kentucky" message from the Governor. There are thousands of people here. The service tonight was reverent, positive, and uplifting. I did talk with a representative from Hilltop Rescue mission in New Orleans, and Keith Wood from IDES, and I also saw Alan Robertson and Mike Kellet from West Monroe, LA. I look forward to tomorrow, and will offer some reflections on the theme. One thing JR and I did not enjoy was trying to find some place to eat after the evening service. We drove all around downtown Louisville for about 45 minutes, but to no avail. We finally ventured (inadvisably) into a place called LaBamba which claimed to have a burrito as big as your head. This, of course, appealed to both of us. I would just like to say that no one should believe a claim that anyone has a burrito as big as your head. It was plenty big enough, but it was filled with grease and simply AWEFUL. I have a picture of JR's plate with all the grease, but it is unappetizing! We ended up at McDonalds. That's pretty low on my list, but gourmet compared to LaBamba. Back home at Central David tells me that the teenagers there are delivering sheetrock. What a blessing to receive the needed sheetrock ... thanks to those who continue to give and bless us in our work. Miles Mayo spoke tonight, and I bet he did a super job. Will Collins is busy planning some youth trips for our teens, and preparing to speak this coming Sunday. Pray for Gary Kirkendall and Danny Dodd, friends of mine that head out for foreign missions this week. Thanks for reading! I appreciate your comments.