The long drive home

Well, our second-annual Florida vacation has come to an end. It was nice to languish in 80 degree temperatures for much of the past two weeks while Northeast, PA dealt with the ice and snow. But now, its time to get back to reality.

It's always fun to get away and spend a lot of uninterrupted time with Andrea and the kids, yet it's also nice to think about being back in our own home and back to our normal routine. That's the nice part about a vacation. It's fun, but it makes you appreciative of your normal life again.

We swam a lot, went to Sea World a couple times, visited Magic Kingdom and spent some time with family and friends who live in the area. We also spent a lot of meal-times eating at Chick-Fil-A. When is Northeast, PA getting one? We're way overdue.

Now, I will spend quite a few hours driving my family back home. Please pray for our safety as we travel. I don't know how truckers do it. I can't stand sitting that long.

The Dairy Queens

Last year, part way through our vacation, we stopped at Dairy Queen. Andrea fed Julia her dessert.


This year, we stopped at the very same Dairy Queen and Julia returned the favor.

Harmonica

Yesterday, while taking a long drive with my family, my son Jay asked me a question. Before I tell you what the question was, let me give you a little context.

About a year ago, Jay was given a harmonica as a gift. He plays it as often as he can. He made sure to bring it with us for the drive and he put it to good use while we headed down the highway.

Then he asked me this question, "Dad, do they have harmonicas in jail?"

What am I supposed to make of that question? Is he expecting to end up in jail? Should I tell him "no," so he will try his best to stay out of jail? Should I tell him "yes," so he won't feel overly bad for those stuck in prison without harmonicas?

Some questions are beyond my ability to answer.

NEPA Vocab.

It took me years of practice to correct the way I speak. Having grown up in Northeast, PA (one of the best places on earth), I unknowingly spoke a strange vernacular for most of my childhood years. Working all Summer at PMBC (where people from a variety of states worked) corrected some of my speaking issues. Going to college corrected the rest.

The video above was sent to me by Jon Hontz. It's stupid, but accurate.

Olivia

It's freezing cold outside and we're in the midst of a snow / ice storm. I believe we're going to get 6 inches when all is said and done.

But I braved the bad roads and took a trip to the hospital to see my new niece, Olivia. I thought you might enjoy seeing her too.

Sad pretzel

If food had emotions, how could it make its feelings known?

I'm pretty certain that most food is happy to nourish me, or at least it pretends to be. Some food, however, just can't help but expressing sorrow over its fate.

Take for example the pretzel sticks I was eating the other evening. In one particular handful, I happened to notice one stick that wasn't exactly cheery about being eaten. Pretzel is pictured above.

This is the last known picture of this pretzel. I digested it moments after this image was captured.

The band

This picture was taken last Thursday while Matt, Scott, Josh and me were in Florida for the NEXT Church Planting Conference.

After I took a look at this photo, I couldn't help but think that we looked like we were trying to be a band.

I was also surprised to see how much taller Scott looked. Then I realized that he's totally standing on his toes. Nice try Scott. Now you're out of the band!

Closing on Jersey Road

I wanted to write this post yesterday, but I had an all day meeting that prevented me from doing so.

Yesterday at 2:00pm, we sold our home on Jersey Rd. This was a big answer to prayer. I have been in Florida at a conference this week, so I signed the papers last Friday.

I loved living in that home. It was the kind of home I have wanted ever since I was a child. But God called me to make a change in ministry so I moved, and placed the house on the market.

The housing market is terrible right now. It's a good time to buy, but a terrible time to sell. I have had the house on the market since April. I'm relieved that we finally found a buyer. I was starting to think I might have to make payments on the home for the rest of my life.

In addition to all the fun times my family had living in the home, we also had a lot of fun with our church youth group. The youth group would meet at our house every Sunday evening (click here if you want to reminisce.) We would have an hour of Bible-study and prayer, followed by ordering pizza or Chinese food and playing pool. Frequently, people would stay ridiculously late (ie, Danny, Maranda and Sara). That will always be a time that I remember fondly.

Anyway, our home belongs to a new family now. I hope they love living there like we did.