After two weeks of beginning my day with coffee at the Panera in Branson, Missouri, yesterday morning found me back home at my regular morning haunt over at the Paradise in Regency. It was a bit of a let-down, of course, because we did have a wonderful time in our annual working vacation there in the Ozarks, yet the Lord encouraged us there in many ways and gave us clearer perspectives and purposes for Vital Signs Ministries. So, we are refreshed in both mind and spirit as we assume the next steps in this great adventure.
That second week in Branson was a full one. For instance, at a coffee shop inHollister, Claire and I had our 3rd quarter evaluation of our progress on 2021's resolutions. Overall, our grades were encouraging and the discussion of how to finish the year strong was very helpful...Claire finished a couple of books and I finished the 3 volumes of Dante's Divine Comedy (plus enjoying an Ellery Queen detective novel and a WWII British submarine novel for desert.)...We fed the ducks a couple more times...We had 3 more long walks along Table Rock Lake (one of them a 5.2 mile hike in the rain!)...I prepped for upcoming Sunday afternoon church services at Aksarben Village Senior Living and for a talk I'm giving this Saturday at a men's retreat...We wrote some more letters and social media posts...And we worked on upcoming Vital Signs projects including this Saturday's Wilberforce Brunch and the Pie Social on November 5.
Our journey home on Saturday was very pleasant -- nice weather, a breakfast in Bolivar with missionary champions (and my cousin!) Gary & Martha Ellsworth, and listening to the Minnesota v Nebraska football game on the radio. Not nearly as pleasant was mowing the lawn as soon as we got home but it was terribly overdue and really needed it. Sunday we skipped church because we still had a lot to do to get ready for our Sunday afternoon service but that went extremely well. What a great group.
And then Monday saw work during my early morning coffee at Paradise before joining Claire, Keith, Jim, and others for our prayer and public pro-life witness outside the Planned Parenthood abortion business. Next up was the first "When Swing Was King" show of the month Heritage at Sterling Ridge and then editing the Branson photos for posting. And now we're into Tuesday with a Panera meeting this morning with Dick and Sharon, getting about 50 pounds of popcorn for distribution, a haircut, and the next of 3 more "When Swing Was King" shows this week.
