33 years and counting

Our 33rd Wedding anniversary was this week on Friday, August 14. Thursday evening we hopped in the car and headed down to French Lick Indiana and stayed at The West Baden Hotel. It is a lovely old hotel that was remodeled in 2007. This is the first time we have ever stayed here. There really is not much to do in French Lick but rest. That we did very well. Friday morning we got up and sat out on the veranda with a cup of coffee and the newspaper letting the sunshine wake us for the day.

Then we headed out to Spring Mill State park. The park was quite rustic, but very nice. Since I have a broken foot, we did not hike, but we did take a boat ride through a cave and walked through the old inn. There is a pioneer village at Spring Mill that was delightful to walk. There is also an old mill that is still used to grind corn. Stephen was very tired the entire couple of days that we were there. As soon as he would sit down, he would fall asleep. I am hoping that there is still some anesthesia in his system that is making him so tired. It has been over a week since the heart catheter. It was a very minor surgery and Steve was awake through most of it... Never-the-less, Steve slept alot this weekend. Perhaps he was exhausted with all of the excitement and pain he has had over the past month.

As tired and worn out as Steve was on our little trip, this morning he got up, walked in the pulpit and he was strong, vibrant and shared the WORD this morning with conviction and passion. Grace UMC is doing a sermon series on the book of Phillippians. This morning we were on Philippians 2:5-12. ....Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.... I wish you all could have heard Steve this morning. He has a new sense of power in his preaching since his heart attack. At the end of the sermon, we began singing "He is Lord....He is Lord...He has risen from the dead and He is Lord....every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord .... and one by one people all over the congregation began standing on that Historic confession of faith.

Sometimes, in my weakness/humanity I wish that Steve would retire. Then he gets up in the pulpit and "does his thing" and I relax, placing my trust once again in the fact that we are called to pastoral ministry, and it is good...