Back in the Saddle

I'm back from Vacation.

Shaina came home Thursday from work and I had 3 envelopes waiting for her. She had to pick one, all of which had approximate mileage, cost and Friday morning departure time.

She chose what I called "The Carnivore Package". We left Friday around 11 and headed to downtown Columbus, arriving in German Village at the historic Schmidt's Sausage Haus. We ate a meatilicious lunch, Shaina having the Reuben Sandwich, me having the classic Bahama Mama Sausage. It was a great lunch and then we enjoyed a walk around German Village. It is a beautiful older part of Columbus, almost surreal to walk through old brick villages with the skyscraper horizon in view.

We then went to Bob and Kathy's in Plain City. Bob has had a lasting impact on my relationship with God and they have just moved back to Ohio from Washington State. We played some cards and just relaxed.

Saturday we left for Springboro and spent the day at my sister Becky's with her husband Chuck and their kids Ethan and Kaitlynn. We had a good time, but I was down for the count, picked up a fever, enough snot in my sinuses to congest a small village, and just complete ache everywhere.

Saturday night the fever broke and Shaina and I went to Southwest Church on Sunday morning. The church was in a YMCA. The message was biblical and there were some gems, but the pastor spoke for 40 minutes and only hit 2 of his 3 points. This was foreign to us as we have been in services that have to happen in an hour tops for the last few years.

Had some pizza back at Becky and Chuck's and then played hide and seek and soccer and then took off to continue our adventure. Originally the culmination of the carnivore package was to head to the Columbus zoo, but we would have gotten there and only had about 3 hours to explore. So we called up Bob and Kathy and hooked back up with them for dinner and we learned Rummikub.

We came back Monday and got unpacked. A good trip. Rest happened. I read a 700 page fiction book in one week. Now its time to go hard or go home. Fall Kickoff, Small Groups Launching, New Series starting. Here we go.