Sunday in Tennessee

Frank and Linda Shelton have been marvelous hosts, and I will hate to say goodbye to them tomorrow. Somehow it feels we are old friends already. They are fairly new to Brentwood Hills Church of Christ and are still introducing themselves. Of course that's not hard to do with 1800 members! This morning I taught two Bible Classes and gave a short talk and prayer at the three morning services at Brentwood Hills. They are a delightful congregation and I feel I have made many friends. Of course several of them have come down to help on the Coast, and I think more will. Credit needs to be given to David White for pressing this meeting and making it happen. David is a transplant from the Mississippi Gulf Coast...so our work is dear to his heart. He has kept our plight before the people here, and I appreciate him so much for the way he has continued to support and encouraged the work we are doing. To the right is David and Janelle White. Janelle has also worked for Open Churches, which continues to offer support and help along the Coast. One of the people I enjoyed meeting is Associate Minister Clarence Dailey. Brother Clarence has been a part of this church for many many years. He has a sweet spirit and is someone I enjoyed meeting as soon as we shook hands. In fact, everyone I met at Brentwood Hills extended a smile and gracious attitude. This speaks well for their leadership. Walt Leaver has been preaching here for many years. Walt maintains a sweet spirit, a deep conviction, and a passionate message. No wonder so many people assemble here each week to hear his message from the word of God. After the last morning service, Joe Dudney took us out out eat a delicious lunch. Joe was once an elder at Brentwood Hills. His current work keeps him busy as executive director of the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort. Words cannot express what good has been done in our community through this wonderful organization. Joe was delightful to visit with, and is full of stories of the people he has known across his lifetime. Millions of dollars worth of materials have been flowing through COCDRE for the past two years as people have responded to disasters in our country. Joe was featured in a picture in The Tennessean this past Sunday and everyone enjoyed giving him some good natured kidding about it. Joe took us to the COCDRE warehouse and operation and gave us a tour. It was simply a wonderful visit. As some of you know I broke my eyeglasses a few days ago and it has been a nightmare trying to restore them. I finally had my optometrist fax the prescription to Lenscrafters here in Nashville. They were ready, but I didn't have time to pick them up yesterday. So today after the tour of the warehouse, I went to pick them up. They looked great. I put them on ... not right. I think they were John Robert's prescription, not mine. Bah. Frank did borrow an arm from another pair of glasses and screwed them onto my frame. Mismatched, but functional. We got back to the Shelton's just in time to leave for Hillsboro. Another great experience with a very warm church. James Waugh is the minister for the past three years. He is an OC graduate who is very friendly. I enjoyed great 'preacher talk' with James. After worship all of the people who have helped on the Coast had a potluck at the home of Lynn and Diane Griffith. What a fun time we had with great food and a very joyful remembrance of the work on the Coast. It's getting late...it was a long but wonderful day ... tomorrow we will rest by Lake Barkley, visit with friends Cecil and Patti May, and head for Louisville, KY on Wednesday. I will likely have no internet connection while at the lake. So, this will be the last post for a few days. I hope you'll come back again later! There are several pictures from the weekend on my picture page (linked on right).