Back to NJ

Well, I am finally back in New Jersey. I arrived late Thursday night and have been puttering around the house getting it in order, tending to a present crisis, and am presently working on my sermon for in the morning. So much to do -- and yet, as the ol' lament goes, "If it weren't for the last minute, I'd never get anything done."

My vacation to Oklahoma was amazingly restful. I didn't do much of anything except spend time with family, sleep, eat abundantly, and visit with friends. From time to time, I managed to go dancing and enjoyed some fine cuisine with my eldest brother.

One great thing about my vacation was getting caught up with an old friend: Tim and his wife Lori. Tim and I along with another friend Russel, attended a megachurch in Oklahoma City called LifeChurch. Afterwards, I visited Tim at his church where we were joined by his wife Lori and their 8 kids at Heritage Presbyterian while Russel went to his home church. I had the opportunity to get extreme examples of evangelicalism and conservative theology on my Sunday church services. I will write more about that later--the contrast was noticeable to me and I want to hammer it out on here.

Besides church, Tim and Lori invited me home with them for Sunday dinner where we ate until we were full. That Lori has always been an outstanding cook and she proved yet again that the cook only gets better as she gets older.

Upon returning to NJ, I took the train to the town near my mechanic where I picked up my truck (I had to replace to engine in it) and drove home. I arrived to find Maggie all excited to see me and we got reacquainted nicely.

Upon getting home and unpacking, I discovered that my home computer has died. I replaced the power supply, thinking that was it, only to find that it may have been it but it's also something else. I am thinking it must've been a power surge of some kind and my surge protector wasn't doing it's job. I am presently typing on my laptop (proving yet again that I am soooooooooooooo glad I have it) as I will also be needing it tonight as I prepare my morning sermon.

All in all, I've had a good time away. I am a bit stressed about the computer thing but alas, I'll find a remedy to fix it.

So that's it. I'll type more later as well as getting to the church blog to update it. Now that I am home, I need to hit the ground running. September is almost here and I have so much to get ready for. Woo-hoo!